Compatibility of GPIB32.DLL with Agilent Interfaces

[ceetee]

I fully realize this is a NI-sponsored arena but have a question. I have successfully implemented NI GPIB controllers into my software package and am branching out to include other controllers like the Agilent series. A little research has led me to believe I will be making a new library (dll) interface for my development environment. No biggie... I was just wondering if the NI supplied GPIB32.dll is cross-manufacturer compatible before I go down that path.

Has anyone written low level sytems to handle multiple-vendor interfaces in this manner?

[Dennis_Knutson]

They are not the same. If you want to use a single program with GPIB cards from NI and Agilent, you should be using VISA commands in your program and not the lower level GPIB commands (i.e. ibwrt, ibrd). VISA is a cross-platform api.

[MJF]

It's not only cross platform, it is also to a large part interface independent (with the exception of things like opening ports and configuring communication parameters).

So you can write a program that uses GPIB, RS-232 and USB interfaces (for example) that uses the same code for all but the initialization.