Interchangeable Virtual Instrument (IVI) is an instrument driver standard that provides common programming interfaces for several classes of instruments. IVI drivers exist for a number of National Instruments devices and other popular instruments. Visit ni.com/ivi for more information about IVI. Visit the Instrument Driver Network at ni.com/idnet for more information about instrument drivers and for finding and downloading instrument drivers compatible with National Instruments software.

Two architectures exist for IVI drivers—IVI-C, based on ANSI C, and IVI-COM, based on Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) technology. The IVI step types support IVI-C class-compliant instrument drivers and support IVI-COM class-compliant instrument drivers when you install the IVI-COM Adapter component of the IVI Component Package included in the NI Device Driver DVD. TestStand does not install IVI class instrument drivers.

You can call IVI-C instrument class drivers and specific drivers from any development environment that supports calls into DLLs. Many IVI-C instrument drivers have native LabVIEW-generated wrappers. You can also convert an IVI-C instrument driver using the Create VI Interface to CVI Instrument Driver tool available from the Instrument Driver Network at ni.com/idnet. You can call IVI-COM instrument class drivers and specific drivers from any development environment that supports ActiveX. Use the ActiveX/COM Adapter to configure steps to access objects IVI-COM class instrument drivers define.