6-2
Programming Options
●
Portability
—
DriverLINX supports older and newer hardware with
a common interface for 16- and 32-bit applications on Windows
95/98 and Windows NT.
●
Versatility
—
DriverLINX supports a wide variety of programming
styles and languages including C/C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, and
LabVIEW.
●
Background I/O
—
DriverLINX supports background I/O using
interrupts or other techniques so your application can overlap
processing and data acquisition.
●
Full hardware support
—
DriverLINX supports all the hardware’s
features.
The DriverLINX interface has a few disadvantages compared to the
alternative interfaces:
●
Software modifications
—
Existing applications will require
rewriting to use DriverLINX.
●
No direct hardware access
—
Before Windows NT, Microsoft
discouraged, but nevertheless allowed, direct application program
access to hardware.
●
Speed of single-value I/O
—
Applications, especially those ported
from DOS, that depend on rapid software polling of I/O ports will
notice that the operating system time cost for multitasking,
multi-threading synchronization is higher than direct hardware
access.
While writing your application to use a multi-product, portable
application programming interface is the best long-term solution, you
should consider the alternative API only for special purpose or short-term
needs.
Artisan Technology Group - Quality Instrumentation ... Guaranteed | (888) 88-SOURCE | www.artisantg.com