opengtoolkit-developers — OpenG Toolkit developers mailing list

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Martin H. <mar...@mh...>]

Jim Kring wrote:

> Assuming that we are legally allowed do distribute the files, aggregating
> them on OpenG.org is fine with me.  There are many mechanisms for doing
> this.  I recommend that we create a forum topic and attach the documents
> to the initial forum posting.  This will allow others to download the
> documents and directly start a discussion.

> If we are not allowed to (re)distribute the files, then I recommend
> hyperlinking to the files, rather than posting them on OpenG.org.

Thank's, thats a great idea.

> Please wait to post any files to OpenG.org until we "go-live" with the new
> discussion forums.  The new forums will provide a lot of nice features.
> We have only a few minor things to do before we are ready.

I  think, that the VISA discussion started a long time ago -
since  LabVIEW  4.1  or so. And I remember that I don't like
some  of  the  legacy serial port driver disatvantages since
the  time  I  moved  from  LabVIEW  2.5.1  on  MAc to 3.1 on
windows.

We are not in hurry :-)

-- 
73 de Martin, DL5NAH

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Martin H. <mar...@mh...>]

Hi Mark,

Mark Balla wrote:

> The Wisconsin User Group Steering comity Just recently ask our District
> Sales Manager this NI Visa question.
> He did some research and replied with this response.

[...]

> Today, our licensing policy DOES NOT require a customer to pay a licensing
> fee for NI-VISA if the deployment target contains NI hardware or software
> written using NI development software. In the scenario where you have a
> LabVIEW VI or EXE talking on a built-in serial port, National Instruments
> allows the first 10 distributions for free and after that we require a
> licensing fee.  We are about to change our licensing policy to allow up to
> 100 distributions per application for free and after that require a
> license.

[...]

Oh  yes,  i  know  that,  but  have  you  read  the  licence
agreements?  I only found that NI supplies different licence
agreements  on  their  FTP  server, all targeting NI-VISA. I
havn't  read  them  all, but up to now I did't find anything
about 10 or 100 free installations.

For   me  it  is  actually  unclear

- which of the licence agreements have to be used (for which
labview version or for which hardware or whatever).

- where the licence agreement is which correctly and clearly
explains how many installations can be used.

-  how  a  developer  should be able to ensure that only the
number of allowed installations ere exists in the world.

-  where  is  clearly  explained  under what circumstances a
developer  can  distribute the VISA runtime installer. (only
when creating an installer with LabVIEW7 as explained in one
of the licences? - what is with LV 5, 6, 6.1 and 7.1?)

-  If  NI  changes  the  licencing  issue, whats about older
versions/installations.

...

I can understand NI, that they wants to mainly support their
hardware  and  I also understand, that they would have a fee
if  anyone  is  using  their  software  without  using their
hardware.  That's  not the topic here - but we all have paid
for  LabVIEW  and we all should be able to use the basics of
our PC and operating system (which we also have paid for).

-- 
73 de Martin, DL5NAH

RE: OpenG VISA

[Rolf K. <rol...@ci...>]

Frederic Villeneuve [fre...@la...] wrote:

> The only other VISA implementations that I know of beside NI=20
> and Agilent are:
>=20
> Tektronix
> Bustec  (http://www.bustec.ie)
> Kikusui (http://www.kikusui.co.jp)
>=20
> They probably don't have a full implementation, for example=20
> Bustec only=20
> implemented VXI communication.
>=20
> Some companies also piggy-back on NI's VISA implementation by just=20
> adding a passport. Rohde&Schwarz does that.

But that probably might require an NDA? The passport interface is
not part of the open VXIPlug&Play specification for VISA.

Rolf Kalbermatter

RE: OpenG Serial drivers

[Rolf K. <rol...@ci...>]

Scott Hannahs wrote:

> At 22:26 +0100 1/13/05, Martin Henz wrote:
> >  Scott  Hannahs  has  a  set  of  serial drivers maybe from
> >  Albert  Geven.
>=20
> Yes, these are based on Albert's NLSerial library from phillips.

Just to be sure. I wonder if for the serpdrv (the translation driver
on Windows ultimatively used by this library) might not be a similar
issue with licensing. NI wanted to have runtime fees for LabVIEW
executables at some time and then dropped that as far as you built
executables which used NI hardware or the built-in serial port.
With standard serial ports disappearing from PCs more and more this
can get also an issue.

On Mac Classic the serial port driver was simply a VI library calling
into the Mac OS device driver interface so recreating the VIs would
have been a complete solution as well as calling any other possible
hardware which had a device driver installed.

In the case of the Windows serpdrv driver, this one had quite some
limitations. It is possible to use for simple device communication
but a pain in the ass or impossible to do more complicated things.
=20
> > > What is needed is a CROSS PLATFORM serial interface.
> >
> >So we need developers esp. for Mac OS and Linux.
>=20
> Since OS X and linux use the same ioctl and unix read/write=20
> calls that are posix compatible it should be a single piece=20
> of code that is cross compiled.
>=20
> >The  next  steps  would  be the examination of the collected
> >packages. Then we'll decide what we exactly want to do.
>
> The trick will be deciding how to do a lot of the visa=20
> properties, opening and closing and locking resources.  I=20
> have a VISA imitation framework that I used for my GPIB=20
> driver.  This was sort of VISA looking thing but it worked.=20
> Properties are stored as strings as a key and data as a=20
> variant.  It was kept in an array of visa resource names.
>=20
> That code is all Labview and certainly available as well to=20
> open G.  At the base level it called into the GPIB driver,=20
> but it could call serial port primitives as well.  It would=20
> be nice to keep as much of the code as possible in Labview=20
> and only stubs in platform specific libraries.  There is a=20
> cute trick that Christophe Salzmann has for making fat=20
> libraries with multiple code objects for all platforms in it.

