Keithley
Instruments
ExceLINX for Models 6485/6487/6514
Release Note for Version C02
8/01/2003
IMPORTANT:
To work properly with ExceLINX, your instrument must have a compatible version
of firmware. Refer to section 2 (System
Requirements) below for specific details regarding the required firmware
version for your instrument. Visit
Keithley.com for upgrade instructions if your instrument’s firmware is not a
compatible version. The instrument’s
firmware version is shown on the display when the instrument is first powered
up, immediately to the right of the model number.
This
document provides additional information for the installation and use of
ExceLINX for the 6485 Picoammeter, 6487 Picoammeter with voltage source, and
6514 Electrometer. Please review the
contents of this file before installing or using the software.
For the
purpose of brevity, ExceLINX for the 6485 Picoammeter, 6487 Picoammeter with
voltage source, and 6514 Electrometer is referred to simply as
"ExceLINX" in the remainder of this document. Keithley offers versions of ExceLINX that
support other instruments and Data Acquisition Products. Visit www.keithley.com
for details.
Table of
Contents
----------------------------------------------
1.1.1 ExceLINX Software for
6485/6487/6514
1.1.3 Keithley Configuration Panel and
Wizard
2.1 Supported Operating Systems and
System Software
3.1 GPIB Controller Installation
3.1.1 Keithley and INES PCMCIA Controller
Installation
3.2 Connecting your Computer to your
Instrument
3.3.1 Opening Saved Worksheets after
Upgrading
3.4.1 Installing the software from CD
3.4.2 Installing ExceLINX from the Web
3.4.3 Installing only the KE6485 IVI
Instrument Driver
3.4.4 Installing only the Keithley I/O
Layer
4 Configuring Instrument
Communications
4.2 Specifying a Virtual Instrument
5.3 Voltage Sweep Example (6487 only)
5.4 Alternating Voltage Example (6487
only)
7.5 Sampling Rate on International
Version of Windows
7.6 Primary Error: (Hex 0xBFFA4001)
----------------------------------------------
The
components described below are provided as part of ExceLINX.
ExceLINX
is a Microsoft Excel add-in for the 6485 Picoammeter, 6487 Picoammeter with
voltage source, and 6514 Electrometer. Within minutes of installing ExceLINX 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 and collect data.
ExceLINX
uses the KE6485 IVI driver and 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. The KE6485 IVI driver supports the 6485, the
6487 and the 6514 instruments.
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 a virtual instrument
configuration 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 14. 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.
Pentium-class
PC.
6485
firmware release B02 or later. DDC Mode is not supported by the driver or by
ExceLINX.
6487
firmware release A02 or later. DDC Mode is not supported by the driver or by
ExceLINX.
6514
firmware release A11 or later. DDC Mode
is not supported by the driver or by ExceLINX.
Supported
GPIB controller (see section 3.1), or RS-232 Serial port for communications
with the instrument.
NOTE: It
is strongly recommended that your computer and instrument be powered by an
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) when running a critical application. If a computer running Excel loses power, all
your data may be lost.
Windows XP
Professional service pack 1 or later
Windows
2000 Service pack 3 or later
Windows NT
Service pack 6a or later
Windows 98
Second edition only
Note:
Windows 95 is not supported.
Excel 2002
(XP) SP2
Excel 2000
SP3
Excel 97
SR1
ExceLINX
has been tested with a variety of International versions of Windows and Excel,
including Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, German, and
French. Note that Windows 95 is not
supported in any language.
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 ExceLINX.
The
software 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.
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.
Connect
your instrument to your computer using a standard GPIB interface cable or a
"straight through" (not null-modem) serial RS-232 cable.
After you
have upgraded ExceLINX, you can view any worksheets that were saved using the
older version, but you will not be able to edit or execute any tasks on the old
worksheets. If you want to execute any
tasks saved under the old version, you must recreate the tasks using the new
version of ExceLINX. Before you
upgrade, you may wish to print out any existing worksheet that you wish to
duplicate so you have a record of all the task settings. If you prefer, after upgrading, you can view
the old worksheet in one instance of Excel, and open a second instance of Excel
to create the new tasks and enter the same settings used in the old version.
