Chapter 4
Debugging Your Application
© National Instruments Corp.
4-3
NI-488.2M UM for Windo ws NT
Running GPIBInfo
The
GPIBInfo
utility program is a simple diagnostic tool you can use to obtain
information about the NI-488.2M software you are using and any GPIB interface boards
in your system. This information helps you determine the capabilities of your NI-488.2M
software and is also helpful if you need to call National Instruments for technical support.
Run
GPIBInfo
with no parameters. The program displays software information such as
the name and version of your GPIB software, the type of GPIB interface board and
functions that you can use with the software, and whether or not you can use the HS488
high-speed protocol.
GPIBInfo
also displays information about each GPIB interface
board installed in your system, including the name of the board, the type of Controller
chip it uses, the hardware settings, the type of functions that the board can use, and
whether or not the board can use the HS488 high-speed communication protocol. The
typical
GPIBInfo
output is as follows:
GPIBInfo (Sep 29 1993)
Copyright 1993 National Instruments Corp. All rights reserved.
Software Information:
The NI-488.2M Software for Windows NT is loaded.
You are running Version 1.0 for the AT-GPIB/TNT board.
It supports both the NI-488 functions and the NI-488.2 routines.
It supports the HS488 high-speed protocol.
Hardware Information:
GPIB0: an AT-GPIB/TNT board using the TNT4882C chip.
It supports both the NI-488 functions and NI-488.2
routines.
It supports the HS488 high-speed protocol.
It uses base I/O address 0x2C0.
It uses interrupt level 11.
It uses DMA channel 5.
Debugging with the Global Status Variables
After each function call to your NI-488.2M driver,
ibsta
,
iberr
,
ibcnt
, and
ibcntl
are updated before the call returns to your application. You should check for an
error after each GPIB call. Refer to Chapter 3, Developing Your Application, for more
information about how to use these variables within your program to automatically check
for errors.
After you determine which GPIB call is failing and note the corresponding values of the
global variables, refer to Appendix A, Status Word Conditions , and Appendix B, Error
Codes and Solutions. These appendixes can help you interpret the state of the driver.