User manual

Programmer’s Guide Page 5 of 66
1. Introduction
1.1. Message to the User
Congratulations on having purchased an Agilent Technologies Acqiris data conversion product. Acqiris Instruments
are high-speed data acquisition modules designed for capturing high frequency electronic signals. To get the most out
of the products we recommend that you read the accompanying product User Manual, this Programmer's Guide and
the Programmer‟s Reference manual carefully. We trust that the product you have purchased as well as the
accompanying software will meet with your expectations and provide you with a high quality solution to your data
conversion applications.
1.2. Using this Manual
This guide assumes you are familiar with the operation of a personal computer (PC) running a Windows
2000/XP/Vista/7 (32/64) or other supported operating system. In addition you ought to be familiar with the
fundamentals of the programming environment that you will be using to control your Acqiris product. It also
assumes you have a basic understanding of the principles of data acquisition using either, a waveform digitizer, a
digital oscilloscope, or other similar instrument.
The User Manual that you also have received (or have access to) has important and detailed instructions concerning
your Acqiris product. You should consult it first. You will find the following chapters there:
Chapter 1 OUT OF THE BOX, describes what to do when you first receive your new Acqiris product.
Special attention should be paid to sections on safety, packaging and product handling. Before
installing your product please ensure that your system configuration matches or exceeds the
requirements specified.
Chapter 2 INSTALLATION, covers all elements of installation and performance verification. Before
attempting to use your Acqiris product for actual measurements we strongly recommend that you
read all sections of this chapter.
Chapter 3 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION, provides a full description of all the functional elements of your
product.
Chapter 4 RUNNING THE ACQIRIS DEMONSTRATION APPLICATION, describes either
the operation of AcqirisLive, an application that enables basic operation of Acqiris
digitizers or averagers in a Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (32/64) environment;
the operation of AP_SSRDemo and in the following chapter APx01Demo, applications
that enable basic operation of Acqiris analyzers in a Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (32/64)
environment;
the operation of TC Demo, the demonstration program that enables basic operation of
Acqiris Time-to-Digital Converters in a Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (32/64) environment;
the operation of AcqirisAnalyzers, the demonstration program for the
SC240/AC240/SC210/AC210 from a PC running a Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (32/64) operating
system.
Chapter 5 RUNNING THE GEOGRAPHIC MAPPER APPLICATION, when present, describes the
purpose and operation of the Geographic Mapper application which is needed for some AS bus
Multi-instrument systems.
This Programmer’s Guide is divided into 3 separate sections.
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION, describes what can be found where in the documentation and how to use it.
Chapter 2 PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENTS & GETTING STARTED, provides a description for
programming applications using a variety of software products and development environments.
Chapter 3 PROGRAMMING AN ACQIRIS INSTRUMENT, provides information on using the device driver
functions to operate an Acqiris instrument.
The accompanying Programmer’s Reference manual is divided into 2 sections.
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION, describes what can be found where in the documentation and how to use it.
Chapter 2 DEVICE DRIVER FUNCTION REFERENCE, contains a full device driver function reference.
This documents the traditional Application Program Interface (API) as it can be used in the
following environments: