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FAQ

Questions and answers about Instrument Drivers

Q1	What is Instrument Driver used for ?
	It is a tool, which eliminates labour of instrument-control programming when you write application software controlling measurement instruments and/or power supply equipment through GPIB and RS232.
Q2	Is the Instrument Driver different from application software ?
	Different. Instrument Driver is an assistance tool which helps application development. Therefore it can't be used alone as like application software.
Q3	What sorts of Instrument Driver are there ?
	Kikusui provides three sorts of instrument drivers for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Visual Basic (ActiveX), which are used on different development environment respectively. You can choose an appropriate sort which matches with your development environment.
Q4	Tell me relationship between development tools and instrument driver sorts.
	If you use LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI, just choose respective driver which is specific to the development tool. For other general programming tools (such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, MS-Office, Delphi, C++ Builder, etc…), you can use Visual Basic (ActiveX) type. The ActiveX drivers can be used with any development tools which support ActiveX or Automation functionality, but they require Win32 platforms (Win9x/NT family).
Q5	What is needed to use Instrument Driver ?
	This is bit different depending upon your development tool, however, you need V5.0 or later if using LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI. (There are a few exceptions though.) If you use ActiveX Instrument Driver, you can use any tools mentioned in the "Q3." You need a GPIB adapter card, which is compatible VISA Library for all the drivers except PCR-L/LT drivers.
Q6	What is VISA Library ?
	VISA is an instrumentation library specification, which is administrated by VXI plug&play Systems Alliance in the US. Not only for GPIB, instruments connected through other devices such as RS232, TCP/IP, VXIbus can also be controlled with the same programming manner. Furthermore, it has no dependency on a specific GPIB board brand. National Instruments and Agilent Technologies provide VISA libraries which match with respective GPIB board products. Please contact them about how to obtain the library. Today's NI/Agilent GPIB boards come with a CD-ROM which contains the VISA Library.
Q7	Where can I obtain the VISA Library from ?
	There are two kinds of VISA Library from National Instruments and Agilent Technologies (ex-Hewlett-Packard), and they are included in the CD-ROMs, which come with the GPIB board, LabWindows/CVI, and LabVIEW packages. You can also download them at National Instruments and Agilent Technologies web sites. Moreover, the Kikusui VISA library (KI-VISA) can also be used.
Q8	I can't see fundamental procedure of how to use ActiveX drivers.
	The step-by-step instructions are introduced in the guidebook - Using ActiveX Instrument Driver Objects. Try to download and read it.
Q9	Can I use Instrument Driver with C/C++ languages ?
	When you develop application software with C/C++, there are two choices on instrument driver sorts. One is use LabWindows/CVI driver. Another choice is use ActiveX Instrument Driver especially if using Visual C++ or C++ Builder. Not only for Instrument Drivers, ActiveX components don't have language dependency in general. Therefore most of development tools which supports ActiveX or Automation can be used with them.
Q10	Can I use Instrument Driver with Delphi ?
	Delphi supports ActiveX. You can use ActiveX Instrument Driver.
Q11	Are there any notes on using ActiveX Instrument Driver with Excel ?
	Microsoft Office environment does not show VBA as is. You need invoke Visual Basic development environment and add a Form, which will be used as the application main screen. Because ActiveX Instrument Drivers are all implemented as ActiveX Control, you need a Form on which you put them. Application having no Form can't be used.
Q12	Can I use non-Windows operating systems ?
	Basically LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI drivers can be used under non-Windows systems (Macintosh, Sun, Linux, etc…) as long as the development tool is supported. Be understood, however, we have not tested with non-Windows systems. ActiveX drivers have heavy dependency on Win32 environment and they work under Windows9x/Me/NT4/2k operating systems only. We think NT3.51 may be used as long as your development tool is supported, however we have not tested.
Q13	Are there any notes when I distribute my application product to others ?
	If you use LabVIEW and/or LabWindows/CVI, there is no special reminder. If using ActiveX drivers, install the driver package downloaded from Kikusui web to your target execution PC. Mind that you still need set up GPIB driver, VISA Library, and language-specific runtime modules.