Learn DewesoftX Software Without DAQ Hardware: Simulate Signals, Channels & More

Downloading DewesoftX software 

You can freely download and install DewesoftX software from the company’s website. The software is included at no cost with all Dewesoft DAQ instruments. But even if you don’t have any Dewesoft instruments yet, you are encouraged to download the software and learn how it works. There is no cost or obligation – simply visit the download center at this link:

Visit the download center:

Another reason to download DewesoftX is to replay data files. There is no cost to use DewesoftX to replay dxd data files. You may freely install the software on any number of computers for this purpose. No licenses are required.

Please download and install your copy of DewesoftX from the link above. Then, you can follow the examples below of how to use it in simulation mode.

DewesoftX real-time data simulation modes

There are four ways to obtain “live” data in DewesoftX’s Measure mode when no Dewesoft DAQ hardware is available:

This application note will show you how to activate each mode. It will be followed by some basic DewesoftX software tips, including activating the virtual signal conditioning amplifiers, selecting recording channels, making displays, capturing data, and replaying it. 

See the DewesoftX manual

Choosing a simulation mode

Start DewesoftX on your computer. Assuming no Dewesoft DAQ hardware is connected, the software will indicate it’s in the OFFLINE mode. This will be indicated in the top-right corner of the screen. This is normal and fine. 

Click on the Options menu near the top right of the screen, then click on Settings:

The settings dialog box will appear. Click Devices in the left column, then click on Simulated devices under Local system: 

The screenshot above shows several possibilities. The File Replay option will probably be missing from your system because this plugin must be installed separately. This will be covered under the Replaying Previously Captured Data section later in this article. No need to worry about installing this plugin unless you want to use this mode.

1. Simulated channels mode

The self-generated waveform mode is the easiest to activate and use. However, it is limited to swept sine waveforms, which cannot be controlled or modified. 

Let’s start with the simulated channels method. Like in the previous step, after starting DewesoftX, click on Options in the top-right corner, then select Settings. When the dialog opens, click on Simulated devices under the Local system in Devices. Under Simulated channels mode, select “Simulated channels.” 

At this point, your screen should look very much like this:

Enter your desired quantity of analog, counter, and digital channel inputs. We have selected 8, 1, and 8, as shown above. You can also enter several simulated asynchronous analog and digital output channels, but using them is beyond the scope of this article. Then click OK to close the dialog box.

Click Ch. setup at the top of the DewesoftX screen, and see the eight analog channels that you created:

What do the channels look like? Just click Measure near the top of the screen and have a look:

Only one channel is shown because, by default, only the first analog channel is set to “Used” on the setup screen. Later, we will learn more about activating channels, using the simulated Dewesoft amplifiers, recording, and replaying data.

Please see the next section if you want to add custom waveform channels using the built-in mathematics engine. Otherwise, please proceed to the Basic DewesoftX Operation section. 

2. Math channel waveform generation mode

In this mode, you can create your channels using DewesoftX’s built-in math engine. Since the simulated channels will also be created, you can combine them with your programmed channels to make additional channels. Essentially, this is an extension of the Simulated Channels Method shown above.

On the Ch. setup screen, click the Math icon, then click the Formula icon:

The software will create a basic math formula for you to define, and open it up automatically like this:

Let’s set it up to be a 2 Hz sine wave with an amplitude of ±10 V. First, enter a name for the channel. Near the top-right corner of the dialog (see below), we entered “Sinus 2 Hz” as the Name,  “waveform” for the Description, and A for the Units. You can enter whatever values you like. Next, click Signals under Other math functions, then click the sine icon:

At first, the formula line will show a syntax error because the sine function requires a frequency (in Hertz) to be entered within the parentheses. 

Click into the formula editor line and edit the text. Type “2” within the parentheses. The software will create a ±1V waveform by default, so please add *10 to the formula to convert it to a ±10V sine wave:

Click on the OK button near the bottom right of the formula editor to close this function. 

