User`s guide

Easy Ways to Control Instruments Chapter 3
VEE User’s Guide 157
Using PC Plug-in Boards
VEE provides three ways to control PC plug- in boards or cards:
1 Data Translation's Visual Programming Interface. (Order
the VPI application directly through Data Translation.)
2 Dynamic link libraries supplied by the PC board
manufacturer, such as ComputerBoards or Meilhaus. (See
“Using Dynamic Link Libraries" on page 453 for
information on using dynamic link libraries.)
Data Translation's Visual Programming Interface (VPI)
Data Translation's VPI works with VEE to create seamless data
acquisition performance for PC plug- ins. By leveraging the
flexibility of Data Translation's Open Layers standards, you
have access to over 50 data acquisition boards.
The VPI works directly with plug- in ISA, PCI, and
USB- based data acquisition cards that require low channel
count. The VPI adds a menu selection and specific PC
plug- in data acquisition icons to VEE. These drive the Data
Translation hardware functionality.
Amplicon
Amplicon has a wide range of analog and digital I/O PC
plug- in boards within the 200 Series, all with VEE support.
The software interface is part of Amplicon’s AmpDIO driver
package, a 32- bit API with a multithreaded DLL for
Windows and support for interrupt driven acquisition. The
API contains over 100 calls for efficient and flexible
programming as a Compiled Function using a VEE- specific
definition file and the facility to utilize up to eight boards in
one program.
In addition to Amplicon’s own range of plug- in boards,
which includes serial communication devices, Amplicon can
supply boards from a wide range of other manufacturers for
data acquisition, serial communication, and GPIB
applications.