Instruments View

To add, modify, and view the details of connected instruments, you will use Instruments view.

Instruments view has a simple layout.

 

(Windows is shown here; the Linux layout is nearly identical except as indicated in the details below.)
  • (1) The system title bar is at the top of the window, which gives access to Tools and Settings, and this Help file.
  • On the left side of this view:
    • (2) Instrument list Toolbar buttons.
    • (3) Instruments List - A list of discovered or manually added instruments (organized by interface).indicate the instrument is available, indicates instrument is connected for secure communication, and indicates the instrument communication is not secure.
  • On the right side of this view:
    • (4) Instrument or interface-specific Toolbar buttons for managing a specific instrument or interface, (and buttons for launching connectivity utilities).
    • (5) Instrument or Interface Details (for the selected instrument or interface).
  • (6) The system status bar, which shows Remote IO Server status, Keysight VISA status (either 32-bit or 64-bit, Primary or Secondary), and IO Libraries Suite build number.

Instruments List

This pane contains list of all active instruments that the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service has auto-discovered, as well as those that have been added manually.

Available toolbar buttons

Button Usage
Add

Most instruments are automatically discovered by the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service. Those are automatically listed in the Instruments view list without taking any action. Instruments are listed under the interface to which they belong.

There are times when you will need to explicitly add an interface or instrument to your configuration. (For example, for serial / RS-232 instruments.) To add an interface or instrument manually, click then select the instrument or interface you want to add. Enter the appropriate information and click OK to save the changes.

Saving the configuration

The OK button is enabled if you have made changes. When you have finished, click OK to save your changes or Cancel to close the dialog without saving.

 
Resize Instrument Details

(Windows only) To view the Instruments list in a more compact (instrument or interface name only) format, click this button. Click again to toggle back to the expanded (thumbnail and address. when available) display format.

Rescan All

To rescan or refresh the Instruments List, click Rescan All ( in Windows, in Linux).

The Keysight Instrument Discovery Service scans most interfaces continually to discover new instruments and update the status of existing instruments. When you click Rescan All, the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service restarts the discovery process. In this process, the Discovery Service scans available I/O interfaces (GPIB, USB, LAN, etc.) to identify new instruments and to verify the status of previously-discovered instruments. You can see details of the discovery process on the help page Instrument Discovery and Identification. When using Rescan All, keep the following in mind:

  • The Discovery Service runs in the background, so you can continue working with Connection Expert and with your instruments while discovery proceeds. Any changes (such as new instruments or changes in connection status) will be shown in Connection Expert as they are discovered.

  • Certain instruments can be discovered only on rescan or at PC startup. These include:
    • GPIB instruments if auto-scan is unavailable or turned off on the GPIB interface, or if the interface has open sessions
    • Instruments connected to a 488.2 GPIB interface (these interfaces do not support auto-scan)
    • Older LAN instruments that conform to LXI 1.2 (rather than LXI 1.3 or later)
    • Instruments on remote GPIB and remote USB interfaces

  • In addition to discovering new interfaces and new instruments, the rescan process verifies all known instruments on each known interface. This is done even if auto-discovery is turned off for the interface.

  • The rescan process also restarts the Keysight PXI Resource Manager to ensure discovery of new PXI resources.

Filter

To show only a subset of your instruments, or to find a particular instrument, use the filter instruments search field (if it isn't visible, click the Filter button ). As you type a criteria in the filter field, the Available instruments list dynamically updates to display only those instruments that match the filter. You can filter on any of the following items:

  • Manufacturer
  • Model name
  • Serial number
  • Description of instrument
  • Visa address
  • Aliases
  • Firmware Version
  • Interface or Instrument Type (if you specify an interface type, such as GPIB, only GPIB interfaces and instruments display; if you specify an instrument, the instruments are listed under their interfaces)

For example, you can show all TCPIP instruments, all SOCKET instruments, or all instruments with firmware version 1.00 (this filter will match any instrument whose firmware version or any other information includes the string, "1.00"). The filter field is not case sensitive.

About the Instruments list

The Keysight Instrument Discovery Service auto-discovers many instruments that are physically connected to your PC or are on your local LAN subnet. Some auto-discovered instruments are shown in Instruments view automatically, either when discovered or when you click Rescan All ( in Windows, in Linux) to rescan the instrument list. LAN instruments on a local subnet, however, may be discovered but are not automatically added to the My Instruments list; they must be manually added. See Adding a LAN Instrument. Instruments that have been auto-discovered previously, but which are not at this moment discoverable (if they may be powered off for example), are shown with a in the instruments list.

(See Instrument Discovery and Identification for an explanation of how instruments are auto-discovered.)

You can also right-click on any instrument or interface in this pane to get a menu of shortcuts.

If an instrument is not shown

If an instrument you are expecting to see is not shown in the Instruments view, rescan. To rescan all interfaces, click Rescan All in the Instruments list toolbar. To rescan only instruments pertaining to a single interface, select the interface on the left, then click Rescan.

