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hi,

i am working on a test lab in which various components are tested. a programmable gpib power supply is being used there. VI's are built for that test system to run the tests in a sequence in which the gpib power supply VI's are integrated. the power supply used is the BEHLMAN ACP 3X500 power supply. IT HAS BECOME UNSERVICEALE. there is need to change the power supply with a new one. so if i m replacing the old power supply what changes do i have to make in the VI's of the old power supply and how can i integrate the new power supply in the test system.  please help me in this because i have been given serious deadlines on this issue..

thanks.

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First off you are not the first person in this awful position- Many have been there before you.

 

Plan for obsolescence!  what you choose tomarrow will be swapped at antique stores someday.  The BEHLMAN ACP 3X500 is what use old-timers call a legacy device.  Many improvements have been made to instrument control since this beast was invented and you will find no drop-in replacement for it!  you will need to edit every piece of code that touches the calls to the supply.

 

Consider encapsulation of the calls to your new equipment in a Resource Module.  Then at worst you only need to edit 1 vi to replace the equipment (At BEST, with a IVI Driver, you need to change an alias in MAX)

 

Chroma and Kikiusa both offer lines of AC PS that use the modern 488.2 (SCPI multi-line mesagge format) commands.  both offer LabVIEW drivers on the IDN that will help you get up and running on modern equipment quickly.  However, If your lab manager let the equipment go obsolete until catastrophy- I'm also betting your software may not be up to date either.  Am I Right? what versions of LabVIEW/TestStand are you stuck with- it impacts what you can do and what effort will be required.


"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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Obviously, if you replace it with the same model, you don't have to change a thing. If you replace it with a model from the same vendor, you may not have to change anything. You would have to check with the vendor to see if they used the same command set. If you used an IVI driver and IVI class functions, you install the IVI driver for the new supply, configure MAX, and the program does not change. If you change vendors and aren't using IVI, then you replace each function that reads and writes since the commands and data are going to be different.
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u said: "Consider encapsulation of the calls to your new equipment in a Resource Module.  Then at worst you only need to edit 1 vi to replace the equipment (At BEST, with a IVI Driver, you need to change an alias in MAX)"

i couldnot explain few terms here like "encapsulation of calls" ," resource module", "IVI drivers", "change an alias in MAX" ...please explain them . and the labview version i m using is the labview 7.1 and the new power supply is not BEHLMAN  power supply , it is from a different vendor....can u tell me how much is the volume of work involved in it??

 

waiting for reply..

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@nust wrote:

u said: "Consider encapsulation of the calls to your new equipment in a Resource Module.  Then at worst you only need to edit 1 vi to replace the equipment (At BEST, with a IVI Driver, you need to change an alias in MAX)"

i couldnot explain few terms here like "encapsulation of calls" ," resource module", "IVI drivers", "change an alias in MAX" ...please explain them . and the labview version i m using is the labview 7.1 and the new power supply is not BEHLMAN  power supply , it is from a different vendor....can u tell me how much is the volume of work involved in it??

 

waiting for reply..


Forum ettiqutte first-

Typoes are permitted! txt language is actively discouraged.  We are a global forum an discuss technical issues.  please type don't use texting meta-whatchamacallems.  Goolge translate does not know "txt" and others can benefit by searching the forums.

 

LabVIEW 7.1  Well- its the earliest version of LabVIEW that I considered stable for NI-VISA but, its old enough to be no longer supported by the latest versions of NI drivers and tool kits (by several years)  You are in trouble.

 

Points.:

  • encapsulation of calls--- Encapsulation, abstraction, cohesion.  are pillars of software development. a book entitled "A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW" is a often recommended resource.  It is fully appliciable to your version of LabVIEW- buy it read it - steal a copy if you can.  There is a LabVIEW proverb, "Its easier to learn LabVIEW if you know Software engineering than it is to learn software engineering if you know LabVIEW" Trust the guy that coined that phrasSmiley Wink
  • IVI Drivers- I did link to the IDN (those blue texts will take you places) I could tell you all about driver technologies- but look at the information in the USUING DRIVERS blob dead center on the page- browse for a while- and read through the Measurement and Automation Explorer help file too------ Get to know MAX! 
  • The Resource Module- I did link to an example- after you read "A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW" look into my profile page (just click my name by this post) the TAGS are on the top right.  "Required_Reading" will helpSmiley Wink  so will "Forum_Tips"

"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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