Version 15.0.0
Thank you for using NI-SWITCH. This file contains important information about NI-SWITCH and is organized into the following sections:
Installed Software, Documentation, and Examples
Product Security and Critical Updates
Uninstalling/Modifying NI-SWITCH
Automating the Installation of NI Products
How to Use NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.x
NI Software Support for Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows XP
NI-SWITCH 15.0.0 adds support for LabVIEW 2015 (32- and 64-bit).
NI-SWITCH 14.0.0 adds support for LabVIEW 2014 (32-bit) and LabVIEW 2014 (64-bit).
NI-SWITCH 4.8 includes the following new features:
Notes:
NI-SWITCH 4.6.5 adds support for LabVIEW 2013 (32-bit)and LabVIEW 2013 (64-bit).
NI-SWITCH 4.6.1 includes the following new features:
NI-SWITCH 4.6 adds support for the NI PXI-2520, NI PXI-2521, NI PXI-2522, NI PXI-2523, and NI PXIe-2790 modules.
NI-SWITCH 4.5.5 adds support for LabVIEW 2012 (32-bit) and LabVIEW 2012 (64-bit).
NI-SWITCH 4.5 adds support for the NI 2833, NI 2834, NI PXI/PXIe-2532B, NI PXI-2720, NI PXI-2722, NI PXIe-2725, NI PXIe-2727, NI PXI-2796, NI PXI-2797, NI PXI-2798, and NI PXI-2799 modules.
NI-SWITCH 4.4 includes the following new features:
NI-SWITCH 4.3.5 adds support for LabVIEW 2011 (32-bit) and LabVIEW 2011 (64-bit).
NI-SWITCH 4.3 includes the following new features:
NI-SWITCH 15.0 and later supports the following National Instruments switch products:
Notes: NI-SWITCH does not support legacy resource descriptors (SCXI:: and PXI::) under Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista.
NI-SWITCH supports the NI USB-1359 under Windows XP and the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista. NI-SWITCH does not support the NI USB-1359 under the 64-bit version of Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista.
If you are using a cabled PXI chassis, note that MXI-4 is supported under Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista/XP, but MXI-3 is supported under only Windows XP.
NI-SWITCH 15.0 and later and NI-DAQmx 15.0 and later support the following operating systems:
Note: NI-SWITCH 15.0 and later and NI-DAQmx 15.0 and later do not support Windows Server non-R2 editions.
It is recommended that you have the most recent service pack for your operating system installed. Windows 2000 users must use NI-SWITCH 4.0.1 or earlier.
NI-SWITCH 15.0 and later and NI-DAQmx 15.0 and later support the following real-time operating environments:
Note: You should install ADEs, such as NI LabVIEW, NI LabWindows/CVI or Microsoft Visual Studio®, before installing NI-SWITCH. To add support for ADEs installed after installing NI-SWITCH, modify your NI-SWITCH installation or launch the NI-SWITCH installer again.
