What is the difference between 'Channel' & 'Waveform' item (in context of Custom Devices)

[moderator1983]

I'm new to VeriStand, but have experience of LabVIEW. Now in order to use a third party Switch/Relay module in VeriStand, we are creating a custom device. This link talks about one of the planning steps. Though it is somewhat explained, I'm unable to understand the difference between 'Channel' & 'Waveform' item.

Any explaination/comment is highly appreciable.

[Jarrod_S.]

Channels are used to represent single points of data, whereas Waveforms are used to represent a buffer of data over time. Waveforms are generally used when acquiring and processing data at very high rates up to the megasamples per second. Waveforms are not good for control signals, because you generally read and write many points at a time.

If you are working on a switch/relay module, I would imagine you would use Channels instead of Waveforms.

[BigApple0]

What about generating waveforms for an analog output module and sending one faster than the PCL rate?  The documentation and examples don't show this.

Are 'waveforms' bidirectional? For example, can Waveforms go from the VeriStand Gateway to the VeriStand Engine and onto an Analog Output module?

Here is an example specification of an analog output module.

Can the VeriStand Gateway send waveform data to the VeriStand Engine to the Analog Output card?

Does periodic waveform generation from the host work?