Hi,
IEEE 488.2, or GPIB, is just a communication channel. It allows you to send messages (ASCII or binary) between different devices on the bus. The actual data sent is instrument specific. Each instrument will have a different set of commands that reflect the interument's functionality.
The first thing you need to the is stablish a simple communication with the device. All 488.2 compliant devices respond to *IDN? with an identification string. This simple query allows you to verify that the communcation is working properly.
You then need to use the instrument's user manual to determine the appropriate commands needed for your application.
To program in Visual C++ you just need the Language interface files to access the GPIB functions. If you are
using NI-488.2 the files are a header file (488.h) and an object file.
Hope this provides some help.
Also, whenever you have a questions on GPIB programming, regardless of the programming language, it is usually better to post it on the GPIB dicussion forum.
DiegoF.
National Instruments