When you
open a worksheet saved using a previous version of ExceLINX, you will receive
two error messages:
1. ExceLINX cannot update task sheet. Please do not edit Excel workbooks until the current ExceLINX task has finished.
2.
Cannot
write value to host. Host is busy.
Press the
OK button after each error message is displayed. After you acknowledge the second error message, all menus and
controls will be disabled. Once you are
finished viewing the old worksheet, you can close Excel.
If you
have an earlier version of the software installed on your computer, uninstall
it by following the steps below before installing this version.
Important
Note: If you have ExceLINX for another instrument also installed on your
computer (e.g. ExceLINX-1A for 2700 or ExceLINX for Data Acquisition Cards),
you should answer "no" when
prompted to remove shared components during the uninstallation. Otherwise, answer "yes" when
prompted to remove shared components. You may receive this prompt more than one
time; answer the same way each time.
Using the
Add/Remove Programs Wizard in Control Panel, uninstall the following
components:
ExceLINX-2A Supporting 6485, 6487 & 6514 meters
Keithley 6485 6487 6514 IVI Driver.
Keithley I/O Layer.
NI-VISA x.x.x Runtime (If present) (x.x.x will be the VISA
version)
Reboot
your computer.
Important
note: When installing the software on Windows NT, 2000, or XP, the logged in
user must have administrator privledges.
The
ExceLINX software is included on the Software CD provided with the Instrument,
or it can be downloaded from www.keithley.com.
If you
have a previous version of the software 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 software is available.
Insert the
Software CD in your computer. The
installation utility should start automatically. If it does not start automatically, run the setup.exe file in the
root directory of the CD.
Follow the
instructions on the screen to install the software.
Reboot
your computer during installation if so instructed by the installation utility.
When the
installation is complete, reboot your computer.
If you
have a previous version of the software installed on your computer, uninstall
it as described above before installing the new version.
Download
the 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.
Reboot
your computer during installation if so instructed by the installation utility.
When the
installation is complete, reboot your computer.
Installing
ExceLINX automatically installs the Keithley KE6485 IVI Instrument Driver, the
Keithley I/O Layer and NI- VISA runtime.
If you wish to install only the instrument driver, run the setup.exe
file in the KE6485 subdirectory of the CD.
Installing
ExceLINX automatically installs the Keithley KE6485 IVI Instrument Driver, the
Keithley I/O Layer and NI- VISA runtime.
If you wish to install only the I/O Layer and not ExceLINX or the
instrument driver, run the setup.exe file in the KeithleyIOLayer subdirectory
of the CD.
Important
Note: If you have ExceLINX for another instrument also installed on your
computer (e.g. ExceLINX-1A for 2700 or ExceLINX for Data Acquisition Cards),
you should answer "no" when
prompted to remove shared components during the uninstallation. Otherwise, answer "yes" when
prompted to remove shared components. You may receive this prompt more than one
time; answer the same way each time.
Using the
Add/Remove Programs Wizard in Control Panel, uninstall the following
components:
ExceLINX-2A Supporting 6485, 6487 & 6514 meters
Keithley 6485 6487 6514 IVI Driver.
Keithley I/O Layer.
NI-VISA x.x.x Runtime (If present) (x.x.x will be the VISA
version)
Reboot
your computer.
Before
ExceLINX can communicate with your instrument, a virtual instrument
configuration must exist in the VISA software. ExceLINX pre-configures
instruments for Serial ports 1 and 2, and for a GPIB instrument at GPIB address
14. If you are using one of these, you
may skip the rest of this step. Otherwise, you must create a new instrument
configuration using the Keithley Configuration Wizard. Open the Wizard by
selecting Start>Programs>Keithley Instruments>Keithley Configuration
Panel, and wait for the Wizard to start.
