Please help this newbie make a start with LabView 7

[reteb]

Sorry for these very very basics but I failed to resolve these myself though I did my best.

I try to make a GPIB i/o on a block diagram.How to ?

I cannot find such in the functions menu.
I find only a vi for typing direct commands ( which does work ).
I tried many many variances, but end of all i get stuck, e.g. at : file>new>instrument i/o(gpib)>read and display>right click>controls>search>i/o....i get stuck.
I am afraid I do miss a lot.....



I have a NI GPIB PCI 488.2 card and some HPIB instuments.
The PCI card and the NI 488.2 drivers work.
I can read the instruments' dev.#.

How should I implement instruments' r/w commands in an i/o block diagram ( if possible at all ).
I cannot use VISA ( I
assume C++ or VB is needed for that, which is beyond my capabilities ).

Any help will be gratefully welcomed.

Peter van Daalen.

[Brian_Powell]

LabVIEW can do VISA and NI-488.2 directly; you don't need C++ or VB.

First of all, you should see if there are instrument drivers available for your instruments. There are thousands of free drivers available on http://ni.com/idnet/. Search there first, because if you can find a driver for any of your instruments, it will save you a lot of time.

If you can't find a driver, you will have to send and receive messages from the instrument directly, and this is where NI-VISA and NI-488.2 come in. The simplest way to get started with this direct communcation is to use the "Instrument I/O Assistant". This is in your "Functions->Input" palette, and you can read about it in the online help.

The Instrument I/O Assistant will bring up a dialog to select th
e device, send it a command and parse the results. Once you click "OK", it creates an Express VI on your diagram for you to incorporate into the rest of your application.

I hope this helps you get started.

Brian

[reteb]

OK Brian,

Thanks.

I found one driver only ( for my TEKTRONIX DSA602 ).
No drivers found for my HP 3336B , HP 8922M , HP 8525A , HP 8568B and others.

In LabView 7 I now see the Instrument I/O Assistant.
I clicked it and it prompts me " Please find the VI named " I-O Assistant Block vi " ".

I stumbled around the many vi.libs and I saw myriads of arousing vi's.
But no " I-O Assistant Block vi ".
Where could I find it ( in what lib (.llb) should I search ) ?
I guessed it was in Express.llb.
Though I find vi's like " Prompt user for input " etc, I don't see the " I-O Assistant Block vi ".

Should I look somewhere else or did I look with my eyes closed ?

Thanks again.
Peter.

BTW :
Could I cascade a series of commands in this vi ?
If
so, could I save this series of commands for reuse ?

[TommyTestBoy]

Peter,

It looks like Instrument I/O Assistant is not installed. You can install it from the Driver CD that came with LabVIEW, or you can download an installer for it from NI's website here.

Let me know if you have problems getting it installed or using it once it is installed.

Hope this helps.

-Tommy

[reteb]

Thanks Tommy,

OK, I have installed the I-O Assistant now.
Indeed, I see a new lib dir now that was not there before.
It is called " I-O Assistant " ( indeed... ).
After opening this new dir I see a lib called " IIOIA.llb ".
But alas, no " I-O Assistant Block.vi " in there .

Obviously I do miss something again.
It is a long way to Tipperary and I feel so dumb.

So, please help.
Thanks.

Peter.

[madcur]

Hi Peter,

You should be able to use the IO assistant from within the Block Diagram in LabVIEW. From the splash screen in LabVIEW select new, and then from the templates choose GPIB>Read and Display.
Now in the block diagram you can double click the instrument IO assistant and configure it to query your devices.

ErikvH
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[reteb]

Hi all,

Hurray, the I/O Assistant does work.
Thanks to your various help.

My HPIB gear responds in GPIB I/O Assistant.
I also see a working I/O Block Diagram now.

Besides, the driver for my TEK DSA602 seems to work too ( as LabView Instrument vi ).

I realize that I have a long long way to go, BUT I made a start !

Thanks for your extensive help again.
I am afraid 🙂 I will be back soon and often here...
you don't mind ?

Peter.