visa alias

[Alex.Pinion]

I am currently working on an automated test procedure in LabWindows using some power supplies, oscope and a sensor. I have created a setup file with LabWindows distributions builder and I am importing a NI MAX .nce configurations file into the setup. The setup installs all of the necessary software (i.e NI MAX) and drivers needed to communicate with the instruments. However, the instruments alias has to be populated with a specific name for each instrument. I am wondering if there is any way to automatically populate NI MAX with the proper aliases for each instrument. I thought it could be a possible option in the NI MAX .nce configuration file that i've exported from my current machine's NI MAX configuration. 

[crossrulz]

I recently had VISA Aliases as part of the MAX Configuration file (you *.nce file).  It is one of the options to include VISA settings when you export your configuration.

[Alex.Pinion]

Ideally, I would like to make some type of .ini file for the user. Then, the user populates the .ini file, and when that .ini file is read from in my program, I would like my program to somehow populate NI MAX with the aliases from the .ini file (something to that effect). 

[Dennis_Knutson]

The aliases are already stored in an ini file - visaconf.ini and it is exported.

[Alex.Pinion]

So can I modify the visaconf.ini file in a directory somewhere and then tell my program to read from it?

[Dennis_Knutson]

If you export the nce with the VISA option and then import it, you don't need to edit it. Reading it is automatic when you use VISA. You would need to edit it if you wanted to change the aliases.

[Alex.Pinion]

Right, so if NI MAX already has predefined aliases on a machine, and then I install my program on said machine, I would like to have the option of renaming the aliases with my program if there isn't a unique alias already assigned, or read the alias for the instrument if someone has already assigned a unique alias.

[crossrulz]

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@Zeusifer wrote:

Right, so if NI MAX already has predefined aliases on a machine, and then I install my program on said machine, I would like to have the option of renaming the aliases with my program if there isn't a unique alias already assigned, or read the alias for the instrument if someone has already assigned a unique alias.

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You can have the MAX configuration load as part of the installation.  Just added the nce to the installer.  There is an option somewhere in the build spec for adding the configuration.

[Dennis_Knutson]

I believe that when you import the nce file, it will overwrite any existing alias for a specific resource name. I'm not 100% sure, though. It's something you can easily test locally.

[Alex.Pinion]

Yeah I think you are right. I may have misunderstood what was actually happening in the distribution setup when importing my .nce file into my distribution. I will test to see if the imported .nce is actually wiping out all of the aliases on the machine I am installing my program on. Thanks for the fast responses guys.