*********************** **** Read Me First **** *********************** Version 1.2.7.0 February 2009 Introducing the Agilent IVI-COM Driver for AgilentN490x ------------------------------------------------------- The instrument driver provides access to the functionality of N490x 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 --------------------- N4901A, N4902A, N4901B, N4902B, N4903A, N4906B Installation ------------- 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: 6.23 MB The shared components are installed with the first driver installed. 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 1.3.0.0 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/Downloads/SharedComponents.htm 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, version 14.0 or later is recommended. 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 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 ---------------- .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: :\Program Files\IVI Foundation\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 -------------------- A shortcut to the driver help file is added to the Start Menu, Programs,Agilent IVI Drivers, AgilentN490x 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 ------------- 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 AgilentN490x.1.2.7.0.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 --------- 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 ----------- 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 IAgilentN490x[n] interface rather than the IAgilentN490x interface. The IAgilentN490x[n]. property will return a pointer to the new IAgilentN490x[n] interface. The IAgilentN490x[n] interface 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 ------------ The following methods are not supported in VB6 due to the fact that VB6 only supports arrays that are passed by reference. : EDPatternfile.Setdata EDPatternfile.Setdatablock PGPatternfile.Setdata PGPatternfile.Setdatablock Revision History ---------------- Version Date Notes ------- ---------- --------- 1.2.7.0 February 2009 Minor update 1.2.7.0 October 2007 Updated Installer,added CDR and Eye Mask Capability 1.1.0.28 24 July 2006 Updated installer 1.0.0.30 13 May 2004 Updated installer, added VISA-COM 3.0 PIA 1.0.0.24 10 Aug 2004 Initial Release IVI Shared Component Revisions ------------------------------ 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 -------------- IVI-COM AgilentBert Specific Instrument Driver Agilent Instrument Class: AgilentBert 1.0 Driver Identification: AgilentN490x Vendor: Agilent Technologies Description:Agilent Technologies - AgilentBert class complaint driver for N490x series Revision: 1.2 Optional Features: This driver supports State Caching and Range checking. Driver does not support Interchangeability Checking or Coercion Recording. Component Identifier: AgilentN490x.AgilentN490x (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 numbers are: N4901A, N4902A, N4901B, N4902B, N4903A, N4906B This driver supports communicating with the instrument using either GPIB, USB or LAN. 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. 2003-2009