1. Is there an easy way to include VISA with the Application Installer so the user only needs to run 1 install program?
2. I need the application to automatically find the comm ports on each user's PC. The "VISA resource name" control on my front panel lists these ports using the "ASRL1::INSTR" format. Is there any way to get the control to list the conventional "COM1" notation? I tried copying the visaconf.ini into the same directory as the executable but that did not work.
From my library of forum snippets, it appears that Mihai Costache is the expert in question 1 with two postings (although Edwin Dickens echoes the advice). I'm including only the most recent (which seems to be better) here, but you can find the other with SearchVIEW if you'd like.
Subject: RE: Communication Error in EXE using serial VISA From: "Mihai Costache" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 07:50:56 +1200
...
1. Download visa260runtime.exe from the NI site. 2. While creating your application builder script, include it in your list of Support files. 3. Go to the Installer Setting tab, tick Create installer check-box, then click Advanced... button. 4. Tick the Run executable after installation check-box and type visa260runtime.exe in the Executable field.
The VISA installation will begin straight after your application's complete installation, or after the LV run-time engine installation, if you choose to distribute that as well.
Hope this helps,
Mihai Costache Software Engineer OSCMAR International Ltd. PO Box 6008 Wellesley St. Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Tel: +64 - 9 - 379 0360 extn. 892 Fax: +64 - 9 - 373 9799 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.oscmar.com ...
For question 2, J�rg B�gli, Edwin, and Dan Mondrik advise Mihai:
Subject: Re: VISA confusing changes From: "J�rg B�gli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 09:54:18 +0200
Dear Mihai,
You must define an alias for your ports. (COM1 --> VISA alias, ASRL1::INSTR --> VISA resource name. If MAX is installed on your machine you can use it to define the VISA alias of your ports. If MAX is not installed, you can manually edit the visaconf.ini file to define the alias for the ports. Assuming you have 2 COM and 1 LPT port type:
Alias0 = "'COM1','ASRL1::INSTR'" Alias1 = "'COM2','ASRL2::INSTR'" Alias2 = "'LPT1','ASRL10::INSTR'" NumAliases = 3
in the [ALIASES] section. The format of a line is: ALIASx= "'Alias', 'Resource Name'"
NumAliases must be set to the number of aliases.
Unfortunately I don't know if it is possible to hide the LPT port in the VISA Resource Name I/O control...
J�rg B�gli R&D en �lectronique Sonceboz SA CH - 2605 Sonceboz T�l: +41 32 488 11 - 70 Fax: - 00 www: http://www.sonceboz.com
Subject: RE: VISA confusing changes From: "Dickens Edwin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 07:37:10 -0500
Mihai,
I was just having this same problem with built exe files for customers that only have the runtime engine installed. I came up with a vi that can find the visaconf.ini file and edit it with the proper entries so the application will display Com1, Com2....ect. instead of the ASRL1::INSTR. They are much happier with this than having to edit the file themselves. I've included the vi in private email.
I've built this into an .exe so all the customer has to do is run it after installing the runtime engines. As the file sits right now, it sets up Com1-4 and LPT1. Only the Com ports that actually exist on the machine will show in the list. If you do not want LPT1 to show in the list, you'll need to change LPT1 to a space in the constant in the second for loop. This will cause a blank space in the list that can still be selected, but at least it does not say LPT1.
If anybody else is interested in the vi, let me know and I'll send it out in a few days.
-------------------------------------------------- Edwin O. Dickens DISTek Integration, Inc. On assignment to: John Deere Product Engineering Center phone: (319) 292-6372 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lvl 3, Aisle U, MS83A
Subject: Re: VISA confusing changes From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 11:29:03 -0500
Peter, Jurg, et al:
I would like to answer one question from the previous email chain. The question was basically, "Is it possible to hide the LPT port in the VISA Resource Name I/O control?" The answer is yes. Run MAX, expand the Ports section, right-click on LPT1, choose Properties, and uncheck the Enabled field at the bottom of the dialog. This will disable it from VISA, and it should no longer appear in the VISA list of found resources. It does not affect the ability of the OS to access the port, so you can still print, etc.
Dan Mondrik Senior Software Engineer, NI-VISA National Instruments
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EnWirementally,
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