National Instruments PCI-6023E - Manual (Page 16)

Chapter 1 Introduction
PCI-6023E/6024E/6025E User Manual 1-4 © National Instruments Corporation
accessory products, except for the SCXI-1200. NI-DAQ has an extensive
library of functions that you can call from your application programming
environment. These functions include routines for analog input (A/D
conversion), buffered data acquisition (high-speed A/D conversion),
analog output (D/A conversion), waveform generation (timed D/A
conversion), digital I/O, counter/timer operations, SCXI, RTSI,
self-calibration, messaging, and acquiring data to extended memory.
NI-DAQ has both high-level DAQ I/O functions for maximum ease of use
and low-level DAQ I/O functions for maximum flexibility and
performance. Examples of high-level functions are streaming data to disk
or acquiring a certain number of data points. An example of a low-level
function is writing directly to registers on the DAQ device. NI-DAQ does
not sacrifice the performance of National Instruments DAQ devices
because it lets multiple devices operate at their peak.
NI-DAQ also internally addresses many of the complex issues between the
computer and the DAQ hardware such as programming interrupts and
DMA controllers. NI-DAQ maintains a consistent software interface
among its different versions so that you can change platforms with minimal
modifications to your code. Whether you are using conventional
programming languages or National Instruments application software, your
application uses the NI-DAQ driver software, as illustrated in Figure 1-1.
PCI.book Page 4 Wednesday, September 16, 1998 9:09 AM