THORLABS M2MS, Operating Manual

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BP209 Series 8 Write Your Own Application
Rev: 8.1, 14-Feb-2022 © 2022 Thorlabs Page 133
8 Write Your Own Application
In order to write your own application, you need a specific instrument driver and some tools for
use in different programming environments. The driver and tools are installed to your computer
during software installation and cannot be found in the installation package.
In this section the location of drivers and files, required for programming in different
environments, are given for installation under Windows® 8.1 and Windows
®F
10 (32 and 64
bit).
In order to fully support 64 bit LabView version, the installation package provides two installer
components, the 32bit and the 64bit component:
·
for Windows
®
8.1 (32/64 bit) and Windows
®
10 (32/64 bit): Install "Thorlabs Beam VXIpnp
Instrument Driver (32bit)"
·
for Windows
®
8.1 (64 bit) and Windows
®
10 (64 bit): Install "Thorlabs Beam VXIpnp In-
strument Driver (64 bit)"
In other words, the 32 bit VXIpnp driver works with both 32 and 64 bit operating systems, while
the 64 bit driver requires a 64 bit operating system.
Note
Beam Software and drivers contain 32 bit and 64 bit applications.
In 32 bit systems, only the 32 bit applications are installed to
C:\Program Files\...
In 64 bit systems the 64 bit components are being installed to
C:\Program Files\...
while necessary 32 bit components can be found at
C:\Program Files (x86)\...
In the table below you will find a summary of what files you need for particular programming en-
vironments.
Programming environment Necessary files
C, C++, CVI *.h (header file)
*.lib (static library)
C# .net wrapper dll
Visual Studio
*.h (header file)
*.lib (static library) or .net wrapper dll
LabView
*.fp (function panel) and NI VISA instrument driver.
Beside that, LabVIEW driver vi's are provided with the *.llb con-
tainer file.
Note: LabVIEW drivers and components are installed only, if a
LabVIEW installation was recognized.
Note
All above environments require also the NI VISA instrument driver dll !
During NI-VISA Runtime installation, a system environment variable
VXIPNPPATH
for including
files is created. It stores information where the drivers are installed, usually to
C:\Program
Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\.
This is the reason why a system reboot is required after the installation of a NI-VISA Runtime:
This environment variable is necessary for installation of the application software components.
In the next sections the location of above files for all hardware, supported by Beam Software
drivers, is described in detail.