Sorting serial packet data into queues

Question

I am receiving serial packet data which originates from different sensor nodes in a network. Each sensor node
has a unique ID which is sent in the packet. The idea is to display the data in one chart and choose which sensor data to display
by using a cluster of booleans. I was thinking of using queues to buffer the data from single nodes, so for a network of 12 nodes 
I would need 12 queues and use a simple case structure to decide to which queue the element should be enqueued. Does this approach 
make sense or is there a simpler way to solve this problem? 

Answer 1

That seems reasonable.  You certainly need 12 of something for the data from the separate sensors. If the number of sensors can change, a 2D array might be better because you do not need to duplicate anything (such as adding another queue) to add a sensor.  However, arrays must be rectangular so if different amounts of data are received from different sensors, some method of keeping track what data is valid for each sensor will be required. The data from each sensor could be in a different row.
You probably want to use a graph, not a chart.  When you switch the display to a different sensor, you just wire that array row for that sensor to the graph.  Charts have an internal hsitory buffer and would be much more complicated to switch.
Lynn