IVI-C Page, IVI.NET Driver Settings

Link/Unlink button

Use this button to create a new linked IVI-C driver or to unlink an existing IVI-C driver.

When an existing IVI-C driver is not linked to the IVI.NET driver, then clicking this button will create a new IVI-C driver and link it to the IVI.NET driver. A special version of the New IVI-C Driver wizard will be presented where the driver developer can select the IVI-C prefix, instrument I/O, and the associated projects, such as help and setup.

Note
Clicking the Link button always creates a new IVI-C driver. It is not possible to link an existing IVI.NET driver with an existing IVI-C driver.

When an existing IVI-C driver is already linked to the IVI.NET driver, then clicking this button will unlink the IVI-C driver from IVI.NET. This does not delete the IVI-C driver or alter it in any way. Rather, the IVI-C driver is now a standalone Nimbus project that will be managed completely independently of the IVI.NET driver. Nimbus creates a new Nimbus project and displays it in Solution Exlorer. Though both the IVI.NET and IVI-C drivers remain in the same Visual Studio solution, there is no need to maintain them in the same solution.s

Caution
Unlinking an IVI-C driver from IVI.NET is an irreversible process. Once separated, the IVI.NET driver and IVI-C driver cannot be re-linked.

IVI-C prefix

This setting controls the IVI-C prefix for the driver. This prefix is very important as it controls the name of many items associated with the driver. The driver DLL itself will be named using this prefix. The names of all IVI-C functions and attributes begin with this prefix as do defined constants (enumerations). Additionally, the driver install location is governed by the prefix chosen here.

Important
The IVI specifications require that the first two letters of this prefix match the official two-letter abbreviation assigned to the driver vendor by the IVI Foundation in the specification "VPP-9: Instrument Vendor Abbreviations" . If the driver vendor does not have an assigned two-letter prefix, one can be obtained from the IVI Foundation. Visit the IVI Foundation website for details.

Description

A description of your driver. This value is used in the implementation of the SPECIFIC_DRIVER_DESCRIPTION attribute.

Version

The 3-digit version number to use for this driver. The value expressed here controls a variety of things, such as the driver DLL version info resource and the driver installer generation. Nimbus will always use a value of 0 for the 4th digit making up the assembly version number.

IVI-C instrument class

IVI-C drivers can only support a single instrument class. This is a fundamental limitation of all IVI-C drivers and stems from the fact that IVI-C attributes are defined with numeric identifiers that are not unique across the various instrument classes. See the IVI Backgrounder section on Interchangeability for more information on this IVI-C limitation.

This setting selects which of the supported IVI.NET driver instrument classes should be supported by the IVI-C driver.

Enable VISA-based I/O

This setting controls whether the driver uses the VISA library for instrument communication. When true, Nimbus will link against VISA so that the driver implementation can use any of the standard VISA functions. In addition, Nimbus will automatically open a VISA session upon driver initialization (and close it when the driver's close function is executed. Nimbus will also implement the following functions automatically using standard instrument commands when this setting is true:

SCPI compliant

Indicates whether the instrument uses SCPI-compliant instrument commands. Nimbus provides specialized support for SCPI-compliant instruments. See the topic Special Features For SCPI Commands for detailed information.

Automatically generate getter functions for IVI-C attributes

This setting controls whether getter functions are automatically generated when an IVI-C attribute is added to the driver.

Getter function prefix

This setting controls the name of automatically generated IVI-C attribute getter functions. For example, if an attribute named OUTPUT_VOLTAGE is created, and this setting is chosen to be Get, Nimbus will automatically generate an IVI-C getter function named GetOutputVoltage.

The name resulting from selections made here represent the initial name given to the getter function. Individual getter functions can be renamed as desired.

Automatically generate setter functions for IVI-C attributes

This setting controls whether setter functions are automatically generated when an IVI-C attribute is added to the driver.

Setter function prefix

This setting controls the name of automatically generated IVI-C attribute setter functions. For example, if an attribute named OUTPUT_VOLTAGE is created, and this setting is chosen to be Set, Nimbus will automatically generate an IVI-C setter function named SetOutputVoltage.

The name resulting from selections made here represent the initial name given to the setter function. Individual setter functions can be renamed as desired.

Synchronize Code

Use this button to bring up a dialog that allows you to update all getter and setter functions with the current selections made on this page.

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