Follow the Wizard instructions to create a new virtual instrument
configuration or modify an existing one.
After making changes in the Keithley Configuration Panel, you must
restart Excel so that ExceLINX recognizes the changes.
When you
use ExceLINX, you must specify which virtual instrument ExceLINX should use to communicate
with your instrument. This is done by
selecting a virtual instrument in the "Device" field of the ExceLINX
configuration task. You must also
select the appropriate instrument in the "Model" field.
If you
created or modified a virtual instrument configuration in step 4.1 above, you
would select that virtual instrument in the "Device Field". Otherwise, select one of the default virtual
instruments according to the following guidelines:
Note: The default virtual instruments all have KE6485 as part of the name, but may be used for 6485, 6487, and 6514 model instruments. If you prefer, you may change the default name using the configuration panel and wizard.
If your instrument is at GPIB address 14 and you are using a National Instruments GPIB card, select KE6485_GPIB14 as your device. If KE6485_GPIB14 does not appear in the "Device" field list, then select KE6485ExampleInstr. KE6485ExampleInst is a logical name equivalent to KE6485_GPIB14 by default.
If your instrument is at GPIB address 14 and you are using a
Keithley Instruments or CEC ISA or PCI GPIB card, select KE6485_GPIB1_14 as
your device.
If your instrument is at GPIB address 14 and you are using a
Keithley Instrument or INES PCMCIA GPIB card, select KE6485_GPIB2_14 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.
The
following sections show two examples of using ExceLINX to configure and operate
your 6485, 6487, or 6514. The examples
assume you are using one of the default virtual instrument configurations
described in the previous section. If
you are using a custom virtual instrument configuration, select it in place of
one of the standard configurations called for in the examples.
This
example demonstrates using ExceLINX to configure and operate the instrument to
take 10 readings using all the default settings.
Select
Excel from the Start programs menu.
Select
the File >> New menu entry.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Configure Meter menu entry.
In
the Instrument section, click the Device pull down arrow and choose the
appropriate virtual instrument:
KE6485_GPIB_14 or KE6485ExampleInstr -- if using a National Instruments GPIB
card
KE6485_GPIB1_14 -- if using a Keithley Instruments or CEC GPIB card
KE6485_GPIB2_14 -- if using an INES GPIB card
KE6485_COM1 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 1
KE6485_COM2 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 2
In
the Instrument section, click the Model pull down arrow and choose the model
number of your instrument.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Scan Meter menu entry.
In
the Arm Trigger section, click the Count field and type in the number of
desired counts (e.g. 10). Click in a different field to ensure Excel accepts
the value you entered.
Select the ExceLINX >> Meter Scan >> Start entry. The instrument should configure, collect data, and then display the data in the Meter Scan worksheet, Task Data section.
This
example demonstrates using ExceLINX to configure and operate the 6485 to take
10 readings with the instrument configured to take readings as fast as
possible.
Select
Excel from the Start programs menu.
Select
the File >> New menu entry.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Configure Meter menu entry.
In
the Instrument section, click the Device pull down arrow and choose the
appropriate virtual instrument:
KE6485_GPIB_14 or KE6485ExampleInstr -- if using a National Instruments GPIB
card
KE6485_GPIB1_14 -- if using a Keithley Instruments or CEC GPIB card
KE6485_GPIB2_14 -- if using an INES GPIB card
KE6485_COM1 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 1
KE6485_COM2 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 2
In
the Instrument section, click the Model pull down arrow and choose the model
number of your instrument.
In
the Setup section, select the Auto Zero field. Click on the pull down arrow and
change the value from On to Off.
In
the Setup section, select the Display Digits field. Click on the pull down
arrow and change the value from 5½ to None.
