CompactRIO distributed system manager.

Question

We are using CompactRIO and would like to access each module and monitor the I/O values using distributed system manager.
When using Scan engine mode we were able to see the modules. Now are we are using FPGA mode and cannot see the modules.
Is there a way to use distributed system manager to access the modules using FPGA mode ?

Answer 1

blindbrooks,
Unfortunately, this is not possible, due to the way Scan Mode and FPGA Mode work.  Scan Mode is a precompiled bitfile that accesses each channel of a module in the chassis, and then publishes the values to the RT target, where they are hosted in a special Shared Variable called an I/O Variable.  This is why you are able to automatically see each of the channels in Distributed System Manager (DSM).  However, in FPGA mode, this is not the case, as you are creating your own bitfiles, and not explicitly setting the values into Shared Variables.
If you do want to see values from your modules in DSM, you can manually publish your data to a network-published Shared Variable, which would then appear in DSM.  This article goes a bit more in depth into shared variables:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4679
Drew T.
NIC AE Specialist