Specifications

4
Chapter 1
• • • • • •
Introduction
Purpose
Welcome to Getting Started with IVI Drivers: Your Guide to Using IVI with
Agilent VEE Pro
. This guide introduces key concepts about IVI drivers and shows
you how to create a short program to perform a measurement. The guide is part of
the IVI Foundation’s series of guides,
Getting Started with IVI Drivers .
Getting Started with IVI Drivers is intended for individuals who write and run
programs to control test-and-measurement instruments. Each guide focuses on a
different programming environment. As you develop test programs, you face
decisions about how you communicate with the instruments. Some of your choices
include Direct I/O, VXIplug&play drivers, or IVI drivers. If you are new to using IVI
drivers or just want a quick refresher on the basics,
Getting Started with IVI
Drivers
can help.
Getting Started with IVI Drivers shows that IVI drivers can be straightforward,
easy-to-use tools. IVI drivers provide a number of advantages that can save time
and money during development, while improving performance as well. Whether
you are starting a new program or making improvements to an existing one, you
should consider the use of IVI drivers to develop your test programs.
So consider this the “hello, instrument” guide for IVI drivers. If you recall, the “hello
world” program, which originally appeared in Programming in C: A Tutorial, simply
prints out “hello, world.” The “hello, instrument” program performs a simple
measurement on a simulated instrument and returns the result. We think you’ll find
that far more useful.
Why Use an Instrument Driver?
To understand the benefits of IVI drivers, we need to start by defining instrument
drivers in general and describing why they are useful. An instrument driver is a set
of software routines that controls a programmable instrument. Each routine
corresponds to a programmatic operation, such as configuring, writing to, reading
from, and triggering the instrument. Instrument drivers simplify instrument control
and reduce test program development time by eliminating the need to learn the
programming protocol for each instrument.
Starting in the 1970s, programmers used device-dependent commands for
computer control of instruments. But lack of standardization meant even two digital
multimeters from the same manufacturer might not use the same commands. In
the early 1990s a group of instrument manufacturers developed Standard