Thank you for using NI-SWITCH for Windows Vista/XP/2000.
This file contains important information about NI-SWITCH and is organized into the following sections:
New Features in Version 4.0
Supported Hardware
System Requirements
Installed File Names and Locations
Software
Documentation
Examples
Uninstalling/Modifying NI-SWITCH
Obsolete VIs and Functions
Known Issues
Changes by Release
New Features in Version 4.0
Support for LabVIEW 2009 (64-bit).
Support for NI PXI-2510 and NI PXI/PXIe-2512/2514/2515/2531 modules.
Support for Immediate Mode FIFO: This feature improves driver execution time of Immediate Mode Operations when operating multiple relays.
Support for 64-bit user mode.
Supported Hardware
NI-SWITCH 4.0 and later supports the following switch modules:
NI PXI-2501
NI PXI-2503
NI PXI-2510
NI PXI/PXIe-2512
NI PXI/PXIe-2514
NI PXI/PXIe-2515
NI PXI/PXIe-2527
NI PXI/PXIe-2529
NI PXI-2530
NI PXI/PXIe-2531
NI PXI/PXIe-2532
NI PXI-2533
NI PXI-2534
NI PXI-2535
NI PXI-2536
NI PXI-2545
NI PXI-2546
NI PXI-2547
NI PXI-2548
NI PXI-2549
NI PXI-2554
NI PXI-2555
NI PXI-2556
NI PXI-2557
NI PXI-2558
NI PXI-2559
NI PXI-2564
NI PXI-2565
NI PXI-2566
NI PXI-2567
NI PXI-2568
NI PXI/PXIe-2569
NI PXI-2570
NI PXI/PXIe-2575
NI PXI-2576
NI PXI-2584
NI PXI-2585
NI PXI-2586
NI PXI-2590
NI PXI-2591
NI PXI/PXIe-2593
NI PXI-2594
NI PXI-2595
NI PXI-2596
NI PXI-2597
NI PXI-2598
NI PXI-2599
NI SCXI-1127
NI SCXI-1128
NI SCXI-1129
NI SCXI-1130
NI SCXI-1160
NI SCXI-1161
NI SCXI-1163R
NI SCXI-1166
NI SCXI-1167
NI SCXI-1169
NI SCXI-1175
NI SCXI-1190
NI SCXI-1191
NI SCXI-1192
NI SCXI-1193
NI SCXI-1194
NI SCXI-1195
NOTES: NI-SWITCH does not support legacy resource descriptors (SCXI:: and PXI::) under Windows Vista.
NI-SWITCH supports the NI USB-1359 under Windows 2000, Windows XP, and the 32-bit version of Windows Vista. NI-SWITCH does not support the NI USB-1359 under the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.
If you are using a PXI product, notice that MXI-4 is supported under Windows Vista/XP/2000, but MXI-3 is supported under only Windows XP/2000.
System Requirements
NI-SWITCH 4.0 and NI-DAQmx 9.0 support Windows Vista/XP/2000. It is recommended that you have the most recent service pack for your operating system installed. Earlier versions of NI-SWITCH/NI-DAQ support other operating systems. To find and download an earlier version of a driver that supports other operating systems, refer to ni.com/downloads.
Minimum System
Processor—Pentium 200 MHz or equivalent
RAM—64 MB
A screen resolution of 800×600 with 256 colors
Windows XP/2000, with all available critical updates and service packs
Recommended System
Processor—Pentium III/Celeron 600 MHz or equivalent
RAM—256 MB
A screen resolution of 1024×768
Windows Vista/XP/2000, with all available critical updates and service packs
Application Development Environments (ADEs)
LabVIEW 8.2.1, 8.5.1, 8.6.1, 2009 (32-bit), or 2009 (64-bit)
LabVIEW Real-Time Module 8.2.1 or later
LabWindows™/CVI™ 7.1.1 or later
LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module 8.0 or later
Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) 6.0 or later
Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
Installed File Names and LocationsSoftware
National Instruments file folder location, <NIDocDir>:
Windows 2000/XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\National Instruments
Windows Vista: Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments
National Instruments file folder location, <IVIROOTDIR32>:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista 32-bit: Program Files\IVI Foundation\IVI\
Windows Vista 64-bit: Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\IVI\
NOTES:
$(IVIROOTDIR32) is configured as an environment variable on the target system.
