ni / ni/nidaqmx-python

Task.read interprets data incorrectly for short reads

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Description

When DAQmxReadAnalogF64 with DAQmx_Val_GroupByChannel returns fewer samples than requested, it squashes the valid samples together at the beginning of the buffer. The way that nidaqmx.Task.read handles short reads doesn't take this into account, so it may return samples that have been overwritten.

Test case (from tests/component/test_task_read_ai.py, under development):

def test___analog_multi_channel_finite___read_too_many_sample___returns_valid_2d_channels_samples_truncated(
    ai_multi_channel_task: nidaqmx.Task,
) -> None:
    samples_to_acquire = 5
    ai_multi_channel_task.timing.cfg_samp_clk_timing(rate=1000.0, sample_mode=AcquisitionType.FINITE, samps_per_chan=samples_to_acquire)
    num_channels = ai_multi_channel_task.number_of_channels
    samples_to_read = 10

    data = ai_multi_channel_task.read(samples_to_read)

    expected = [
        [_get_voltage_offset_for_chan(chan_index) for _ in range(samples_to_acquire)]
        for chan_index in range(num_channels)
    ]
    _assert_equal_2d(data, expected, abs=VOLTAGE_EPSILON)

Result (lib and grpc fail the same way, because the underlying interpreters have consistent behavior here):

_ test___analog_multi_channel_finite___read_too_many_sample___returns_valid_2d_channels_samples_truncated[library_init_kwargs] _

ai_multi_channel_task = Task(name=_unnamedTask<0>)

    def test___analog_multi_channel_finite___read_too_many_sample___returns_valid_2d_channels_samples_truncated(
        ai_multi_channel_task: nidaqmx.Task,
    ) -> None:
        samples_to_acquire = 5
        ai_multi_channel_task.timing.cfg_samp_clk_timing(rate=1000.0, sample_mode=AcquisitionType.FINITE, samps_per_chan=samples_to_acquire)
        num_channels = ai_multi_channel_task.number_of_channels
        samples_to_read = 10

        data = ai_multi_channel_task.read(samples_to_read)

        expected = [
            [_get_voltage_offset_for_chan(chan_index) for _ in range(samples_to_acquire)]
            for chan_index in range(num_channels)
        ]
>       _assert_equal_2d(data, expected, abs=VOLTAGE_EPSILON)

tests\component\test_task_read_ai.py:144:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

data = [[1.000091555528428, 1.000396740623188, 1.000396740623188, 0.999786370433668, 0.999786370433668], [3.000274666585284, ...4, 2.999969481490524], [3.000274666585284, 3.000579851680044, 3.000579851680044, 2.999969481490524, 2.999969481490524]]
expected = [[1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0], [2.0, 2.0, 2.0, 2.0, 2.0], [3.0, 3.0, 3.0, 3.0, 3.0]], abs = 0.001

    def _assert_equal_2d(data: List[List[float]], expected: List[List[float]], abs: float) -> None:
        # pytest.approx() does not support nested data structures.
        assert len(data) == len(expected)
        for i in range(len(data)):
>           assert data[i] == pytest.approx(expected[i], abs=abs)
E           assert [3.000274666585284, 3.000579851680044, 3.000579851680044, 2.999969481490524, 2.999969481490524] == approx([2.0 ± 1.0e-03, 2.0 ± 1.0e-03, 2.0 ± 1.0e-03, 2.0 ± 1.0e-03, 2.0 ± 1.0e-03])
E
E             comparison failed. Mismatched elements: 5 / 5:
E             Max absolute difference: 1.000579851680044
E             Max relative difference: 0.3334621643612693
E             Index | Obtained          | Expected
E             0     | 3.000274666585284 | 2.0 ± 1.0e-03
E             1     | 3.000579851680044 | 2.0 ± 1.0e-03
E             2     | 3.000579851680044 | 2.0 ± 1.0e-03
E             3     | 2.999969481490524 | 2.0 ± 1.0e-03
E             4     | 2.999969481490524 | 2.0 ± 1.0e-03

tests\component\test_task_read_ai.py:151: AssertionError

NI IO Trace shows:
image
image
image
image
image

The original array was
[1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,2,2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,3,3,3,3,3,0,0,0,0,0]
then it was squashed to
[1,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,2,2,3,3,3,3,3,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x]
When this happened, the old 2s were overwritten with 3s.

This test case passes if you increase the number of samples to acquire because a larger read buffer prevents the old/new sample positions from overlapping.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with nidaqmx.Task.read and the test described in tests/component/test_task_read_ai.py, especially the short-read multi-channel finite acquisition case. Reproduce the failure with samples_to_acquire set to 5 and samples_to_read set to 10, then verify that the returned 2D data contains the valid samples for each channel without overwritten values.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
api, testing-qa
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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