VXIPC 870 SERIES FOR WINDOWS NT/98
Contents
1. C NIVXI README TXT for NI VXI information e C VXIpnp Winxx README TXT for NI VISA information You can also reference the National Instruments www natinst com or ftp natinst com sites for driver updates examples and product news 4 www natinst com What Is NI VXI The NI VXI system level software is the driver that controls your VXIpc and VXI VME system NI VXI includes a Resource Manager an interactive configuration and troubleshooting program libraries of software routines for test and measurement T amp M programming interactive control programs for both NI VXI and NI VISA and a logging utility your can use for debugging your applications You can use this software to seamlessly program multiple mainframe configurations and have software compatibility across a variety of controller platforms What Is VISA NI VISA is a standard I O Application Programming Interface API for instrumentation programming NI VISA can control VXI VME PXI GPIB or Serial instruments making the appropriate driver calls depending on the type of instrument being used NI VISA uses the same operations to communicate with instruments regardless of the interface type For example the NI VISA command to write an ASCII string to a message based instrument is the same whether the instrument is Serial GPIB or VXI As a result NI VISA gives you interface independence This makes it easier to switch bus interfaces and2. means that users who must program instruments for multiple interfaces need learn only one API Another advantage of NI VISA is that it is an object oriented API that will easily adapt to new instrumentation interfaces as they evolve making application migration to the new interfaces easy VISA is the industry standard for developing instrument drivers Most current drivers written by National Instruments use NI VISA and support Windows NT 98 95 Solaris 2 HP UX VxWorks and Macintosh as long as the appropriate system level drivers are available for that platform The NI VISA software in this kit is compatible with the WIN95 GWIN95 and WINNT GWINNT frameworks the WIN95 GWIN95 frameworks include support for Windows 98 With NI VISA installed on your computer you can run any VXIplug play software compatible with these frameworks This includes instrument drivers and executable soft front panel software included with VXIplug amp play compatible instruments from a variety of vendors National Instruments Corporation 5 VXIpc 870 Sieries for Windows NT 98 NI VXI VISA Release Notes Utilities This section describes the utilities and features of NI VISA for Windows NT 98 95 NI VISA for Windows NT 98 95 includes utilities to help you configure develop and debug your system quickly T amp M Explorer and NI Spy You can use T amp M Explorer to view your entire T amp M system and configure various components When you launch T
3. ordered the following optional software e LabVIEW Development software CD ROM You also receive the LabVIEW Configuration Disk so you can activate the preinstalled LabVIEW software e LabWindows CVI Development software CD ROM You also receive the LabWindows CVI Configuration Disk so you can activate the preinstalled LabWindows CVI software VXIpc 870 Series for Windows NT 98 2 www natinst com Printed Documentation Aside from this document your kit contains the VXIpc 870 Series User Manual which has information on configuring and installing your VXIpc controller You may not require this manual if you are performing a simple hardware installation that uses the standard default settings However you should keep this manual handy in case you decide to try a different switch or jumper setting at a later time The user manual also contains information on BIOS the front panel and connectors LEDs and system resources Acrobat Online Documentation Your kit includes online manuals in the form of Adobe Acrobat version 3 0 portable document format PDF files The Acrobat manuals and their installed locations are as follows e The NI VISA User Manual describes how to program using NI VISA Start Programs V XIpnp NI VISA User Manual e The NI VISA Programmer Reference Manual describes in detail the attributes events and operations you use in NI VISA Start Programs V XIpnp NI VISA Programmer Reference Manual e The NI VX
4. I User Manual describes how to program using NI VXI Start Programs National Instruments VXI NI VXI User Manual e The NI VXI Programmer Reference Manual describes in detail the attributes events and operations you use in NI VXI Start Programs National Instruments VXI NI VXI Programmer Reference Manual If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader 3 0 you can download a copy from the Adobe Web site at http www adobe com Where Do You Start 1 Compare your kit contents with the description in the preceding What Do You Have section Contact National Instruments regarding any discrepancies 2 If you ordered the LabVIEW or LabWindows CVI software option your kit includes either a LabVIEW or LabWindows CVI configuration disk Because both LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI are pre installed on your hard drive in a nonfunctional mode you need to insert the configuration disk when prompted to activate the installed software National Instruments Corporation 3 VXIpc 870 Sieries for Windows NT 98 B Note If you do not insert the configuration disks when prompted Setup deletes the pre installed LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI software from your hard drive However you can reinstall them from disk as described in the next section Otherwise if you ordered a kit that does not contain the configuration disks install LabVIEW or LabWindows CVI from disk if you want to use either programming environment Then reinstall the NI VXI VISA softwar
