Optional Programming Tools; Using The Serial Hardware With Other National Instruments Products - National Instruments PCI-232/2 Getting Started

Chapter 1 Introduction

Optional Programming Tools

Using the Serial Hardware with Other National
Instruments Products
PCI Serial for Windows 95
Your kit includes the NI Serial software for Windows 95 and Windows NT.
In addition, you can order the LabWindows/CVI or LabVIEW software
from National Instruments. LabWindows/CVI and LabVIEW include
instrument driver libraries that make it easier to communicate with your
serial instruments.
LabWindows/CVI is an interactive ANSI C development environment for
building test and measurement and instrument control systems. It includes
interactive code-generation tools and a graphical editor for building custom
user interfaces. It also includes built-in libraries for IEEE 488.2, VXI,
RS-232 control, and plug-in data acquisition. When you order
LabWindows/CVI, you also get hundreds of complete instrument drivers,
which are modular, source-code programs that handle the communication
with your instrument so that you do not have to learn the programming
details.
LabVIEW is a complete programming environment that departs from the
sequential nature of traditional programming languages and features a
graphical programming environment. It includes all the tools needed for
instrument control, data acquisition, analysis, and presentation. LabVIEW
also includes an extensive instrument driver library.
For more information about LabWindows/CVI and LabVIEW, contact
National Instruments.
You can use standard serial I/O functions in LabVIEW and
LabWindows/CVI with any National Instruments serial interface, once you
have installed the hardware and software. If you already have LabVIEW or
LabWindows and want to use it with your serial hardware, refer to your
LabVIEW or LabWindows documentation for information about serial I/O
functions.
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