This is an interesting solution but maybe a little heavyweight.
On the posititve side of it is the fact that most LabVIEW
developers could contribute to it in one or the other way.

My own solution where I have a quite finished framework written
in C for at least Windows and Unix, but no hardware specific
drivers yet, is to actually implement a fully VISA compatible
external library with plugin DLLs for the different hardware
interfaces. It is a very modular approach with the main library
implementing the VISA interface, a support library providing
platform independant services such as memory allocation, mutexes,
ini file access, string handling, shared library access etc, and
with each VISA resource type handled in one hardware driver module. =20

The main library could eventually be placed into the application
folder and would be picked up by that application if it wants to
use VISA. Until it is to that point where it really can replace
VISA for some interfaces, its name could be changed to a different
name than the standard VISA library name and a VISA compatible
VI library with with Call Library Nodes could provide access to
it.

I'm willing to provide this code under an LGPL compatible license
into an OpenG project of some sort if there is interest for it.
Since it is a dynamically linked library, this would IMO provide
for all potential users with a good solution.

Rolf Kalbermatter

RE: OpenG Serial drivers

[Jim K. <jk...@ja...>]

It might be possible to port DZComm over to Mac OS X, if anyone is willing
to do it.

-Jim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ope...@li... 
> [mailto:ope...@li...] 
> On Behalf Of Kevin Valentine
> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 5:12 PM
> To: ope...@li...
> Subject: Re: OpenG Serial drivers
> 
> I saw this thread start up and I was itching to jump in but I 
> haven't  
> had much time.  I started working on something like this a several  
> months back before I got swamped with work.  What actually gave me  
> the idea was when I had to recompile the source code for Scantool. 
> net's OBDII interface.  Long story short, they use an API for doing  
> serial I/O under DOS, Linux and SunOS called DZComm.  Pretty slick.
> 
> It's on sourceforge:
> http://dzcomm.sourceforge.net/
> 
> My master plan was to use Call Library Nodes to tap into the  
> functions in the libdzcom.so shared library (like with the Comedi  
> library).  I made 9 VIs but I don't think I ever tested all 
> of them.   
> I recall a few working...  Should be easy to finish all the 
> functions  
> if there's no complex data structures.
> 
> Here are some other serial port projects that didn't seem to be as  
> useable but worth mentioning:
> 
> Columbo Simple Serial Library
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/cssl/
> 
> ezV24
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/ezv24/
> 
> Have fun,
> kevin
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Scott H. <st...@ma...>]

At 22:26 +0100 1/13/05, Martin Henz wrote:
>  Scott  Hannahs  has  a  set  of  serial drivers maybe from
>  Albert  Geven.

Yes, these are based on Albert's NLSerial library from phillips.

> > What is needed is a CROSS PLATFORM serial interface.
>
>So we need developers esp. for Mac OS and Linux.

Since OS X and linux use the same ioctl and unix read/write calls that are posix compatible it should be a single piece of code that is cross compiled.

>The  next  steps  would  be the examination of the collected
>packages. Then we'll decide what we exactly want to do.
The trick will be deciding how to do a lot of the visa properties, opening and closing and locking resources.  I have a VISA imitation framework that I used for my GPIB driver.  This was sort of VISA looking thing but it worked. Properties are stored as strings as a key and data as a variant.  It was kept in an array of visa resource names.

That code is all Labview and certainly available as well to open G.  At the base level it called into the GPIB driver, but it could call serial port primitives as well.  It would be nice to keep as much of the code as possible in Labview and only stubs in platform specific libraries.  There is a cute trick that Christophe Salzmann has for making fat libraries with multiple code objects for all platforms in it.

-Scott

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Kevin V. <k.v...@ve...>]

I saw this thread start up and I was itching to jump in but I haven't  
had much time.  I started working on something like this a several  
months back before I got swamped with work.  What actually gave me  
the idea was when I had to recompile the source code for Scantool. 
net's OBDII interface.  Long story short, they use an API for doing  
serial I/O under DOS, Linux and SunOS called DZComm.  Pretty slick.

It's on sourceforge:
http://dzcomm.sourceforge.net/

My master plan was to use Call Library Nodes to tap into the  
functions in the libdzcom.so shared library (like with the Comedi  
library).  I made 9 VIs but I don't think I ever tested all of them.   
I recall a few working...  Should be easy to finish all the functions  
if there's no complex data structures.

Here are some other serial port projects that didn't seem to be as  
useable but worth mentioning:

Columbo Simple Serial Library
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cssl/

ezV24
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ezv24/

Have fun,
kevin

RE: OpenG VISA

[Frederic V. <fre...@la...>]

> I have been out of the VXI plug-n-play and VISA arema for a while, so forgi=
> ve me for asking this, but, Rolf and others mention HP and NI VISA librarie=
> s, but no one else. VISA is an open standard. Does any other company beside=
> s HP & NI have a VISA implementation?


Hello,

The only other VISA implementations that I know of beside NI and Agilent 
are:

Tektronix
Bustec  (http://www.bustec.ie)
Kikusui (http://www.kikusui.co.jp)

They probably don't have a full implementation, for example Bustec only 
implemented VXI communication.

Some companies also piggy-back on NI's VISA implementation by just 
adding a passport. Rohde&Schwarz does that.

Frederic

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Jean-Pierre D. <jea...@tr...>]

RE: OpenG Serial driversDoes that mean that each license fee allows for 1=
0 more distributions? That $40 figure is what I recall from
previous discussions.

