DOS GPIB Driver (GPIB.COM)

[C. Kennedy]

I have a DOS application (that runs on Win 3.1) that calls GPIB.COM (the DOS gpib 'driver') to write various instrument commands over the bus. I do not have access to the source code for the DOS application. I have upgraded two of the instruments that this DOS application communicates with. The new instruments do not understand the commands written in the DOS application. I need to 'grab' the commands and convert it to an equivelent command for the new instrument before GPIB.COM sends it over the bus. What are some possibilities provided by NI to accomplish this? I had thought about writing a COM file that acts as a filter for GPIB.COM, however since I don't have access to the DOS source code, I would have to name my file GPIB.COM in orde
r for it to be called. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

[NI-488.2 master]

Hi,

You might try running your application on a Windows 2000/XP machine and enable DOS support. You can do this by going to MAX, and browse to >>Tools>>NI-488.2>>DOS Support... Now check the box to Enable DOS support for NI-488.2 applications. You should now be able to run your app from Windows 2000. Run NI-Spy before you run your application. NI-Spy should be able to capture all of the NI-488 calls that you are making.

If for some reason, you cannot run your app on Windows 2000, you could instead spy on the GPIB bus using a GPIB analyzer. This will allow you to capture all of the data that is being transferred over the GPIB. Hope that this helps.