Configuration; Operating Modes; Controller Mode - Prologix GPIB-USB Controller User Manual

Prologix GPIB-USB Controller User Manual
Custom applications – any programming language or environment that provides access
to serial ports (if using VCP driver) or allows interfacing to DLL (if using D2XX driver)
may be used to develop custom applications. Graphical programming environments like
National Instruments LabView and Agilent VEE may be used as well.
EZGPIB – an easy to use, programming environment developed by Ulrich Bangert for
developing data acquisition applications. Web link to this tool can be found at
prologix.biz.
Plotter emulators – plotter emulation applications such as 7470.exe, PrintCapture and
Plottergeist can be used to render screen plots downloaded using Prologix GPIB-USB
controller. Details on how to configure these tools are available at prologix.biz.

5. Configuration

Prologix GPIB-USB controller can be configured using any of the following methods:
Prologix.exe – Prologix.exe is an open source tool developed by John Miles for
configuring the controller. Web link to the tool can be found at prologix.biz.
Terminal program – any terminal emulation program such as HyperTerminal, Tera
Term Pro, or Minicom can be used to configure the controller by manually entering
appropriate commands (See Commands). Using the terminal program open the virtual
COM port created by the USB driver. Serial port parameters such as baud rate, data bits,
stop bits and flow control do not matter and may be set to any value. You may want to
enable the "Local Echo" feature in the terminal program to view the commands being
entered. Please consult the FAQ at prologix.biz, or the program's user manual, for
detailed configuration steps for various terminal programs.
Prologix GPIB-USB Controller stores the latest configuration settings in non-volatile
memory. These settings are not address specific. If you have multiple instruments on the
GPIB bus that require different configuration settings, you must change the settings
before communicating with each instrument.

6. Operating Modes

Prologix GPIB-USB controller can operate in two modes – CONTROLLER and
DEVICE. You can switch between the two modes using ++mode command (see
Commands).
6.1.

Controller Mode

In Controller mode, the GPIB-USB Controller acts as the Controller-In-Charge (CIC)
on the GPIB bus. When the controller receives a command over the USB port
terminated by the USB terminator – CR (ASCII 13) or LF (ASCII 10) – it addresses the
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