Currently the MCS supports two different recording backends:
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MDR: a XML-based format that can be used to record and replay measurements with the MCS. Includes raw measurement data, device parameters and other information to reconstruct a measurement environment. Due to its “raw” nature it is not suited to be directly used with other applications.
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CSV: simple tabular text format that can be imported in other programs like databases, but cannot be read by the MCS itself as it lacks information abour the recording environment. Only includes preprocessed measurement data. (Note: The generated file might be too large for some applications to handle, for example Microsoft Excel is known to cause problems with large datasets). When importing the file in another application make sure you use point ( . ) as decimal separator, semicolon ( ; ) as field separator and comma ( , ) as 1000-group separator (if you software supports those settings).
In doubt use the MDR format, as you can convert it to CSV later if necessary.
To start a recording simply select the Start Recording menu entry. The MCS will then ask you for a filename for storing the measurement, by changing the filetype you also select the recording backend. For MDR recordings you can provide some additional information in the next dialog to describe the measurement.
Once started you can pause and continue the recording at any time. However if you change any device parameters the recording will automatically be stopped.
When your measurement is finished you can stop the recording with the Stop Recording menu entry.