The GXPRES driver contains a set of functions for the GX1164. Functions names that starts with the GxPRes prefix applies to all GXPRES boards (i.e. GxPResGetDriverSummary). The GXPRES functions are designed with consistent set of arguments and functionality. All boards have a function that initializes the GXPRES driver for a specific board, reset the board, and display the virtual panel. All the functions use handles to identify and reference a specific board and all functions return status and share the same functions to handle error codes.
The GXPRES driver supports two device drivers HW and VISA which are used to initialize, identify and control the board. The user can use the Gx1164Initialize to initialize the board ‘s driver using HW and Gx1164InitializeVisa to initialize using VISA. The following describes the two different methods used:
Marvin Test Solutions’ HW - the default device driver that is installed by the GXPRES driver. To initialize and control the board using the HW use the Gx1164Initialize(nSlot, pnHandle, pnStatus) function. The function initializes the driver for the board at the specified PXI slot number (nSlot) and returns a board handle. The PXI/PCI Explorer applet in the Windows Control Panel displays the PXI slot assignments. You can specify the nSlot parameter in the following way:
A combination of chassis number (chassis # x 256) with the chassis slot number, e.g. 0x105 for chassis 1 and slot 5. Chassis number can be set by the PXI/PCI Explorer applet.
Legacy nSlot as used by earlier versions of HW/VISA. The slot number contains no chassis number and can be changed using the PXI/PCI Explorer applet: 23 in this example.
PXI/PCI Explorer
VISA – this is a third party library usually by National Instruments (NI-VISA). You must ensure that the VISA installed supports PXI and PCI devices (not all VISA providers supports PXI/PCI). GXPRES setup installs a VISA compatible driver for the GXPRES board in-order to be recognized by the VISA provider. Use the GXPRES function Gx1164InitializeVisa (szVisaResource, pnHandle, pnStatus) to initialize the driver board using VISA. The first argument szVisaResource is a string that is displayed by the VISA resource manager such as NI Measurement and Automation (NI_MAX). It is also displayed by Marvin Test Solutions PXI/PCI Explorer as shown in the prior figure. The VISA resource string can be specified in several ways as the following examples:
Using chassis, slot: “PXI0::CHASSIS1::SLOT5”
Using the PCI Bus/Device combination: “PXI9::13::INSTR” (bus 9, device 9).
Using alias: “COUNTER1”. Use the PXI/PCI Explorer to set the device alias.
Information about VISA is available at http://www.pxisa.org.
The Gx1164Initialize function returns a handle that is required with other driver functions to program the board. This handle is usually saved in the program in a global variable for later use when calling other functions. The initialize function does not change the state of the board or its settings.
The board handle argument, nHandle , passed (by reference) to the parameter pnHandle of the Gx1164Initialize or the Gx1164InitializeVisa functions is a short integer (16 bits) number. It is used by the GXPRES driver functions to identify the board being accessed by the application. Since the driver supports many boards at the same time, the nHandle argument is required to uniquely identify which board is being programmed.
The nHandle is created when the application calls the Gx1164Initialize function. But there is no need to destroy the handle. Calling Gx1164Initialize with the same slot number will return the same handle.
Once the board is initialized the handle can be used with other functions to program the board.
The Reset function causes the driver to change all settings to their default state. The application software issue a Reset after the initializing the Counter, but a Reset can be issued any time. All counter boards have the Gx1164Reset (nHandle, nStatus) function. See FunctionsReference for more information regarding the specific board.
All GXPRES functions pass a fail or success status - pnStatus - in the last parameter. A successful function call passes zero in the status parameter upon return. If the status is non-zero, then the function call fails. This parameter can be later used for error handling. When the status is error, the program can call the GxPResGetErrorString function to return a string representing the error. The GxPResGetErrorString reference contains possible error numbers and their associated error strings.
The GxPResGetDriverSummary function can be used to return the current GXPRES driver version. It can be used to differentiate between the driver versions. See the Function Reference for more information.
Calling the Gx1164Panel will display the instrument’s front panel dialog window. The panel can be used to initialize and control the board interactively. The panel function may be used by the application to allow the user to directly interact with the board.
The Gx1164Panel function is also used by the GXPRESPANEL.EXE panel program that is supplied with this package and provides a stand-alone Windows application that displays the instrument panel.