Welcome to the Keysight VISA COM I/O Reference 

Keysight VISA COM I/O is a COM (Microsoft Component Object Model) implementation based on the Keysight VISA architecture and conforming to IVI Foundation standards. Keysight VISA that ships with Keysight IO Libraries Suite provides support for Revision 5.7 of the VISA specification which is available from the www.ivifoundation.org.

Below are some good places to begin to learn how to program instruments using Keysight Technologies' VISA COM I/O. The IResourceManager and IFormattedIO488 COM interfaces are the most useful interfaces for creating and using VISA COM I/O resources, and the Getting Started section has some code examples in Microsoft Visual C++ and Microsoft Visual Basic.

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• Getting Started with VISA COM I/O

  Overview information for Keysight VISA COM I/O.

• VISA COM I/O Interface Reference

  A list of interfaces with descriptions and usage information.

• VISA COM I/O Return Codes

  A list of return codes for VISA COM I/O.

• Glossary

  Provides definitions of terms specific to Keysight VISA COM I/O. Refer to the Contents tab in the help browser.

Using the VISA COM I/O API in a .NET Environment

The VISA COM I/O API is a programming interface standardized by the IVI Foundation for communicating with instruments over GPIB, LAN, USB, RS-232, or other hardware interfaces. Keysight Technologies has an implementation of the VISA COM I/O standard that works with Keysight I/O hardware as well as the computer standard I/O interfaces. VISA COM I/O is an update of the older VISA C API to work in and with Microsoft’s COM technology.

Keysight provides VISA.NET as a VISA API that works seamlessly and naturally in Microsoft .NET. The only reason to use VISA COM in .NET is if you need to use existing VISA COM code in new .NET programs, or have other backward compatibility requirements that dictate the use of VISA COM.

That said, Microsoft has integrated robust support for COM components in the .NET environment. The COM interfaces tend to translate well into .NET equivalents via automated wrapper-generator tools that Microsoft provides. Due to this COM support in .NET, VISA COM can work well in a .NET environment.

An in-depth explanation and tutorials with example programs are beyond the scope of this help file. However, a discussion of Keysight’s VISA COM I/O implementation with example C# and Visual Basic (VB) programs is available in the application note Using VISA COM I/O API in .Net which is available at:

http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5989-6338EN.pdf

or

http://www.keysight.com/find/iosuite. Select the Document Library tab and scroll down to find the file.

Additional Keysight IO Libraries Suite Documentation

You can view additional documentation for the Keysight IO Libraries Suite by selecting Documentation from the IO Control (click at the bottom right of your screen).

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Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.

The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.