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**** Read Me First ****
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April 1, 2003
Version 1.0.6.0
Introducing the Agilent IVI-COM Driver for the 34401 Digital Multimeter
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This instrument driver provides access to the functionality of the Agilent
34401 Digital Multimeter (6.5 Digit) through COM interfaces which comply with
the IVI specifications. The driver works in any development environment which
supports COM programming including Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C++,
Microsoft .NET, National Instruments LabView, National Instruments
LabWindows, and others.
Supported Instruments
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Agilent 34401A
Installation
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System Requirements - The driver installation will check for the following
requirements. If not found, the installer will either abort, warn, or
install the required component as appropriate.
Supported Operating Systems:
Windows 98 Second Edition
Windows Me
Windows NT 4.0 (SP6a or later)
Windows 2000 (SP3 or later)
Windows XP (SP1 or later)
Windows Installer Version 2.0 or later
The IVISharedComponents.exe program will install version 2.0 of the
Windows installer.
It is also available from:
For Win98/Me:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=32831
For WinNt4/2000/XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseId=32832
IVI Shared Components version 1.0.4.0 or later.
The driver installer calls an installer for these components if
they are not already present on the system. The installer,
IviSharedComponents.msi, must be in the same directory as the msi
file for this driver.
The IVI Shared Components installer is available from:
http://www.agilent.com/find/ADN
or
http://www.ivifoundation.org
If the driver installer exhibits problems with installing the IVI
Shared Components, find the program IviSharedComponents.exe on one
of the above sources. Run this program. It is able to install many
of the required system components, including Windows Installer
2.0.
Agilent IVI Driver Shared Components
The driver installer includes Agilent additions to the IVI
Shared Components.
Microsoft XML 4.0 SP 1 (Microsoft XML Core Services) or later
The Configuration Server, an IVI shared component, uses Microsoft's
XML 4.0 parser. The IVI Shared Components will install the XML 4.0
parser. You can download the parser and its associated SDK from:
http://microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=37176
MS HTML Help Viewer (Win98, WinNT) Version 1.32 or later
The driver will install without the help viewer, but you will not be
able to use the help file for the driver. You can download the help
viewer from:
http://microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=33071
MS Windows Script
Typically wscript.exe is installed as part of the OS or with Internet
Explorer. If you see an error about wscript.exe, you need to install
the Windows Script.
Download from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?url=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/MSDN-FILES/027/001/733/msdncompositedoc.xml&frame=true
If that URL is invalid, try
http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads
then search for "windows script"
Use the one appropriate for your Operating System.
VISA COM
Any compliant implementation is acceptable. Typically VISA COM is
installed with VISA and other I/O library modules.
If you are using Agilent Technologies' VISA COM, use version
2.2.2.5 or later. The latest version of Agilent's VISA is
available at:
http://www.agilent.com/find/visacomforivicom
The method of simulation supported by this driver is accessed
through a feature found only in Agilent's implementation of
VISA.
I/O
If you are using Agilent Technologies I/O libraries, use version
L.02.01 or later. You can download the latest version from:
http://www.agilent.com/find/iolibsforivicom
If you are using National Instruments I/O libraries, use NI-VISA
version 2.6.0 or later and NI-488.2 version 1.70 or later.
Windows XP Service Pack 1
Download from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/sp1lang.asp
Windows 2000 Service Pack 3
Download from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/servicepacks/default.asp
Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a
Download from:
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/default.asp
Additional Setup
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.NET Framework
The .NET Framework itself is not required by this driver. If you plan to
use the driver with .NET, Service Pack 2 is required. Download from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/updates/sp/default.asp
The .NET Framework requires an interop assembly for a COM
server. A Primary Interop Assembly, along with an XML file for
IntelliSense is installed with the driver. The driver's PIA, along
with IVI PIAs are installed, by default, in:
<drive>:\Program Files\IVI\Bin\Primary Interop Assemblies
The PIA is also installed into the global assembly cache, GAC if
you have the .NET framework installed.
If you install the .NET framework late, you can use the file:
<drive>:\Program Files\IVI\Drivers\Agilent34401\DotNet.bat
to put the driver's PIA into the GAC and properly register it.
