identifying multiple boards in one pc

[IUCF]

We have a need for about 70 channels of analog current output in the NANOAMPERE range. Our output must be from zero to up to 100 NANOAMPERES.. NO MORE! Since we know of no one that manufactures such a board, we are considering purchasing five PCI-6703 boards and building external circuitry to convert the voltage output to current in the desired range. I will be writing my own C++ code to perform the I/O. My question is this: If I install five of these boards in one PC, how can my software tell them apart? The boards do not have any jumpers or DIP switches to set unique identifiers or addresses. Do these boards have serial numbers I can read using the Get_DAQ_Device_Info function? I know Measurement & Automation Explorer assign
s the device numbers, but how can I be guaranteed that they will always stay the same after each reboot?
The only scheme I can think of that would work is to set aside three bits out of the eight digital I/O bits on each board and hardwire them with different binary codes, but I would like to keep all digital bits free for other uses.

[Chris Matthews]

You can rely on the device numbers from MAX if you are staying on the same machine. Once the boards are installed, the device numbers will not change (unless you change them) as long as the boards are not removed or uninstalled. Reboots, power outages, etc. will not reset device numbers in the configuration.

MAX also lets you set the device number. So if you do have to reinstall or move to another machine, you can go to MAX and change the device numbers back to the scheme you are expecting. Get_DAQ_Device_Info can be used, however, to get the serial number from the boards which is unique, if you want to verify the boards are right in your code.

Best Regards,

Chris Matthews
National Instruments