AP2222 (System Two) or AP2722. Instrument Driver(GPIB) vs. ActiveX(APIB) which will be more effective?

Hello Forum,
This is my first time posting here. I am on a project where i will be trying to control a AP device. I have the option of using the AP2722 or an AP2222. From talking to tech support.
AP2222 needs to use ActiveX control LabView to APWIN (APIB)
while
AP2722 has an instrument driver and uses GPIB.
So what kind of things would you guys suggest? Any opinion?
Which will have a gentler or less-steep learning curve?
Which option is more robust and offers more control?
Pros and Cons?
thank you.
.Danny

If it was me I would opt for the GPIB option. It is widely used standard available on many different types of instruments.
I would buy the GPIB controller from NI because of the great support and troubleshooting software that is included. On the plus side you can use this controller to connect to other instruments as well.
The APIB looks like it is proprietary and you would have to buy the controller from them.
I assume you want to write your own application in LabVIEW and not use their APWIN? software.
When they say they have a GPIB driver what was it written in? LabVIEW or something else?
Using LabVIEW 2010SP1 and TestStand 4.5

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How to install an older instrument driver (GPIB) LV2009 eval, 23 days remaining!

Hi..
Still having fun (I think) here trying to "evaluate" LV2009.
I'm sort of happy with the higher level stuff, front pannels, block diagrams, flow control with error signaling etc, so now time to move on and try to talk with the real world.   The Front Panel development UI is a bit of a dog, but I'll live with that.
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I have a Marconi 6960 RF power meter (and similar kit) I can use for this "evaluation" and have found a so called driver in the NI developer zone some(i forget)where. It's a zipfile (no problem) with 4 files in. .c .h .fp and .doc    Sadly, the .doc though documents the functions of the driver, gives me no clue as to how to install it in LV2009. It also talks about LabWINDOWS V2.0, and dates from 1997.
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Looking arround this board, I'm not realy any the wiser as to what to do with it. (This downloaded "driver" code.) It obviously needs compiling, but with what, and then integrating in LV2009, but how?
I found a link in one sort of related message, something about a driver import wizard, but the link is blocked by some spotty IT type this end, so that is of no help.
The inbuilt help from within LV2009 is sufficiently vague, or over complicated as to be of little use too.
What I need, is a simple, put that there, do this, do that type of procedure.
Again, stumped by simple details, and this is the area I will probably be spending most of my LV life in, from what's being muttered about "upstairs" in the big boss's office earlier.
Any help appreciated.
Regards.
DJB.
Just been "diverted" onto a hardware repair job, so no hurry, for now.
OK... Who let the smoke out?