Then, consider the following:

  • If the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service auto-discovered an instrument at an earlier time, but can no longer communicate with that instrument, it is not shown. In most cases, this means that the instrument has been disconnected or turned off.

  • Instruments connected via serial (COM) port must be manually added to your configuration. Select the interface type (i.e., LAN, USB, GPIB, etc), then Add. Then from the context menu, select the type of instrument to add.

  • For instruments connected via LAN,
    • LAN instruments that are on your local subnet may have been discovered but are not listed in the Instruments list. Select the LAN interface, click Add, then LAN Instrument and locate the instrument in the list. Check the instrument check box then click OK to add it to the Instruments list.

    • Instruments that are not on your local subnet must be manually added to your configuration. Select the LAN interface, then Add, then LAN Instrument, then Enter Address. Specify the Host name or IP address and protocol, the tab to add instruments to your configuration by specifying hostname or IP address. (Note: The default LAN interface is TCPIP0. If you added a LAN interface, such as TCPIP1, then select the interface where you expect to find the instrument.

    • Some older LAN instruments on your local subnet also may not be found via auto-discovery. You can select the LAN interface, then Add, then LAN Instrument, then Enter Address, to manually add an instrument that is not discovered by the Discovery Service.

    • To find GPIB or USB instruments on a LAN gateway (such as the Keysight E5810 LAN/GPIB/USB Gateway) or portal, you must first add a remote GPIB or remote USB interface; see Add New Instruments/Interfaces.

    • To ensure that auto-discovery is effective, verify that AutoIP is not used in any instrument and, if your PC has multiple Network Interface Cards (NICs), that each NIC has a different network address.

 

Instrument Details and Interface Details

The contents of the right pane may vary depending on whether you have an instrument or an interface selected. For example, there are more toolbar buttons if you have an instrument selected.

For additional information on editable properties of interfaces, see the interface-specific topics under Editing Existing Instruments and Interfaces.

Instrument details may include manufacturer, model, serial number, firmware version, connection strings (VISA and SICL addresses) and connection status, VISA aliases, installed drivers, and (for modular instruments) chassis, slot, bus, device, and function. Interface details include interface IDs, logical units, as well as other properties (which vary by interface type).

Available toolbar buttons

Button Usage
Rescan

To rescan or refresh the details of the instrument or interface that is selected on the left, click the Check Status button in the right pane's toolbar. (If an interface is selected, this button is called Rescan.)
Edit

When you select an instrument or interface from the list in the left pane in Instruments view, its properties or details are displayed on the right.

Click the (Windows) / (Linux) button, change properties as needed, and click OK to apply the changes.

Properties vary by instrument or interface type.
Remove

To remove an instrument (or interface) from the Instrument View list, select it in the left pane, and click Remove (trash can icon in Linux) from the toolbar in the right pane.

Product Page( instruments only)

This button in the Details pane launches a browser open to the Keysight Technologies web page for this product. This button is available only for Keysight, Agilent, and Hewlett-Packard instruments.

Web UI (instruments only)

This button appears in the Details pane if a selected LAN instrument serves a Web page. It opens a browser on that Web page. Typically, this Web page shows you instrument information, including its IP address, and provides some level of instrument control and access to instrument data. GPIB, USB, etc. instruments do not have this option.

About instrument details

This section of the view displays instrument or interface-specific details.

Connection Strings

VISA Address

One instrument can have several VISA addresses. Reasons for this include:

  • An instrument may use multiple protocols on LAN. In this case, there will be an address for each protocol connection: for example, TCPIP0::myhost.mycompany.com::inst0::INSTR and TCPIP0::myhost.mycompany.com::5025::SOCKET.

  • (Windows) Modular instruments have several supported address formats. These are shown as separate addresses, any of which can be used equivalently in a program: for example, PXI0::64-14.0::INSTR, PXI64::14::0::INSTR, and PXI0::CHASSIS1::SLOT3::FUNC0::INSTR. For multi-slot devices, the chassis slot address uses the default slot number, which is the leftmost slot number.

  • An instrument may have more than one physical connection: for example, it may be connected to your PC via USB, and also be connected to the LAN on your local subnet. These connections will be shown as separate addresses: for example, GPIB::5::INSTR and TCPIP0::myhost.mycompany.com::inst0::INSTR. As another example, an instrument connected by a remote GPIB-USB interface and also connected to the local subnet (LAN), will display as two separate instruments, one is the GPIB instrument and the second is the LAN instrument.

VISA aliases are also shown in this area.

A green checkmark symbol by a VISA address indicates that the associated connection is operational.

A red X symbol indicates that the connection is not working correctly.

SICL Address

One instrument can have several SICL addresses, for the same reasons it can have several VISA addresses (see above).

SICL does not support PXI, so PXI instruments do not have SICL addresses.

Send Command

The Send Command button (Linux only) sends what you have entered in the Command text box to the instrument.