Using bit IO as a parallel port

[jrothman@gi.alaska.edu]

I need to interface an old scientific instrument with a parallel port. I would like to use an NI USB-6008 with 12 bits of general purpose digital IO to communicate with it. Are any example VIs available that use the bit IO as a parallel port?

Thanks,

Jeff

[S_Hong]

Hi jrothman@gi.alaska.edu,

I would like to point out that there are tons of great DAQmx shipping examples in LabVIEW that you could refer to for your application. You can view these in your Example Finder by accessing it under Help » Find Examples.... The example we are particularly interested in would be under Hardware Input and Output » DAQmx » Digital Generation » Write Dig Port.vi. Furthermore, I would like to mention that you can also narrow down your search by hardware. To do this, simply add a device in the Hardware drop down menu in the bottom left corner of you NI Example Finder. You can then select your hardware and check "Limit results to hardware."

I hope this helps,

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

Any possibility to use an actual parallel port?

[S_Hong]

Hi AnalogKid2DigitalMan,

If you want to communicate with your old scientific instrument via your computer's parallel port, you may be able to use some of the VISA driver functions. I believe there's a great NI Developer Zone example that might be perfect for your application.

Using VISA to Access the Parallel Port in LabVIEW