Installation guide
Keyword Reference Guide 
 MN1270 02.2002  51 
An ASIC is capable of supporting position capture and position compare but only for one of the axes 
that is using that ASIC. The 
CHANNELCONFIG keyword allows the user to select if the position capture 
and position compare functionality can be used by the servo or stepper axis using that channel (ASIC). 
To select the servo axis, 
CHANNELCONFIG is set to 1. To select the stepper axis, CHANNELCONFIG is 
set to 2. The same Mint constants that are used with the 
CONFIG keyword can be used. 
Value Predefined Constant  Meaning 
1 
_cfSERVO
The servo axis using this channel has access to position 
capture and compare. 
2 
_cfSTEPPER
The stepper axis using this channel has access to 
position capture and compare. 
Each axis is associated with a channel and this can be read with the 
AXISCHANNEL keyword. The VIEW
CONFIG
 keyword can also be used to display this information in the terminal. 
By default, all channels are configured to allow the servo axis using that channel access to position 
capture and position compare functionality. 
CHANNELCONFIG should be called before attempting to 
call keywords related to position capture and compare. If the channel is not set up correctly, the error 
‘Channel incorrectly configured’ will be returned. 
Example 1 
On a 2 axis NextMove PCI card we require axis 1 to be a stepper axis and to perform position capture. 
By default, axes 0 and 1 will be configured as servo axes. To change axis 1 to a stepper axis: 
CONFIG.1 = _cfSTEPPER
To see which channel axis 1 is using the AXISCHANNEL keyword is used: 
channel = AXISCHANNEL.1
By default, this will be 1. We now need to configure channel 1 to allow stepper access to position 
capture: 
CHANNELCONFIG.channel = _cfSTEPPER
Example 2 
On an 8 axis NextMove PCI card we require axes 4 and 5 to be stepper axes and to perform position 
capture. By default, axes 4 and 5 will be configured as stepper axes. To see which channel axes 4 and 
5 are using, the 
AXISCHANNEL keyword is used and CHANNELCONFIG called to select stepper control 
on the channel. 
channel = AXISCHANNEL.4
CHANNELCONFIG.channel = _cfSTEPPER
channel = AXISCHANNEL.5
CHANNELCONFIG.channel = _cfSTEPPER
By default in this system, axis 4 uses channel 0 and axis 5 uses channel 1. Note, by default, axis 0 also 
uses channel 0. It would not be possible to perform fast position capture on this axis without using the 
CHANNELCONFIG keyword to switch the channel from stepper to servo control. 
Example 3 
A 2 axis NextMove PCI card is used with a 4 axis expansion card. We require axes 0 and 1 to be servo 
axes and axes 4 and 6 to be stepper axes and to perform position capture on these axes. By default, 
axes 0 and 1 will be configured as servo axes and their associated channels will be configured for servo 
control so no action needs to be taken. Axes 4 and 6 will need to be configured as stepper axes and 
their associated channels configured for stepper control. The 
AXISCHANNEL and CHANNELCONFIG 
keywords are called to select stepper control on the channel. 
CONFIG.4 = _cfSTEPPER
channel = AXISCHANNEL.4
CHANNELCONFIG.channel = _cfSTEPPER
CONFIG.6 = _cfSTEPPER
channel = AXISCHANNEL.4










