Technical data

Getting Started 1
Agilent Connectivity Guide 13
Agilent IO Libraries
There are four IO Libraries included in Agilent IO Libraries Suite; each
of them allows you to programmatically control instruments, send
commands to them, and receive responses and data. The Agilent IO
Libraries Suite Online Help provides guidelines to help you choose
among these libraries; in general, VISA and VISA COM are
recommended for new development.
Agilent VISA
Agilent VISA (Virtual Instrument Software Architecture) is used to
develop I/O applications and instrument drivers that are interoperable
with VISA applications from other vendors, and that comply with IVI
Foundation standards (formerly VXIplug&play standards).
• visa.h is included for use with C/C++.
• visa32.bas is included for programming in Visual Basic 6.
• visa32.vb is included for programming in Visual Basic .Net.
• visa32.cs is included for programming in C#.
• Agilent VISA is the API used by DirectIO in Agilent VEE 8.0 and
greater.
• Agilent VISA is compatible with MATLAB if you have installed
the MATLAB Instrument Control Toolbox.
• Agilent VISA is compatible with the current generation of
National Instrument's LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI products
(NI-VISA does not need to be installed).
Agilent VISA COM
Agilent VISA COM is a COM (Microsoft Common Object Model)
implementation based on the Agilent VISA architecture. Like VISA,
VISA COM conforms to IVI Foundation standards. The VISA COM
API works in environments that provide standard COM support such as
Visual Basic 6, Visual Basic.Net, and C#.