N6030 driver in LabView

[JPLEng]

Hi Adam:

I looked at you  suggestions. I enabled the 'show all ' but that makes no difference.
Your suggestion of building my own VISA driver doesn't seem right either. Looks like this builds something from sratch.
The driver already exists. With IVI just need to know how to close the gap between the instrument driver and LabView so I can  see it programably.
I've followed all the IVI suggested documents online but nothing reallly seems to say at what exact step does LabView register the instrument driver and how do I proof  verify that?

Maybe one of the other people who have posted here have gotten past this point. Is there a way to contact them?

Thanks again

Alex

[Adam W]

Hi Alex,

To use your 6030 and its driver in LabVIEW, you will need to have an IVI Driver Logical Name associated with your Driver Session.  That Driver session will need to be linked to your hardware (in this case, the 6030).  In order to link it to your hardware, MAX (a.k.a. VISA) needs to be able to talk to the instrument.  If your device is not already made to communicate with NI VISA, then you will need to use the VISA Driver Development Wizard.  The VISA DDW doesn't build a driver per say, but builds a conguration that VISA will look at to communicate and interface with your instrument.  You will still be using your IVI 'driver' when you get to LabVIEW. 

Once you have a logical name for your Session, you can access it in LabVIEW by simply dropping an IVI Logical Name control on the front panel; it should display the name you just created in MAX (make sure you save it first).  You can try this now, just to see how it will work and show up.  However, without your driver session associated to the actual hardware, communication will not work correctly in LabVIEW.  That's where the VISA DDW comes in. 

Also, just to be sure, the instrument doesn't show up under PXI system does it?  If it does already show up there, you can go ahead and associate it with the driver session under the hardware tab.

Hope this helps!

Adam W
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[JPLEng]

HI Adam:

Ok, I'm willling to give the VISA driver wizard a try.
But I want to make sure its the only/quickest way to get the 6030 working.
So, what then is the purpose of the IVI library menus in MAX.
This includes  'Logical Names' ,'Driver Sessions', etc.?
Isn't there a way to configure these to recognize the 6030 driver?

Thanks again

Alex

[Adam W]

Hi Alex,

The VISA DDW actually only takes a few minutes to complete if you have your card's information ready.  The driver session is there to define a set of properties for use by IVI instrument driver software modules, such as initial configurable settings for attributes, virtual name mappings, simulation settings, and so on.  The logical name is a way for you to take these session properties and use them in LabVIEW.  The 6030 driver already creates one of these sessions so that you can link this to your actual hardware. 

Regards,

Adam W
Applications Engineering
National Instruments