Jean-Pierre Drolet


----- Message d'origine -----=20
De : Mark Balla
=C0 : 'ope...@li...'
Cc : Adam. Sweet (E-mail)
Envoy=E9 : 13 janvier, 2005 16:47
Objet : RE: OpenG Serial drivers


The Wisconsin User Group Steering comity Just recently ask our District S=
ales Manager this NI Visa question.
He did some research and replied with this response.
Good afternoon all,
The $395 NI-VISA license is only applicable if you are building your own
hardware and would like to use the NI-VISA layer.
Today, our licensing policy DOES NOT require a customer to pay a licensin=
g
fee for NI-VISA if the deployment target contains NI hardware or software
written using NI development software. In the scenario where you have a
LabVIEW VI or EXE talking on a built-in serial port, National Instruments
allows the first 10 distributions for free and after that we require a
licensing fee.  We are about to change our licensing policy to allow up t=
o
100 distributions per application for free and after that require a
license.
So the short story is that if you are an end-user or alliance member, thi=
s
is a non-issue and NI-VISA will continue to be free.
Thank you,
Adam Sweet
        Mark Balla
        Sr. Test Engineer
        Cherry Electrical Products
        11200 88th Ave.
        Pleasant Prairie, WI
        53158-0913
        Phone:  262-942-6420
        Cell:      847-721-2047
        Fax:      262-942-6411
        Email    mb...@ch...

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Jim K. <jk...@ja...>]

Assuming that we are legally allowed do distribute the files, aggregating
them on OpenG.org is fine with me.  There are many mechanisms for doing
this.  I recommend that we create a forum topic and attach the documents
to the initial forum posting.  This will allow others to download the
documents and directly start a discussion.

If we are not allowed to (re)distribute the files, then I recommend
hyperlinking to the files, rather than posting them on OpenG.org.

Please wait to post any files to OpenG.org until we "go-live" with the new
discussion forums.  The new forums will provide a lot of nice features. 
We have only a few minor things to do before we are ready.

Regards,

-Jim



Martin Henz wrote:
>
> John Brohan wrote:
>
>> Thanks for your offer, I have LV 6.1 and I'd like to try to get some
>> royalty free Serial drivers written! How do I start?
>
>> Jim Kring wrote:
>>> John,
>>>
>>> OpenG is a great forum work on such a thing.  I can help you get a
>>> project
>>> started.
>>>
>
> Also, many thanks to you Jim.
>
> Let  me  explain,  what  we discussed on Info-LabVIEW and in
> private  mail.  (John,  please  reply  to  this  posting, if
> something is not correct.)
>
> At  first,  we  would like to collect some existing royality
> free   and   open  source  solutions  for  the  serial  port
> communication.
>
>
>   Scott  Hannahs  has  a  set  of  serial drivers maybe from
>   Albert  Geven.  These  VIs  are  interfacing to the legacy
>   serial  port  driver which officially exists until LabVIEW
>   6.1.
>
>   I  have  written  serial  port  interface  written for the
>   windows  operating  system.  All  mayor  functionality are
>   inside  a DLL which is written in C. The functions in this
>   DLL are handling the labview data types (error cluster, LV
>   strings,  LV  booleans...). Not all functions are actually
>   tested, so this interface is actually a beta version.
>
> As Scott Hannahs explained:
>
>> What is needed is a CROSS PLATFORM serial interface.
>
> So we need developers esp. for Mac OS and Linux.
>
> Anyway,  we  would  like to start this project. At first, we
> need  a  little piece space on a web or ftp server, where we
> can temporarily store the collected packages for our own use.
> I  can  also  store  this  on my own server, but I prefer to
> store the packeges on openg.org if this is possible.
>
> John  Brohan will stay in contact to Jim Kring who tells him
> how we can start the project on OpegG.org
>
> The  next  steps  would  be the examination of the collected
> packages. Then we'll decide what we exactly want to do.
>
>
> --
> Martin Henz
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>


-- 
Jim Kring
James Kring, Inc.
jk...@ja...
415.720.5972 phone
415.366.3299 fax
http://www.jameskring.com

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Jim K. <jk...@ja...>]

John,

This project is a great idea.  First, it is something that many people
need (even if they are not aware of it).  Secondly, it addresses LabVIEW
licensing issues, which are a hot button right now.

To get started, please draft a document that describes:

(1) the problem which this project aims to address
(2) goals and scope of the project
(3) use cases for the software
(4) requirements for the software
(5) one or more proposed designs and the benefits of the designs with
respect to other possible design choices.

Don't worry about leaving certain things out of the document.  You can
simply leave place-holders in the document for content that will be added
later.  This document will form the basis for others to contribute ideas,
and enable us all to have a shared understanding of the problem and an
agreed upon solution.

I will create a CVS module (a new project in our networked source Code
control system) where we can share our project files.  Please sign up for
an account on SourceForge.net so that I can give you access to the
repository.  I will do this tonight.

In the next week, or so, we will be going live with a new discussion forum
at OpenG.org, which will make collaborative discussions a whole lot
easier.  Once we go live, we can create discussion threads dedicated to
this project, and really begin to has out our ideas.

Also, please identify and make a list of other project team members so
that we can come up with a communication plan and keep everyone in the
loop.  Personally, I know that there are many companies who would be eager
and willing to participate in this project.  Let's try to coordinate and
get as many people involved as possible.

