VXIplug&play Setup

Instrument Control Toolbox Software and VXIplug&play Drivers

The Instrument Control Toolbox™ software can communicate with hardware using VXIplug&play drivers. Most often, the instrument manufacturers supply these drivers.

For definitions and specifications of VXIplug&play drivers, see the IVI Foundation website.

VISA Setup

A system must have VISA installed in order for VXIplug&play drivers to work. The driver installer software might specify certain VISA or other connectivity requirements.

To determine whether your system is properly configured with the necessary version of VISA, at the MATLAB^® Command window, type:

instrhwinfo visa
ans = 
    InstalledAdaptors: {'agilent'}
       JarFileVersion: 'Version 2.0 (R14)'

The cell array returned for InstalledAdaptors indicates which VISA software is installed. A 1x0 cell array indicates that no VISA is installed. Possible InstalledAdaptors values are keysight (note that agilent also still works), tek, rs, and ni.

If you do not have VISA installed, you need to install it. The software installation disk provided with your instrument might include VISA along with the instrument's VXIplug&play driver, or you might be able to download VISA from the instrument manufacturer's Web site.

Other Software Requirements

An instrument driver can have other software requirements in addition to or instead of VISA. Consult the driver documentation. The installer software itself might specify these requirements.