Start Menu Help File
--------------------
A shortcut to the driver help file is added to the Start Menu, Programs,
IVI, Agilent34401 group. It contains "Getting Started" information on
using the driver in a variety of programming environments as well as
documentation on IVI and driver specific methods and properties.
Install
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The installation package for the driver is distributed as an MSI 2.0
file. You can install the driver by double-clicking on the file.
This operation actually runs:
msiexec /i Agilent34401.msi
You can run msiexec from a command prompt and utilize its many command
line options. There are no public properties which can be set from the
command line. You can also install this driver from another installation
package.
Uninstall
---------
This driver can be uninstalled like any other software using the
Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs utility.
If the IVI PIAs are installed, use "Add or Remove Programs" to
remove them.
To completely remove IVI components from your computer, uninstall
all drivers then run the IVI Cleanup Utility. This utility is
available from the same location as the IVI Shared Components
Installer. This utility does not remove any IVI drivers.
Known Issues
------------
This driver does not have any known defects.
For maximum throughput and speed use the IVI COM driver pass-thru using
instrument commands. You can find the pass-thru Properties and Methods
in the object/interface System.IO
Revision History
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1.0.5.0 February 26, 2003 First customer release
1.0.5.1 February 28, 2003 Update the IVI Compliance for section 5.21
1.0.6.0 April 1, 2003 Change PIA interop assembly file name & contents
Support Error message for none English OS
Update Help file for showing two IAgilent34401 methods
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IVI Shared Component Revisions
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1.3.1.0 IviConfigServer.dll
1.0.3.0 IviConfigServerCAPI.dll
1.0.237.0 IviCShared.dll
1.0.237.0 IviCSharedSupport.dll
2.0.0.0 IviDCPwrTypeLib.dll
3.0.0.0 IviDmmTypeLib.dll
1.0.0.0 IviDriverTypeLib.dll
1.1.1.0 IviEventServer.exe
1.1.1.0 IviEventServerDLL.dll
1.1.1.0 IviEventServerDLLps.dll
1.1.1.0 IviEventServerps.dll
3.0.0.0 IviFgenTypeLib.dll
1.0.236.0 IviFloat.dll
1.0.0.0 IviPwrMeterTypeLib.dll
1.1.0.0 IviRfSigGenTypeLib.dll
3.0.0.0 IviScopeTypeLib.dll
1.0.1.0 IviSessionFactory.dll
1.0.4.0 IviSharedComponentVersion.dll
1.0.0.0 IviSpecAnTypeLib.dll
3.0.0.0 IviSwtchTypeLib.dll
IVI Compliance
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(The following information is required by IVI 3.1 section 5.21.)
IVI-COM IviDmm Specific Instrument Driver
IVI Instrument Class: IviDMM 3.0
Group Capabilities:
Supported: Unsupported
IviDmmBase IviDmmTemperatureMeasurement
IviDmmACMeasurement IviDmmThermocouple
IviDmmFrequencyMeasurement IviDmmResistanceTemperatureDevice
IviDmmMultiPoint IviDmmThermistor
IviDmmTriggerSlope
IviDmmSoftwareTrigger
IviDmmDeviceInfo
IviDmmAutoRangeValue
Optional Features: This driver does no support Interchangeability
Checking, State Caching, or Coercion Recording.
Driver Identification:
(These three strings are values of properties in the IIviIdentity
interface.)
Vendor: Agilent Technologies
Description: IVI-COM driver for Agilent Technologies 34401A Digital Multi Meter
Revision: 1.0
Component Identifier: Agilent34401.Agilent34401
(The component identifier can be used to create an instance of the COM
server.)
Hardware: This driver supports instruments manufactured by Agilent
Technologies. The supported model number is: 34401A
This driver supports communicating with the instrument using either
GPIB or Serial.
Software: See the section on installation in this document for
information on what other software is required by this driver.
Source for this driver is not available.
More Information
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For more information about this driver and other instrument drivers
and software available from Agilent Technologies visit:
http://www.agilent.com/find/ADN
A list of contact information is available from:
http://www.agilent.com/find/assist
Trademarks
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Microsoft, Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Windows Installer are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries.
LabVIEW and LabWindows are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.