Using stock instrument driver modules

[California]

First, I'm a rank amateur, so kindly bear with my ignorance. This is my first post to the forum. I've just managed to connect LabVIEW to a scope, into which I fed a signal from a standard signal generator that is not connected to Labview. I was able to use a stock downloaded instrument driver for the scope in question, to adjust the scope display. As a next step in the learning process, I'd like to build a VI from the smaller driver modules.

I believe I understand that I need to populate my block diagram with sub-VIs to initialize, configure, control, and read the scope, and then finally to close the session. I found that I was able to open each of those sub-VIs, and grab the icon from the front panel to use in my VI. But, the "close" VI doesn't seem to open. How can I get that module onto my block diagram?

Finally, if there are any errors in my thinking or approach, I'd welcome corrections.

Thanks!

[tbd]

Greetings CALIFORNIA!

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the "close" VI doesn't seem to open. How can I get that module onto my block diagram?

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It sounds like the "Close" VI isn't really a VI - it's a LabVIEW "primitive" function, available from one of the Function Pallets...

Does it have an icon like this?

Message Edited by tbd on 01-17-2008 10:20 PM

[California]

Thanks for your response. I'll hold off on asking what a primitive function is, and when it's used, but for now say that no, that doesn't seem to be the problem. Now that my long weekend is over and I'm back in the lab, I see that it's a real VI, and for whatever reason it still won't open directly. Oddly, though, it shows up in the main startup window of Labview, as a recent VI, and I'm able to open it from there. I can also snag it from any of the example VIs in the instrument driver package. For now I'm chalking it up to some weird glitch and letting it go...

I successfully created my own basic instrument VI from the little pieces, so I feel good about that. I also joyfully discovered a VI tree whose block diagram contains the icons of all the little component VIs needed to build a custom VI for the instrument in question. Is dragging and dropping from this tree the standard way of doing this? Seems very convenient. However, of the three instrument drivers I've downloaded, only two of them have this tree. What is the easiest way to snag the icons from drivers that don't have this tree?

[Dennis_Knutson]

The standard way is to put them on the block diagram the same way you put any other function on the block diagram - from the functions palette. This is the palette you get when you are on the block diagram and do a right click. If you install the drivers to the correct location (under instr.lib and per the instructions on the download page), the driver will be on the Instrument I/O>Instrument Drivers palette. You can certainly open up a tree VI and drag from there but that can be a bit of a round about way of always doing things.

[tbd]

Hey CA,

      I'm glad Dennis handled the "tree" question since I didn't really get-it!  Re: stubborn VI, the fact that you can't open it from a diagram, but can from a menu is very strange - unless these are two different VIs.  When this symptom happens to me it's usually because the VI FP does open, but it's off-screen (it might have been last edited on the right or bottom of a screen with many more pixels).  After opening the VI (that doesn't open), try pressing ctrl-T - if the VI is open, but off-screen, this will reposition the FP and diagram to be tiled in the visible screen area.

Cheers!

[California]

D'oh! Thanks, men. Instrument I/O palette contained drivers as promised! Also, found that I am using version 8.5, and the downloaded drivers needed to be converted and saved to version 8.5. I think that was the reason the Close VI wasn't opening, because now that I've saved it in version 8.5, I'm able to open it. I'll try to remember the control-T trick if I ever lose a window, though.