WinGPIB - Windows GPIB App (multi-purpose)

[Tony_G]

Confirmed 171 installed/updated without issue - Thanks Ian,

TonyG

[IanJ]

New version in Post #1 available for download.
WinGPIB_V3_172.zip
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Need help installing, upgrading or moving to a new PC, then see instructions in Post #1

Slight tweak to the Command Line tab. When doing a Query Async it no longer adds in a extra carriage return (blank line). Each line for each command and its reply now occupies a single line now, per below.

PS. Sadly, it's not possible to auto-detect Query Async versus Send Async with GPIB as every manufacturer has it's own command structure. If they had ALL had a question mark after a Query Async command then it would have been easy!

Ian.

[IanJ]

New version in Post #1 available for download.
WinGPIB_V3_173.zip
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Need help installing, upgrading or moving to a new PC, then see instructions in Post #1

- Fixed slight bug in the Playback Chart, the Manual Refresh and Zoom All buttons now refresh the CSV without upsetting the x-scale labels and Time in mins.
- Add simple instructions/info on the GPIB Command Line tab.

Ian.

[TERRA Operative]

Just having a play with this app here.
I have two questions..

Is there a way to change the directory that the cal dump for the 3457A is saved to?
I have 'My Documents' on my D drive and I get an Unhandled Exception until I manually made the required folders on my C drive.

Could not find a part of the path "C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\WinGPIBdata\3457ACalram_date_time.bin"

Also, how does one determine what addresses to copy for a particular instrument? Is there an easy way to determine if I have an early or late type instrument?

[IanJ]

Just having a play with this app here.
I have two questions..

Is there a way to change the directory that the cal dump for the 3457A is saved to?
I have 'My Documents' on my D drive and I get an Unhandled Exception until I manually made the required folders on my C drive.

Could not find a part of the path "C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\WinGPIBdata\3457ACalram_date_time.bin"

Also, how does one determine what addresses to copy for a particular instrument? Is there an easy way to determine if I have an early or late type instrument?

I have updated WinGPIB, see the download in Post #1 with a new version V3.174
This version doesn't not discriminate between C: and D: drives etc.

I have NOT tested the installation .msi file so please let me know how you get on.
I the event your D: drive \WinGPIBdata folder isn't created at installation then manually create it, then run the .exe

The .exe runs on my system and finds the C: drive WinGPIBdata folder as normal, so I know my non-discriminatory code is working.

To get the address of your instrument say you are using the Keysight libraries then run the Keysight Connection Expert and scan for instruments and it should appear.
Note that certainly under the Keysight libraries you can setup aliases etc so the exact address folks use can vary, as well as depending on what or how many GPIB gateways are in use.
The detection of addresses is not within the scope of WinGPIB.

Ian.

[coromonadalix]

And if you use the Rhode Schwartz  Visa package 7.2.3     

They include a tool called : Tester 32 and 64 bit

see the attached image, you click on the   Find Resource  and anything detected / connected will show

[coromonadalix]

@Terra    if  you normally  do a call of the instrument id  *IDN?  or else

some  not all for sure, may spit their revision,   if the company made it so... if not go into their menu system properties


My generator answer this  with an IDN command

Siglent Technologies,SSG3032X,SSG3XXXXXXXXXX,3.1.19R5   i put x'es on the number  loll

there you see it's fw  version : 3.1.19R5

[TERRA Operative]

Thanks for the revision! It works perfectly now using my D drive and makes the needed folders itself.

For the address, what I mean is that when I'm copying out the calibration data, I can choose two options for either an older or newer 3457A as the calibration data is held in different addresses in RAM.
I'm just wondering how to determine which selection to make for my instrument. i.e, looking at the serial number or a revision number on the PCB etc?

[IanJ]

Thanks for the revision! It works perfectly now using my D drive and makes the needed folders itself.

For the address, what I mean is that when I'm copying out the calibration data, I can choose two options for either an older or newer 3457A as the calibration data is held in different addresses in RAM.
I'm just wondering how to determine which selection to make for my instrument. i.e, looking at the serial number or a revision number on the PCB etc?

