Using LV 6.1 with VISA 3.2 for USB instruments

[LambdaPS]

We have large base of LV 6.1 s/w but need to start programming a USB instrument. Can I just upgrade to VISA 3.1 and Max 3.0 without upgrading LV?

My biggest concern is getting the VISA Resouce Name control to show the user-friendly USB aliases.

[JoshuaP]

Yes... just upgrade to NI-VISA 3.2 and you can begin using NI-VISA with USB. However, it will greatly depend on the USB device as of whether or not NI-VISA will detect the device. If you are using something that is USBTMC like an Agilent Function Generator it will just show up in MAX as a VISA device and you can use it like a GPIB device. However, if the device is not USBTMC you will have to use USB RAW. This requires you to use VISA to create the *.inf file using the VISA tools so that VISA is configured as the driver under the Windows Device Manager. Note that if the USB device already has a driver it will have to be uninstalled, because only one driver can be assigned to a device. Here are some links to help you get started.

http://digital.ni.com/s
oftlib.nsf/webcategories/85256410006C055586256BBB002C0E91?opendocument&node=132060_US

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/6792BAB18242082786256DD7006B6416?opendocument

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/044FA220F32774ED86256DB3005850CA?OpenDocument

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/E3A2C4FE42D7ED0D86256DB7005C65C9?OpenDocument

-Josh

[Dan_Mondrik]

Regarding the name that shows up in LabVIEW, it follows the same logic as for any other instrument type. If there is an alias that the user has defined in MAX, that is what shows up; otherwise, it uses the canonical VISA resource name. That canonical name is admittedly long and ugly for USB, but the name is designed to be unique on a given system and inherently reproducible on all systems.

Dan Mondrik
National Instruments

[sravan-arp]

Hi

Did u successfully communicated with USB port in LabVIEW6.1 with VISA3.2 version?

Please do help regarding this

[John E]

Hi sravan-arp,
Since this post is a few years old the original poster may not respond.  If you are having some troubles I would be happy to help you resolve them.  If so please let me know:
1) What errors are you seeing?

Or if you are trying to see something and it doesn’t show up:
2) What instrument are you using, and what type of USB device is it?


These links may be helpful to you in your troubleshooting:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4478
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/273BB58D3B52CE6886256F3B00714D03?OpenDocument
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/E3A2C4FE42D7ED0D86256DB7005C65C9?OpenDocument


John Erdelt
National Instruments