Choosing Driver for third party instruments

[VP95]

Hello,

I am working on designing a new test system and we are planning on using some Keysight Precision Power supplies N6700, N6900 and N5700 series. I was wondering if I should chose the labwindows cvi drivers or the labview drivers for the project.

my main concerns are:

long term support

availability of functions

reliability of using LabVIEW vs lab windows cvi

instrument drivers vs direct scpi commands on LabVIEW vs lab windows cvi

compatibility with test stand

overhead difference between lab view and labwindows

hardware requirements for labview driver and test stand based system vs labwindows cvi and test stand based system

anyone have any experience or technical insight into the pros and cons of chosing labwindow cvi/ivi drivers vs labview drivers for third party instruments?

[Yamaeda]

I bet they both call the same DLL, so the difference will be null to miniscule. 🙂

[crossrulz]

Personally, I am partial to using my own drivers using the SCPI commands and written in LabVIEW.  The N5700 follows the standard SCPI commands for nearly all power supplies I have used in the last 10 years.  So that driver I can reuse.  The N6700 series is a little different due to it having up to 4 modules.

[RTSLVU]

I would stick with the LabVIEW drivers that use SCPI commands for long term support and reliability.

I try to avoid any driver that just calls a DLL as future DLL compatibility is always a dice roll. Plus you have always distribute that DLL and some need to be "installed" or properly "registered" meaning they need their own installer ran after installing the LabVIEW application, adding another layer of complexity and another possible failure point.

[billko]

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@Yamaeda wrote:

I bet they both call the same DLL, so the difference will be null to miniscule. 🙂

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I have some experience with the LabVIEW drivers.  They are fancy wrappers for SCPI commands - although I must say, the fancy wrappers makes life very easy for the developer.

I know nothing of the CVI drivers, though.

[billko]

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@VP95 wrote:

Hello,

I am working on designing a new test system and we are planning on using some Keysight Precision Power supplies N6700, N6900 and N5700 series. I was wondering if I should chose the labwindows cvi drivers or the labview drivers for the project.

my main concerns are:

long term support

availability of functions

reliability of using LabVIEW vs lab windows cvi

instrument drivers vs direct scpi commands on LabVIEW vs lab windows cvi

compatibility with test stand

overhead difference between lab view and labwindows

hardware requirements for labview driver and test stand based system vs labwindows cvi and test stand based system

anyone have any experience or technical insight into the pros and cons of chosing labwindow cvi/ivi drivers vs labview drivers for third party instruments?

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This is a little confusing for me, though.  Are you asking about drivers or platforms?  It's a little odd that you would be more concerned about drivers than platforms.

[VP95]

Hello,

the platforms are a concern as well.

[billko]

If you are thinking of integrating with TestStand, I would say, "why not both?"  I think it matters more about the developers' familiarity with the different languages than anything else.  TestStand will be happy with LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well.  Mix and match as needed.

I don't use TestStand regularly at all, so maybe there is a big difference between theory of operation and reality.  😉