Instrument Session Names

Each instrument session has one or more names. You can use any of the names to obtain an instrument session reference from Session Manager. The names consist of the following elements:

  • IVI or VXIplug&play session—Virtual instrument name and any number of logical names. A VISA session has a resource name and any number of logical names.
  • IVI or VXIplug&play virtual instrument name—Refers to the combination of a software driver, a hardware resource, and a set of configuration options.
  • IVI or VXIplug&play logical name—Alias for a particular IVI or VXIplug&play virtual instrument name.
  • VISA resource name—Identifies a serial port, GPIB address, or other hardware resource. A VISA logical name is an alias for a particular VISA resource name.
  • Switch Executive Virtual Device—Refers to an NI Switch Executive virtual instrument name defined in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX).
Note   Session Manager does not support IVI-COM drivers. You must instead create the IVI-COM ActiveX reference and access the IVI-COM interface natively within the development environment.

Example Instrument Session Names with Categories:

IVI::SampleScope IVI logical name
IVI::Hpe1463a IVI virtual instrument name
VXIPNP::Digital Test Instrument 1 VXIplug&play logical name
VXIPNP::Term9 VXIplug&play virtual instrument name
VISA::Serial Port 1 VISA logical name
VISA::ASRL1::INSTR VISA resource name
Note   If the resource descriptor is an IVI name, you must match the case-sensitive entry in the IVI Configuration Store. All other instrument session names are case insensitive.