Chapter 3 129
Easy Ways to Control Instruments
Overview
Overview
In this chapter, you will learn how to use VEE to control instruments. With
VEE, you can control instruments in several ways:
n “Panel” drivers give you a simple user interface (or “front panel”) to
control an instrument from your computer screen. When you change
parameters in the VEE panel driver, the corresponding state of the
instrument is changed. Panel drivers are provided by Agilent
Technologies with VEE and cover over 450 instruments from different
vendors.
n The Direct I/O object allows you to transmit commands and receive
data over many supported interfaces. This technique is equivalent to
using command strings with a textual language like Rocky Mountain
Basic.
n Open Data Acquisition Standard Drivers (ODAS drivers) use
ActiveX Automation technology to control PC Plug-in cards (PCPI
cards). An ODAS driver has a standard format, and therefore can be
supplied by the vendor of the PC Plug-in card or another third party.
n I/O libraries can be imported to control PC Plug-in boards and then call
functions from that library using the
Call object. These libraries, usually
shipped as Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs), are similar to ODAS drivers,
but ODAS drivers are standard and easier to use.
n VXIplug&play drivers can be used to call C functions to control
instruments. These are provided by Agilent Technologies and other
vendors with their supported instruments.
This chapter is designed to give you the fundamentals of controlling
instruments to cover most situations. For more complete information, refer
to the VEE Pro Advanced Techniques manual.
To Next Page
Loading...