Where can I find complete information about ibdiag()?

[Mike_D.]

I've seen a few bit and pieces about using ibdiag() in NI-488.2 but is there a complete description about the information returned in the buffer.

Thanks,
Mike

[KileenC]

Hi Mike,

The ibdiag() function is no longer supported in versions of NI-488.2 past 1.7. It was never formally documented and was meant only to be used internally.

What kind of information are you trying to extract out from ibdiag(). A possible workaround at this point would be to extract out that information from the GPIB.INI file found in C:\WINDOWS\system32. The GPIB.INI file is created by NI's Measurement and Automation Explorer when it configures for devices and provides much of the same diagnostic information provided by the ibdiag() function call.

Hope this helps!

Kileen Cheng
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Mike_D.]

I was more just curious about ibdiag() since I've seen it referenced in a number of places. I looked at my GPIB.INI and it contains much of the information I was interested it. One question though: Is the GPIB.INI available with all versions of NI-488.2 (1.70, 2.0, 2.1, etc) and on all Windows platforms (Win95, 98, Me, NT, 2K, and XP)?

Thanks,
Mike

[KileenC]

Hi Mike,

Currently the GPIB.INI file is available with all versions of NI-488.2 and on all Windows platforms as well. Just as a warning though, there is no absolute guarantee that the GPIB.INI file will continue to exist in the future. At the present moment though, I do not think there will be many changes to the existence or structure of the GPIB.INI file.

Kileen Cheng
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[KileenC]

Hi Mike,

I wanted to make a correction to my previous post. The GPIB.INI file is not provided in any drivers previous to version 2.0. Therefore, version 1.7 does not have an INI file included.

I know that you were trying to extract out the interface type information previously. Was there any other information you were needing the INI file for? Your input would be definitely be taken into consideration in future releases of our driver.

Thanks!

Kileen Cheng
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Mike_D.]

That's very disappointing! I wanted a way to determine the GPIB interface type (PCI-GPIB, GPIB-USB-B, etc.) associated with a GPIB interface (GPIB0, GPIB1, etc.) with my VC++/MFC program so the user doesn't have to crack the case on their computer to tell what kind of interface card is installed. If the GPIB.INI file doesn't exist in versions prior to 2.0 then I have to abandon that method.

I don't mind if I have to use a different method for the different versions of NI-488.2 because I can find the version of NI-488.2 from the Registry at "HKLM\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\NI-488.2M\CurrentVersion".

Thanks,
Mike