Instruction manual

Introduction
We provide a python library, ps178x.py, that can provide programming access to B&K Precision's
power supply 1785-1788 series. The library is only supported for use on Windows computers.
There are two ways you can use this library:
1. You can use it to access 1785B-1788 power supply from your own python programs. A
PS178x object is provided whose interface allows access to various features of the power
supply. You may be able to use this method of access on non-Windows computers, but this
is not supported by B&K.
2. You can use the ps178x.py file to provide a COM server that provides access to the power
supply. Using COM allows you to access the load using programming languages other than
python, such as Visual Basic or Visual C++. COM is only available on Windows platforms.
NOTE: In this document, COM refers either to Component Object Model (a Microsoft programming
technology) or the communications port on a PC (usually, COM1, COM2, etc.). The usage should
be clear from the context.
Prerequisites
To use this library, you must have python and the pyserial library installed on your computer. If
you wish to use the COM server, you must also have the pywin32 library installed. Please see the
appendices for how to get and install these tools.
B&K 1785, 1786B, 1787B, 1788 Python Library 15 January 2009 Page 2 of 14