Ni-Daq Driver Software - National Instruments DAQPad-6508 User Manual

Chapter 1 Introduction

NI-DAQ Driver Software

DAQPad-6507/6508 User Manual
The NI-DAQ driver software is included at no charge with all National
Instruments DAQ hardware. NI-DAQ is not packaged with SCXI or
accessory products, except for the SCXI-1200. NI-DAQ has an extensive
library of functions that you can call from your application programming
environment. These functions include routines for analog input (A/D
conversion), buffered data acquisition (high-speed A/D conversion),
analog output (D/A conversion), waveform generation, digital I/O,
counter/timer operations, SCXI, RTSI, self-calibration, messaging, and
acquiring data to extended memory.
NI-DAQ has both high-level DAQ I/O functions for maximum ease of use
and low-level DAQ I/O functions for maximum flexibility and
performance. Examples of high-level functions are streaming data to disk
or acquiring a certain number of data points. An example of a low-level
function is writing directly to registers on the DAQ device. NI-DAQ does
not sacrifice the performance of National Instruments DAQ devices
because it lets multiple devices operate at their peak performance.
NI-DAQ also internally addresses many of the complex issues between the
computer and the DAQ hardware such as programming interrupts and
DMA controllers. NI-DAQ maintains a consistent software interface
among its different versions so that you can change platforms with minimal
modifications to your code. Whether you are using conventional
programming languages or NI-DAQ software, your application uses the
NI-DAQ driver software, as illustrated in Figure 1-1.
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