If you upgraded an installation of IVI, your files may be located in the following location:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista 32-bit: Program Files\IVI\
Windows Vista 64-bit: Program Files (x86)\IVI\
National Instruments file folder location, <IVIROOTDIR64>:
Windows Vista 64-bit: Program Files\IVI Foundation\IVI\
NOTE:
$(IVIROOTDIR64) is configured as an environment variable on the target system.
File Locations
Item
Installed Location on Windows XP/2000
and Windows Vista
NI-SWITCH
<IVIROOTDIR32>\Drivers\niSwitch
NI-SWITCH Function Panel
<IVIROOTDIR32>\Drivers\niSwitch\niSwitch.fp
NI-SWITCH Examples
<NIDocDir>\niSwitch\Examples
NI-SWITCH Header files
<IVIROOTDIR32>\Include
NI-SWITCH Import Library files (32-bit)
<IVIROOTDIR32>\Lib
NI-SWITCH Import Library files (64-bit)
<IVIROOTDIR32>\Lib_x64
NI-SWITCH DLL (32-bit)
<IVIROOTDIR32>\Bin
Additional File Locations for Windows Vista 64-bit
Item
Installed Location on Windows Vista 64-bit
NI-SWITCH Function Panel
<IVIROOTDIR64>\Drivers\niSwitch\niSwitch.fp
NI-SWITCH Header files
<IVIROOTDIR64>\Include
NI-SWITCH Import Library files (64-bit)
<IVIROOTDIR64>\Lib_x64
NI-SWITCH DLL (64-bit)
<IVIROOTDIR64>\Bin
Documentation
Documentation is available at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-SWITCH»Documentation. The documentation set is composed of the following documents:
NI-SWITCH Readme File
Read Me First: Safety and Electromagnetic Compatibility
Printed format. Includes safety instructions and information about the radio-frequency interference characteristics of the hardware it accompanies.
NI Switches Getting Started Guide
Printed and PDF format. Includes hardware and software installation, MAX configuration, and signal connection information.
NI Switches Help
HTML help format. Includes switching fundamentals, device specific information, programming information, tutorials, a LabVIEW VI reference, and LabWindows/CVI, C++, and Visual Basic function references.
NI Switch Specifications
Printed and PDF format. Lists specifications for each NI switch module.
NI Switch Accessory Installation Instructions (Optional)
Printed and PDF format. Lists NI switch module accessory installation information.
Examples
Refer to Start»All Programs»National Instrument»NI-SWITCH»Examples for the examples for the supported ADEs. The examples cover immediate operations, synchronous scanning, handshaking, and software triggering. A complete example list is available in the NI Switches Help.
Refer to the Installed File Names and Locations section for the installed locations of the example sets.
Uninstalling/Modifying NI-SWITCH
For Windows 2000/XP, complete the following steps:
Launch the Control Panel by selecting Start»Control Panel.
Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
Select National Instruments Software.
Click Change/Remove.
Select NI-SWITCH 4.x from the dialog box that appears.
Click Remove to uninstall the product; click Modify to change the components that are installed.
For Windows Vista, complete the following steps:
Launch the Control Panel by selecting Start»Control Panel.
Double-click Programs and Features.
Select National Instruments Software.
Click the Uninstall/Change button.
Select NI-SWITCH 4.x from the dialog box that appears.
Click Remove to uninstall the product; click Modify to change the components that are installed.
As part of the NI-SWITCH installation, the following list of software was installed. To completely remove NI-SWITCH from your system, you must remove all of these packages also.
NI IVI Compliance Package 4.0
NI Measurement & Automation Explorer 4.6.1
NI-DAQmx 9.0
NI-VISA 4.5.1
NI Spy 2.7
Caution Several of the software packages listed above are shared with other NI software packages. If you attempt to remove a piece of software that something else is dependent on, a message launches to warn you about the software dependencies. You can choose to either uninstall all of the software or to leave the shared software installed. If you choose to uninstall the shared software, some of your other NI software may no longer function correctly.
Obsolete VIs and Functions
niSwitch Can Connect Channels? VI
niSwitch Connect and Wait VI/function
niSwitch Control a Single Switch VI/function
niSwitch Disconnect and Wait VI/function
niSwitch Error-Query VI/function
niSwitch Get Error Info VI/function
niSwitch Is Debounced? VI
niSwitch Is Scanning? VI
niSwitch Query a Single Switch VI/function
niSwitch Read Calibration Data VI/function
niSwitch Scan VI/function
niSwitch Scanning Acquisition VI/function
niSwitch Write Calibration Data VI/function
NOTE: The niSwitch Can Connect Channels?, niSwitch Is Debounced?, and niSwitch Is Scanning? VIs were replaced by identical VIs without question marks in the name.