Regards,

-Jim Kring



John Brohan wrote:
> Hi Jim
>
> Thanks for your offer, I have LV 6.1 and I'd like to try to get some
> royalty free Serial drivers written! How do I start?
>
> Yours Sincerely
> John
>
> Jim Kring wrote:
>> John,
>>
>> OpenG is a great forum work on such a thing.  I can help you get a
>> project
>> started.
>>
>> -Jim
>>
>>
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: ope...@li...
>>>[mailto:ope...@li...]
>>>On Behalf Of John Brohan
>>>Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:17 AM
>>>To: ope...@li...
>>>Subject: OpenG Serial drivers
>>>
>>>Hello
>>>There has recently been some discussion in info-Labview about
>>>a royalty
>>>free serial functionality in LabVIEW. I would be interested
>>>in working
>>>on this. There are already some libraries available, posted
>>>by others on
>>>the web in different places. I am interested in working on this. Is
>>>OpenG a suitable forum for this task? How do I set about it?
>>>
>>>Yours Sincerely
>>>John
>>>--
>>>John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
>>>Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
>>>317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
>>>jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com
>>>
>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------
>>>The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
>>>Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
>>>It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
>>>Ope...@li...
>>>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------
>> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
>> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
>> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
>> _______________________________________________
>> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
>> Ope...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>>
>
> --
> John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
> Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
> 317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
> jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>


--
Jim Kring
James Kring, Inc.
jk...@ja...
415.720.5972 phone
415.366.3299 fax
http://www.jameskring.com

RE: OpenG Serial drivers

[Mark B. <mb...@Ch...>]

The Wisconsin User Group Steering comity Just recently ask our District
Sales Manager this NI Visa question.
He did some research and replied with this response.

Good afternoon all,

The $395 NI-VISA license is only applicable if you are building your own
hardware and would like to use the NI-VISA layer.

Today, our licensing policy DOES NOT require a customer to pay a licensing
fee for NI-VISA if the deployment target contains NI hardware or software
written using NI development software. In the scenario where you have a
LabVIEW VI or EXE talking on a built-in serial port, National Instruments
allows the first 10 distributions for free and after that we require a
licensing fee.  We are about to change our licensing policy to allow up to
100 distributions per application for free and after that require a
license.

So the short story is that if you are an end-user or alliance member, this
is a non-issue and NI-VISA will continue to be free.

Thank you,

Adam Sweet

	Mark Balla
	Sr. Test Engineer
	Cherry Electrical Products
	11200 88th Ave.
	Pleasant Prairie, WI
	53158-0913
	Phone:  262-942-6420
	Cell:      847-721-2047
	Fax:      262-942-6411
	Email    mb...@ch...
	



-----Original Message-----
From: John Brohan [mailto:jb...@Tr...]
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 1:06 PM
To: ope...@li...
Subject: Re: OpenG Serial drivers


Hi Jim

Thanks for your offer, I have LV 6.1 and I'd like to try to get some 
royalty free Serial drivers written! How do I start?

Yours Sincerely
John

Jim Kring wrote:
> John,
> 
> OpenG is a great forum work on such a thing.  I can help you get a project
> started.
> 
> -Jim
> 
> 
> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: ope...@li... 
>>[mailto:ope...@li...] 
>>On Behalf Of John Brohan
>>Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:17 AM
>>To: ope...@li...
>>Subject: OpenG Serial drivers
>>
>>Hello
>>There has recently been some discussion in info-Labview about 
>>a royalty 
>>free serial functionality in LabVIEW. I would be interested 
>>in working 
>>on this. There are already some libraries available, posted 
>>by others on 
>>the web in different places. I am interested in working on this. Is 
>>OpenG a suitable forum for this task? How do I set about it?
>>
>>Yours Sincerely
>>John
>>-- 
>>John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
>>Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
>>317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
>>jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------
>>The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
>>Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
>>It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
>>_______________________________________________
>>OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
>>Ope...@li...
>>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 

-- 
John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com


-------------------------------------------------------
The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
_______________________________________________
OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
Ope...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers

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Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[Martin H. <mar...@mh...>]

John Brohan wrote:

> Thanks for your offer, I have LV 6.1 and I'd like to try to get some
> royalty free Serial drivers written! How do I start?

> Jim Kring wrote:
>> John,
>> 
>> OpenG is a great forum work on such a thing.  I can help you get a project
>> started.
>> 

Also, many thanks to you Jim.

Let  me  explain,  what  we discussed on Info-LabVIEW and in
private  mail.  (John,  please  reply  to  this  posting, if
something is not correct.)

At  first,  we  would like to collect some existing royality
free   and   open  source  solutions  for  the  serial  port
communication.


  Scott  Hannahs  has  a  set  of  serial drivers maybe from
  Albert  Geven.  These  VIs  are  interfacing to the legacy
  serial  port  driver which officially exists until LabVIEW
  6.1.

  I  have  written  serial  port  interface  written for the
  windows  operating  system.  All  mayor  functionality are
  inside  a DLL which is written in C. The functions in this
  DLL are handling the labview data types (error cluster, LV
  strings,  LV  booleans...). Not all functions are actually
  tested, so this interface is actually a beta version.

As Scott Hannahs explained:

> What is needed is a CROSS PLATFORM serial interface.

So we need developers esp. for Mac OS and Linux.

Anyway,  we  would  like to start this project. At first, we
need  a  little piece space on a web or ftp server, where we
can temporarily store the collected packages for our own use.
I  can  also  store  this  on my own server, but I prefer to
store the packeges on openg.org if this is possible.

John  Brohan will stay in contact to Jim Kring who tells him
how we can start the project on OpegG.org

The  next  steps  would  be the examination of the collected
packages. Then we'll decide what we exactly want to do.


-- 
Martin Henz

  

Re: OpenG Serial drivers

[John B. <jb...@Tr...>]

Hi Jim

Thanks for your offer, I have LV 6.1 and I'd like to try to get some 
royalty free Serial drivers written! How do I start?

