Chapter 1 Introduction
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National Instruments Corporation 1-3 PCI-4451/4452 User Manual
Software Programming Choices
There are several options to choose from to program and use your
NationalInstruments device. You can use LabVIEW for Windows,
LabWindows/CVI for Windows, VirtualBench-DSA, ComponentWorks,
and Measure.

National Instruments Application Software

LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI are innovative program development
software packages for data acquisition and control applications. LabVIEW
uses graphical programming, whereas LabWindows/CVI enhances
traditional programing languages. Both packages include extensive
libraries for data acquisition, instrument control, data analysis, and
graphical data presentation.
LabVIEW features interactive graphics, a state-of-the-art user interface,
and a powerful graphical programming language. The LabVIEW Data
Acquisition VI Library, a series of VIs for using LabVIEW with National
Instruments device hardware, is included with LabVIEW. The LabVIEW
Data Acquisition VI Library is functionally equivalent to the NI-DAQ
software.
LabWindows/CVI features interactive graphics, a state-of-the-art user
interface, and uses the ANSI C programming language. The
LabWindows/CVI Data Acquisition, a series of functions for using
LabWindows/CVI with National Instruments device hard ware, is included
with the NI-DAQ software kit. The LabWindows/CVI Data Acquisition
library is functionally equivalent to the NI-DAQ software.
VirtualBench is a suite of VIs that allows you to use your data acquisition
products just as you use stand-alone instruments, but you benefit from
processing, display, and storage capabilities of PCs. VirtualBench
instruments load and save waveform data to disk in the same forms used in
popular spreadsheet programs and word processors. A report generation
capability complements the raw data storage by adding timestamps,
measurements, user name, and comments.
The complete VirtualBench suite contains VirtualBench-Scope,
VirtualBench-DSA, VirtualBench-Function Generator, VirtualBench-FG,
VirtualBench-Arb, VirtualBench-AODC, VirtualBench-DIO,
VirtualBench-DMM, and VitualBench-Logger. Your PCI 4451/4452
comes with VirtualBench-DSA. VirtualBench-DSA is a turnkey
User.book Page 3 Tuesday, April 14, 1998 10:20 AM