| NOTES: | <IVIROOTDIR32> is configured as an environment variable on the target system. |
|---|---|
If you upgraded an installation of IVI, your files may be located in the following location:
|
| NOTE: | <IVIROOTDIR64> is configured as an environment variable on the target system. |
|---|
| Item | Installed Location on Windows 8.1 (32-bit)/8.0 (32-bit)/7 (32-bit)/Vista (32-bit)/XP |
|---|---|
| NI-SWITCH | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Drivers\niSwitch |
| NI-SWITCH Function Panel | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Drivers\niSwitch\niSwitch.fp |
| NI-SWITCH Examples | <NIDocDir>\NI-SWITCH\examples |
| NI-SWITCH Header files | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Include |
| NI-SWITCH Import Library files (32-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Lib |
| NI-SWITCH Import Library files (64-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Lib_x64 |
| NI-SWITCH DLL (32-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Bin |
| Item | Installed Location on Windows 8.1 (64-bit)/8.0 (64-bit)/7 (64-bit)/Vista (64-bit) |
|---|---|
| NI-SWITCH Function Panel | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Drivers\niSwitch\niSwitch.fp |
| NI-SWITCH Header files | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Include |
| NI-SWITCH Import Library files (64-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Lib_x64 |
| NI-SWITCH DLL (64-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Bin |
Documentation for NI Switches is available at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-SWITCH»Documentation. The documentation set is composed of the following documents:
| Document | Format | Description |
| NI Switches Help | HTML/Windows Help | Contains primary help content for NI Switches. The help is an HTML version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
|
| Getting Started Guide for your device | Printed and PDF | Contains software and hardware installation, MAX configuration, signal connection, and troubleshooting information for your device. |
| Specifications for your device | Printed and PDF | Lists technical specifications for your device. |
| Calibration Procedures for your device | Contains calibration instructions for your device. | |
| Maintain Forced-Air Cooling Note to Users | Printed | Contains important cooling information for your device. |
| NI-SWITCH Readme | HTML (this document) | Contains information about supported hardware and operating systems, new features, and legal notices. |
| Introduction to NI-SWITCH | HTML | Contains information about driver documentation, examples connecting to your instrument, configuring instrument settings, and known issues. |
| NI-SWITCH IVI Compliance Document | TXT | Contains information about IVI compliance. |
Note To view the specifications, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. You can install the viewer from www.adobe.com/acrobat.
For the most recent revisions of documentation and for newly released documentation, visit ni.com/manuals.
To use the .NET API, you must install the the .NET class libraries or the .NET Wrapper in addition to the NI device driver. For information on versions of the .NET Framework and the drivers each supports, as well as the download location of the installer files, refer to the National Instruments .NET Driver Support document at ni.com/info and enter Info Code NETAPIdriversupport.
In LabVIEW, you can use the NI Example Finder to search or browse examples. NI-SWITCH examples are classified by keyword, so you can search for a particular device or measurement function. In LabVIEW, select Help»Find Examples to launch the NI Example Finder. The NI Example Finder offers two ways to access all installed LabVIEW example VIs and their descriptions:
You can also access all the installed NI-SWITCH examples for LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-SWITCH»Examples.
National Instruments posts information about critical updates and security notifications on ni.com. Visit ni.com/info, and enter the info code updates to access this information.
NI-SWITCH versions are now aligned with the versions of major NI application software products. This alignment gives you information about the year the driver was released and the most recent software version the driver was designed to work with. Driver versions now start with a two-digit year indicator: <ProductName> <Year-BasedVersion>. For example, <NI-SWITCH 15.0.0> is the version released with LabVIEW 2015. The last version released under the old numbering scheme is NI-SWITCH 4.8. The first version released under the new numbering scheme is NI-SWITCH 15.0.0.
For Windows XP, complete the following steps:
For Windows 7/Vista, complete the following steps:
For Windows 8.x, complete the following steps:
As part of the NI-SWITCH installation, the following software is installed. To completely remove the NI-SWITCH installation from your system, you must also remove all of the following packages:
Caution Several of the software packages listed above are shared with other NI software packages. If you attempt to remove a piece of software that something else is dependent on, a message launches to warn you about the software dependencies. You can choose to either uninstall all of the software or to leave the shared software installed. If you choose to uninstall the shared software, some of your other NI software may no longer function correctly.
Note Do not attempt to uninstall by manually deleting files.
You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the NI-SWITCH Known Issues at ni.com and enter the Info Code exjkmw for an up-to-date list of known issues in NI-SWITCH 15.0.