Yours Sincerely
John

Jim Kring wrote:
> John,
> 
> OpenG is a great forum work on such a thing.  I can help you get a project
> started.
> 
> -Jim
> 
> 
> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: ope...@li... 
>>[mailto:ope...@li...] 
>>On Behalf Of John Brohan
>>Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:17 AM
>>To: ope...@li...
>>Subject: OpenG Serial drivers
>>
>>Hello
>>There has recently been some discussion in info-Labview about 
>>a royalty 
>>free serial functionality in LabVIEW. I would be interested 
>>in working 
>>on this. There are already some libraries available, posted 
>>by others on 
>>the web in different places. I am interested in working on this. Is 
>>OpenG a suitable forum for this task? How do I set about it?
>>
>>Yours Sincerely
>>John
>>-- 
>>John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
>>Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
>>317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
>>jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------
>>The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
>>Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
>>It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
>>_______________________________________________
>>OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
>>Ope...@li...
>>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 

-- 
John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com

RE: OpenG VISA

[<pat...@si...>]

I looked at Racal again. They have a hardlink to NI's ftp site. I wonder if
they paid? An end-user probably won't know.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: ope...@li...
> [mailto:ope...@li...]On
>  Behalf Of
> John Ryland
> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 11:04 AM
> To: ope...@li...
> Subject: RE: OpenG VISA
> 
> 
> I am a developer at Keithley. We license VISA from NI and are 
> allowed to redistribute it with our instrument drivers. So as 
> long as you use our driver with our instrument (of course) 
> then you can use VISA. But if you create a product to sell 
> with our driver then you don't get the right to redistribute 
> the VISA you have to purchase it or license it like we do 
> from NI, Agilent or Tek.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ope...@li...
> [mailto:ope...@li...]On
>  Behalf Of
> pat...@si...
> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 10:36 AM
> To: ope...@li...;
> Inf...@la...
> Subject: RE: OpenG VISA
> 
> 
> I did a quick Google search looking for other VISA 
> implementations. I find
> it kind of funny that Keithly and Racal provide the "free" 
> NI-VISA runtimes.
> Looks like we weren't the only ones who thought it was free of charge.
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ope...@li...
> > [mailto:ope...@li...]On
> >  Behalf Of
> > Michael Ashe
> > Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 9:32 AM
> > To: ope...@li...
> > Subject: RE: OpenG VISA
> > 
> > 
> > Hi gents,
> > 
> > I have been out of the VXI plug-n-play and VISA arema for a 
> > while, so forgive me for asking this, but, Rolf and others 
> > mention HP and NI VISA libraries, but no one else. VISA is an 
> > open standard. Does any other company besides HP & NI have a 
> > VISA implementation?
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > Mike Ashe
> > ****************************
> > Imaginatics     860-444-2141
> > mic...@im...
> > ****************************
> > ---- ope...@li... wrote:
> > > Instead of replacing VISA32.DLL we could create for the time being
> > > a library which is in principle compatible and built on the same
> > > architecture but name it for instance ogvisa.dll/shl/...
> > > ... snip...
> > > Once it is working properly ... anyone wants to test or use it 
> > > ... instead of relying on the NI or HP version.
> > > 
> > > Rolf Kalbermatter
> > 
> > 
> > -------------------------------------------------------
> > The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> > Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> > It's fun and FREE -- well, 
> almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> > _______________________________________________
> > OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> > Ope...@li...
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> > 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> _______________
> Scanned by IBM Email Security Management Services powered by 
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> ______________________________________________________________
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> 
> 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> _______________
> Scanned by IBM Email Security Management Services powered by 
> MessageLabs. For more information please visit http://www.ers.ibm.com
> ______________________________________________________________
> _______________
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 

RE: OpenG Serial drivers

[Jim K. <jk...@ja...>]

John,

OpenG is a great forum work on such a thing.  I can help you get a project
started.

-Jim


> -----Original Message-----
> From: ope...@li... 
> [mailto:ope...@li...] 
> On Behalf Of John Brohan
> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:17 AM
> To: ope...@li...
> Subject: OpenG Serial drivers
> 
> Hello
> There has recently been some discussion in info-Labview about 
> a royalty 
> free serial functionality in LabVIEW. I would be interested 
> in working 
> on this. There are already some libraries available, posted 
> by others on 
> the web in different places. I am interested in working on this. Is 
> OpenG a suitable forum for this task? How do I set about it?
> 
> Yours Sincerely
> John
> -- 
> John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
> Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
> 317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
> jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 

RE: OpenG VISA

[Scott H. <st...@ma...>]

At 10:35 -0500 1/13/05, pat...@si... wrote:
>I did a quick Google search looking for other VISA implementations. I find
>it kind of funny that Keithly and Racal provide the "free" NI-VISA runtimes.
>Looks like we weren't the only ones who thought it was free of charge.

I have personal knowledge that Keithley did pay the licensing fee to distribute the serial VISA with their application.  It is a set price for unlimited distribution.  So NO, it is not clear that they did not know about this.  In fact I spent awhile disabusing them of the notion that there were additional fees for each platform.  You get a license to distribute VISA as part of an application for all platforms for some fixed fee.

I don't know at all about Racal.

-Scott

RE: OpenG VISA

[John R. <jr...@ke...>]

I=20am=20a=20developer=20at=20Keithley.=20We=20license=20VISA=20from=20NI=20=
and=20are=20allowed=20to=20redistribute=20it=20with=20our=20instrument=20d=
rivers.=20So=20as=20long=20as=20you=20use=20our=20driver=20with=20our=20in=
strument=20(of=20course)=20then=20you=20can=20use=20VISA.=20But=20if=20you=
=20create=20a=20product=20to=20sell=20with=20our=20driver=20then=20you=20d=
on't=20get=20the=20right=20to=20redistribute=20the=20VISA=20you=20have=20t=
o=20purchase=20it=20or=20license=20it=20like=20we=20do=20from=20NI,=20Agil=
ent=20or=20Tek.