Ahhh, I see.
On page 8-23 of the service manual it gives some instruction to work out which version you have based on the serial number of your 3457A.
There is also some info on the following page where folks have identified the different versions:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/dumping-cal-ram-of-a-hp3457a/50/

Ian.

[coromonadalix]

I think the next question would be :

Q:would it be possible from within WinGPB to execute some -pre programmed commands     say:  python or else

Meaning   WinGpib connect to the instrument and  "from the 3457 linked page",     you execute a cal dump thru it and save it elsewhere ?

[IanJ]

I think the next question would be :

Q:would it be possible from within WinGPB to execute some -pre programmed commands     say:  python or else

Meaning   WinGpib connect to the instrument and  "from the 3457 linked page",     you execute a cal dump thru it and save it elsewhere ?

Actually, it's something I would like to add....i.e. a Python scripting interface from within WinGPIB......but it's likely quite complicated to do....for me anyways.

Ian.

[chilternview]

Hi Ian,
Downloaded the latest version and the graphing scales are matching the grid lines, yay!
But the resolution of the Y axis, in particular, has gone down to 4 digits. So a scale of 9.9999 to 10.0001 volts, for example, has no distinction between the scale values. Needs 6 digits after the decimal point really instead of 4, could this be fixed?
Thanks!

[IanJ]

Hi Ian,
Downloaded the latest version and the graphing scales are matching the grid lines, yay!
But the resolution of the Y axis, in particular, has gone down to 4 digits. So a scale of 9.9999 to 10.0001 volts, for example, has no distinction between the scale values. Needs 6 digits after the decimal point really instead of 4, could this be fixed?
Thanks!

Are you talking about the Playback Chart?......if so it's fine with me.
Could you attach your CSV so I can check it out with your real data.

Ian.

[chilternview]

It's the live chart, not the playback chart... am I missing some option to set the # of digits precision for the live chart?

[IanJ]

It's the live chart, not the playback chart... am I missing some option to set the # of digits precision for the live chart?

I'll have a look at it.

[IanJ]

New version in Post #1 available for download.
WinGPIB_V3_175.zip
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Need help installing, upgrading or moving to a new PC, then see instructions in Post #1

Bug fix in the Live Chart, the y-scale was not working correctly if auto-scale was turned off (manual ranging). Manual ranging y-scale now fixed at 8dp's.
I have also stopped the Enable Chart 1 & 2 checkboxes from being cleared when the Clear Chart button is pressed.

Ian.

[IanJ]

New version in Post #1 available for download. - PLEASE READ THE INFO BELOW BEFORE UPGRADING TO THIS NEW VERSION
WinGPIB_V3_178.zip
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Need help installing, upgrading or moving to a new PC, then see instructions in Post #1

I have made quite a lot of changes in the background to WinGPIB, and a couple of minor bugfixes, so if you upgrade to this version then you must use the old EXPORT PROFILES button to save your profiles to a text file first (i.e. Profiles 2024-05-29 11-09-01.txt).......as this new version may wipe them. This is due to the backend system changes I have made.
Alternatively, see the procedure in Post #1 for copying profiles to new PC for versions prior to V3.178.



Once upgraded to this new version you can open the text file (i.e. Profiles 2024-05-29 11-09-01.txt) and re-enter your profile data if they have been wiped.

I have added two new buttons on the main tab, EXPORT PROFILES and IMPORT PROFILES:

EXPORT PROFILES will backup all your profile data & settings to a file \WinGPIBdata\ProfilesData.dat
IMPORT PROFILES will restore all your profile data & settings from \WinGPIBdata\ProfilesData.dat
This is extremely useful if moving WinGPIB to a new PC and you want to copy over your profile data & settings.

The SAVE TO TEXT button is still there in order to export your profiles (only) to a readable text file (i.e. Profiles 2024-05-29 11-09-01.txt).



Ian.

