Using gpib-32.dll in Labview 7.0

[cyrres]

Good point. In the VB code on the Pentium II computer, it has an NI card installed in it. Whereas for the P3 computer I'm using the Agilent USB GPIB card. I guess this might be where the problem is originating from? If so, is there an VISA command that I can use to rectify the situation as I've tried MAX with all the different syntax combinations and nothing would work.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Even since you mentioned that you were using an Agilent device, I was pretty certain that was the cause of the problem. I think what you should probably do is first uninstall all GPIB and VISA drivers just to get back to a clean starting point. Once that is done, install the software from Agilent. This should include their GPIB driver and their version of VISA. Then you should be able to go into MAX and enable tulip in order for MAX to recognize the Agilent device. There have been several postings on using Agilent boards with MAX and LabVIEW. There is some articles in the Knowledge Base as well. One of them is at http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/E56D3D4866BE0A8A86256942006626F0?OpenDocument .

[cyrres]

How come using Agilent VISA and not NI VISA would solve the problem of communicating to my switch? I thought VISA is like a standard, just like IEEE 488.2. If you have a IEEE 488.2 instrument then wouldn't either NI or Agilent boards both work on it since it both uses the same commands to control the instrument. So basically, if I uninstall my NI VISA 3.0 and reinstall my Agilent VISA and make it the primary VISA, then you're saying that I can talk to my HP switch then?

[Dennis_Knutson]

Well, the API into VISA is a standard but I think you need a vendor specific version of VISA to interface to the lower level GPIB driver. I'm not sure if NI-VISA knows how to call into the Agilent 488 dll and vice versa. I've always used NI-VISA with an NI GPIB board and Agilent VISA with an Agilent board. The low level 488 drivers are distinctly different.