LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows™/CVI™ Instrument Drivers Readme (Windows)

August 2006

This file contains important information about the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers. The LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers converts VXIplug&play and IVI-C instrument drivers to LabVIEW VIs that work on all platforms for which the instrument driver is compiled.

System and Tool Requirements
Creating VIs with the Basic Configuration
Creating VIs with the Advanced Configuration
LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers Dialog Box
Known Issues
Copyright




System and Tool Requirements

You must have the following software installed before you can install and use the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers:

The LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers creates LabVIEW VIs from instrument drivers that meet the following requirements:



Creating VIs with the Basic Configuration

If you are not familiar with LabVIEW instrument drivers, use the basic configuration in the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers. Complete the following steps to create VIs for a VXIplug&play or IVI-C instrument driver by specifying only the function panel (.fp) file.

  1. Select Tools»Instrumentation»Create VI Interface to CVI Instrument Driver to display the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers dialog box.
  2. Select the Basic option and click the Next button.
  3. Click the Browse button, navigate to the .fp file of the instrument driver you want to convert, and click the OK button.
Note  If the instrument driver is an IVI driver or a VXIplug&play driver, the .h file must be in the same directory as the .fp file or in the IVI or VXIplug&play include directory. The DLL or shared library file must be in the IVI or VXIplug&play bin directory. The DLL or shared library filename for the instrument driver must end with _32, such as driver_32.dll. If the instrument driver is an IVI driver, the .sub file must be in the same directory as the .fp file.
  1. Click the Next button.
  2. Review the summary of conversion tasks and click the Next button to convert the instrument driver to VIs.
  3. (Optional) Place a checkmark in the View the Report checkbox. The conversion report then appears in the default Web browser when you click the Done button.
  4. (Optional) Place a checkmark in the View VI Tree checkbox. The VI Tree VI that illustrates the functional structure of the instrument driver then opens when you click the Done button.
  5. Click the Done button to close the dialog box.


Creating VIs with the Advanced Configuration

If you want to specify advanced settings for the generated VIs, such as selecting the files and VIs to generate during the conversion process and editing documentation conversion tasks, use the advanced configuration in the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers. Complete the following steps to create VIs for a VXIplug&play or IVI-C instrument driver to VIs by specifying advanced options.

  1. Select Tools»Instrumentation»Create VI Interface to CVI Instrument Driver to display the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers dialog box.
  2. Select the Advanced option and click the Next button.
  3. Click the first Browse button, navigate to the .fp file of the instrument driver you want to convert, and click the OK button. You also can select the .h or .sub files.
  4. Navigate to and select the directory where you want LabVIEW to create the generated VIs or LLB and click the Next button. By default, LabVIEW saves the generated VIs in the labview\instr.lib directory of the currently running version of LabVIEW.
  5. Select which files you want the conversion process to generate for the instrument driver VIs and click the Next button.
  6. Verify the Driver Group, Driver Prefix, and Shared Library or DLL and edit if necessary. You must select a shared library or DLL that is in the IVI or VXIplug&play bin directory.
  7. (Optional) Click the Edit Icon button to change the appearance of the icon for the generated VIs.
  8. Click the Next button.
  9. Select which VIs to generate and rename VIs and palettes. The number in the upper right corner of the listbox indicates the number of VIs currently selected.
    1. Place or remove checkmarks in the checkboxes next to each VI name to specify whether to generate that VI.
    2. (Optional) Select a VI or folder and click the Edit Name button to edit the name of the VI or folder. The folder names represent names of palettes.
    3. Click the Next button.
  10. If you placed checkmarks in the Generate Property Node help (.rc file) or Convert help text for VIs and controls checkboxes when selecting which files to generate, review the help text conversion tasks.
    1. Click in a table cell to edit a conversion task.
    2. Click in a blank table cell to add a new conversion task.
    3. Click in the Change column and select Always, Never, or Prompt to always make the change in the help text, never make the change in the help text, or be prompted to accept or skip the change, respectively.
    4. The Show prompts checkbox contains a checkmark by default. Remove the checkmark if you do not want to be prompted to accept or skip each change to the help text that has a value of Prompt in the Change column.
    5. Click the Next button.
    6. If the Show prompts checkbox on the previous page of the dialog box contains a checkmark, click the Accept or Skip button to accept or skip each proposed change. Click the Accept All or Skip All button to accept or skip all remaining instances of the proposed change. You can edit the help text directly by clicking inside either text box.
  11. Review the summary of conversion tasks and click the Next button to convert the instrument driver to VIs.
  12. (Optional) Place a checkmark in the View the Report checkbox. The conversion report then appears in the default Web browser when you click the Done button.
  13. (Optional) Place a checkmark in the View VI Tree checkbox. The VI Tree VI that illustrates the functional structure of the instrument driver then opens when you click the Done button.
  14. Click the Done button to close the dialog box.


LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers Dialog Box

Select Tools»Instrumentation»Create VI Interface to CVI Instrument Driver to display this dialog box.

Use this dialog box to convert instrument drivers to LabVIEW VIs.


Note  National Instruments created and optimized this dialog box primarily for use with IVI drivers developed using the Create IVI Instrument Driver wizard in LabWindows/CVI. Conversion might not occur as expected for VXIplug&play instrument drivers that do not meet VXIplug&play standards.
Note  All LabWindows/CVI .dll files require run-time support. You must install the LabWindows/CVI Run-Time Engine to use VIs that LabVIEW creates. The standard LabVIEW installation includes the LabWindows/CVI Run-Time Engine.

This dialog box includes the following components:


Note  To run the VIs LabVIEW creates for VXIplug&play drivers, you must have NI-VISA installed. To run the VIs LabVIEW creates for IVI drivers, you must have the IVI Compliance Package installed. Both NI-VISA and the IVI Compliance Package are available on the National Instruments Device Driver CD that is included with your LabVIEW CD. If the instrument driver from which LabVIEW created VIs requires other support files, those support files must be installed on the computer on which you run the VIs.


Known Issues

Refer to the KnowledgeBase for the latest information about the LabVIEW Interface Generator for LabWindows/CVI Instrument Drivers.



Copyright

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation.

Copyright © 1999 The Apache Software Foundation. All rights reserved.

Refer to the XercesLicense.txt file in the labview\project\_DriverCtoLV directory for more information about the Apache Software License.


© 2006 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.