omega DP41-e

[MacT]

Just loaded Labview NI Developer Suite 2006.  First application is to "talk to" an Omega DP41-E Panel Meter connected to an LP802 Linear Potentiometer.  Operator runs test by pressing a button and the panel meter shows the result.  I want to ask the operator to input a Serial Number and then save the serial number and test results to a file.  The test is repeated 4 times.  I would prefer to have the operator load the part and press "start" then have Labview run the 4 tests and record the results.  What "pieces" of labview do I need to focus on?  Do I need to use LabWindows/CVI?  I have 13+ years programming in Basic, Fortran, Assembler, etc. but not "C" (yet).  I have not yet found a "driver" for any of the Omega equipment.  Is there someplace else I should look?  Labview is a huge package; I just need some pointers on how to proceed.

[Dennis_Knutson]

You ask "what pieces of LabVIEW do I need to focus on. Do I need to use LabWindows/CVI". LabVIEW and LabWindows are two different programming languages. The developer suite contains both but you might only need one of them. If you haven't done any C programming, you could concentrate on learning LabVIEW but if you are very experienced in text based languages, you might find LabWindows less of a paradigm shift. I personally think that it is faster to develop in LabVIEW than in LabWindows. (fyi, I learned LabWindows before I learned LabVIEW). There are a lot of shipping examples with both LabVIEW and LabWindows that can help you learn. Some of the learning resources for LabVIEW can be found at http://www.ni.com/devzone/lvzone/fundamentals.htm . There may be similar resources for LabWindows but I don't know what they might be. There is a LabWindows board that you could post to. If your developer suite includes TestStand, then that's a completely different package. It is a test manager and not a programming language. You can develop test sequences in TestStand that can use either or both LabVIEW and LabWindows code modules. You can also have test steps that use neither.

What is the type of physical connection to the linear pot and panel meter? Serial, GPIB, or something else? That information would further help to tell you what areas you need to concentrate on.

[MacT]

The Linear Potentiometer LP802 is "hard wired" to the DP-41E and the two devices communicate fine.

I need to communicate with the DP-41E, and to det up an operator interface.

[Dennis_Knutson]

And is one of them connected to the pc? That's the type of connection I was asking about.

[MacT]

The DP41-E can be connected to a PC via a serial board.

I have a DP41-S that has a serial board and I have communicated with it from by pc using Hyperterminal.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Serial communication is done with the Serial functions on the Instrument I/O palette. These use an API called VISA. The same API is used for serial, GPIB, Ethernet, etc. communication and ther are shipping examples for serial communication. Once the connection has been tested with Hyperterminal, the biggest problem new users have is setting the termination character when writing to the serial device. There have been numerous discussions on that here and in the Serial board.