Data acquisition language

An Instrument Control Language (ICL ) gives both power and flexihihty in operating the system. With this operators have complete control to create or customize instrument procedures, and design experiments to exactly meet laboratory needs. TTie instrument can optimize analysis by making real-time decisions during data acquisitions. 

ASYST. ASYST is probably the most comprehensive of the mentioned packages. It supports not only several types of cards, but it allows to do data analysis and create a graphical representation of the data. It uses a FORTH-like threaded interpretive language which provides a great deal of speed and flexibility. The software package can be bought in modules which allows the user to set up a data acquisition system to his needs. 

The choice of BASIC as the programming language is motivated by its simplicity, its availability on all personal computers and by its power in data acquisition. While most of the scientific packages currently available in BASIC date back to the period of limited memory and speed, the subroutines presented here can handle a broad range of realistic problems with the power and sophistication needed by professionals and with simple, step-by-step instructions for students and beginners. 

The bottom line question that summarizes aU of these is, How does one design a data model and data description language to enable efficient and effective data acquisition, storage, and use There are many related questions one concerns the design of what are called standard query languages (SQLs) such that it is possible to design a specific DBMS for a given application. 

The development process on such systems could be fraught with complexity, so it is important to establish methods that give the designer maximum support. A very useful technique is to embed the ASIC in a PC as shown in Fig. 7.7. Data acquisition boards are used to provide intimate access to the functions of the chip. Software is developed in a portable language, such as C, which allows it to be ported onto a suitable microprocessor once it has been developed and tested [15]. This leaves the question of support software which is discussed in the following section. 

Data acquisition applications are typically controlled by software programs that have been developed using various general-purpose programming languages. 

---