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You control instruments by sending commands and data between the instrument and the computer. You can develop various LabVIEW applications to configure and control GPIB, serial, modular, PXI, and other types of instruments. Due to the wide array of instruments and instrument control interfaces, it is important to choose the proper method of instrument control. The following flowchart can help you choose the appropriate method of instrument control.

Use instrument drivers to control and communicate with instrument hardware in a system. LabVIEW instrument drivers are sets of VIs that simplify instrument control and reduce test program development time by eliminating the need for you to learn the complex, low-level programming commands for each instrument. Use the NI Instrument Driver Finder to search for and install LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers without leaving the LabVIEW development environment. Select Tools»Instrumentation»Find Instrument Drivers or Help»Find Instrument Drivers to launch the Instrument Driver Finder. You also can refer to the Instrument Driver Network on the National Instruments Web site for a list of other available instrument drivers.

When you need easy-to-use drivers with block diagram source code, use LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers. LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers include error handling, front panels, block diagrams, icons, and online help. Windows When you need advanced functionality such as instrument interchangeability, simulation, and state-caching, use Interchangeable Virtual Instruments (IVI) instrument drivers. Refer to IVI on the National Instruments Web site for more information about IVI instrument drivers.

If an instrument driver is not available, you can create a new instrument driver. Select Tools»Instrumentation»Create Instrument Driver Project to launch the Create New Instrument Driver Project wizard and create a new driver. Before creating a driver, consider using the Instrument Driver Finder to search for similar drivers and using an existing driver as the starting point for the new driver. Even if you can not find a similar driver, you can still reduce development time by using pre-defined driver templates.

If you do not create an instrument driver, use VISA to control GPIB, serial, USB, Ethernet, PXI, or VXI instruments. You can use the Instrument I/O Assistant to communicate with message-based instruments by creating VIs that use VISA or NI-488.2.

VISA is a standard API that you can use to control a wide range of instruments, making the appropriate driver calls depending on the type of instrument you use so you do not have to learn instrument-specific communication protocol.

Use NI-488.2 to develop and debug an application program. The NI-488.2 driver has high-level commands that automatically handle all bus management, so you do not have to learn the programming details of the GPIB hardware board or the IEEE 488.2 protocol. Low-level commands are also available for maximum flexibility and performance.

Use the instrument and device drivers provided on the National Instruments Device Drivers CD to control NI modular instruments and devices for industrial automation, such as NI-CAN.