read instrument data and send data to instrument via USB PORT OR Parallel PORT

[RAJPUT]

hello friends

                          i m new in labview. i got labview 7.1. i want to develop a program in labview that read instrument data and sent data to instrument via a USB port or Parallel port.

i have few questions in my mind.

1 - which is simple USB port  or Parallel port to read and write.

2- i want economical instrument. can u advice me which instrument is cheaper to buy and can be use for experimental purposes.

3- any material or stuff i can get to do complete it

 I SHALL BE VERY  GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR THIS ACT OF KINDNESS.

YOUR HELP IS MY SUCCESS.

SHAHID

THANK YOU

[nyc_(is_out_of_here)]

For GPIB communication, you will need to buy either an internal GPIB card or an external GPIB controller for your USB or parallel port.

NI sells all three types.

[JasonSmith]

Hi RAJPUT,

From your post it does not seem like you have any instrument at all as of yet.  We would be better able to make recommendations for a solution if you elaborate on what you would like to achieve with the instrument.

Jason S.
National Instruments

[Makoto]

I believe the "Parallel Port" you mention is meaning GPIB, not the legacy printer port.  How easy your app development is will depend on if the USB instrument is USBTMC class compliant or not.  If the instrument is USBTMC compliant, you can easily control it by using VISA library in the same manner as if accessing legacy GPIB instruments.  Otherwise, you must obtain the instrument-specific USB driver from the instrument vendor and must access it through the vendor specific DLL.  From LabVIEW, it is possible to access any custom DLLs but its technic is one of non-beginner's, but the VISA library that allows to access USBTMC is easy to use from LabVIEW.