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Lab-VISA-3.05
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/ Lab::VISA::Installation

NAME

Lab::VISA::Installation - Installation guide for Lab::VISA

Installation on Windows

  • Install a 32-bit version of Strawberry Perl. Note that version 5.22 is not supported (see the comments below).

  • Install NI-VISA and the drivers required for your instruments. E.g. for GPIB you need the NI IEEE-488.2 driver.

  • Build and install with

    cpanm Lab::VISA

  • Have fun!

Notes

On 64-bit windows one needs a 32-bit version of perl with GNU binutils version <= 2.24. Otherwise linking with the NI-VISA library will fail. The reason for this are the following bugs in the GNU binutils:

These are fixed in the most recent version of the binutils. Once this version (2.26) is included in Strawberry Perl, it should be possible to use a 64-bit version of perl.

It is not possible to use either 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Strawberry Perl 5.22 as this version uses binutils 2.25.

Installation on Linux

As a Linux user you will probably be able to figure out things yourself. Here is a rough outline:

  • Before you start, you must have the VISA library by National Instrument installed. If you plan to use GPIB connections (which is very likely), you must also have the necessary drivers (NI-488.2) for your GPIB adapter card installed. Refer to National Instruments' very good documentation for additional information:

    http://digital.ni.com/softlib.nsf/webcategories/85256410006C055586256BBB002C0E91?opendocument&node=132060_US

  • In file Makefile.PL adapt the LIBS and INC settings according to your installation. This is what worked for me:

    'LIBS'         => ['-lvisa'],
'INC'          => '-I/usr/local/vxipnp/linux/include/',

  • Then do the usual

    perl Makefile.PL
make
make install

Testing the installation

Here is a quick test program that you can run with perl -Mblib test.pl:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Lab::VISA;

my ($status, $sesn) = Lab::VISA::viOpenDefaultRM();

printf "status: %x (%s)\n", $status, (($status == $Lab::VISA::VI_SUCCESS) ? "success" : "no success");
print "sesn: $sesn\n";

my ($status, $findList, $retcnt, $instrDesc) = Lab::VISA::viFindRsrc($sesn, "ASRL1::INSTR"); 

printf "status: %x (%s)\n", $status, (($status == $Lab::VISA::VI_SUCCESS) ? "success" : "no success");
print "findList: $findList\n";
print "retcnt: $retcnt\n";
print "instrDesc: $instrDesc\n";

__END__

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE

(c) 2010,2011 Daniel Schröer, Andreas K. Hüttel, Daniela Taubert, and others.
    2012      Andreas K. Hüttel
    2016      Simon Reinhardt, Andreas K. Hüttel