8 Introduction

VXI

plug&play

Power Products

Instrument Drivers

VXIplug&play instrument drivers for Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT are now available on the Web at
http://www.agilent.com/find/drivers. These instrument drivers provide a high-level programming interface to your Agilent
Technologies electronic load. VXIplug&play instrument drivers are an alternative to programming your instrument with
SCPI command strings. Because the instrument driver’s function calls work together on top of the VISA I/O library, a
single instrument driver can be used with multiple application environments.
Supported Applications
ñAgilent VEE
ñMicrosoft Visual BASIC
ñMicrosoft Visual C/C++
ñBorland C/C++
ñNational Instruments LabVIEW
ñNational Instruments LabWindows/CVI
System Requirements
The VXIplug&play instrument driver complies with the following:
ñMicrosoft Windows 95
ñMicrosoft Windows NT 4.0
ñHP VISA revision F.01.02
ñNational Instruments VISA 1.1

Downloading and Installing the Driver

NOTE: Before installing the VXIplug&play instrument driver, make sure that you have one of the supported
applications installed and running on your computer.
1. Access Agilent Technologies Web site at http://www.agilent.com/find/drivers.
2. Select the instrument for which you need the driver.
3. Click on the driver, either Windows 95 or Windows NT, and download the executable file to your PC.
4. Locate the file that you downloaded from the Web. From the Start menu select Run <path>:\agxxxx.exe - where
<path> is the directory path where the file is located, and agxxxx is the instrument driver that you downloaded .
5. Follow the directions on the screen to install the software. The default installation selections will work in most
cases. The readme.txt file contains product updates or corrections that are not documented in the on-line help. If
you decide to install this file, use any text editor to open and read it.
6. To use the VXIplug&play instrument driver, follow the directions in the VXIplug&play online help for your
specific driver under “Introduction to Programming”.

Accessing Online Help

A comprehensive online programming reference is provided with the driver. It describes how to get started using the
instrument driver with Agilent VEE, LabVIEW, and LabWindows. It includes complete descriptions of all function calls
as well as example programs in C/C++ and Visual BASIC.
ñTo access the online help when you have chosen the default Vxipnp start folder, click on the Start button and select
Programs | Vxipnp | Agxxxx Help (32-bit).
- where Agxxxx is the instrument driver.