Software Overview; Device Driver Programming Roadmap - Advantech PCI-1730 User Manual

1.5

Software Overview

Advantech offers a rich set of DLL drivers, third-party driver support and application
software to help fully exploit the functions of your PCI-1730/1733/1734 card:
Device Drivers (on the companion CD-ROM)
LabVIEW driver
Advantech ActiveDAQ
Advantech GeniDAQ
Programming choices for DA&C cards: You may use Advantech application software
such as Advantech Device Drivers. On the other hand, advanced users are allowed
another option for register-level programming, although not recommended due to its
laborious and time-consuming nature.
Device Drivers
The Advantech Device Drivers software is included on the companion CD-ROM at no
extra charge. It also comes with all the Advantech DA&C cards. Advantech's DLL
driver features a complete I/O function library to help boost your application perfor-
mance. The Advantech Device Drivers for Windows 2000/95/98/ME/NT/XP works
seamlessly with development tools such as Visual C++, Visual Basic, Inprise C++
Builder and Inprise Delphi.
Register-level Programming
Register-level programming is reserved for experienced programmers who find it
necessary to write code directly at the level of device registers. Since register-level
programming requires much effort and time, we recommend that you use the Advan-
tech Device Drivers instead. However, if register-level programming is indispensable,
you should refer to the relevant information in Appendix C, Register Structure and
Format, or to the example code included on the companion CD-ROM.
1.6

Device Driver Programming Roadmap

This section will provide you a roadmap to demonstrate how to build an application
from scratch using Advantech Device Drivers with your favorite development tools
such as Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi and C++ Builder. The step-by-step instruc-
tions on how to build your own applications using each development tool will be given
in the Device Drivers Manual. Moreover, a rich set of example source codes are also
given for your reference.
Programming Tools
Programmers can develop application programs with their development tools:
Visual C++
Visual Basic
Delphi
C++ Builder
5 PCI-1730/1733/1734 User Manual