You can add more waveforms by repeating the steps above and changing them slightly. For example, we will create a ±50V 1.5 Hz square wave and a ±100A 60 Hz triangle wave. See below for what this looks like on the Math setup screen.

We can check the appearance of these signals by clicking Measure near the top of the screen. The recorder screen will appear:

Note: If only one waveform shows, click (+) under Recorder / Controls on the left panel to add more channels to the default recorder graph. You can click (–) to remove controls:

Before we move on, let’s make another virtual channel that combines several others. Return to the Math page of Ch. Setup and create a new formula math channel. You can enter whatever text you like, but we named it “Combo Waveform” with a description of “sine+triangle” and a unit of A. Now, follow these steps:

1. Clear out whatever is in the formula line so it’s empty.

2. Double-click the “Sinus 2 Hz” channel name in the list to add it to the formula line.

3. Click into the formula line and type +

4. Double-click the “Triangle” channel name in the list to add it to the formula line.

Here’s what it should look like now:

Once your math channel looks like this, click OK to save it. Please return to the Measure screen and click (+) once on under Recorder / Controls to add another channel to the graph:

The next channel will automatically be added to the Recorder graph, so we will see the combo waveform at the bottom of the screen:

If you are ready to proceed, please move to the Basic DewesoftX Operation section to learn how to set up your screens, capture data, and replay it. 

3. Sound card mode

The third way to have “live” data in DewesoftX software when you don’t have any Dewesoft DAQ hardware is to use the sound card in your computer as a data source. This allows you to record audio and replay it graphically and audibly. 

If you’re using a notebook computer, it will likely have a sound card with a microphone and speakers built in. When using a desktop computer, you may need to connect an external mic to record audio, and speakers or headphones to hear audio replay (if required).

To access this mode, start DewesoftX on your Windows computer.  Click on the Options menu near the top right of the screen, then click on Settings:

The settings dialog box will appear. Click Devices in the left column, then click on Sound card under Local system: 

The software will automatically identify any DirectX sound card in your notebook or desktop Windows computer and make it available as an analog input. Click the OK button to close the Settings dialog box. If necessary, click the Analog in icon to see the two sound card channels:

Notice that the Dynamic acquisition rate selector will contain the sample rates supported by your system's sound card. In most cases, these are 11025, 22050, and 44100 kHz, but your system may differ. In the example above, we changed the rate to 22050 Hz, but you can set it however you prefer.

When you connect a microphone to your computer, you should be able to make sound or tap it gently to see the response on the display:

DewesoftX software can replay the recorded audio in the Analyze mode. To do so, open a data file containing audio and navigate to one of the display screens. Notice the Sound button near the top-left of the screen:

The red X in the Sound icon indicates that a channel has not yet been selected for sound reply. Click the icon and select a compatible channel from the list:

In our example, we chose the channel called “acc/v.” 

Click PLAY to start the replay of the data, and you will hear the audio from the selected channel via your computer’s sound system. Please watch the short video below for how this looks and sounds:

Please replace this with the actual video file called DewesoftX analyze replay with sound.mp4

If you are ready to proceed, please move to the Basic DewesoftX Operation section to learn how to set up your screens, capture data, and replay it. 

4. Replaying previously captured data mode

The fourth way to have “live” data in DewesoftX software when you don’t have any Dewesoft DAQ hardware is to replay previously captured data in the Measure mode. This method requires two special plugins to be installed. These plugins are not part of the standard DewesoftX installation, so you must download them from the Dewesoft website and install them following the instructions below. It also requires that you have at least one existing data file captured in Dewesoft and export it to a specific format using a custom filter. 

