S82357 met problem with NI488 software (email quesiton)

[Cheh]

Question from customer:

Dear Mr. Cheh Chang!

 

Thanks for your intention to help me in the S82357 converter application. One of my former colleague met already such difficulties at Rohde-Schwarz Calibration and Repair Service  when he tried to use the Agilent 82357 converter. He solved the problem by replacing one dll. file with one other dll file.

Hereby I enclose all the dll. files installed on my computer and please advice me which I should to replace with another.

 

Best regards,

and

Cheers!

Our Answer:

Hi Sz***,

I guess the problem your friend met is because his software is originally designed for NI-GPIB card, and when he switch to Agilent 82357B, he has to change the dll file which is developed by Agilent. That's because NI and Agilent are two different companies and their GPIB interface use different driver or called 488 Library.

I'm not sure whether this is the same issue you met. But here is a short application notes from Agilent describing this issue:

Let me know if this is the issue you met. Pls let me know if you have any further questions and we are very willing to help you 

Using Agilent 488 with NI-488.2

The Agilent 488 library is provided in Agilent IO Libraries Suite to allow you to use and extend existing test and measurement programs that were developed to use National Instruments' NI-488.2 API. With Agilent 488, you can use Agilent GPIB interface hardware (PC cards and converters) with programs that were developed to use NI's or other vendors' interfaces; you can also use multiple vendors' interfaces transparently in the same program.

Agilent 488 is compatible with NI-488.2, so programs developed using NI-488.2 published interfaces will run correctly with Agilent 488. A fewcompatibility considerations may result in slightly different behavior of a few programs when run against Agilent 488, or when you replace NI interface cards or converters with Agilent interfaces. You should also be aware of certain of these compatibility considerations when using Agilent 488 to extend or modify a program that was originally written using NI-488.2.

To allow your NI-488.2 programs to run with Agilent 488 and without recompiling your program, you must correctly install and configure Agilent 488. The remainder of this topic discusses installation and configuration considerations when using Agilent 488 with NI-488.2, or with another vendor's 488 compatibility API.

Note: When you have both Agilent 488 and NI-488.2 (or another vendor's 488 compatibility API) installed on the same system, you must explicitly enable Agilent 488. To do this, click Tools > Agilent 488... in Connection Expert, and select the check box labeled Enable Agilent GPIB cards for 488 programs. If you do not enable Agilent 488, programs written to the 488 API will not run against Agilent interfaces.

If, after enabling Agilent 488, you later install NI-488.2 or another vendor's 488 compatibility API, Agilent 488 will automatically be disabled. If you want to use Agilent 488, you must re-enable it after installing any third-party 488 library.

When you have both Agilent 488 and NI-488.2 (or another vendor's 488 compatibility API) installed on the same system, and Agilent 488 is enabled, your API calls go to a software router that engages the appropriate driver for the interface you are using. (See Agilent's Software Compatibility Architecture for a diagram.) Specifically, when Agilent 488 is enabled, the Agilent software router is installed as gpib-32.dll and the Agilent 488 dynamic-link library (DLL) is installed as agt488.dll in your system directory. Note that "gpib-32.dll" is the de facto standard name for NI-488.2 and compatible libraries. The Agilent software router sends calls to either the Agilent 488 DLL or the other vendor's 488DLL, as appropriate for the interface being addressed.

If Agilent 488 is disabled, the third-party DLL (if any) is installed as gpib-32.dll and the Agilent DLL is never used (thus Agilent interfaces cannot be used via 488 calls in this case).

Possible Error Messages from Third-Party Software

Although Agilent 488 does not conflict with NI-488.2 and both libraries can be used simultaneously, some National Instruments software may display error messages when Agilent 488 is enabled; for example, you may see the message Missing or Damaged GPIB-32.DLL when you attempt to use National Instruments Measurement & Automation Explorer to change the properties of an NI GPIB interface. If this occurs:

1. Disable Agilent 488: in Connection Expert, click Tools > Agilent 488... and clear (unselect) the check box labeled Enable Agilent GPIB cards for 488 programs.
    
2. Perform the operation that caused the error (such as changing the properties of the NI interface).
    
3. Re-enable Agilent 488: in Connection Expert, click Tools > Agilent 488... and select the check box labeled Enable Agilent GPIB cards for 488 programs