jBEAM accesses measurement data by importing the files that contain it (i.e. by requesting ASAM ODS databases), or by receiving sensor data from measurement modules. This description of importing a DIAdem data file illustrates the producer-consumer structure.
First, we have to create a new instance of a DIAdem importer in jBEAM. This importer contains all the necessary information: how a DIAdem file is structured, and how to produce data items in jBEAM. In this example, the DIAdem importer creates two floating point channels named "Data Item 1" and "Data Item 2". The importer is therefore a "producer" that produces data items.
As an example of a data consumer, we create a graphic object of type "Universal 2D graph". In the graph, we define a chart of type "XY graph" whose input is now "Data Item 1". The measured values from the DIAdem file are then visualized automatically as a curve. The second data item ("Data Item 2") can be shown in a second diagram of type "XY curve", in the same graph; alternatively, we can define a second graph that shows the measured values as a diagram of type "XYcurve".
Instances of both producers and consumers are designated as "components" in the jBEAM software architecture.