Measurement Computing Personal488 rev.3.0 For DOS & Windows 3.Xi - Manual (Page 51)

8A. Overview II. SOFTWARE GUIDES - 8. Driver488/DRV
II-36 Personal488 User’s Manual, Rev. 3.0
communication and automatic program vectoring to service routines for Basic, C and Pascal programs.
For example, upon the occurrence of a specified event, such as
SRQ , TRIGGER , TALK , or ERROR ,
Driver488/DRV will automatically vector to your interrupt service routine.
Using Driver488/DRV, SCPI (Standard Command for Programmable Instruments) programmability
can be brought to Power488 I/O functions. SCPI is a language that defines common commands and
syntax for communication between controller and instruments. As such, it provides a consistent
programming environment for all SCPI-compatible equipment, simplifying programming and letting
you exchange instruments regardless of their make or type, without the need for extensive
reprogramming.
Driver488/DRV supports up to four IEEE 488 interfaces. There can be multiple external devices on
each interface up to the limits imposed by either electrical loading (14 devices), or with a product such
as Expander488, to the limits of the IEEE 488 addressing protocols.
Driver488/DRV supports the GP488B, AT488, GP488/MM, MP488, MP488CT and NB488 series of
IEEE 488.2 interface hardware. All interaction between the application and the driver takes place via
subroutine calls.
Before You Get Started
Prior to Driver488/DRV software installation, configure your interface board by setting the appropriate
jumpers and switches as detailed in “Section I: Hardware Guides.” Note the configuration settings
used, as they must match those used within the Driver488/DRV software installation.
Once the IEEE 488 interface hardware is installed, you are ready to proceed with the steps outlined
within this Sub-Chapter to install and configure the Driver488/DRV software. The Driver488/DRV
software disk(s) include the driver files themselves, installation tools, example programs, and various
additional utility programs. A file called
README.TXT , if present, is a text file containing new material
that was not available when this manual went to press.
8B. Installation & Configuration
Topics
• Before You Get Started ................................................................. II-35
•
Making Backup Disk Copies ........................................................ II-36
•
Driver Installation.......................................................................... II-36
Selective Installation of Support files........................................................ II-36
Driver Installation to Disk .......................................................................... II-37
•
Configuration Utility ..................................................................... II-38
Interfaces ........................................................................................................ II-38
External Devices ............................................................................................ II-38
Opening the Configuration Utility ............................................................. II-38
•
Configuration of IEEE 488 Interfaces........................................ II-39
•
Configuration of Serial Interfaces.............................................. II-41
•
Configuration of IEEE 488 External Devices ........................... II-42
•
Multiple Interface Management.................................................. II-43