ibdev idclr ibonl equivalent in LabVIEW

[MatGen]

Hello,

In a C program, for instance, I would initialize a GPIB device using

 DeviceID=ibdev(...) and ibclr(...)

and for uninitializing an ibonl(DeviceID,0) would do...

Now my question is: what are the LabVIEW equivalent to these functions, and where are they to be found? In particular ibdev and ibonl?!

Help will be much appreciated!

Best regards,

Mathieu

[smercurio_fc]

Why would you need to try to replicate these functions in LabVIEW? LabVIEW programming isn't like programming in C. One uses VISA in LabVIEW. While there is access to some of the lower-level GPIB-specific functions they are rarely needed. Check the examples that ship with LabVIEW related to GPIB/VISA, as they will show you how to do instrument control in LabVIEW. You can also start here: LabVIEW Instrument Control.

[MatGen]

Hello,

Thank for your comment.

I indeed know it is not completely equivalent, however I am in front of a communication error between two GPIB devices when using LabVIEW, and I would appreciate to test it step by step as I would in, say, LabWindows.

I am not familiar with VISA though, which improvement does it bring? What is it basic working scheme/programming flow idea?

Best regards,

Mathieu

[smercurio_fc]

VISA is an API that sits on top of GPIB, serial, and TCP/IP. It's intended to be used so you can easily switch between protocols using the same instrument driver. This is intended to make it easier for programmers to deal with instruments that have multiple communication interfaces. You can get a basic overview here.

As for your specific issue:  What instruments are you dealing with? Do you have instrument drivers for them? If not, have you looked in the Instrument Driver Network? Try to follow the steps outlined in this KB article: Instrument Control in LabVIEW Tutorial. Have you verified that you can communicate with the devices using MAX? My guess is that you're probably missing a command termination character, like a carriage return or linefeed.