Chapter 1
Overview of FP-1600 Hardware and FieldPoint Software
©
National Instruments Corporation
1-3
FieldPoint FP-1600 User Manual
•
LabWindows/CVI Functions
•
OPC Server
The following sections describe each of these components in more detail.
You can download future versions of FieldPoint software from the National
Instruments FTP site at
ftp.natinst.com/support/
fieldpoint/Server
.
FieldPoint Explorer Configuration Utility
FieldPoint Explorer is the configuration utility for FieldPoint hardware
and software. The first step in using FieldPoint software is to run the
FieldPoint Explorer. You then use FieldPoint Explorer to configure the
programmable settings of the FieldPoint hardware, such as the input range
of an analog input module, watchdog timer settings, or the power-up values
of output modules. From FieldPoint Explorer you define I/O items (which
represent one or more physical I/O channels) that you want to write to or
read from. FieldPoint Explorer also provides a user interface from which
you can interactively read and write values of these I/O items to verify that
your FieldPoint system has been correctly installed and configured.
BridgeVIEW Server
The BridgeVIEW server for FieldPoint provides communication between
FieldPoint devices and applications you develop using the BridgeVIEW
graphical programming package for automation. This native BridgeVIEW
server allows access to I/O items defined in the FieldPoint Explorer. If you
prefer, you can also use the OPC server to access FieldPoint hardware from
BridgeVIEW.
LabVIEW VIs
A set of VIs (Virtual Instruments) provide communication between I/O
items configured in the FieldPoint Explorer and applications you develop
using the LabVIEW graphical programming environment. A set of
example applications using these VIs is also provided.
LabWindows/CVI Functions
Applications you develop using the LabWindows/CVI C programming
environment use a set of C function calls to communicate with I/O items
configured in the FieldPoint Explorer. An instrument driver with a set of
function panels and example programs is provided to accelerate your
development process.