# GPIB-488 Release Notes

## Version 2.3

## May 2010

© 2010 Quality Instrumentation Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

Thank you for using GPIB-488, Version 2.3.

This file contains last-minute information about the GPIB-488 software. Some information in this file may be too recent to be included in the official documentation set.

## Contents

What is GPIB-488 Version 2.3?

Hardware and Software Requirements to Develop Applications

Hardware and Software Requirements to Execute Applications

Frequently Asked Questions

## What is GPIB-488 Version 2.3?

GPIB-488 consists of driver and program development software for controlling IEEE 488 (HP-IB, GPIB, and IEC-625) instruments. It supports a full range of IEEE 488 interface hardware with the Windows operating system and popular programming languages and application development packages. GPIB-488 supports LabVIEW™ and many other programs.

### Version 2.3 Features

- Support for Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit

### Supported Operating Systems:

- Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) with Service Pack 2
- Windows XP with Service Pack 3
- Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4

Note: When installing on a Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 system without critical updates, you may encounter an error message during installation. To prevent this message from appearing, do either of the following before running the GPIB-488 installation:

- Remove any GPIB hardware present in the system.
- Install the latest critical updates for Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4.

## Hardware and Software Requirements to Develop Applications

### Hardware

No special hardware is required to develop GPIB applications.

### Software

To develop GPIB applications, you must have one of the supported Windows programming languages:

- C/C++ (Microsoft or other compatible vendor)
- Borland Delphi
- Microsoft C#
- Microsoft Visual Basic
- Microsoft Visual Basic.NET

You also can use one of the popular development environments that work with IEEE 488:

- LabVIEW
- LabWindows™/CVI™

## Hardware and Software Requirements to Execute Applications

### Hardware

To execute GPIB applications, you must have a supported hardware interface installed. Refer to the getting started guide for a list of supported hardware.

### Software

To execute GPIB applications, the GPIB-488 drivers must be installed on your system.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What documentation ships with this package?

The getting started guide contains setup information, including:

- Software installation.
- Hardware installation.
- Testing the interfaces.

The getting started guide is available in the root directory on your software CD.

The GPIB Programming Reference Manual contains general information, including:

- An overview of the IEEE 488 standard.
- An overview of the software API.
- Programming information with examples.

The GPIB Programming Reference Manual is available at Start»Programs»GPIB-488.

### Are there any examples of how to use the GPIB-488 software?

This software package ships with examples to assist you in developing applications. Some are in the GPIB Programming Reference Manual. You can find others at Start»Programs»GPIB-488.

### What is the GPIB488 API?

The GPIB488 API is an improved version of the original GPIB-32 API, updated with modern software design principles. Applications compiled with the GPIB-32 API should remain mostly unchanged when compiled with the GPIB488 API. Refer to the GPIB Programming Reference Manual for more details. You can find the manual at Start»Programs»GPIB-488.

### Can I develop 64-bit applications with the GPIB-488 software?

Yes. However, you must use the GPIB488 API. All other APIs are available for 32-bit development only.

Some interpreted languages, such as C# or Visual Basic.NET, can target both 32-bit and 64-bit (any CPU). Therefore, be sure that when using an API other than GPIB488, the 32-bit variant is explicitly targeted. This can be an issue specifically when using C# or Visual Basic.NET on a 64-bit system.

### What utilities ship with the software, and how can I use them?

The software ships with the following utilities:

- GPIB Diagnostic—Checks your hardware and driver installation and reports on the available interfaces.
- GPIB Configuration—Allows you to configure your board easily.
- GPIB Interactive Control—Allows you to try any GPIB interface routine interactively and communicate with instruments.

### Can I use VISA with this release?

Yes, you can use NI-VISA™ with this release.

### Can I use LabVIEW with this release?

Yes. NI-VISA is the recommended method to interact with your hardware through LabVIEW. When installing LabVIEW, you should uncheck NI-488.2 from the feature tree to prevent problems due to the presence of both drivers on the system.

### Is there a silent install option for this software?

Yes, silent installs are available on all supported operating systems. To perform a default install, open a command prompt and type:

setup.exe /q /AcceptLicenses yes

To have more control over what features are installed, edit the sample.spec file on your CD in the SupportFiles folder. Replace "Default" with "Absent" for the features you do not want installed. Then open a command prompt and type the following command:

setup.exe sample.spec /q /AcceptLicenses yes

You need to replace sample.spec in the above command with the full path to your edited sample.spec file if it is not in the same folder as setup.exe.