The recorder object allows applications to capture a set of data points every sample or every n milliseconds. This allows data to be to be analyzed and/or plotted real-time.

A recorder object may record up to 128 bytes every servo cycle. Most data that may be recorded is 4 bytes in size. A limited amount of data (usually position data) on a controller is stored as 8 bytes. The maximum number of points that can be recorded depends on what data is recorded, but ranges between 16 and 32 points.

A recorder can be started or stopped from the host application or from the controller by configuring a recorder trigger. When the trigger conditions are met, the controller will automatically start or stop the recorder. This feature is very useful for logging relevant variables during the period preceding a fault or error. Normally, the recorder stops collecting data when the buffer is full. It can also be configured to continuously collect data, overwriting the previous data until it is commanded to stop. This is useful for trapping a recent history of controller data.

A given recorder object may only be used by one application at a time. The Acquire method must be called in order to reserve the recorder object for use. The Release method will release the recorder object and allow it to be used by other applications. The MPX will release the recorder object when the Controller object is disposed.

If another application has ended but failed to release a recorder, it may be forcibly released by calling the ForceRelease method.