Hi Dennis.
Yes, I found that page (and many others) but the info there is sufficiently vague, or so OTT for someone who does not know their way arround the darker recesses of LV (yet) to figure out.   It tells me a lot, but it does not tell me in sufficient detail *exactly* how to install a driver that someone else has created, or for that matter, how to find out what "Drivers" are installed already.
As you or someone pointed out, that code was also written way back for another system "LabWINDOWS/CVI" (whatever that was) but it shows up when you search for "Drivers for LabVIEW". It is also listed as supported by LV7.0 and LV8.0.   Those IDN pages also do not yet (that I can see) make any mention of LV2009. Is it just me that sees this as somewhat inconsitant and confusing for a new user, when NI are pushing LV2009 at this time?
Someone is now going to tell me that reusing existing older drivers *is* straightforward, but will be vague as to exactly how.
The only "exposure" to LV we've had here in the past/present, is as users of pre-compiled tools and utilities from some of our principles. And it has to be said, all of them are without exception, extreemly buggy, so much so, I personally wouldnt say they were fit for even internal Beta testing, as they don't handle "unexpected events" at all well. And some of these utilities could if they screw up, seriously damage hardware in some instances.
We've also found many many times, that anything using "VISA" IO drivers (that word again) is almost garanteed to be troublesome to get or keep working, especialy as one lab/workshop PC might have tools and programs from several vendors on it, and they must all work indipendantly when needed (not at the same time!) without interference from other vendors code or preferences. For some reason, VISA seems to make that all but imposible.
We have a situation at the moment, where we suspect a "Clash of the VISA's" as we can't reproduce what a customer has reported in the way of bad behaviour of a semi automated test system, but we see other errors relating to the serial IO used, throwing up internal LV runtime error messages, and blank spaces where the *Real meaningfull* comments should be. It's all pre-compiled code, so we have no way of supporting or debugging it, but try tell the end user that, who's test facility is now at a standstill, untill I can call the East coast USA later today (from the UK) not that I expect a constructive reply till sometime tomorrow, at best. By then, there'll be Director to Director phone call's going on!
I've also just been informed, that the workshop PC in question, will not now run something else we need, since we earlier installed the program the user is using (made by the instrument vendor) and all it's baggage, so yet another "Fixit" re-install of VISA (this time from Agilent) is needed to complete another job, and that in turn will break something else. It's a nightmare!
Sorry, but in my book, VISA is a no go for "Serious" multi vendor use. It's too fragile. In our industry (EMC and product safety testing) "Legacy" GPIB rules, almost without oposition. USB and LAN connections may be alternatives where the instrument supports them. With some true RS232 point to point low speed dedicated links where needed (often via passively powered fibre optic convertors too) for some measuring instruments.
But, at this time, all I want to do, is talk/control a simple existing GPIB instrument (a MI 6960, that I know all too well) and I thought (wrongly as it turns out) that I had found a needed "Driver".   If I have to create one from new, I will, one way or another.   But it makes a mockery of the so often quoted aspect of LabVIEW, being quick to construct and deploy a test/trial/control system etc, with an existing vast library of tried and tested instrument/device drivers. From what I see so far, it's anything but, as it's in the same ball park as all the other RAD IDE's etc (Even Delphi!) in that respect. The devil is in the detail, and if that detail as often does not exist, it's a task and a half to create it, and get it right.
Sorry if I ruffle any feathers, but I've been arround RF test & instrumentation systems at the hardware and software level for more years (decades) than I care to admit. Each and every time someone comes up with a "better" way to do something (usualy involving even more computing power!) It's anything but quick and easy, and the end result is in all honesty, not realy different to how it was done, before "enforced newness" was applied.
Regards to All, I've still got the day job to do, so sadly I can't sit in front of this and mess with software all day. Much as I need to, and often would preffer to!
DJB.
OK... Who let the smoke out?

Anybody has thermonics T-2500's instrument driver?

Has anybody developed the instrument driver (GPIB)
for Thermonics T-2500?

Hi,
Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a driver for your instrument at either thermonics website or at www.ni.com/idnet. I would like you to submit a request for this driver at: http://zone.ni.com/idnet97.nsf/instrumentdriverrequest/ and with the instrument manufacturer. We develop drivers based on demand and popularity so the more requests we have for it, the greater the possibility that we will develop one.
If you would like to try developing your own instrument driver (or modify the existing one), we have documentation, model instrument drivers, and driver templates to help at :
http://www.ni.com/devzone/idnet/development.htm
We also have a syndicate of third party vendors that specialize in National Instruments' products and services. Some of the
vendors specialize in driver development. I would suggest contacting one of the Alliance members at:
http://www.ni.com/alliance
An instrument driver is a collection of functions that implement the commands necessary to perform the instrument�s operations. In short, someone read the instrument user manual and implemented some of the functionality in a program for the end user. Instrument drivers are not necessary to use your instrument. They are merely time savers to help you develop your project so you do not need to study the manual before writing a program.
There are example VI's in LV on Instrument Connectivity. If you go to the Help menu >> Examples.. >> I/O, you will see a couple and Examples.. >> Fundamentals for File and String manipulation. I would suggest tweaking them to suit your application. Also the specific command that your instrument responds to can be found from it's manual.
Some useful resources for your application are
ni.com > NI Developer Zone >
Development Library > Instrument Connectivity
http://search.ni.com/?col=alldocs&layout=TechResources&ql=a , to search examples and knowledge bases
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I don't understand the relationship between VI Analyzer and IVI. The VI Analyzer is used for checking your code for a variety of style recomendations. IVI is a standard for instrument driver interchangability.
For the instruments that fall into one of the 8 defined IVI classes, you should use them and IVI class drivers in your LabVIEW program. Right now, those are the only classes and your network analyzer isn't included. You can go to http://www.ivifoundation.org/ and check the status of other classes but I think the only additions on the horizon are AC power supplies and counter/timers. Since IVI has been around for 8 years and that's an average of 1 instrument a year, we'll probably have to wait another 2 years before these classes are released and if you want a network analyser class, you'll probably have to wait several more years for that to get approved.
Until this happens, you will probably need to provide your own drivers (or wrappers around existing drivers) for instruments that don't fall into existing classes. They may lack some of the true IVI functions such as state caching and simulation but the interchangable part would not be that hard to do if you can define a set of common functions that such an instrument has to provide.

