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™
NI-488.2
NI-488.2 User Manual
for Windows
NI-488.2 User Manual for Windows
June 1999 Edition
Part Number 321819D-01
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Worldwide Technical Support and Product Information www.natinst.com National Instruments Corporate Headquarters 11500 North Mopac Expressway Austin, Texas 78759-3504 USA Tel: 512 794 0100 Worldwide Offices Australia 03 9879 5166, Austria 0662 45 79 90 0, Belgium 02 757 00 20, Brazil 011 284 5011, Canada (Ontario) 905 785 0085, Canada (Québec) 514 694 8521, China 0755 3904939, Denmark 45 76 26 00, Finland 09 725 725 11, France 01 48 14 24 24, Germany 089 741 31 30, Hong Kong 2645 3186, India 9
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Important Information Warranty The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions, due to defects in materials and workmanship, for a period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute programming instructions if National Instruments receives notice of such defects during the warranty per
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Contents About This Manual Using the NI-488.2 Documentation...............................................................................xi Accessing the NI-488.2 Online Help...............................................................xi Conventions ...................................................................................................................xii Related Documentation..................................................................................................xii Chapt
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Contents Access Additional Help and Resources......................................................................... 2-14 NI-488.2 Online Help ..................................................................................... 2-14 National Instruments GPIB Web Site ............................................................. 2-15 View or Change GPIB-ENET Network Settings (Windows 98/95 Only) .................... 2-15 Assign IP Address........................................................
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Contents Chapter 4 Debugging Your Application NI Spy ............................................................................................................................4-1 Global Status Variables .................................................................................................4-2 Existing Applications.....................................................................................................4-3 NI-488.2 Error Codes ...............................................
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Contents Chapter 7 NI-488.2 Programming Techniques Termination of Data Transfers ...................................................................................... 7-1 High-Speed Data Transfers (HS488)............................................................................. 7-2 Enabling HS488 .............................................................................................. 7-2 System Configuration Effects on HS488 ........................................................ 7-3
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Contents Appendix E Windows 2000/NT: Common Questions Appendix F Technical Support Resources Glossary Index Figures Figure 1-1. Linear and Star System Configuration ..................................................1-1 Figure 1-2. Example of Multiboard System Configuration .....................................1-2 Figure 2-1. Measurement & Automation Explorer ..................................................2-2 Figure 2-2. Viewing Documentation on Your CD.........................................
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Contents Table 6-2. Syntax for Board-Level Traditional NI-488.2 Calls in Interactive Control ................................................................................ 6-7 Table 6-3. Syntax for Multi-Device NI-488.2 Calls in Interactive Control ........... 6-8 Table 6-4. Auxiliary Functions in Interactive Control ........................................... 6-9 Table A-1. GPIB Handshake Lines......................................................................... A-3 Table A-2. GPIB Inter
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About This Manual This manual describes the features and functions of the NI-488.2 software for Windows. You can use the NI-488.2 software for Windows with Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT version 4.0, or Windows 2000. This manual assumes that you are already familiar with Windows. Using the NI-488.2 Documentation The following NI-488.2 documentation is available on your NI-488.2 for Windows CD: The Getting Started card briefly describes how to install the NI-488.2 software and your GPI
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About This Manual Conventions The following conventions appear in this manual: » The » symbol leads you through nested menu items and dialog box options to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options from the last dialog box. This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information. bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click on in the software, such as menu items and dia
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1 Introduction This chapter describes how to set up your GPIB system. Setting up and Configuring Your System Devices are usually connected with a cable assembly consisting of a shielded 24-conductor cable with both a plug and receptacle connector at each end. With this design, you can link devices in a linear configuration, a star configuration, or a combination of the two configurations. Figure 1-1 shows the linear and star configurations. Device A Device A Device D Device B Device B Device
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Chapter 1 Introduction Controlling More Than One Interface Figure 1-2 shows an example of a multiboard system configuration. gpib0 is the access interface for the voltmeter, and gpib1 is the access interface for the plotter and printer. The control functions of the devices automatically access their respective interfaces. One GPIB Digital Voltometer gpib0 Plotter Another GPIB gpib1 Printer Figure 1-2. Example of Multiboard System Configuration Configuration Requirements To achieve the high d
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Chapter 1 Introduction For high-speed operation, the following restrictions apply: All devices in the system must be powered on. Cable lengths must be as short as possible with up to a maximum of 15 m of cable for each system. There must be at least one equivalent device load per meter of cable. If you want to exceed these limitations, you can use a bus extender to increase the cable length or a bus expander to increase the number of device loads. You can order bus extenders and expande
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2 Measurement & Automation Explorer This chapter describes Measurement & Automation Explorer, an interactive utility you can use with the NI-488.2 software. To start Measurement & Automation Explorer, select Start»Programs»National Instruments NI-488.2»Explore GPIB. Overview You can perform the following GPIB-related tasks in Measurement & Automation Explorer: Establish basic communication with your GPIB instruments. Scan for instruments connected to your GPIB interface. Launch the NI-
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Chapter 2 Measurement & Automation Explorer Starting Measurement & Automation Explorer To start Measurement & Automation Explorer, select Start»Programs»National Instruments NI-488.2»Explore GPIB. Figure 2-1 shows Measurement & Automation Explorer. Figure 2-1. Measurement & Automation Explorer Getting Started with NI-488.2 To get started with GPIB instrument communication using Measurement & Automation Explorer, complete the following steps: 1. Refer to your Getting Started card and install
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Chapter 2 Measurement & Automation Explorer b. When the NI-488.2 Software for Windows screen appears, select the View Documentation option, as shown in Figure 2-2. Figure 2-2. Viewing Documentation on Your CD The View Documentation Wizard helps you find the documentation that you want to view. 2. Use the NI-488.2 Getting Started Wizard to verify the installation and establish basic communication with your GPIB instruments. Note After you install the NI-488.2 software and restart your system,
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Chapter 2 Measurement & Automation Explorer Troubleshoot NI-488.2 Problems To troubleshoot NI-488.2 problems, run the NI-488.2 Troubleshooting Wizard, as follows: 1. Select Start»Programs»National Instruments NI-488.2»Explore GPIB to start Measurement & Automation Explorer. 2. Select Help»Troubleshooting»NI-488.2 Troubleshooting Wizard. The Troubleshooting Wizard tests your GPIB interface and displays the results, as shown in Figure 2-3. Figure 2-3. NI-488.2 Troubleshooting Wizard To view on
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Chapter 2 Measurement & Automation Explorer 5. Use either the Add GPIB Hardware Wizard or the NI-488.2 Configuration utility to add your interface. Delete a GPIB Interface Before you physically remove a GPIB interface from your system, you must remove the hardware information, as follows: Note If your interface is a PCMCIA-GPIB, click on the PC Card icon on the taskbar to stop the PC Card. When you stop the PC Card, the system removes the hardware information from the Device Manager. 1. Sele
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Chapter 2 Measurement & Automation Explorer Instruments Not Found If the Instruments not Found message appears in the right window pane, Measurement & Automation Explorer did not find any instruments. To solve this problem, make sure that your GPIB instruments are powered on and properly connected to the GPIB interface with a GPIB cable. Then, scan for instruments again, as described in the previous section, Scan for GPIB Instruments. Instruments Enumeration Failed If the Instruments Enumer
