SIGMA LBA-708 - Manual (Page 265)

Appendix B LabVIEW Support
B.1 Introduction
LabVIEW is a product and registered trademark of National Instruments Corporation. LabVIEW
is a general purpose programming system designed specifically for data acquisition and
instrument control. LabVIEW programs are called Virtual Instruments (VI’s) because their
appearance and operation can mimic other instruments such as the LBA-PC laser beam
analyzer. Thus, your LBA-PC can be remotely controlled by Virtual Instruments created using
National Instruments LabVIEW.
The User Guide describes remote operation of the LBA-PC.
B.1.1 Virtual Instrument (VI) Examples
To assist you with the development of specialized VI’s for your application, Spiricon has
supplied you with two libraries containing both basic and general VI examples. These
examples are not provided as solutions to any specific requirement that the user might have
in mind. Rather they are supplied to assist the VI designer in the development of their own
specialized VI.
B.1.2 LBA-PC Remote Control Capabilities
Essentially all LBA-PC operations can be controlled remotely over a GPIB bus using National
Instruments GPIB cards and LabVIEW developed VI’s. Other sections of this manual detail
the GPIB commands supported by the LBA-PC. It is assumed that the user is familiar with
LabVIEW, and the meanings of the information provided below regarding the sample
LabVIEW VI’s. All of the following VI’s require that the user has obtained a copy of the
LabVIEW development software and has it installed on their PC. Spiricon has developed these
VI’s using LabVIEW for Windows version 6i, and makes no claims for their compatibility using
earlier versions or other platforms. National Instruments GPIB interface hardware and their
Windows drivers must be installed in both the remote (LBA-PC) computer and the local (or
controlling) PC.
B.1.3 VI Libraries
If you checked the “Install Remote Capabilities” box during the installation of the LBA-PC
application two VI library files, LBA-PC.LLB and SUBVI.LLB, will be installed in the following
sub-directories:
C:\ SPIRICON
\ LBAPC
\LABVIEW GPIB Examples
Operator’s Manual LBA-PC
Doc. No. 10654-001, Rev 4.10
265
LBAPC.LLB