How should i modify the hp54600a instrument driver for GPIB so i can use it for RS232 interface ?

I try to modify the hp54600a instrument driver for GPIB, so i can use it with RS232. But somehow it didnt work. When i try to run the initilize it, the prgoram show VISA read error (time is up before the process is finish). How should I modify the VI so I can use it with RS232 interface ?

First, check the instrument's user manual to see if the GPIB and serial command sets are the same. Also check to see what EOS(End of String) characters the instrument requires. Then, do a loopback test to test communication in LabVIEW.
Search Results: Serial Loopback Test
Ray K
NI Applications EngineerMessage Edited by Molly K on 02-18-2005 10:57 PM

Agilent 6632A GPIB dc power supply, 0-20 Vdc Instrument Driver

Hi, does anyone here has a Agilent 6632A GPIB dc power supply, 0-20 Vdc Instrument Driver???
Thank you.

It's available on NI Home > NI Developer Zone > Instrument Driver Network and search for 6632A.
Or, see attached.Message Edited by TotalAJ on 06-22-2005 07:33 AM
Attachments:
hp6xxxa.zip ‏47 KB

GPIB instrument driver identification

What is the right labview GPIB instrument driver for ESP300 motion controller produced by Newport Inc.?
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Hamfery,
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Cyril Bouton
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I need an GPIB Instrument driver for an HP5386A Freq. Counter.

LabVIEW will be used to automate some Frequency measurements.

I would suggest trying to use the HP5384A driver. These two devices are very similar and its possible that the instrument driver is interchangable. Let us know if this works out for you.
http://zone.ni.com/idnet97.nsf/9b2b33e1993d877786256436006ec498/3e3a4ce78bf42f05862568f50000ce56?OpenDocument
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Hi,
Does anyone have instrument driver for Keithley 2015 multimeter or does
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Did you check Keithley's site Harri? I think I got one from there. They were anxious to know, Keithley that is, which drivers would be worth creating for CVI. Maybe you already have this worked out but otherwise talk to your friendly neighborhood Keithley rep. Hope it helps.
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Grant M. Johnson
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Measurement Studio Evaluation Software - Instrument Driver Factory

Greetings,
I have a copy of the Measurement Studio Evaluaiton Software CD. I've
installed the Labwindows/CVI Demo and Component Works Demo. Wanted to
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Driver Factory). When I launch IDF.exe I get an error which states
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Has anyone else had this problem?
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Mika,
I have tried the installation on two machines.
The first system has Windows XP Pro along with Labview 6.0.2 / MAX /
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The Instrument Driver Factory error reads:
The ComponentWorks Instrument Driver Factory cannot locate
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The Measurement Studio Evaluation Sofware CD installed Labwindows/CVI
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Thanks for your help.
Rick
On Mon, 25 Nov 2002 14:00:06 -0600 (CST), mfukuchi wrote:
>Hi!
>I would like to reproduce the problem on a test machine. Could you
>please tell me what OS you are using, and if you have any other NI
>softwares installed on your machine. Also, am I correct that you have
>Measurement Studio Evaluaiton Software for version 6?
>
>Mika Fukuchi
>Application Engineer
>National Instruments

I have an error with the hpe363xa instrument driver. Where do I go from here?

