Developing Your Application; Ni-Vxi, Ni-Visa, And Related Terms - National Instruments VXI-1394 User Manual

Developing Your Application

NI-VXI, NI-VISA, and Related Terms

© National Instruments Corporation
This chapter discusses the software utilities you can use to start developing
applications that use NI-VXI.
After installing the NI-VXI software, you can begin developing your
VXI/VME application. Be sure to check the release notes for the latest
application development notes and changes.
Before you develop your application, it is important to understand the
difference between NI-VXI, NI-VISA, and similar terms.
• NI-VXI is the software package that ships with National Instruments
VXI and VME controllers. NI-VXI includes Measurement &
Automation Explorer (MAX), NI-VISA, NI Spy, Resource Manager
(Resman), VXI device drivers, and other utilities for configuring and
controlling your VXI or VME system.
• NI-VISA is the native API for communicating with VXI/VME devices.
NI-VISA is the National Instruments implementation of the VISA I/O
standard, which is a common interface to many types of instruments
(such as VXI, GPIB, PXI, Serial, TCP/IP, and so on). NI-VXI is
optimized for use through NI-VISA, and NI recommends using
NI-VISA to develop all new VXI/VME applications.
• The NI-VXI API is an optional development environment that is not
part of the default NI-VXI installation. The NI-VXI API was
developed before NI-VISA; whereas NI-VXI still supports the
NI-VXI API, NI recommends using NI-VISA for all new VXI/VME
applications. If you must develop an application using the older
NI-VXI API, run the NI-VXI installer and perform a Complete install
and select the appropriate option in the custom installation screen.
Be sure to review the
• The NI-VXI compatibility layer allows older programs that use the
NI-VXI API to communicate with VXI devices through VISA. Using
this compatibility layer, older programs can run in NI-VXI 3.0 or later
without being rewritten to use the VISA interface. This layer installs
with NI-VXI by default. It should be completely transparent and
NI-VXI API Notes
3-1
3
section.
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