-----Original=20Message-----
From:=20o...@li...
[mailto:ope...@li...]On=20Behalf=20=
Of
pat...@si...
Sent:=20Thursday,=20January=2013,=202005=2010:36=20AM
To:=20o...@li...;
Inf...@la...
Subject:=20RE:=20OpenG=20VISA


I=20did=20a=20quick=20Google=20search=20looking=20for=20other=20VISA=20imp=
lementations.=20I=20find
it=20kind=20of=20funny=20that=20Keithly=20and=20Racal=20provide=20the=20"f=
ree"=20NI-VISA=20runtimes.
Looks=20like=20we=20weren't=20the=20only=20ones=20who=20thought=20it=20was=
=20free=20of=20charge.

>=20-----Original=20Message-----
>=20From:=20o...@li...
>=20[mailto:ope...@li...]On
>=20=20Behalf=20Of
>=20Michael=20Ashe
>=20Sent:=20Thursday,=20January=2013,=202005=209:32=20AM
>=20To:=20o...@li...
>=20Subject:=20RE:=20OpenG=20VISA
>=20
>=20
>=20Hi=20gents,
>=20
>=20I=20have=20been=20out=20of=20the=20VXI=20plug-n-play=20and=20VISA=20ar=
ema=20for=20a=20
>=20while,=20so=20forgive=20me=20for=20asking=20this,=20but,=20Rolf=20and=20=
others=20
>=20mention=20HP=20and=20NI=20VISA=20libraries,=20but=20no=20one=20else.=20=
VISA=20is=20an=20
>=20open=20standard.=20Does=20any=20other=20company=20besides=20HP=20&=20N=
I=20have=20a=20
>=20VISA=20implementation?
>=20
>=20Cheers,
>=20Mike=20Ashe
>=20****************************
>=20Imaginatics=20=20=20=20=20860-444-2141
>=20m...@im...
>=20****************************
>=20----=20o...@li...=20wrote:
>=20>=20Instead=20of=20replacing=20VISA32.DLL=20we=20could=20create=20for=20=
the=20time=20being
>=20>=20a=20library=20which=20is=20in=20principle=20compatible=20and=20bui=
lt=20on=20the=20same
>=20>=20architecture=20but=20name=20it=20for=20instance=20ogvisa.dll/shl/.=
..
>=20>=20...=20snip...
>=20>=20Once=20it=20is=20working=20properly=20...=20anyone=20wants=20to=20=
test=20or=20use=20it=20
>=20>=20...=20instead=20of=20relying=20on=20the=20NI=20or=20HP=20version.
>=20>=20
>=20>=20Rolf=20Kalbermatter
>=20
>=20
>=20-------------------------------------------------------
>=20The=20SF.Net=20email=20is=20sponsored=20by:=20Beat=20the=20post-holida=
y=20blues
>=20Get=20a=20FREE=20limited=20edition=20SourceForge.net=20t-shirt=20from=20=
ThinkGeek.
>=20It's=20fun=20and=20FREE=20--=20well,=20almost....http://www.thinkgeek.=
com/sfshirt
>=20_______________________________________________
>=20OpenGToolkit-Developers=20mailing=20list
>=20O...@li...
>=20https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
>=20


-------------------------------------------------------
The=20SF.Net=20email=20is=20sponsored=20by:=20Beat=20the=20post-holiday=20=
blues
Get=20a=20FREE=20limited=20edition=20SourceForge.net=20t-shirt=20from=20Th=
inkGeek.
It's=20fun=20and=20FREE=20--=20well,=20almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/=
sfshirt
_______________________________________________
OpenGToolkit-Developers=20mailing=20list
Ope...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers

__________________________________________________________________________=
___
Scanned=20by=20IBM=20Email=20Security=20Management=20Services=20powered=20=
by=20MessageLabs.=20For=20more=20information=20please=20visit=20http://www=
.ers.ibm.com
__________________________________________________________________________=
___



__________________________________________________________________________=
___
Scanned=20by=20IBM=20Email=20Security=20Management=20Services=20powered=20=
by=20MessageLabs.=20For=20more=20information=20please=20visit=20http://www=
.ers.ibm.com
__________________________________________________________________________=
___

RE: OpenG VISA

[<pat...@si...>]

I did a quick Google search looking for other VISA implementations. I find
it kind of funny that Keithly and Racal provide the "free" NI-VISA runtimes.
Looks like we weren't the only ones who thought it was free of charge.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ope...@li...
> [mailto:ope...@li...]On
>  Behalf Of
> Michael Ashe
> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 9:32 AM
> To: ope...@li...
> Subject: RE: OpenG VISA
> 
> 
> Hi gents,
> 
> I have been out of the VXI plug-n-play and VISA arema for a 
> while, so forgive me for asking this, but, Rolf and others 
> mention HP and NI VISA libraries, but no one else. VISA is an 
> open standard. Does any other company besides HP & NI have a 
> VISA implementation?
> 
> Cheers,
> Mike Ashe
> ****************************
> Imaginatics     860-444-2141
> mic...@im...
> ****************************
> ---- ope...@li... wrote:
> > Instead of replacing VISA32.DLL we could create for the time being
> > a library which is in principle compatible and built on the same
> > architecture but name it for instance ogvisa.dll/shl/...
> > ... snip...
> > Once it is working properly ... anyone wants to test or use it 
> > ... instead of relying on the NI or HP version.
> > 
> > Rolf Kalbermatter
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> The SF.Net email is sponsored by: Beat the post-holiday blues
> Get a FREE limited edition SourceForge.net t-shirt from ThinkGeek.
> It's fun and FREE -- well, almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/sfshirt
> _______________________________________________
> OpenGToolkit-Developers mailing list
> Ope...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers
> 

RE: OpenG VISA

[John R. <jr...@ke...>]

yes,=20tektronix=20have=20visa

-----Original=20Message-----
From:=20o...@li...
[mailto:ope...@li...]On=20Behalf=20=
Of
Michael=20Ashe
Sent:=20Thursday,=20January=2013,=202005=209:32=20AM
To:=20o...@li...
Subject:=20RE:=20OpenG=20VISA


Hi=20gents,

I=20have=20been=20out=20of=20the=20VXI=20plug-n-play=20and=20VISA=20arema=20=
for=20a=20while,=20so=20forgive=20me=20for=20asking=20this,=20but,=20Rolf=20=
and=20others=20mention=20HP=20and=20NI=20VISA=20libraries,=20but=20no=20on=
e=20else.=20VISA=20is=20an=20open=20standard.=20Does=20any=20other=20compa=
ny=20besides=20HP=20&=20NI=20have=20a=20VISA=20implementation?