[IanJ]

New version in Post #1 available for download. - PLEASE READ THE INFO IN PREVIOUS POST BEFORE UPGRADING TO THIS VERSION IF YOU ARE COMING FROM V3.177 OR EARLIER.
WinGPIB_V3_179.zip
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Need help installing, upgrading or moving to a new PC, then see instructions in Post #1

I have added a new "Send PRE RUN only" button so that the PRE RUN commands can be run once and without running the normal timer based running.

In the example below I connected to Device 1 and ran the PRE RUN commands using the new button, then hit QUERY ASYNC once just to get one reply from my device.

Previously you had to run normal timer based logging and then immediately stop it, or send individual SEND ASYNC commands.

[IanJ]

New version in Post #1 available for download. - PLEASE READ THE INFO IN POST #766 BEFORE UPGRADING TO THIS VERSION IF YOU ARE COMING FROM V3.177 OR EARLIER.
WinGPIB_V3_180.zip WinGPIB_V3_181.zip
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Need help installing, upgrading or moving to a new PC, then see instructions in Post #1

Added a couple of internal commands for the COMMAND LINE interface, an easier/quicker way to change from QUERY ASYNC to SEND ASYNC modes and vice versa, i.e. an alternative solution to the checkboxes.
#SA will set the checkbox to SEND ASYNC mode.
#QA will set the checkbox to QUERY ASYNC mode.

Example:
I used #SA to set to SEND ASYNC mode so I could then send NPLC 25 to my device.
Then I used #QA to set to QUERY ASYNC mode so I could then retrieve a value from my device.
The #SA and #QA commands are not sent over GPIB.

UPDATE (V3.181): Also added a right arrow and a few spaces to help show GPIB responses.

[yuhar]

Hi Ian,

exellent application.

some questions or possible suggestions,

- possible log the system tempereture too? (SYSTEM:TEMP?) (34465A, 34470A meter...)
- perhaps it would be nice to have an option that would log the read value - not time based logging (keyboard button press; maybe space or any other...)
- Time syncronisation to PC (SYSTEM:TIME ...)

Thank You:
 Istvan

[yuhar]

- autocal failed (*CAL?) every time; just then succeded; if I interrupt - "abort retry"

I set timeout to 50000ms but same...

[IanJ]

Hi Ian,

exellent application.

some questions or possible suggestions,

- possible log the system tempereture too? (SYSTEM:TEMP?) (34465A, 34470A meter...)
- perhaps it would be nice to have an option that would log the read value - not time based logging (keyboard button press; maybe space or any other...)
- Time syncronisation to PC (SYSTEM:TIME ...)

Thank You:
 Istvan

Thats an idea. What I need to come up with is a user adjustable parameter that can be added to the log format. However, what I was wanting to look at first is modifying the log format to better follow the standard format as set down with other logging aplications......if indeed there is one!

Ian.

[IanJ]

- autocal failed (*CAL?) every time; just then succeded; if I interrupt - "abort retry"

I set timeout to 50000ms but same...

Not sure what you are doing here, i.e. what instrument, are you trying to log?, what period. pre-run, at-run etc, also are you using the INTRPT. CMD. Let me know all your settings.....screenshot?

Are you just trying to send a single command to your device?.......*CAL?
Then that would be a SEND ASYNC command.
Are other commands working?

Ian.

[yuhar]

send Async command ok ... approx. 15 sec; I got succeeded message on meter display.

the interrupt not ok; - looks like....

I test now with simple usb cable... (GPIB connection / driver - it doesn't work at the moment)

[IanJ]

You are getting a :READ? error, however it looks like it is sometimes working.
I would advise forgetting about :CAL? And forget about INTRPT CMD for now.
You must get :READ? working reliably first and on a timer etc.

Try checking the Enable Polling check box.
Also, get the proper address for the USB port of your meter from the Keysight drivers assume you are using them.

I notice the decimal display has a comma for the decimal point instead of a decimal point so I am guessing your windows version has it set this way. I am not sure WinGPIB can work properly with a comma.
I.e
1,23456
1.23456

Ian.