Does NI-VISA pull an unique I.D. number for each USB device connected?

[BryanS]

Hello All,

I am fairly new to LabVIEW as well as the VISA toolkit.

When communicating with LabVIEW and a USB device via VISA, does VISA pull an unique I.D. number for the USB device for each connection made? 

I did reference: http://www.ni.com/white-paper/4713/en 

Regards,

Bryan

[Jason_P]

Hi Bryan,

I recently ran into a problem where my USB device did not have a serial number, so a default one was generated for it.  But some devices (like the NI USB devices) DO have serial numbers which can be recognized by the system as unique devices.

The best way to tell is to create your driver using the wizard, install it, plug in your device, and open Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX).  Your device should appear in the "Devices and Interfaces" section.  You will be able to see the vendor code, product id, and serial number if it's there.

JasonP

[BryanS]

Hi JasonP

My concern with the VISA toolkit is that eventually I will have "production quantities" of this device, thus I can't truly install just this device if VISA uniquely assigns the devices?

Thanks,

BryanS

[Jason_P · Accepted solution]

Bryan,

I don't understand what you are saying, so let me rephrase my answer and see if it helps you - IF your device properly implements the USB standard and has a serial number, VISA will use that serial number.  If your device does not implement the USB standard properly, or it does not have a serial number, VISA will make one for you.  

Whether or not you device has a serial number, VISA can be used to communicate with it.  There are routines that allow you to detect and identify VISA devices connected to your PC. 

JasonP