Two plugins are required to enable data replay in the measure mode:

1. FileReplay: Allows replaying converted .rpl data files in the Measure mode.

2. FileReplayExport: Allows you to convert existing data files to the .rpl format needed by the FileReplay function.

Downloading and installing the FileReplay plugins

Follow the steps to enable the file replay plugins:

1. Download the “FileReplay” and “FileReplayExport” plugins at this link.

2. Unzip the downloaded files and add them to DewesoftX’s Addons subfolder (example: DEWESoftX\Bin64\Addons64).

3. Restart your computer to ensure DewesoftX discovers the plugins.

Convert a data file to the .rpl format

The ReplayFile mode requires that the data be converted to the .rpl format. Once the plugins are installed, DewesoftX .dxd data file can be converted to the .rpl file format. This process is shown below:

Select an .rpl data file for replay in the measure mode

Return to the Settings / Simulated devices screen as shown at the beginning of this section and select File Replay as your simulation mode. When you have done this, several additional controls will appear below, where you must choose the .rpl file and tell DewesoftX how it should be replayed. It looks like this:

We chose a file called HV.rpl. Please select the file you exported in the previous step. DewesoftX will show you the number of channels the selected file contains, its dynamic sample rate, and its file length in seconds.

Check the Repeat checkbox if you want DewesoftX to replay the data file in a continuous loop. By default, the file will be replayed at the same speed (rate) at which it was recorded. But, under the Speed section, you may elect to replay it as fast as possible, or at a custom rate.

Now, when you return to Ch. Setup, the channels from your data file will be available for display, recording, and more, as if they were coming into the system in real-time!

Purpose of the file replay mode

Users can experiment with different filters and math functions on real data using the data replay method (adding and editing filtering and other math functions can also be done in the Analyze mode). This mode adds a new level of realism to DX software training and demonstration capabilities.

Learn more: Detailed manual on the file replay plugin.

When you are ready to proceed, please move to the Basic DewesoftX Operation section to learn how to set up your screens, capture data, and replay it. 

Basic DewesoftX operation

Using virtual Dewesoft amplifiers

Dewesoft makes a broad range of signal conditioning amplifiers for the SIRIUS, KRYPTON, IOLITE, and OBSIDIAN DAQ product lines. Here is a list of the main types that are available:

• Low voltage

• High voltage

• Current

• Strain gage/bridge

• Accelerometer (IEPE)

• Accelerometer (charge)

• Temperature (thermocouple)

• Temperature (RTD)

Strain gage amps are natively capable of measuring from strain gage and bridge sensors, load cells, ohmic sensors like string pots, and even more using convenient DSI “smart” interfaces. Several other amps, like specific voltage, multi, and universal models, are also DSI-compatible.

You may assign a virtual version of virtually every type of Dewesoft signal conditioning amplifier to each or all of your channels. To pick one, simply RIGHT-CLICK on the desired channel’s Amp. Name rectangle, and this dialog will appear:

Click Offline setup… and you will be presented with a dialog box where you can pick an amplifier by name:

Here you can choose from USB-connected amplifiers from the SIRIUS series and the DEWE-43A, EtherCAT-connected amplifiers from the IOLITE and KRYPTON series, and others. It is beyond the scope of this article to describe everything in this section, but to keep it simple, please choose the USB / SIRIUS-LV amplifier:

Click the Set to all button, and all your simulated analog inputs will have a virtual SIRIUS-LV low-voltage amplifier assigned to them. Click the X in the top right corner of the dialog box to close it, and your screen will look like this:

All eight analog input channels should have a virtual SIRIUS LV (Low Voltage) amplifier. By default, only the first analog channel is set to Used. 

The bar graph for each channel moves within the Values column on the screen as the virtual or replayed data comes into the system. Red coloring indicates an overload condition if a signal exceeds the Min/Max ranges. This is perfectly normal and shows how the software reacts to real signals. 

Using the simulated, math, and replayed channels

At this point, we are ready to use the analog channels. Notice that each analog channel has a row of controls and displays. From left to right, these are:

Channel setup

Click the Setup button on the right side of the first channel to open the channel setup dialog:

You can experiment with the settings on this dialog to select from the available ranges. Each amplifier type has different selections based on which type it is and what its capabilities are. For now, it’s enough that you see what the capabilities are and how to access them.

Learn more in the DewesoftX manual - Channel Setup Module

Selecting channels for display and capture

On the left side of the Channel setup screen, click Used on the channels you want to display and capture. Please turn them all to Used as shown here:

Hint: You can toggle all of the analog channels Used/Unused with a single click by first clicking the Used header and then clicking Used or Unused on any of the channels below.

