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Configure DAQ devices, instruments, and other devices to control the device or instrument using an I/O control. After you configure the device or instrument, configure the I/O control to pass Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy) virtual channels, NI-DAQmx resources (such as tasks, channels, and scales), IVI logical names, VISA resource names, FieldPoint I/O points, or Motion resource names to I/O VIs to communicate with an instrument or a measurement device.

The NI-DAQ driver software provides LabVIEW with a high-level interface to National Instruments DAQ devices. Driver software, such as NI-DMM, NI-SCOPE, NI-FGEN, and NI-SWITCH, provides LabVIEW with high-level interfaces to modular instrumentation. Use driver software such as NI-488.2, NI-VISA, and Interchangeable Virtual Instruments (IVI) to communicate with stand-alone instruments. The LabVIEW VIs call into the driver software, which communicates with the measurement devices. Refer to the DAQ Getting Started Guide for more information about installing NI-DAQmx.

Configuring Devices and Instruments Using MAX and the DAQ Assistant (Windows)

Use MAX to configure the following items:

• Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy) virtual channels
• IVI logical names
• VISA resource names
• FieldPoint I/O points
• Motion resource names

Note  You can access MAX on multiple platforms, but LabVIEW supports the DAQ Assistant on Windows only. You cannot use Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy) on Windows Vista. Refer to the NI-DAQ Readme for more information about platforms supported by NI-DAQ software.

Select Tools»Measurement & Automation Explorer to launch MAX or double-click the Measurements & Automation Explorer icon on the desktop. You also can create a new Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy) virtual channel from the front panel by right-clicking the traditional DAQ channel control and selecting New Channel from the shortcut menu.

Note  The Measurement & Automation Explorer option is available only if you install Measurement & Automation Explorer.

Right-click an IVI logical name, FieldPoint IO point, VISA resource name, or Motion resource name control and select Allow Undefined Names from the shortcut menu to enter logical names you have not configured in MAX or another configuration utility. Use the Allow Undefined Names property to programmatically configure the IVI logical name control to accept undefined IVI logical names.

Right-click the VISA resource name or Motion resource name control and select Allow Multiple Names from the shortcut menu to configure the controls to allow the user to enter more than one resource name.

Use the DAQ Assistant to create and configure the following for NI-DAQmx.

• Tasks
• Global channels
• Scales

Refer to the Using NI-DAQmx Name Controls topic for more information about configuring tasks, channels, and scales for NI-DAQmx.

Configuring Devices and Instruments Using Other Utilities (Mac OS and Linux)

Use the configuration utilities for the instrument. Refer to the instrument documentation for information about the configuration utilities. You also can configure I/O controls to pass VISA resource names that have not been configured.