"NI CAN PCI" loopback test s/w eg "terminal" app?

[Mr Red]

We are installing two of these cards into a WinXP PC and wiring via several connectors to ends that could be looped if needed.

The problem is there is no terminal type facility and we are not the S/W house so wouldn't tinker with any compiler/inerpreters.

Anyone know of a simple stand alone app that can access the cards and installed drivers as if it were a Hyperteminal.?

I have seen evidence of competitive cards in the past (here) using just such an app but don't have it and would it work with competitors' products?

TIA guys.

Mr Red (cresby.com)

[biker2000]

Hi,

I’m not sure, if I understand your reference to the ‘Hyperterminal’ correctly, but if you just want to use your CAN card to read and write CAN frames without doing any programming, there are two options:

1. In the Measurement & Automation Explorer (gets installed with the NI-CAN software) you can launch the BusMonitor utility to monitor existing CAN traffic on the bus (select the CAN card from ‘Devices and Interfaces’ expand the item to see the port, right-click on the port and select the BusMonitor entry).
   Further more, you can use the TestPanels to generate data:
   First navigate to ‘Data Neigborhood’ and select ‘CAN Channels’. Right-click on ‘CAN Channels’ and select ‘Load Channel Configuration’. The upcomming dialog should allow you to load the ‘example.ncd’ file (by default installed to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI-CAN). With that example database loaded, expand the ‘CAN Channels’ section, expand any of the two messages, right-click on one of the channels and select ‘Test Panel’.
   The second tab allows you to transmit data (for the selected CAN channel).
   
2. There is a small precompiled (console application) example, that sends ten frames from CAN0 to CAN1 (at 125 kbps): Obj2Obj.exe
   That program gets (by default) installed to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI-CAN\Utilities
   Note that both ports have to be cabled together (or connected to the same bus).
   

-B2k

[Mr Red]

I will go have a look - thanks.

The problem is checking cabling - which in our case is inside a cabinet.