Themeasure display

Click the Measure tab near the top of the screen, and the Recorder display will appear. A recorder graph will be created for you automatically, and each of the 8 channels will be shown in a separate graph. If you had only a few channels clicked as Used on the setup screen, only those channels will be shown here. 

We recommend reading the DewesoftX manual to learn more about operating the software, but let’s look at a few basics to get you started.

Left and right widget and channels property panels 

A “widget” is a display element. In the example above, the only widget on the screen is a recorder graph. You can use any of the controls on the widget properties panel on the screen's left side to alter the selected widget's appearance and behavior. On the right side of the screen, the channels property panel allows you to see and change which channels are assigned to the selected widget.

Add more widgets to the display

This section assumes that you use simulated signals and want to experiment with digital and counter inputs. Our screen has icons for Counters and Digital in next to the Analog in icon, as shown below:

However, if your Ch. setup screen is missing icons, you can add them. Simply click the More… icon, then choose the input types that you want to add from the dialog that will appear:

Our example uses the waveform simulation mode with analog, digital, and counter outputs. Therefore, we added Digital inputs and Counters to the Ch. setup screen. If your screen is missing these icons, follow the steps above to add them. Now, go to these setup screens and turn one or more of these digital and counter inputs to be Used.

Adding digital inputs and counters to the displays

Looking at the default Custom screen, we had one analog channel on it. But have a look at the panel on the right, because it shows that more analog channels, as well as several counters and digital inputs, can be displayed:

Click the Widgets icon, and then select Digital meter from the list that will appear:

A digital meter will be added to the Custom display, automatically assigned to the first input channel, as shown below:

With the digital meter still selected, click the desired channel in the right panel to assign that channel to this meter. You can also click and drag the meter anywhere on the screen and click and drag its corners to change its shape and size. In the screenshot below, we moved the meter to the right. We also clicked once on the recorder graph and assigned this channel to it, removing the other channel.

Storing data

Data is stored in the Measure mode. See the two large icons near the Dewesoft logo at the top left of the screen. Click Measure to configure the system and record data.

Click the Ch. setup tab and then the Analog in button. Now you can change the Dynamic acquisition (sample) rate and select other properties:

Storing data is as simple as pressing the Store button in the top-left corner of the screen. 

When a real Dewesoft instrument is connected, the hardware's capabilities determine the range of possible sample rates. The default recording mode is Always fast, but other options related to triggering, reduced-rate data storage, and a combination of the two are available.

Replaying data

Data is replayed in the Analyze mode. See the two large icons near the Dewesoft logo at the top left of the screen. Click Analyze to select a file for replay and analysis.

It shows the available data files by default. Double-click any one of them to open it for analysis. A sample data file called Example drive.dxd is installed automatically with the software. It contains analog, CAN bus, video, and GPS data. Double-click this file to open it:

Click the Play icon near the top left of the screen to see the channels replay synchronously. This demonstrates the power of DewesoftX software to present time-synchronized multiple domain data. Click Stop, then click and drag the yellow cursor shown in either the recorder graph or in the reference channel above the display widgets. 

Get more DewesoftX guidance

As mentioned above, this short article is meant to get you started with the simulation mode. For comprehensive help with DewesoftX software, please refer to the online manual. You can also access the help function from within DewesoftX software simply by pressing F1 on your keyboard. The built-in help does not require an internet connection.

The DewesoftX manual

Summary

This article provides a practical guide on using DewesoftX software in simulation mode for training and demonstration purposes. It outlines four versatile simulation options available within the software: 

1. generating internal test signals without external hardware, 

2. using the PC's sound card as a live data source, 

3. creating custom waveforms through mathematical functions, and 

4. converting recorded data files into a specialized replay format for real-time simulation. 

These features allow users to practice data acquisition workflows, test system configurations, and train new users without requiring physical sensors or test rigs. We hope it helps you get the most from your Dewesoft data acquisition system.

More information:

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