README.TXT for
HP 8360 B/L-SERIES SWEPT SIGNAL GENERATORS
Universal Instrument Driver (UID)
Driver Revision A.01.03
11/12/1998
Revision History
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A.01.00 31 JUL 1998 Initial Release (partial). Phase One.
A.01.01 14 AUG 1998 Changed driver prefix from hp83600bl to hp836XX.
A.01.02 26 AUG 1998 Internal Release.
A.01.03 12 NOV 1998 Shipment Release.
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Contents:
1.0 Introduction
2.0 VTL/VISA Specific Information
2.1 Instrument Addresses
2.2 Language Specific Features
3.0 Using the HP 836XX UID in Application Development
Environments
3.1 Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 (& higher)
and Borland C++ 4.5 (& higher)
3.2 Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 (& higher)
3.3 LabWindows CVI/(R) 4.0 (& higher)
4.0 Known Defects
5.0 Online Information
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1.0 Introduction
The help file included with the HP 836XX Universal
Instrument Driver contains instrument and programming
information. This readme file contains additional
information concerning the driver.
The HP 836XX Windows 95 and Windows NT drivers are
actually a single 32-bit driver. All of the directory
paths which follow assume Windows 95. For Windows NT,
change references from win95 to winnt.
This HP 836XX driver conforms to all portions of the
VXIplug&play driver standard which are applicable to
conventional HP-IB. Two elements of the standard do not
apply to the HP 836XX since it is not a VXI instrument.
First, there is no soft front panel, as the HP 836XX can be
controlled from its hardware front panel. Second, there
is no knowledge base file, which is primarily a description
of a VXI board.
This driver features:
1. Conformance with the VXIplug&play standard. The
only exceptions are that it does not have a soft
front panel or a knowledge base file.
2. It is built on top of, and uses the services provided
by VISA. VISA supports GP-IB and VXI protocols. The
driver can be used with any GP-IB card for which the
manufacturer has provided a VISA DLL.
3. It includes a "Function Panel" (.fp) file which allows
it to be used with visual programming environments
such as HP-VEE, LabWindows, and LabVIEW.
4. It includes a comprehensive on-line help file which
complements the instrument manual. The help file
presents application programming examples, a
cross-reference between instrument commands and
driver functions, and detailed documentation of each
function, with examples.
5. Source is included so that the driver can be modified
if desired. The source conforms to VXI Plug & Play
standards. Modifications should only be done by
people who are familiar with the VXIplug&play
standard.
6. It includes a Visual Basic include file (.bas) which
contains the function calls in Visual Basic syntax, so
that driver functions can be called from Visual Basic.
If you use Visual Basic with this driver, you should be
familiar with C/C++ function declarations. In particular,
care must be taken when working with C/C++ pointers.
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2.0 VISA Specific Information
The following topics refer to instances when the driver is
used with different versions of VISA.
2.1 Instrument Addresses
When using HP VXIplug&play instrument drivers, instrument
addresses must be all uppercase letters. Implementation of
the addressing scheme is vendor specific and some
vendors support mixed cases. However, for maximum
portability, the instrument address should use uppercase
characters only.
For example: use "GPIB0::19" instead of "gpib0::19"
2.2 Language Specific Features
Language Specific features are not supported with this
driver.
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3.0 Using the HP 836XX UID in Application Development Environments
For general instructions on using the driver with HP VEE,
Microsoft Visual C++, Borland C++, Microsoft Visual Basic,
LabVIEW, and LabWindows/CVI, see the online help file.
Additional notes:
3.1 Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 (& higher) and
Borland C++ 4.5 (& higher)
1. The driver uses Pascal calling conventions.
2. Do not build the driver in the directory in which
it was installed.
3.2 Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 (& higher)
Refer to the Microsoft Visual BASIC manual for additional
information on calling DLLs.
3.3 LabWindows CVI/(R) 4.0 (& higher)
The HP 836XX driver is supplied as both a source code file
and as a dynamic link library file (dll). There are
several advantages to using the dll form of the driver.
These include:
1. Transportability across different computer
platforms
2. A higher level of support from Hewlett-Packard for
the compiled driver
3. Faster load time for your project
Labwindows/CVI (R) by default will attempt to load the
source version of the instrument driver. To load the dll
you must include the file hp836xx.fp in your project.
This file can be found in vxipnpwin95hp836xx. Do not
include hp836xx.c in your project. You must also provide
an include path for hp836xx.h. This is done by adding
vxipnpwin95include to the include paths (CVI Project
Option menu).
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4.0 Known Defects
There are no known defects in the HP 836XX driver.
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5.0 Online Information
The latest version of this driver and other HP drivers are
available on the Internet at:
http://www.hp.com/go/inst_drivers
The HP 836XX driver is located in a self-extracting archive file
called 836xx.exe. If you do not have web access, the
driver can be obtained by calling HP On-line Support
at (970) 679-3030.
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LabWindows/CVI is a registered trademark of National
Instruments.