Documentation for instrument drivers

[Fasching_K]

Hello everybody,

I have a question to the instrument drivers I can use in Labwindows like NIDAQmx I/O Controls --> daqmxioctrl.fp.

There are often functions that I really need but they are not part of the normal libraries. When I search in the internet I find then a link to the .fp data. But the problem is, that I can not found a documentation where I can see where these .fp data are and what they do. I must always guess what it is. When I include it in the program I have some information over the help. Is there a documentation where I can see a short description about the instruments and where I can find them? I use two instruments an both of them have a complete different path.

Hope somebody can help.

Best Regards

[RobertoBozzolo · Accepted solution]

CVI provides instrument driver functionality to permit developing and sharing libraries of functions of general use that you intend to use extensively in your programs. You can either use som instruments that ships with CVI or other NI software like DAQmx or develop your own libraries.

As per the instruments supplied by NI, CVI ones are normally located into <CVIfolder>\toolslib> folder and child ones. Normally these instrument drivers include some help for each function exported and for the instrument itself: once you have loaded the instrument, you can show the help for each of its functions by right-clicking in an empty area of the function panel; help for individual parameters of the function can be shown by right-clicking each of them. When showing the help, the Instrument help... button on the bottom of the window will display a short description of the instrument driver.

Instruments installed with DAQmx are normally store into <C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\Shared\CVI\toolslib\custctrl> folder. They too have help function included.

Other instruments may be present in other locations (e.g. in the examples folder if they are functional to a single sample program), especially if provided by third parties.

I don't seem to remember a document where all instrument included in CVI and DAQmx distributions are listed.