Chapter 1
Introduction
PCI-Based MXI-2 Interfaces for Windows 2000/NT/Me/98
1-6
ni.com
instrument drivers written to take full advantage of direct VXI control.
LabVIEW and Measurement Studio include all the tools needed for
instrument control, data acquisition, analysis, and presentation.
LabVIEW is an easy-to-use, graphical programming environment you can
use to acquire data from thousands of different instruments, including
IEEE 488.2 devices, VXI devices, serial devices, PLCs, and plug-in data
acquisition boards. After you have acquired raw data, you can convert it
into meaningful results using the powerful data analysis routines in
LabVIEW. LabVIEW also comes with hundreds of instrument drivers,
which dramatically reduce software development time, because you do not
have to spend time programming the low-level control of each instrument.
Measurement Studio bundles LabWindows/CVI for C programmers,
ComponentWorks for Microsoft Visual Basic programmers, and
Compone+ for Microsoft Visual C++ programmers.
Measurement Studio is designed for building measurement and automation
applications with the programming environment of your choice:
•
LabWindows/CVI is an interactive ANSI C programming
environment designed for building virtual instrument applications.
LabWindows/CVI delivers a drag-and-drop editor for building user
interfaces, a complete ANSI C environment for building your test
program logic, and a collection of automated code generation tools,
as well as utilities for building automated test systems, monitoring
applications, or creating laboratory experiments.
•
ComponentWorks for Visual Basic is a collection of ActiveX controls
designed for building virtual instrumentation systems. Based on
ActiveX technology, ComponentWorks controls are configured
through simple property pages. You can use the ComponentWorks
VISA I/O controls and property pages to set up communication with
your instruments.
•
Compone+ for Visual C++ takes advantage of integrated
C++ libraries and ActiveX to help you build measurement and
automation applications. With the Compone+ instrument
classes, you can use VISA to communicate with GPIB, VXI, or Serial
devices using the same set of components.
If you want to use either of these application programs, install them
after the NI-VXI software installation. Both LabVIEW and Measurement
Studio integrate well with PCI-based MXI-2 products. You also get
hundreds of complete instrument drivers, which are modular, source-code
programs that handle the communication with your instrument to speed
your application development.
