Defining a Logical Device in Windows XP

[DCall]

How do I define a Logical Device in Windows XP Professional? 

I have a PCMCIA-GPIB+ card installed in my laptop computer.  I'm running the Measurement & Automation Explorer software (version 3.1.1.3004).   I can define the Interface Name just fine (ie. GPIB0)  I can even send very basic commands to the Logical Device/Instrument (a HP3457A Multimeter in this case), such as "BEEP" using the Measurement & Automation Explorer, Communicate with Instrument Window.  However, I'm unable to define the Logical Device/Instrument in Device  Manager so that other applications can see the device.   In the Device Manager page for the National Instruments PCMCIA GPIB+ Properties, there is no Device Templates Tab to define a Instrument. 

Is there something I'm missing?

Dave

[Dennis_Knutson]

There hasn't been anything to set in Device Manager for quite some time. VISA aliases can be set in MAX so that you can specify a VISA resource called "scope" for example. Or, you can simply use GPIB0::INSTR::n where n is the address of the instrument. If you're not using VISA (though I recomend you do), low level GPIB functions usually just require the address by itself.

What other applications do you require to see the instruments? Once you've done a scan for instruments in MAX, they should all be available.

[DCall]

Thanks for your reply Dennis.

I'm not familar with VISA or MAX.  Nor am I a programmer.

A little on my background.  I'm an analog electrical engineer trying to get a simple TCL program running to measure some voltages on a analog circuit board I'm developing.  I've done this before years ago when my  PC was running Windows 98 or even DOS.  Once I had the logical device definded,  I used the "ibfind",  "ibwrite"  and "ibread"  commands to communicate with the instruments.  In the interactive session,  I can issue the command "ibfind GPIB0"  just fine.  However the command "ibfind GPIB0::INSTR::3"  returns an error message.

I'm not a programmer, and would like to avoid having to learn a new appliation such as VISA. 

Dave

[Dennis_Knutson]

Okay. I understand now. Your ibwrt and ibrd should work the same (i.e. ibwrt 3, "*IDN?", 5 for an instrument at address 3). You do not need to do an ibfind. Use ibdev instead. Ibdev does not require device names. You should go to Start>Programs>National Instruments>NI-488.2>NI-488.2 Help.