Known Issues
The following are known issues for NI-SWITCH 4.0:
If you click a topic link in the NI-SWITCH Function Reference Help section of the NI Switches Help, you cannot use the Back button in the HTML Help window toolbar to return to the original topic.
When linking to a topic in the NI Switches Help from the context help or opening the help file from a VI within LabVIEW, the NI Switches Help launches and the relevant topic displays, but the location of the topic might not be highlighted in the table of contents.
Various support files, such as .h and .lib files, are installed in \Program Files\IVI and \VXIpnp directories to support ADEs that only recognize the \VXIpnp directory.
SCXI-1127 (Rev D and earlier) continuously drives the TTL1 trigger line on the SCXI backplane. This does not allow bus sharing of TTL1 with other SCXI modules. NI-SWITCH returns an error if an SCXI-1127 is in the chassis and if TTL1 is being used for scanning. If using the NI-DAQmx driver for your SCXI system, you get a resource reservation error if you try to perform a switching or signal conditioning operation that requires use of TTL1.
There are known DLL collision issues with the Microsoft Visual Basic debugger and a National Instruments device driver using Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy). A support DLL used by NI-SWITCH fails to load if Visual Basic has already loaded another DLL into the same address space. To change the default address that is used to load the driver DLL, create the following registry key:
where the value is a DWORD (0x44000000 generally works). For the change to take effect, you must close and restart all applications after adding the registry key.
NI-DMM 2.2
NI-DMM 2.2 updated the niSwitch DMM Switch Handshaking example for LabVIEW. If you have an earlier version of NI-DMM installed, the VI is inoperable. To use the example with NI-DMM 2.1.2 or earlier, delete the AUX Trig 1 case from the case structure connected to Sample Trigger Source in the niDMM Configure Multi Point VI.
NI-DMM 2.2 introduces a new enumerated value, AUX Trig 1.
When you run setup.exe to install the software from the media, you are prompted to choose whether you want to always trust software from National Instruments. If you do not select this option, your installation may be interrupted by one or more Microsoft Windows security dialog boxes. However, if you run setup from the command line, you will not receive this prompt, and the installer will automatically install NI's Software Publisher Certificate to the your Windows Trusted Publisher Store. If you do not want to make this change to your Windows Trusted Publisher Store, do not choose this installation method.
NI recommends that you disable Windows power management modes, such as sleep, standby, and hibernate, when using this product. These modes terminate any NI-SWITCH operation in progress. Notice that in Windows Vista or on a laptop computer, the default power management settings are likely to enable sleep mode.
LabWindows/CVI
The links in the function panel help in LabWindows/CVI versions 7.1 and 7.1.1 will not work unless you have downloaded the most recent version of the launchhelp.js file. Instructions for downloading and installing the file can be found in the KnowledgeBase entry Why Do I Get "Object Expected" Error When Opening Links in Function Panel Help? You can locate this KB by going to ni.com/info and entering rdnkbe in the Info Code field.
Reverting to NI-SWITCH 1.6 after installing NI-SWITCH 4.0
If reverting back to NI-SWITCH 1.6 from NI-SWITCH 4.0, you must uninstall NI-SWITCH 4.0 and reinstall NI-SWITCH 1.6.
Changes by Release4.0 from 3.8.5
Added support for LabVIEW 2009 (64-bit).
Added support for NI PXI-2510 and NI PXI/PXIe-2512/2514/2515/2531 modules.
Added support for Immediate Mode FIFO: This feature improves driver execution time of Immediate Mode Operations when operating multiple relays.
Added support for 64-bit user mode.
3.8.5 from 3.8
Added support for LabVIEW 2009 (32-bit).
Removed support for LabVIEW 7.1.1.
3.8 from 3.7.2
Japanese localization for driver, LabVIEW application programming interface (API), and documentation.
New behavior: Error and self test message strings now return localized values in LabVIEW. User applications that check the value of these strings (or trap errors by comparing the error cluster) might experience a change in behavior.
Copyright
© 1998–2009 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.
Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.
Trademarks
National Instruments, NI, ni.com, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use section on ni.com/legal for more information about National Instruments trademarks.
Patents
For patents covering the National Instruments products, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or ni.com/patents.