Printing from Windows to a GPIB Plotter

[ablockcpii]

Currently we have a PC with a PCI GPIB card that is connected to a network analyzer via GPIB, and a plotter connected to the network analyzer via GPIB. We would like to start printing to the plotter using the PC, but an attempt at using a serial cable in tandem with the GPIB proved to lockup the system. Is there any way to get windows based applications (visual basic, word) to print to the GPIB plotter via the GPIB PCI card? Windows has drivers for the plotter (hp7550a), but will only recognize it if it is attached via a serial cable.

[AaronK]

Hi,
This is definitely possible. Take a look at KB 12EBJ8EO. It was written for Windows 95, but I bet you could adapt it to your current OS. Also you might ask the manufacturer of your Plotter why it is locking up, and if they have any workarounds. Hope this helps out.

AK.

[ablockcpii]

Thanks I'll check that out. I'm pretty sure the plotter won't let you use both connection interfaces simultaneously, hence the lockup. Just curious, might you know how I could get Visual Basic to send commands to the GPIB bus? Thanks again.

Adam

[AaronK]

Hey Adam,
You can send GPIB commands from VB multiple ways. You could use VISA or ib level commands. Check out www.ni.com/downloads (and go to the example code link) for more info. From my quick search, I found an example of how to do synchronous Vs. asynchronous GPIB in VB (Component works), how to TX and RX binary data over GPIB in VB, as well the language interface files that will make it easier for you to code (if you do not have Component Works).

Hope this helps out Adam!

Best Regards,
Aaron K.
Application Engineer
National Instruments

[ablockcpii]

Thanks Aaron. I found the language interface files for Visual Basic, but I have had problems running the example codes. Firstly, when I load the program, I get a message stating: "C:\Windows\TEMP\DMMserialPoll\DBGRID32.OCX could not be loaded" Do you know how I can get that file loaded? Also, if I continue loading the project and try to run the code, it states that it cannot find the file "gpib-32.dll" even though that file is present in the same folder as the program and in c:windows\system


Also, I found the KB article on directing printer port output to a GPIB device. Do you know how I can perform this on windows98 using a non-NI GPIB card?

Thanks for all the help

[AaronK]

Hi Ablockcpii,
I am unsure why the program would be trying to reference a file located in the temp directory in windows. As you can see from this path, the OCX it is looking for is in the windows temp directory. My guess is that there is something accidentally left over from another project.

Regarding the gpib-32.dll, actually the file should be located in the system32 directory. I am surprised that it did not find it if the file was located in the same directory, but I know that it should be in the system32 directory. The ni488.2 installer should have handled this. Have you installed the driver yet?

>Do you know how I can perform this on windows98 using a non-NI GPIB card?
GPIB is a standard for communication, so a
ny device can talk over gpib. However the technology for getting this information to the GPIB bus is not necessarily standard. Our drivers are designed to work with only our cards in mind. It is certainly possible to use other cards, and the procedures may be almost equivalent, but to be honest I do not have any experience with any other cards so I do not think I would be of any help there!

Hope this helps out!

Best Regards,
Aaron K.
Application Engineer
National Instruments