IMPORTANT: To work properly with this Driver, your 6485 must have version B02 firmware or later. Visit Keithley.com for upgrade instructions if your firmware is an earlier version. Keithley Instruments 6485-852B01 Release Note for Version B01 IVI Instrument Driver for the Model 6485 8/02/2002 This document provides additional information for the installation and use of the 6485-852B01 6485 driver for both LabView and LabWindows CVI. ------------------------------------------------- Contents: 1. Introduction 1.1 Included in this release 1.1.1 KE6485 IVI Driver for the 6485 1.1.2 Keithley Configuration Panel and Wizard 1.2 Additional available software 2. System Requirements 3. Installation 3.1 GPIB Controller Installation 3.1.1 Keithley and INES PCMCIA Controller Installation 3.2 Connecting your Computer to your Instrument 3.3 Upgrading from a previous version of the 2700 IVI Instrument Driver 3.4 Software Installation 3.4.1 Installing the driver from CD 3.4.2 Installing the driver from the Web 3.4.3 Installing Only the Keithley I/O Layer 4. Using the 2700 IVI Instrument Driver 4.1 VISA resources 4.1.1 GPIB 4.1.2 RS232 4.1.3 Ethernet (Socket connection) 4.1.4 Example of using VISA resources 4.2 Predefined Resource Aliases 4.3 Create your own Resource Aliases 4.4 Driver speed up solutions 4.4.1 QueryInstrStatus 4.4.2 RangeCheck 4.4.3 Caching 5. Known problems and issues 5.1 Problem with BinaryRead.c example 5.2 Problem with Resistor Sort example 5.3 Problem with ExternalTrigger.vb ------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction 1.1 Included in this release The components described below are provided as part of the 6485 IVI Instrument Driver. Some shortcuts for them are added to the Keithley Instruments folder on your Start Menu. 1.1.1 KE6485 IVI Driver for the 6485 Version B01 of the KE6485 driver supports the 6485 only. A future release will support the 6487 and 6514 Instruments. The 6485 IVI Instrument driver conforms to the IVI DMM Class specification. The driver uses the Keithley I/O layer (VISA) to communicate with your instrument. IVI (Interchangeable Virtual Instruments) and VISA (Virtual Instrument Software Architecture) provide a common foundation for application development across multiple communication buses and multiple instrument vendors. This software driver supports many Application Development Environments under Windows, such as Visual Basic, C/C++, LabView, LabWindows/CVI, and TestPoint. Numerous examples and an on-line help utility are provided to help programmers build their custom applications. 1.1.2 Keithley Configuration Panel and Wizard The Keithley Configuration Panel is provided to allow you to setup or modify the communications between the driver and your instrument. For an IVI driver to be truly interchangeable you need to create an alias which points to the VISA resource to use, the name of the DLL to use and the prefix for the function calls in the DLL. The Configuration Panel and Wizard allow you to do this. The installation pre-configures instruments for Serial ports COM1 and COM2, and for a GPIB instrument at GPIB address 16. If you are using one of these, you may skip the configuration panel. Otherwise, you must create a new instrument configuration using the Keithley Configuration Panel and Wizard. See instructions below. 1.2 Additional available software ExceLINX-2A is a Microsoft Excel add-in for the 6485. Within minutes of installing ExceLINX-2A on a PC, users can acquire data dynamically within Excel, and then employ the familiar Excel graphics, charting, and analysis capabilities. No Programming is required to use ExceLINX - a few mouse clicks are all it takes to configure the instrument, set parameters, triggers, etc. Check Keithley.com or call 1-888-KEITHLEY (534-8453) for more information. ------------------------------------------------- 2. System Requirements Pentium-class PC running either: Windows 98 (SE) or later NT 4.0 (SP6) or later The instrument needs the following firmware version: B02 or later Supported GPIB controller (see section 3.1), or RS-232 Serial port for communications with the instrument. ------------------------------------------------- 3. Installation 3.1 GPIB Controller Installation If you will be using GPIB to communicate with your instrument, you must have a compatible GPIB controller card and associated software driver installed in your computer before installing the KE6485 IVI Instrument Driver. The driver is compatible with the following GPIB controller cards: Keithley Instruments GPIB cards (ISA, PCI, PCMCIA) CEC GPIB cards (ISA, PCI) National Instruments GPIB cards (ISA, PCI, PCMCIA) INES GPIB cards (PCMCIA) When using Keithley Instruments or CEC ISA or PCI GPIB cards, you must have driver software version 5.14 or later. The latest driver for these cards is available from the CEC WEB site: www.cec488.com. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for installing the controller card and software, and for verifying correct operation of the card and software driver. 3.1.1 Keithley and INES PCMCIA Controller Installation When installing the INES driver software, do NOT install the HP I/O libraries or select HP SICL emulation. When installing the INES driver software, DO select NI compatibility mode. When installing the INES driver software, if the hardware test fails, change the Interrupt selection to none. 3.2 Connecting your Computer to your Instrument Connect your Keithley 6485 to your computer using a standard GPIB interface cable or a "straight through" (not null-modem) serial RS-232 cable. 3.3 Upgrading from a previous version of the 6485 IVI Instrument Driver If you have an earlier version of the driver software installed on your computer, uninstall it by following the steps below before installing this version. Using the Add/Remove Programs Wizard in Control Panel, uninstall the following components: Keithley 6485 IVI Driver. Keithley I/O Layer. NI-VISA Runtime (If present). Reboot your computer. 