So the Rigol DP832 - Firmware List and Bugs thread was getting clogged up with the
info on calibration with a competition between a Java solution (which erased my DP832 Cal and then crashed) and a Python solution. In the end I made the Pythin solution work but there are many pitfalls and I ended up with a badly installed Python program that would need setup changes every time I opened up Python - I'm trying to fix this and then put the results in the first post of the thread. My setup is specifically using a Keysight 34461A 6.5 digit multimeter as the accurate reference meter but, maybe we can figure out how to adapt it to other meters too? All of what follows is my understanding so, if I'm wrong, please chip in and correct me and I will edit the posts to be as accurate as possible - in th eend, I want to make the first post the go-to, tested instructions on how to set things up.
So let's look at the basics:
1. Python is an interpreted language which means that it doesn't compile to a .exe file that can run natively on a PC, instead it needs an environment to run in that takes a line at a time and translates that to actions such as sending and receiving signals to/from remote devices.
2. We need a user-friendly interface and the de facto choice is PyCharm which is an Integrated Development Environment (front end) for Python but PyCharm doesn't include the interpreter.
This is the first gotcha as to why my environment is dodgy.... There's a version of Python offered by Microsoft through the search menu but it doesn't work properly with PyCharm - it seems MS in their bid to protect us stop programs being able to do simple stuff like have us make changes to the code. To get around this, PyCharm goes to great lengths to create a virtual environment by copying the Python interpreter into a virtual environment which we can add extra stuff to without upsetting the MS security bot that lives inside every Windows system.
So here's the first steps to get the environment set up properly:
1. Go to
www.python.org and download Python (3.8.2 at time of writing) taking all the default settings.
2. Go to
www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ and download the (free) communty version of PyCharm taking all the default settings.
To be continued