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.8 from NI-SWITCH 4.6.5.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 412074 | Fixed an issue in which the DAQmx Disconnect All VI returned an error when closing or opening multiple relays. |
| 338542 | Fixed an issue where the DAQmx Stop Task VI would time out. |
| 410401 | Fixed an issue where the NI switch software scanning examples did not work on an RT target. |
| 363694 | Fixed an issue with the Multi-Module Scan List that caused scanning to be incomplete. |
| 410717 | Fixed an issue where relay commands did not execute while using the USB-1359 with SCXI switch modules. |
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.6.5 from NI-SWITCH 4.6.1.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 408193 | Fixed an issue where calling DAQmx Disconnect (Multiple) on the NI PXI/PXIe-2540 or the NI PXI/PXIe-2541 left one or more relays powered. |
| 393334 | Fixed an issue where resetting the same switch in two or more parallel threads resulted in an error. |
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.6.1 from NI-SWITCH 4.6.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 372998 | Fixed an issue where the NI 2833/2834 power consumption was not accounted for in the carrier power budget. |
| 373015 | Removed hyphens from the SwitchBlock model strings in the NISWITCH_SUPPORTED_INSTRUMENT_MODELS constant. |
| 373073 | Fixed an issue where the default channel state of the NI PXIe-2790 did not represent the hardware state correctly. |
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.5 from NI-SWITCH 4.4.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 328251 | Fixed an issue where the NI PXI-2571 did not honor user-defined settling times. |
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.4 from NI-SWITCH 4.3.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 256580 | Improved Windows 7 performance. |
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.1 from NI-SWITCH 4.0.2.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 209501 | Fixed an issue that disabled legacy scanning of multiple modules with NI-SWITCH. |
The following items are changes in NI-SWITCH 4.0.1 from NI-SWITCH 4.0.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 181045 | Fixed power budget issue for the PXI/PXIe-2515. |
| 181067 | Fixed an issue where calling Device Reset on certain PXI/PXIe devices (NI-PXI/PXIe-2512/2514/2564/2585/2586) incorrectly updated relay count. |
You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
When you install National Instruments software on Microsoft Windows 8.x, you will notice a few additional tiles on the Start screen, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX), and the new NI Launcher.
NI Launcher helps you find and launch installed NI products. It provides you with a method of finding NI products similar to the Start menu in previous versions of Microsoft Windows. To use NI Launcher, click the NI Launcher tile on the Start screen. NI Launcher launches the desktop and opens a menu containing a list of NI products. Click any NI product to launch it.
| Note MAX does not appear as a desktop shortcut when installed on Microsoft Windows 8.x. You can launch MAX either from the Start screen or from within NI Launcher. |
For convenience, you can pin your most-used NI applications, such as MAX, to either the Start screen or the Taskbar on the desktop, as necessary:
| Current Application | Icon Location | Pin to Action |
| Windows 8.x Desktop | Desktop Taskbar | Right-click application and select Pin to Taskbar |
| Windows 8.x Desktop | Start screen | Right-click application and select Pin to Start |
| Windows 8.x Start screen | Desktop Taskbar | Right-click application and select Pin to taskbar from the menu bar on the bottom of the screen |
If you want to find a particular application or related files, such as documentation files, from the Start screen, you can access all installed files by right-clicking anywhere on the Start screen and selecting All apps. A list of all installed software and related files appears, in alphabetical order by creator or type.
For more information about NI support for Windows 8.x, visit ni.com/windows8.
National Instruments NI-SWITCH will drop support for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows XP as of July 1, 2016. Versions of NI-SWITCH that ship after July 1, 2016 will not install or run on Windows Vista or Windows XP. For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes:
| Product | Info Code |
| NI LabVIEW | lifecycle |
| NI LabWindows/CVI | cvi_lifecycle |
| NI Measurement Studio | mstudiolifecycle |
| NI TestStand | tslcp |
| NI DIAdem | ddlcp |
| NI SignalExpress | selcp |
| NI VeriStand | nivslifecycle |
Copyright
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National Instruments respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.
End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
Trademarks
Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on National Instruments trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Patents
For patents covering the National Instruments products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the National Instruments Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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