Glossary - Keysight Technologies M9393A Programming Manual

Glossary

ADE (application development environment) — An integrated suite of
software development programs. ADEs may include a text editor, compiler,
and debugger, as well as other tools used in creating, maintaining, and
debugging application programs. Example: Microsoft Visual Studio.
API (application programming interface) — An API is a well-defined set of set
of software routines through which application program can access the
functions and services provided by an underlying operating system or
library. Example: IVI Drivers
C# (pronounced "C sharp") — C-like, component-oriented language that
eliminates much of the difficulty associated with C/C++.
Direct I/O — commands sent directly to an instrument, without the benefit
of, or interference from a driver. SCPI Example: SENSe:VOLTage:RANGe:
AUTO Driver (or device driver) — a collection of functions resident on a
computer and used to control a peripheral device.
DLL (dynamic link library) — An executable program or data file bound to an
application program and loaded only when needed, thereby reducing
memory requirements. The functions or data in a DLL can be simultaneously
shared by several applications.
Input/Output (I/O) layer — The software that collects data from and issues
commands to peripheral devices. The VISA function library is an example of
an I/O layer that allows application programs and drivers to access
peripheral instrumentation.
IVI (Interchangeable Virtual Instruments) — a standard instrument driver
model defined by the IVI Foundation that enables engineers to exchange
instruments made by different manufacturers without rewriting their code.
www.ivifoundation.org
IVI COM drivers (also known as IVI Component drivers) — IVI COM presents
the IVI driver as a COM object in Visual Basic. You get all the intelligence
and all the benefits of the development environment because IVI COM does
things in a smart way and presents an easier, more consistent way to send
commands to an instrument. It is similar across multiple instruments.
Microsoft COM (Component Object Model) — The concept of software
components is analogous to that of hardware components: as long as
components present the same interface and perform the same functions,
they are interchangeable. Software components are the natural extension of
DLLs. Microsoft developed the COM standard to allow software
manufacturers to create new software components that can be used with an
existing application program, without requiring that the application be
rebuilt. It is this capability that allows T&M instruments and their COM-
based IVI-Component drivers to be interchanged.
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