TekVISA NIViSA conflict

[LabVIEW_Vish]

Hi,

I am using LabVIEW 8.2 and Tektronix TLA Application 5.1 SP1. Both have different VISA of own.

If I use the VISA32.dll file of NI then only MAX works and if I use VISA32.dll file of Tektronix then only tektronix application works!! Max and Tektronix applications are not working simultaneously!

Is there any solution for this. With LabVIEW 7.1 and TLA application 5.1 we were using Batch file to change the VISA32.dll files as per the application need. But with LabVIEW8.2 this options is also not working!!!! If I switch back to NI VISA32.dll for using MAX then it ask for system restart.

Does any one has solution for this? So that without changing the VISA32.dll files or without restarting I can use my system?

Regards,

Vishal

[Anna_M]

Hi Vishal,

Did you also upgrade your version of VISA or MAX during your upgrade to LabVIEW 8.2?  It is possible that something changed in the VISA driver during the upgrade which now results in this issue.  Also, what version of the TekVISA driver are you using?  Thanks!

[LabVIEW_Vish]

I install complete LabVIEW 8.2 including VISA drivers and max. So my system has latest version of VISA and Max. TekVISA is 3.0.1. (Comes with TLA application.) By default it install it.

regards,

vishal

[Anna_M]

Hi Vishal,

I found this link to download TekVISA 3.02: http://www2.tek.com/cmswpt/swdetails.lotr?ct=SW&cs=Utility&ci=5738&lc=EN&from=rss

So I can try switching between the VISA versions to see if I can reproduce what you are seeing on one of our test machines here.  I'll let you know what I find!

[Superlou]

Did installing the new TekVISA fix the issue?

[LabVIEW_Vish]

Installing the TekVISA did not solve the problem 😞

But I got some other solution. 🙂

Are you using any Tek Application(Open Choice, TLA Application or some other)? If no then you can uninstall TekVISA and it will work fine.

If you want to use Tek Application and you want to use the system with LabVIEW and/or TestStand (Without using NI MAX) then install LabVIEW and TestStand first then install Tek Application. This will make the VISA32.dll file of TEK. Then go to InstrumentManager of TekVISA. Go to Search Criteria, select require interfaces. Press Done.

Then Update the list once. This will work for you in LabVIEW and TestStand.

Regards,

Vishal

[LabVIEW_Vish]

Hi Did you find anything?

Regards,

vishal

[Superlou]

You can use this utility to toggle between TekVISA and NI VISA, I've been using it for a few months, it works very well.

[LabVIEW_Vish]

I was also using this, but if you are not using NI MAX then you can use TekVISA and it will work fine. LabVIEW and TestStand can work fine with TekVISA as I mentioned earlier.

Only if you want to check / verify something using NI MAX then you need to switch back to NI VISA.

Regards,

Vishal

[Ed Christy]

I haven't read the entire thread, so I'm not certain as to the original question.  But I will describe my most recent experience.

I created an executable from LabVIEW 8.2 to run on a Tektronix 7254 scope.  Among other things, this application essentially acts as a server for a remote client on a standard PC.  The client sends high-level commands to the server which then manipulates the scope as needed, i.e. setting it up and retrieving waveforms for the client.  This requires using the LabVIEW VISA read and write VIs and the VISA device GPIB8::1::INSTR.  Building and debugging the system was done on a PC.  Communicating with the scope was done over TCP/IP through the VXI-11 server on the scope.  I just did a standard installation of tekvisa on the PC and didn't touch the scopes.

After getting the application to run correctly on the PC, I compiled it and ran it on the scope.  This caused all sorts of problems.  The most notable of which was that my application seemed to be chewing up a LOT of processor time, even slowing mouse movement.  When the scope was armed in fastframe mode, a thread was monitoring the trigger/acquisition state with a 500ms loop time.

I created a very simple application which I ran on both the scope and the PC.  It was just a simple user interface that allowed me to post commands from the keyboard.  I still saw a difference in execution.  I sat down with Chris Burak from Rio Scientific in Albuquerque.  By using the Open Choice call monitor on the scope, we were able to analyze the visa function call sequence created by a simple *idn write and read.  We discovered that executing the command on the scope produced a different sequence than when run on the PC.  Most notably when run on the PC, a synchronous read was executed.  The same command on the scope executed an asynchronous read.  We found that the LabVIEW VISA VI's can be set for synchronous or asynchronous mode.  They default to asynchronous mode.  Right-click on the VI and the mode can be changed.  When we recompiled the original application with the VIs set for synchronous operation, it ran on the scope as it did on the PC.

I was told by a Tektronix applications engineer that the GPIB8::1::INSTR call is also routed through the VXI-11 server.  If this is true, it certainly treats it differently than a TCP/IP call.  VXI-11 must alias the commands to always do a synchronous read when accessed through TCP/IP.   I hope this helps.

Message Edited by Ed Christy on 08-22-2007 11:39 AM

Message Edited by Ed Christy on 08-22-2007 11:40 AM