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**** Read Me First ****
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Version Version 1.0.3.0
2008 May
Introducing the Agilent IVI-COM/C Driver for AgE436x family of Power Supply
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The instrument driver provides access to the functionality of
AgE436x family of Power Supply through a COM server or ANSI C API which also complies with
the IVI specifications. This driver works in any development environment
which supports COM or C programming including Microsoft® Visual Basic,
Microsoft Visual C++, Microsoft .NET, Agilent VEE Pro, National Instruments
LabView, National Instruments LabWindows/CVI, and others.
Supported Instruments
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E4360A - Mainframe
E4361A - Module
E4362A - Module
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 2000
Windows XP
Disc Space:
IVI Shared Components: 8.4 Mb
Driver: 3.8 Mb
The shared components must be installed before any drivers.
Shared Components:
Before this driver can be installed, your computer must already
have several components already installed. The easiest way to
to install these other components is by running the IVI Shared
Components installation package available from the IVI Foundation
as noted below. It installs all the items mentioned below.
IVI Shared Components version 1.5.0.0 or later.
The driver installer requires these components. They must be
installed before the driver installer can install the driver.
The IVI Shared Components installer is available from:
http://www.ivifoundation.org
To install, open or run the file: IviSharedComponents.msi
If the driver installer exhibits problems with installing the IVI
Shared Components, find the program IviSharedComponents.msi and
Run the program. It is able to install many of the required system
components, including Windows Installer 2.0.
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:
http://microsoft.com/downloads
Enter "windows installer" as keywords. Use the one appropriate for
your Operating System.
Microsoft XML 4.0
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
Enter "xml 4.0" as keywords.
Microsoft 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
Enter "html help workshop" as keywords
MS Windows® Script
Typically, wscript.exe is installed as part of the operating system
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
Enter "windows script" as keywords. 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. The latest
version of Agilent's IO Libraries is recommended and includes
VISA-COM.
I/O Libraries
Agilent IO Libraries Suite, latest version i.e. 15.0 is recommended.
You can download the latest version from:
http://www.agilent.com/find/iolib
If you are using National Instruments I/O libraries, use NI-VISA
version 3.0.1 or later and NI-488.2 version 2.2 or later.
Note: Driver may operate without any I/O software in simulation mode.
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 later, you can run the driver
installer again to put the driver's PIA into the GAC and properly
register it.
Start Menu Help File
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A shortcut to the driver help file is added to the Start Menu,
Programs, Agilent IVI Drivers, AgE436x group. It contains "Getting
Started" information on using the driver in a variety of programming
environments as well as documentation on IVI and instrument specific
methods and properties.
You will also see shortcuts to the Readme file and any programming
examples for this driver.
MSI Installer
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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 AgE436x1.0.3.0.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
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This driver can be uninstalled like any other software from the
Control Panel using "Add or Remove Programs".
The IVI Shared Components may also be uninstalled like any other
software from the Control Panel using "Add or Remove Programs".
Note: All IVI-COM drivers require the IVI Shared Components to
function. To completely remove IVI components from your computer,
uninstall all drivers and then uninstall the IVI Shared Components.
Source Code
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Driver source code is available by choosing "Custom" and selecting
"Source Code" when installing the driver. This code is provided as
is for informational purposes only. Modification of this code is
not supported.
Using a New Version of the Driver
---------------------------------
New versions of this Agilent IVI-COM driver may have a new
ProgId.
If you use the version dependent ProgId in CoCreateInstance,
you will need to modify and recompile your code to use the
new ProgID once you upgrade to the next version of the driver.
Doing a side-by-side installation of the driver to use multiple
versions of the driver is not supported. If you need to go back
to an older version of the driver, you need to uninstall the later
version and install the older version.
If you use the version independent ProgId in CoCreateInstance,
you will not need to modify and recompile your code. The new
version of the driver has been tested to be backwards compatible
with previous versions.
To access the new functionality in a new version of the driver
you will need to use the latest numbered IAgE436x[n] interface rather than the
IAgE436x interface. The IAgE436x[n].
to the new IAgE436x
contains the methods and properties for the new functionality. The new interfaces
were introduced rather than modifying the existing interfaces for backwards
compatibility. The interfaces that were previously shipped have not been changed.
Known Issues
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This driver does not have any known defects.
Revision History
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Version Date Notes
------- ---------- ---------
1.0.3.0 16 May-2008 First release
IVI Shared Component Revisions
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1.6.0.1 IviConfigServer.dll
1.6.0.0 IviConfigServerCAPI.dll
1.2.0.0 IviCShared.dll
1.0.238.0 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
1.0.238.0 IviFloat.dll
1.0.4.0 IviLxiSyncTypeLib.dll
1.0.0.0 IviPwrMeterTypeLib.dll
1.1.0.0 IviRfSigGenTypeLib.dll
3.0.0.0 IviScopeTypeLib.dll
1.0.1.2 IviSessionFactory.dll
1.5.0.0 IviSharedComponentVersion.dll
1.0.0.0 IviSpecAnTypeLib.dll
3.0.0.0 IviSwtchTypeLib.dll
IVI Compliance
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See the driver help file topic "IVI Compliance Information" for
complete compliance information.
This driver supports communicating with instruments using
GPIB, USB, TCPIP (LAN), or ASRL (Serial) if supported by the instrument.
Software: See the section on installation in this document for
information on what other software is required by this driver.
More Information
----------------
For more information about this driver and other instrument drivers
and software available from Agilent Technologies visit:
http://www.agilent.com/find/adnivicominfo
A list of contact information is available from:
http://www.agilent.com/find/assist
Microsoft, Windows, MS Windows, and Windows NT are U.S.
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
© Copyright Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2008