©
National Instruments Corporation
4-1
PXI-GPIB/PMC-GPIB for Windows NT
Chapter
4
Begin to Use the
GPIB Software
This chapter helps you get started with the GPIB software for
Windows NT.
Getting Started with LabVIEW
LabVIEW is a graphical programming language in which your source code
looks like a flowchart. It provides the same functionality as other
programming languages when controlling GPIB instruments. If you
already installed LabVIEW, you can use the LabVIEW GPIB functions
without any additional installation. To learn about the basic concepts of
GPIB communication, refer to the LabVIEW GPIB functions chapter in the
LabVIEW User Manual. To learn more about each GPIB function, refer to
the LabVIEW Function and VI Overview Manual and the online help.
National Instruments provides LabVIEW instrument drivers, which are
applications that communicate to a specific GPIB instrument. LabVIEW
instrument drivers eliminate the need to learn the complex, low-level
programming commands for each instrument. For more information, refer
to Chapter 7, Getting Started with a LabVIEW Instrument Driver, in the
LabVIEW User Manual. If you want to write your own instrument driver,
National Instruments provides application notes that help you get started.
To find GPIB examples similar to your application, click on the Solution
Wizard and Search Examples buttons in the startup LabVIEW dialog box.
For more information about NI products, refer to our web site at
http://www.natinst.com/products/
.
Getting Started with LabWindows/CVI
If you already installed LabWindows/CVI, you can use the
LabWindows/CVI GPIB Library without any additional installation. The
LabWindows/CVI GPIB Library includes the functions documented in
your NI-488.2 or NI-488.2M reference manual, as well as several
additional functions, which are documented in the GPIB library chapter of
