Contents
NI-488.2 User Manual for Windows vi www.natinst.com
Access Additional Help and Resources.........................................................................2-14
NI-488.2 Online Help..................................................................................... 2-14
National Instruments GPIB Web Site.............................................................2-15
View or Change GPIB-ENET Network Settings (Windows 98/95 Only).................... 2-15
Assign IP Address...........................................................................................2-15
Configure Advanced IP Settings.....................................................................2-15
Update GPIB-ENET Firmware.......................................................................2-16
Chapter 3Developing Your NI-488.2 Application
Simple Instrument Control............................................................................................3-1
Interactive Instrument Control......................................................................................3-2
Choosing Your Programming Methodology................................................................. 3-3
Choosing a Method to Access the NI-488.2 Driver........................................3-3
NI-488.2 Language Interfaces.......................................................... 3-3
Direct Entry Access.......................................................................... 3-3
Choosing How to Use the NI-488.2 API........................................................ 3-4
Communicating with a Single GPIB Device....................................3-4
Using Multiple Interfaces and/or Multiple Devices......................... 3-5
Checking Status with Global Variables.........................................................................3-5
Status Word (ibsta)..........................................................................................3-5
Error Variable (iberr)......................................................................................3-7
Count Variables (ibcnt and ibcntl)..................................................................3-7
Using Interactive Control to Communicate with Devices.............................................3-7
Programming Models....................................................................................................3-8
Applications That Communicate with a Single GPIB Device........................3-8
Items to Include................................................................................3-8
General Program Steps and Examples..............................................3-8
Applications That Use Multiple Interfaces or Communicate with
MultipleGPIB Devices ................................................................................3-10
Items to Include................................................................................3-10
General Program Steps and Examples..............................................3-10
Language-Specific Programming Instructions.............................................................. 3-12
Microsoft Visual C/C++ (Version 2.0 or Later)............................................. 3-12
Borland C/C++ (Version 4.0 or Later)............................................................3-12
Visual Basic (Version 4.0 or Later)................................................................3-13
Direct Entry with C.........................................................................................3-13
gpib-32.dll Exports...........................................................................3-13
Directly Accessing the gpib-32.dll Exports......................................3-14
Running Existing NI-488.2 Applications...................................................................... 3-17
Running Existing Win32 and Win16 NI-488.2 Applications......................... 3-17
Running Existing DOS NI-488.2 Applications Under Windows 98/95......... 3-17
Running Existing DOS NI-488.2 Applications under Windows 2000/NT..... 3-18