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Chapter 1 Introduction
© National Instruments Corporation 1-5 DIO 6533 User Manual
VirtualBench features virtual instruments that combine DAQ products,
software, and your computer to create a stand-alone instrument with the
added benefit of the processing, display, and storage capabilities of
your computer. VirtualBench instruments load and save waveform data
to disk in the same forms that can be used in popular spreadsheet
programs and word processors.
Using LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, ComponentWorks, or
VirtualBench software will greatly reduce the development time for
your data acquisition and control application.
NI-DAQ Driver Software
The NI-DAQ driver software is included at no charge with all National
Instruments DAQ hardware. NI-DAQ is not packaged with SCXI or
accessory products, except for the SCXI-1200. NI-DAQ has an
extensive library of functions that you can call from your application
programming environment. These functions include routines for analog
input (A/D conversion), buffered data acquisition (high-speed A/D
conversion), analog output (D/A conversion), waveform generation
(timed D/A conversion), digital I/O, counter/timer operations, SCXI,
RTSI, calibration, messaging, and acquiring data to extended memory.
NI-DAQ has both high-level DAQ I/O functions for maximum ease of
use and low-level DAQ I/O functions for maximum flexibility and
performance. Examples for high-level functions are streaming data to
disk or acquiring a certain number of data points. An example of a
low-level function is writing directly to registers on the DAQ device.
NI-DAQ does not sacrifice performance of National Instruments DAQ
devices because it lets multiple devices operate at their peak
performance, even simultaneously.
NI-DAQ also internally addresses many of the complex issues between
the computer and the DAQ hardware such as programming interrupts
and DMA controllers. NI-DAQ maintains a consistent software
interface so that you can change platforms with minimal modifications
to your code. Whether you are using conventional programming
languages or NI-DAQ software, your application uses the NI-DAQ
driver software, as illustrated in Figure1-1.