In
the Instrument Configuration section, select the Measurement Range field. Click
on the pull down arrow and change the value from Auto to a fixed range value
(e.g. 20 mA)
In
the Instrument Configuration section, select the Sampling Rate field. Change
the rate from Slow to 0.01 by typing in the new value and pressing the tab key.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Scan Meter menu entry.
In
the Arm Trigger section, click the Count field and type in the number of
desired counts (e.g. 10). Click in a
different field to ensure Excel accepts the value you entered.
Select the ExceLINX >> Meter Scan >> Start entry. The instrument should configure, collect data, and then display the data in the Meter Scan worksheet, Task Data section.
This
example demonstrates using ExceLINX to configure and operate the 6487 to
perform a Voltage Sweep scan and return all data.
Select
Excel from the Start programs menu.
Select
the File >> New menu entry.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Configure Meter menu entry.
In
the Instrument section, click the Device pull down arrow and choose the
appropriate virtual instrument:
KE6485_GPIB_14 or KE6485ExampleInstr -- if using a National Instruments GPIB
card
KE6485_GPIB1_14 -- if using a Keithley Instruments or CEC GPIB card
KE6485_GPIB2_14 -- if using an INES GPIB card
KE6485_COM1 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 1
KE6485_COM2 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 2
In
the Instrument section, click the Model pull down arrow and choose the model
6487, if not already shown.
In
the Source Configuration section, select the Stimulus Enb field. Click on the
pull down arrow and change the value from Off to On.
In the Source Configuration section, select the Stimuls Function field. Click on the pull down arrow and change the value from DC to VSweep.
In
the Voltage Sweep Parameters section, enter any changes to the default voltage
sweep parameters, as desired: Start Voltage, Stop Voltage, Step Voltage, Step
Time.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Scan Meter menu entry.
Select the ExceLINX >> Meter Scan >> Start entry. The instrument should configure, collect data, and then display the data in the Meter Scan worksheet, Task Data section.
This
example demonstrates using ExceLINX to configure and operate the 6487 to
perform an Alternating Voltage scan and return all data.
Select
Excel from the Start programs menu.
Select
the File >> New menu entry.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Configure Meter menu entry.
In
the Instrument section, click the Device pull down arrow and choose the
appropriate virtual instrument:
KE6485_GPIB_14 or KE6485ExampleInstr -- if using a National Instruments GPIB
card
KE6485_GPIB1_14 -- if using a Keithley Instruments or CEC GPIB card
KE6485_GPIB2_14 -- if using an INES GPIB card
KE6485_COM1 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 1
KE6485_COM2 -- if using a RS-232 COM Port 2
In
the Instrument section, click the Model pull down arrow and choose the model
6487, if not already shown.
In
the Source Configuration section, select the Stimulus Enb field. Click on the
pull down arrow and change the value from Off to On.
In
the Source Configuration section, select the Stimuls Function field. Click on
the pull down arrow and change the value from DC to Alternating.
In
the Measurment Configuation section, select the Measurement Range field. Click
on the pull down arrow and change the value from Auto to a fixed range value
(e.g. 20 mA).
In
the Measurment Configuation section, select the Sampling Rate field. Click on
the pull down arrow and change the value from SLOW to a fixed range value (e.g.
6).
In
the Alternating Voltage Parameters section, enter any changes to the default
alternating voltage parameters, as desired: Voltage, Time, Readings Per Voltage
Phase, Cycles, Clear Buffer Before Each Scan.
Select
the ExceLINX >> Create >> Scan Meter menu entry.
Select the ExceLINX >> Meter Scan >> Start entry. The instrument should configure, collect data, and then display the data in the Meter Scan worksheet, Task Data section.
If you
have the sample count set to "INF" (infinite) and the arm scan mode
set to "Run Once", the instrument will begin taking readings when you
run the scan task. No data will be displayed on your Excel worksheet until you
stop the scan task by pressing the stop button on the tool bar or select
ExceLINX>>Scan Meter>>Stop from the menu. After the instrument stops, all the readings from the buffer will
be loaded into Excel. These will be the
last 2500 or 3000 (depending on model) readings that were taken. This is normal operation for the instrument
and software.
