How to write the codes to retrieve the waveform that shows on the Tektronix scope?

[newestrookie]

Hi,

I'm a completely rookie with LabVIEW (I took only one Basic course couple years ago... but not enough).  I'm trying to write the codes to communicate between computer and the Tektronix scope using GPIB setup and the two seemed to be talking (*IDN? command was sent and the information of the instrument was received).  However, what I really want to do is to be able to retrieve the data so that I can plot to make them appear look like what I saw on the scope screen and I was not able to find any example of codes that could be seen close to what I needed to do.

Please help me to figure out.  Example of codes will definitely helpful.  Thanks in advance.

newestrookie

[smercurio_fc]

Are you using a driver, or is this code you've written yourself? There's lots of drivers for Tektronix scopes in the Instrument Driver Network. Most have a function that downloads the data from the scope and you can then just feed it to a waveform graph.

[newestrookie]

Thanks.  I just found out that using the instrument driver would help.  However, I still wonder if I want to write my own codes (for the purpose of learning and better understanding LabVIEW), how should I start?  Can I use the VISA functions?  If yes, how can I use them properly?  Again, thanks a lot for your tips... I REALLY appreciated.

Newestrookie

[johnsold]

One good way to learn is to open the diagrams of the drivers and examples. Find something which does most of what you want. Open it up and look at how it was done.

Many drivers and examples are very well written. Some are poor or use old methods which have been replaced with better ways of doing things. So do not assume that every example you find is a "best practice."

There are online tutorials which can help if you have forgotten too much from your original course.

Lynn

[smercurio_fc]

VISA is the preferred mechanism to talk to instruments since it can handle talking to instruments via GPIB, serial, or TCP/IP. The best way to see how to to this is just to look at the drivers, assuming they were written using VISA, as opposed to using the older GPIB functions. You can also start here: How to use an Instrument Driver in LabVIEW. At the bottom there's a number of other links to other sources.

There are also examples that ship with LabVIEW. Open the Example Finder (Help -> Find Examples) and navigate to "Hardware Input and Output -> VISA". The "GPIB-VISA" is such an example. You can also switch to the Search tab enter "VISA" in the search box. There's also a full instrument driver for the Agilent 34401 meter that you can access from the function palette (Instrument I/O -> Instr Drivers).

[newestrookie]

Thanks everybody for helping me out.  I'll definitely spend time to checkout the examples that you've recommended.  Have a nice weekend.

Newestrookie