Cheers,
Mike=20Ashe
****************************
Imaginatics=20=20=20=20=20860-444-2141
mic...@im...
****************************
----=20o...@li...=20wrote:
>=20Instead=20of=20replacing=20VISA32.DLL=20we=20could=20create=20for=20th=
e=20time=20being
>=20a=20library=20which=20is=20in=20principle=20compatible=20and=20built=20=
on=20the=20same
>=20architecture=20but=20name=20it=20for=20instance=20ogvisa.dll/shl/...
>=20...=20snip...
>=20Once=20it=20is=20working=20properly=20...=20anyone=20wants=20to=20test=
=20or=20use=20it=20
>=20...=20instead=20of=20relying=20on=20the=20NI=20or=20HP=20version.
>=20
>=20Rolf=20Kalbermatter


-------------------------------------------------------
The=20SF.Net=20email=20is=20sponsored=20by:=20Beat=20the=20post-holiday=20=
blues
Get=20a=20FREE=20limited=20edition=20SourceForge.net=20t-shirt=20from=20Th=
inkGeek.
It's=20fun=20and=20FREE=20--=20well,=20almost....http://www.thinkgeek.com/=
sfshirt
_______________________________________________
OpenGToolkit-Developers=20mailing=20list
Ope...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/opengtoolkit-developers

__________________________________________________________________________=
___
Scanned=20by=20IBM=20Email=20Security=20Management=20Services=20powered=20=
by=20MessageLabs.=20For=20more=20information=20please=20visit=20http://www=
.ers.ibm.com
__________________________________________________________________________=
___




__________________________________________________________________________=
___
Scanned=20by=20IBM=20Email=20Security=20Management=20Services=20powered=20=
by=20MessageLabs.=20For=20more=20information=20please=20visit=20http://www=
.ers.ibm.com
__________________________________________________________________________=
___

RE: OpenG VISA

[Michael A. <mic...@im...>]

Hi gents,

I have been out of the VXI plug-n-play and VISA arema for a while, so forgi=
ve me for asking this, but, Rolf and others mention HP and NI VISA librarie=
s, but no one else. VISA is an open standard. Does any other company beside=
s HP & NI have a VISA implementation?

Cheers,
Mike Ashe
****************************
Imaginatics     860-444-2141
mic...@im...
****************************
---- ope...@li... wrote:
> Instead of replacing VISA32.DLL we could create for the time being
> a library which is in principle compatible and built on the same
> architecture but name it for instance ogvisa.dll/shl/...
> ... snip...
> Once it is working properly ... anyone wants to test or use it=20
> ... instead of relying on the NI or HP version.
>=20
> Rolf Kalbermatter

OpenG Serial drivers

[John B. <jb...@Tr...>]

Hello
There has recently been some discussion in info-Labview about a royalty 
free serial functionality in LabVIEW. I would be interested in working 
on this. There are already some libraries available, posted by others on 
the web in different places. I am interested in working on this. Is 
OpenG a suitable forum for this task? How do I set about it?

Yours Sincerely
John
-- 
John Brohan         National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal
Traders Micro         "We connect all sorts of things to computers"
317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749
jb...@Tr...      http://www.TradersMicro.com

RE: OpenG VISA

[Rolf K. <rol...@ci...>]

One more comment here:

> Rolf, what is this visa32.dll? It seems to be a NI product so=20
> I don't think you meant OpenG VISA to be a replacement of NI-VISA. I
> would like to have a serial interface to get rid of VISA=20
> installation when I want to use the serial port on target=20
> computers. Both licensing fees and installation footprint
> make no sense for me for the mere use of the serial port.

Instead of replacing VISA32.DLL we could create for the time being
a library which is in principle compatible and built on the same
architecture but name it for instance ogvisa.dll/shl/...

Then a VI library could be created which looks and feels like
the VISA icons to access that library. This would avoid the
problem of rendering normal NI resources unavailable while
testing or using the OpenG version in your application but
would still give the same look and feel to using it. Once it
is working properly for some resources, with a single compile
switch a real visa32.dll could be created if anyone wants to
test or use it with the built in nodes instead of relying on the
NI or HP version.

Rolf Kalbermatter

RE: OpenG VISA

[Rolf K. <rol...@ci...>]

Hi Jean-Pierre,

> Rolf, what is this visa32.dll? It seems to be a NI product so=20
> I don't think you meant OpenG VISA to be a replacement of NI-VISA.

Well, the VXI PnP Alliance has made a standard available in the form
of VISA. And yes in sense if you want to do your own VISA you will
have to replace VISA32.DLL. This is the common API to all VISA services
and this DLL then will distribute the commands to the according lower
level driver according to the VISA resource identifier.

It is unfortunate that VISA32.DLL has to be replaced entirely but that
is the way it was designed. I'm not entirely sure how HP does it but I
feel that if you install HP hardware for instance you seem to have some
sort of problem in that you need to decide if you want to have NI-VISA
and only use a limited set of HP hardware supported by it or install
HP VISA and only have limited support for standard NI hardware.