When you
have "Run Continuously" selected on the Scan Task, there is a slight
delay between each run or set of readings.
This is normal operation.
The Meter
Scan and Meter Read tasks now have a field in the Data Display section for
"VSource". When this field is
set to "Yes", the commanded VSource value will be displayed along
with the instrument readings. When it
is set to "No", display of VSource value is suppressed. This is primarily intended to simplify
graphing of voltage sweep data by providing both the source voltage and
measurement values on the same sheet, where they may be easily graphed using
Excel's graphing tools. There is no
entry in the online help for this function.
(PR21706)
The Meter
Scan and Meter Read tasks have an additional selection in the Status Data field
of the Data Display section. There are
now three choices in the drop down menu for this field: Yes, No, and Limit
failure bits only. When set to
"Yes", ExceLINX displays the entire reading status word for each
reading. The value is in base 10 or
decimal, so it must be converted to binary or hexadecimal to determine the
specific bits that are set. When it is
set to "Limit failure bits only", ExceLINX will only display the
limit failure bits for each reading. If
neither limit failure bit is set, ExceLINX will display 0. If L2 is set, ExceLINX will display 10. If L1 is set, ExceLINX will display 1. The limit failure bits only function is not
described in the online help. (PR21706)
DDC mode is not supported by the
instrument driver or by ExceLINX for any of the instrument models. If you place the instrument in DDC mode,
neither the driver nor ExceLINX will be able to communicate properly with the
instrument and will display the following error message in the status field: Primary Error (Hex 0xBFFF000E) The given session or object
reference is invalid.
For Model
6514, when the measurement function is set to voltage, there is no option
setting for turning Guarding on or off.
The online help states that this option exists.
For Model
6514, when the measurement function is set to voltage, there is no option
setting to turn External Feedback (XFBK) on or off. The online help states that this option exists. (PR21707)
Under
certain conditions, it is possible for the Meter Scan Configuration Worksheet
field to be set to "Meter Scan" in error. This field should always contain the name of the associated Meter
Configuration task. If you try to run
the Scan task when this field is incorrectly set, you will receive a "Type
Mismatch" error. To correct the
problem, select the proper Configuration task in this field. (PR21718)
For Model
6487, when performing a VSource operation with voltage set less than or equal
to 10 volts and the safety interlock option set to "On", ExceLINX
does not properly set the interlock on.
This is not a safety concern because the instrument automatically
enforces the interlock when sourcing voltages greater than 10 volts. (PR21773)
When using
ExceLINX under International versions of Windows where the comma is the
fractional part separator instead of the decimal point, and with the stimulus
function set to alternating voltage, the Sampling Rate field on the Meter
Config task does not properly accept localized values. For example, 0,1 is not accepted but 0.1 is
accepted. Work around is to use the
decimal point as the separator for this field only. (PR21724)
On rare
occasions the following error can be encountered: "Primary Error: (Hex
0xBFFA4001) Unknown status value 0xBFFA4001. Elaboration: This operation is not
allowed when A-V ohms samples are in the instrument data buffer. If the VSweep is restarted, the error will
be cleared and the sweep with execute successfully. (PR21774)
Following
certain rare sequences of operations, ExceLINX can display a "Query
Interrupted" error. Generally,
retrying the last operation will clear the error and execute successfully. (PR21727)
ExceLINX
works correctly only if the serial baud rate is set to 9600. This problem is
only in the driver and will be fixed in the next release. This does not affect
GPIB connections.
The
ExceLINX software is Copyright (c) 2001-2003 Keithley Instruments. All Rights Reserved.
The VISA
software supplied with the 6485/6487/6514 IVI Instrument Driver is Copyright
(c) 2001 National Instruments Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
The KE6485
Series instrument driver is Copyright (c) 2001-2003 Keithley Instruments. All Rights Reserved.
End of
Release notes.