How a DOS GPIB Application Works

This document explains how a DOS GPIB application works on the different Windows platforms.

Windows 2000

The GPIB software for Windows 2000 includes a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) that runs in user mode and a multi-layered device driver that runs in kernel mode. The multi-layered device driver consists of three drivers: a device class driver that handles device-level calls, a board class driver that handles board-level calls, and a GPIB port driver that uses the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to communicate with the GPIB hardware. User applications access this device driver from user mode through gpib-32.dll, a 32-bit Windows 2000 DLL.

All of these files are included with your GPIB software. When you install the GPIB software, these files, with the exception of gpib-nt.com, are copied into the windows\system32 directory, where windows is your Windows 2000 directory (for example C:\Windows).

A DOS application uses the DOS device driver, gpib-nt.com, to access the GPIB virtual device driver, gpib-vdd.dll. The figure below shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.
To enable DOS support for GPIB in Windows 2000, you need to load the special GPIB device driver, gpib-nt.com instead of gpib.com, which you would normally use with DOS. When you install the GPIB software, gpib-nt.com is copied into a new sub-directory called dowsin16.

To use gpib-nt.com, you must modify your config.nt file to load gpib-nt.com whenever a DOS application is executed. The config.nt file is located in your windows\system32 directory, where windows is your Windows 2000 directory (for example C:\Windows).

To load gpib-nt.com, add the following line to your config.nt file:

device=path\doswin16\gpib-nt.com

where path is the directory where you installed the GPIB software.

Windows NT

The GPIB software for Windows NT includes a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) that runs in user mode and a multi-layered device driver that runs in kernel mode. The multi-layered device driver consists of three drivers: a device class driver that handles device-level calls, a board class driver that handles board-level calls, and a GPIB port driver that uses the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to communicate with the GPIB hardware. User applications access this device driver from user mode through gpib-32.dll, a 32-bit Windows NT DLL.

All of these files are included with your GPIB software. When you install the GPIB software, these files, with the exception of gpib-nt.com, are copied into the winnt\system32 directory, where winnt is your Windows NT directory (for example C:\Windows).</p>

A DOS application uses the DOS device driver, gpib-nt.com, to access the GPIB virtual device driver, gpib-vdd.dll. Figure 1 shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.

To enable DOS support for GPIB in Windows NT, you need to load the special GPIB device driver, gpib-nt.com instead of gpib.com, which you would normally use with DOS. When you install the GPIB software, gpib-nt.com is copied into a new sub-directory called dowsin16.

To use gpib-nt.com, you must modify your config.nt file to load gpib-nt.com whenever a DOS application is executed. The config.nt file is located in your winnt\system32 directory, where winnt is your Windows NT directory (for example C:\Windows).

To load gpib-nt.com, add the following line to your config.nt file:

device=path\doswin16\gpib-nt.com

where path is the directory where you installed the GPIB software.

Windows 98

Using the Native 32-bit GPIB driver for Windows 98
The GPIB software for Windows 98 includes a multi-layered device driver that consists of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) pieces that run in user mode and VxD pieces that run in kernel mode. User applications access this device driver from user mode through gpib-32.dll, a 32-bit Windows 98 DLL.

All of the required files are included with your GPIB software. When you install the GPIB software, these files are copied into the Windows system directory (for example C:\Windows\System).

A DOS application uses the DOS support VxD and application to access the GPIB driver. The figure below shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.
Using the 16-bit GPIB Driver for DOS
The GPIB software for DOS operates as a standard DOS device driver, which is loaded at system startup. The figure below shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.Using the Native 32-bit GPIB Driver for Windows 95
The GPIB software for Windows 95 includes a multi-layered device driver that consists of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) pieces that run in user mode and VxD pieces that run in kernel mode. User applications access this device driver from user mode through gpib-32.dll, a 32-bit Windows 95 DLL.

All of the required files are included with your GPIB software. When you install the GPIB software, these files are copied into the Windows system directory (for example C:\Windows\System).

A DOS application uses the DOS support VxD and application to access the GPIB driver. Figure 2 shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.

Using the 16-bit GPIB Driver for DOS
The GPIB software for DOS operates as a standard DOS device driver, which is loaded at system startup. Figure 3 shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.

DOS

The GPIB software for DOS operates as a standard DOS device driver, which is loaded at system startup. Figure 3 shows the interaction between a DOS application and the GPIB software components.

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