I have the latest versions of labview, max, gpib, ivi engine,... I downloaded the hpe363xa driver (for Agilent E3633A power supply). MAX configured the gpib ok (can communicate with instrument and gpib tests run ok). When I run the hpe363xa Getting Started.vi (only changed the Resource Name to match instruments gpib address) I get the following error message:
Error -1074135024 occurred at hpe363xa Configure Current Limit.vi
Possible reasons:
Driver Status: (Hex 0xBFFA0010) Invalid value.
Secondary Error (Hex 0xBFFC0004) Parameter 4 out of range, or error occurred while setting Parameter 4.
Elaboration: Current Limit
---end of error message
This error o
ccurs in the call to hpe363xa_ConfigureCurrentLimit(); in the DLL. The current limit value is ok right up to the function call vi (calls the c function in the DLL), so presumably the "error occurred while setting Paramter 4", whatever that means.
A possibly related issue is that even though I have IVI installed and it shows up under My System\Software in the configuration tree, there is no My System\IVI in the configuration tree (like MAX and other documentation implies there should be). I tried re-installing IVI, but did not try re-installing MAX.
Thanks for any help.

Hi,
Just back from holiday and spotted your question.
I had a similar problem a while back and resolved it with some modifications to the IVI example with IDT 1.1. ( IviDCPwr [MSR] - Output DC Volts.vi ).
Attached is my vi. This vi is intended to run with a sperate Initialise.vi and close vi but as you will see the initialise and close are encased in case statements.
The VI is labVIEW 5.1.1, IVI IDT 1.1 library.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Ray Farmer
Regards
Ray Farmer
Attachments:
setpowersuply_ividcpwr.vi ‏112 KB

Hp 4192 a instrument driver doesnt have a frequency output

Hello friends
I am using Hp 4192 A impedance analayzer and I am using the drivers given in the Ni website. I am able to control the instrument with it ,but as the instrument driver has only two outputs for display A and display B i am not able to record the corresponding frequency measurements (which is the 3rd display) . Also with the same vi (the one which i wrote) it sometimes sweeps slowly , sometimes does it quickly but the sweep doesnt restart at 1000 kHz(sweep is supposed to be in loop), and sometimes it works perfectly.Its driving me nuts.
Please help me as my research needs measuements from impedance analyzer.
Thanks

This shows the nuts and bolts of every driver for every instrument out there. This is a query, which means you are expecting an answer. Some commands just tell the equipment to do something, so you don't need the VISA read part of it.
This picture is intended only to show you how nice and clean it could be to make your own drivers in LabVIEW. I highly recommend reading some sort of LabVIEW for Dummies kind of book AT LEAST. That will show you how to do basic stuff in LabVIEW. And of course, read the equipment manuals. If you know how to use the instrument, you can concentrate on the programmer's guide. If you don't know how to use the instrument... whew - usually HP/Agilent manuals are several hundred pages of boring reading, but they are very thorough about how to perform measurements! After that, you are ready to ask questions here!
In fact, poke around your instrument's programmer's guide to see just what I told it to do. If you can figure it out, then you are starting to understand the programming flow and it will be no time before you are writing your own stuff.
Good luck!
Bill
Bill
(Mid-Level minion.)
My support system ensures that I don't look totally incompetent.
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IS it possible to use ni-visa with lookout to use an instrument driver

IS it possible to use ni-visa with lookout to use an instrument driver,, or just use the insturment driver...
Thanks
Mark

Hi Mark,
NI-VISA is a driver layer that is used to communicate to Serial, GPIB, VXI and PXI platform.
In reality the drivers that you use with Lookot do not make use of this driver layer called VISA (which is used for the most part in the instrument control area).
Normally the terminology (Instrument Driver) is not used in Lookout (or in any SCADA system). So the answer for your question is no, you cannot use NI-VISA with Lookout, with Lookout you either use the drivers object that comes with the package or you use an OPC server (normaly provided by the hardware manufacturer, this hardware is normally a PLC) to provide data to Lookout.
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I am drawing 2 different colored rectangles contiuously on the screen using a while loop. I try to get information from an oscilloscope while this is switching, but the loop stops while the instrument driver aquires the measurement. The oscilliscope value depends on the switching of the rectangles, so I need them to occur simultaneously.

First you should have the two operations in different loops so one doe snot stop and wait for the other.
This should get you closer to what you are asking if you are not doing this already.
Next, look at the code you are using to get at the scope. If it opens/reads/closes, you can sped things up by opening once, repeatedly reading and only close at the end.
If you have covered all of the above, then provide more info (i.e. post code) So we can be of further assistance.
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Ben
Ben Rayner
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AP2222 (System Two) or AP2722. Instrument Driver(GPIB) vs. ActiveX(APIB) which will be more effective?

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