The interface between VISA32.DLL and the low level drivers is nowhere
documented that I could find it and although I have a fairly good
general idea how it is done, trying to figure out all the nitty gritty
details is really a big nono, so the most straightforward method is
indeed replacing VISA32.DLL altogether to get rid of any possible NI
licensing issues.

This however has some implications. In that way you won't have support
for any interface unless there is an approapriate OpenG (or whatever)
low level VISA driver avaialable. While I started with the ASRL driver
already (but it is by no means near a working state yet) I have no
idea how complicated the addition of drivers for GPIB, TCP/IP, USB etc
might be. GPIB seems fairly straightforward to me but I haven't really
looked into that yet.

> would like to have a serial interface to get rid of VISA=20
> installation when I want to use the serial port on target=20
> computers. Both licensing fees and installation footprint
> make no sense for me for the mere use of the serial port.

I would estimate the base driver to be around 100k for the VISA32.DLL
and at most 100k for each low level driver. There probably would have
to be a small UI application for configuration tasks too, although
that could be handled through ini files entirely for starters.=20

> Like VISA, I 'd like to see a generic communication API where=20
> the interface would be the same whatever the actual communication
> channel is (serial, TCP, etc). It would be OOP so when there=20
> is a need for another communication channel, just provide a specific
> implementation that is simply integrated. How difficult would=20
> it be to build an interface to Windows (or your favorite OS) serial
> drivers? Gateways (like serial<->TCP to access serial port on=20
> remote computers) to connect any two different channels could also be
> implemented.

Well it is C programming and support in that area is very limited in
the LabVIEW community. I have had no positive feedback until now and
can't possibly take on this task alone. For this reasons I postboned
further work for the time being.

Rolf Kalbermatter
CIT Engineering Nederland BV    tel: +31 (070) 415 9190
Treubstraat 7H                  fax: +31 (070) 415 9191
2288 EG Rijswijk	http://www.citengineering.com
Netherlands		mailto:rol...@ci...
=20

Re: OpenG VISA

[Jean-Pierre D. <jea...@tr...>]

In the light of recent licensing issues, I resurrect this old post from R=
olf.

At Avensys where I work I'm director of software development and in decis=
ion regarding sofware tools we use for R&D and commercial
applications. As much as I love LabVIEW I'm seriously thinking about drop=
ping it for application distribution, keeping it only for
internal sofware development needs.

We develop our own harware. Some are stand alone devices for which we hav=
e LabVIEW GUIs communicating with Serial/Modem/TCP. We also
have general distributed I/O boards (using BACnet protocol mainly used in=
 HVAC) in which LabVIEW applications acts as data
acquisition/logging  servers that serves data to network and Internet Lab=
VIEW clients. As such we're not a great source of revenues
to NI and eventually competitors if they ever get into the BACnet arena.

The prohibitive VISA licensing and the fact that NI can decide anyday tha=
t our applications are compition to their own products and
then against their licensing makes the use of LabIEW "complicated".

Rolf, what is this visa32.dll? It seems to be a NI product so I don't thi=
nk you meant OpenG VISA to be a replacement of NI-VISA. I
would like to have a serial interface to get rid of VISA installation whe=
n I want to use the serial port on target computers. Both
licensing fees and installation footprint make no sense for me for the me=
re use of the serial port.

Like VISA, I 'd like to see a generic communication API where the interfa=
ce would be the same whatever the actual communication
channel is (serial, TCP, etc). It would be OOP so when there is a need fo=
r another communication channel, just provide a specific
implementation that is simply integrated. How difficult would it be to bu=
ild an interface to Windows (or your favorite OS) serial
drivers? Gateways (like serial<->TCP to access serial port on remote comp=
uters) to connect any two different channels could also be
implemented.

Any comment to this?


Jean-Pierre






----- Message d'origine -----=20
De : "Rolf Kalbermatter" <rol...@ci...>
=C0 : <ope...@li...>
Envoy=E9 : 11 novembre, 2003 04:38
Objet : OpenG VISA


> Hello all,
>
> I have been thinking a lot over the weekend about this and I think ther=
e is
> a reasonable approach which might work.
>
> We might be able to create a modularized VISA (the current NI implement=
ation
> is similar in this) which intially might support serial only. The idea =
is to
> separate the implementation of the hardware related interface driver (I=
 think
> NI calls it in their architecture a passport) from the actual VISA32.DL=
L.
>
> LabVIEW and all other software always interfaces with VISA32.DLL only (=
well
> I guess T&M Explorer doesn't comply with this but I have really absolut=
ely
> no intention of supporting T&M in the beginning, both for the fact that=
 the
> interfaces it uses are entirely undocumented as well as possible licens=
e
> issues).
>
> OpenG Visa32.dll would enumerate the underlying passport drivers on fir=
st use
> and manage them accordingly. For the rest it would pass the VISA reques=
ts from
> application space to the according passport driver depending on the act=
ual VISA
> session. It would be a plugin architecture on shared library niveau, wh=
ich is
> also the drawback of this project. Although not inherently very complic=
ated, it
> is something not every programmer is comfortable to work in as it has a=
 serious
> amount of abstraction, so I'm at the moment afraid that there would be =
little
> if no active support from others for this and therefore it would silent=
ly die
> before it has reached any useful stage.
>
> OpenG passport drivers would intially and most probably always NOT be c=
ompatible
> with NI passport drivers as there is no documentation about that interf=
ace,
> although I have a fairly good idea how it works ;-), but the devil lies=
 in the
> detail and therefore I would not want to attempt to achieve compatibili=
ty on
> that level unless NI might at some stage want to help.
>
> As a side node, we might be able to support PORTIO as a passport driver=
 in this
> architecture as VISA has the according register access primitives altho=
ugh it is
> currently only used for PXI and VXI.
>
> Any comments to this?
>
> Rolf Kalbermatter
>
>
>
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