HP 4395a Driver Revision A.00.00
October 1998
Revision History
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A.1.0.00.00 <8-308-98> Initial Release.
A.1.0.00.01 <10-19-98> Revision update
: GUI modified per customer request
:
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Contents:
1 Introduction
2 VTL/VISA Specific Information
2.1 Instrument Addresses
2.2 Language Specific Features
3 Using the HP 4395a Driver in Application Development Environments
3.1 Microsoft Visual C/C++
3.2 Microsoft Visual Basic
3.3 LabWindows/CVI
4.0 Known Defects
5.0 Online Information
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1. Introduction
The help file included with the HP 4395a driver contains instrument and
programming information. This readme file contains additional information
concerning the driver.
The HP 4395a Windows 95 and Windows NT drivers are actually a single 32-bit
driver. All of directory paths which follow assume Windows 95. For Windows
NT, change references from win95 to winnt.
This HP 4395a driver conforms to all portions of the VXIplug&play driver
standard which are applicable to conventional HP-IB and RS-232. Two
elements of the standard do not apply to the HP 4395a since it is not a
VXI instrument. First, there is no soft front panel, as the HP 4395a
can be controlled from it's 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. 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::20" instead of "gpib0::20"
2.2 Language Specific Features
Language Specific features are not supported with this driver.
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3. 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)
A.) The driver uses Pascal calling conventions.
B.) 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 4395a 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
hp4395a.fp in your project. This file can be found in vxipnp\win95\hp4395a
Do not include hp4395a.c in your project. You must also provide an
include path for hp4395a.h. This is done by adding vxipnp\win95\include
to the include paths (CVI Project Option menu).
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4.0 Known Defects
There are no known defects in the HP 4395a driver.
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5.0 Online Information
The latest version of this driver and other HP drivers are available
on the Internet.
ftp: fcext3.external.hp.com in dist/mxd/vxipnp/win95/supported.
Web: ftp://fcext3.external.hp.com/dist/mxd/vxipnp/win95/supported.
The HP 4395a driver is located in a self-extracting archive file called
4395a.exe. If you do not have ftp or 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.