5. READ ME FIRST IN NSTRUMENTS VXipc 870 Series For W npows NT 98 This document contains information to help you understand the components of your kit determine where to start setting up your kit and learn about the NI VXI VISA features Contents What Do You Haedo nites ott rien 1 Hard Wares 36s cidi ahah ieee oa 1 SOWA ci rd en aan N rabo bado do 2 Available Options isitoe soiset aeh oriens skere iea isse 2 Printed Documentation ucsesenseesssnsensnnnennnnnennnnsnennnnnn nenne nennen 3 Acrobat Online Documentation ccoooocnnooccnononnnononnnnonnncnnnnnnnonncnnnno 3 Where Do You Start eu usage innen 3 What Is NEVA 5 Whats VISA o llos 5 NI VXI VISA Release Notes ccccceccssscesesseeceeeecesseeeceeeeeceseeeesseeeensaes 6 Utilities ee teria dd es de es 6 Supported Application Development Environments 0 00 6 What Do You Have Your kit contains hardware software and documentation You may also have ordered some optional equipment or software Hardware Your hardware includes the VXIpc 870 Series controller which you install in your VXI mainframe You also receive the following accessories e COM1 2 adapter cable Enhanced parallel port adapter cable e Single shielded 2 m GPIB cable e AT PS 2 cable CVI LabVIEW MITE NI 488 2M NI DAQ NI VISA NI VXI and VXlpc are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation Product and company na
6. amp M Explorer a list of your VXI PXI GPIB and Serial devices appears on your screen To view the properties of each device such as logical address address space used and primary address right click on the device in the list When you view the properties of a National Instruments device you can configure the hardware settings directly from the properties list T amp M Explorer replaces many earlier utilities such as VXIedit and VISAconf and integrates with the NI DAQ Configuration Utility for VXI DAQ instruments T amp M Explorer also has new features such as an option to run Resource Manager at startup and troubleshooting to guide you through configuration conflicts and errors NI Spy tracks the calls your application makes to National Instruments T amp M drivers including NI VXI NI VISA and NI 488 2 It highlights functions that return errors so you can quickly determine which functions failed during your development NI Spy can also log your program s calls to these drivers so you can check them for errors at your convenience Supported Application Development Environments Ez NI VISA for Windows NT 98 95 supports the following Application Development Environments ADEs LabVIEW version 4 x 5 x e LabWindows CVI version 4 x 5 x e Borland C C version 4 5 x e Microsoft Visual C C version 4 x 5 x 6 x e Microsoft Visual Basic version 4 x 5 x Note Although NI VXI and NI VISA have been tested and foun
7. d to work with these ADEs other ADEs or higher versions of the ADEs listed above may also work VXIpc 870 Series for Windows NT 98 6 www natinst com 322380A 01 Mar99
8. e from CD ROM or from the copy located in the c images directory The NI VXI VISA installer updates necessary files in the LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI directories to ensure that the latest development files are being used 3 Note The NI VXI VISA CD ROM contains disk images if you need to create floppies VXIpc 870 Series for Windows NT 98 If you require peripheral support for Ethernet SCSI PCMCIA video or IDE refer to the file c images vxi870 drivers txt The drivers txt file contains the following information e Section 1 explains the procedure for recreating the hard drive image should the operating system crash e Section 2 describes how to access the online documentation e Section 3 explains how to install the software drivers for the various peripherals on your VXIpc e Section 4 describes how to install NI DAQ for use with systems including the National Instruments VXI PCMCIA PCI or ISA data acquisition boards e Section 5 includes important information for Windows NT 4 0 users After you finish setting up your system refer to Chapter 4 Developing Your Application in your user manual to learn how you can use your VXI VME system and to ensure it is operating properly Please refer to the following files for important information that may affect your application program including known issues and software corrections with this release and additional information relevant for NI VXI and NI VISA API development
9. mes mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies 322380A 01 Copyright 1999 National Instruments Corp All rights reserved March 1999 Software Available Options Your VXIpc 870 Series controller comes with National Instruments software already installed on its hard drive Windows NT Kit The Windows NT kit contains the following software Windows NT CD ROM with boot disk e NI VXIVISA for embedded controllers with Windows NT 98 e NI 488 2 for Windows Windows 98 Kit The Windows 98 kit contains the following software e Windows 98 CD ROM with boot disk e NI VXI VISA for embedded controllers with Windows NT 98 e NI 488 2 for Windows Additional Installed Software Your VXIpc 870 Series controller s hard drive contains the National Instruments LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI software The National Instruments NI DAQ software is also pre installed on all VXI controllers to support the National Instruments data acquisition boards A copy of all software media excluding LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI is also available in the C images directory for immediate access Both LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI integrate the VXI and VISA library interfaces that are required to support your VXIpc embedded controller You also get hundreds of complete instrument drivers which are modular source code programs that handle the communication with your instrument to speed your application development You may have
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