Chapter 1 Introduction
© National Instruments Corporation 1-3 SC-2040 User Manual
NI-DAQ also internally addresses many of the complex issues between the computer and the
DAQ hardware such as programming interrupts and DMA controllers. NI-DAQ maintains a
consistent software interface among its different versions so that you can change platforms with
minimal modifications to your code. Figure 1-1 illustrates the relationship between NI-DAQ and
LabVIEW and LabWindows. You can see that the data acquisition parts of LabVIEW and
LabWindows are functionally equivalent to the NI-DAQ software.
LabWindows
(PC or
Sun SPARCstation)
LabVIEW
(PC, Macintosh, or
Sun SPARCstation)
Conventional
Programming
Environment
(PC, Macintosh, or
Sun SPARCstation)
NI-DAQ
Driver Software
DAQ or
SCXI Hardware
Personal
Computer
or
Workstation
Figure 1-1. The Relationship between the Programming Environment,
NI-DAQ, and Your Hardware
The National Instruments PC, AT, MC, EISA, DAQCard, and DAQPad Series DAQ hardware is
packaged with NI-DAQ software for PC compatibles. NI-DAQ software for PC compatibles
comes with language interfaces for Professional BASIC, Turbo Pascal, Turbo C, Turbo C++,
Borland C++, and Microsoft C for DOS; and Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal, Microsoft C with SDK,
and Borland C++ for Windows. You can use your AT-MIO-16, together with other PC, AT,
MC, EISA, DAQCard, and DAQPad Series DAQ and SCXI hardware, with NI-DAQ software
for PC compatibles.
The National Instruments NB Series DAQ boards are packaged with NI-DAQ software for
Macintosh. NI-DAQ software for Macintosh comes with language interfaces for MPW C,
THINK C, Pascal, and Microsoft QuickBASIC. Any language that uses Device Manager
Toolbox calls can access NI-DAQ software for Macintosh. You can use NB Series DAQ boards
and SCXI hardware with NI-DAQ software for Macintosh.
The National Instruments SB Series DAQ boards are packaged with NI-DAQ software for Sun,
which comes with a language interface for ANSI C.