Measurement Computing ADLIB WIN - Manual (Page 15)

Chapter 3 Configuration, Capabilities and Initialization Files 3-3
3. CONFIGURATION, CAPABILITIES AND INITIALIZATION FILES
Beginning with ADLIB version 3.00, a configuration utility program ADACCONFIG.EXE is provided to
setup and configure your ADLIB boards within the PC. The utility provides all the necessary information to
create both the Configuration (.CON) and Initialization (.INI) files. The following sections provide the
necessary detailed information on the .con and .ini files for manual configuration on these files and are not
required reading when using the ADACCONFIG utility. The ADACCONFIG.EXE is located in your main
ADLIB directory or form the programs menu group chosen when ADLIB was installed.
3.1 CONFIGURATION (.CON) FILE
A Configuration file contains settings that apply for all applications running in the environment using the
ADLIB WIN Library. There is only one Configuration file per system. This file contains “static” system-
wide configuration information about all the boards and drivers installed in the system. This file is read
when the environment is loaded by the user's application. The Configuration file has a .CON filename
extension.
Contents of the Configuration file include:
• The environment specific string name.
• An assigned DAQ board designator number for each installed board (this is the board’s “ID number”).
• The board specific string name.
• I/O or memory base address of each board.
• Path and filename of the capabilities file for each DAQ board (from the capabilities file, ADLIB WIN
knows the type of the board, and everything else about it).
• Path to directory containing board driver, for each unique type of board (the capabilities file specifies
the name of the file, but not the path).
• All available device subsections supported by each DAQ board.
3.2 CAPABILITIES (.CAP) FILE
A Capabilities file contains all the possible programmable options for each ADLIB function call for a
particular DAQ board. There is one Capabilities file per unique DAQ board, ADLIB uses this information
to validate all application program function call parameters, and when initializing a logical device from the
initialization file described below. The Capabilities file has a .CAP filename extension.
Contents include:
• Device capabilities: what features and options the DAQ board supports
• How the board's subsections are divided up into logical hardware devices (such as ADC0, DAC0,
DAC1, DOT0, DIN3, CTR0, etc.)
3.3 INITIALIZATION (.INI) FILE
The initialization file specifies how the programmable features of boards and logical devices are to be
initialized during the ADLIB device initialization function call. There is only one .INI file per application,
and the name and location is specified in the .CON file. This file is read during the allocation of a logical
device.
The initialization file reduces the amount of user programming required by initially setting the ADLIB
logical device subsystem database (LDSD) to the desired user application defaults. This feature allows only
the bare minimum amount of ADLIB calls to start a logical device. The Initialization file has an .INI
filename extension.