3.4 6485 IVI Instrument Driver Installation 3.4.1 Installing the driver from CD The 6485 IVI Instrument Driver is included on the Software CD provided with the Instrument, or can be downloaded from www.keithley.com. If you have a previous version of the 6485 IVI Instrument Driver installed on your computer, uninstall it as described above before installing the new version. Before installing from the CD, it is recommended you visit www.keithley.com to see if a newer version of the driver is available. Insert the Software CD in your computer. The installation utility should start automatically. If it does not start automatically, run the install.exe file in the root directory of the CD. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the software. When the installation is complete, reboot your computer. 3.4.2 Installing the driver from the Web If you have a previous version of the 6485 IVI Instrument Driver installed on your computer, uninstall it as described above before installing the new version. Download the driver software from the Keithley Web site, www.keithley.com. The software is a single compressed file, approximately 24 MB in size, and should be downloaded to a temporary directory. Run the downloaded file from the temporary directory. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the software. When the installation is complete, reboot your computer. 3.4.3 Installing only the Keithley I/O Layer Installing the 6485 Series IVI Instrument Driver automatically installs the Keithley I/O Layer and NI-VISA runtime. If you wish to install only the I/O Layer and not the instrument driver, run the setup.exe file in the KeithleyIOLayer subdirectory of the CD. ------------------------------------------------- 4. Using the 6485 IVI Instrument Driver To connect to the instrument via the driver you need to first call KE6485_init or KE6485_InitWithOptions. The first parameter for either function is a VISA resource string, which indicates to the I/O layer, which communication device you want to use to connect to the instrument and in most cases the address of the instrument. 4.1 VISA resources 4.1.1 GPIB For GPIB instruments you would use a resource string of the following format: "GPIBx::yy::INSTR". x is the GPIB card number. yy is the GPIB address of the instrument to connect to 4.1.2 RS232 For RS232 instruments the VISA resource string has the following format, "ASRLx::INSTR" where x is the COM Port number. 4.1.3 Example of using VISA resources KE6485_init("GPIB1::16::INSTR", VI_TRUE, VI_TRUE, handle) would connect to a 6485 at address 16 via GPIB1. 4.2 Resource Aliases The Keithley I/O Layer installer creates several aliases that you can use to automatically connect to an instrument. If you are using a National Instruments GPIB card, select KE6485_GPIB16 as your device. If you are using a Keithley Instruments or CEC ISA or PCI GPIB card, select KE6485_GPIB1_16 as your device. If you are using a Keithley Instrument or INES PCMCIA GPIB card, select KE6485_GPIB2_16 as your device. If you are using COM Port 1, select KE6485_COM1 as your device. If you are using COM Port 2, select KE6485_COM2 as your device. An example of using a VISA resource alias to connect to an instrument connected to COM Port 1 is: KE6485_init("KE6485_COM1", VI_TRUE, VI_TRUE, handle) 4.3 Create your own Resource Aliases If you want to create your own resource aliases then use the Configuration Panel or Wizard. Open the Configuration Panel by selecting Start>Programs>Keithley Instruments>Keithley Configuration Panel, and wait for the Wizard to start. Follow the Wizard instructions to create a new configuration or modify an existing one. 4.4 Driver Speed up solutions Using the KE6485_InitWithOptions function there is a parameter, called OptionString, where you can enable/disable certain features of an IVI driver. 4.4.1 QueryInstrStatus If this feature is enabled the driver will query the instrument after every function call to see if there where any errors. This is useful while you are writing your application but once it is finalized then you can disable this feature to gain extra performance. 4.4.2 RangeCheck If enabled the IVI engine will check to see if the parameters you are passing in are within range. Disabling this feature in the final application will also gain some performance increase. 4.4.3 Caching The driver has the option of caching all the settings it sends to the instrument so that it doesn't send a setting to the instrument a second time if it hasn't changed. By default this is enabled. ------------------------------------------------- 5. Known problems and issues 5.1 Problem with BinaryRead.c example An I/O error occurs while trying to intialize the driver. To correct, change KE6485_Init parameter from KE6485_GPIB16 to GPIB0::16::INSTR (PR19829) 5.2 Problem with Resistor Sort example The Standard VB Example is miscoded. Function should be KE6485_VAL_2_WIRE_RES (not KE6485_VAL_DC_CURRENT). Correctly coded in Excel VB Example, as well as in LabView and CVI. (PR19856) 5.3 Problem with ExternalTrigger.vb The Standard VB Example is missing the file mdExternalTrigger.bas. The Excel VB Example has all files and works correctly. (PR19857) ------------------------------------------------- Notice: The VISA software supplied with the 6485 IVI Instrument Driver is Copyright (c) 2001 National Instruments Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The KE6485 Series instrument driver is Copyright (c) 2001, 2002 Keithley Instruments. All Rights Reserved. ------------------------------------------------- End of Release notes.