Using Keysight and Other Vendors' Products Together

This section contains information specific to the Windows product.

In all but the simplest test systems, hardware and software from various vendors must coexist and cooperate together. Getting several vendors' products to work together may require special configuration steps, and troubleshooting problems in these multivendor systems may be more complex. These topics can help you use devices and software from Keysight and National Instruments (NI) or other vendors successfully in the same system.

Important Notes for Using Keysight and National Instruments Products Together

Keysight IO Libraries Suite with Other Vendors' Hardware

If your application permits it, you can avoid some software compatibility issues by installing NI-488.2 (version 1.5 or later) and not installing NI-VISA. This configuration allows the Keysight IO Libraries Suite to recognize NI's GPIB Interfaces. Click here for more information on using the Keysight IO Libraries Suite with NI hardware.

Keysight IO Libraries Suite with Other Vendors' IO Software

If your application requires the coexistence of Keysight VISA and NI-VISA, you can install Keysight VISA in side-by-side mode to avoid software compatibility problems. Most devices and applications will work correctly in this configuration with no additional effort. If you are programming with VISA or with instrument drivers, you may need to take steps to ensure your programs use the right VISA implementation. Click here for more information on operating with VISA in side-by-side mode.

The Keysight 488 API provides compatibility with National Instruments' NI-488.2. You can use Keysight 488 with both Keysight and NI interface hardware; when you use Keysight 488 to communicate with NI interfaces, the Keysight 488 library passes calls to NI-488.2. (Note that you must explicitly enable Keysight 488, as described in the Keysight 488 Help, if you also have NI-488.2 installed.) See the Keysight 488 Help for more information on using Keysight 488 and NI-488.2 together, as well as the function reference and detailed usage information for Keysight 488.

Keysight Interface Hardware with NI Software

For NI software to recognize Keysight hardware, you must enable the NI-VISA Passport for Tulip. This is a software module included with NI-VISA for support of Keysight hardware, and is not enabled by default. Click here for specific instructions on enabling the Passport for Tulip. Click here for more information on using Keysight hardware with NI software.

Keysight Interface Hardware with NI Interface Hardware

Keysight and NI GPIB interfaces can operate in the same system. In general, you only need to install the Keysight IO Libraries Suite to recognize both GPIB interfaces. See Keysight IO Libraries Suite with Other Vendors' Hardware above for more information. Note that by using special TULIP drivers, Keysight VISA and SICL can access NI hardware through NI's NI-488.2 and NI-VXI libraries. NI interfaces accessed through NI-488.2 and NI-VXI can be configured in the Keysight IO Libraries Suite to allow access to devices on these interfaces.

General VISA Configuration Information

Accessing instruments in a VISA (Virtual Instrument Software Architecture) program is easy when your VISA implementation supports all the interfaces (GPIB, USB, LAN, etc.) you need to use. However, when multiple hardware interfaces are not supported by a single vendor's VISA implementation, then conflicts may occur.

VISA Configuration on 32-Bit Systems

For Microsoft Windows, the VISA specification dictates that the VISA library, visa32.dll, is installed in the Windows system directory. Keysight's visa32.dll and National Instruments' (NI's) visa32.dll cannot both be installed on the same computer -- the last VISA to be installed would overwrite the first VISA installation. However, Keysight's VISA Open implementation allows both Keysight and National Instruments VISA implementations to coexist on the same computer. Keysight's VISA implementation supports Keysight interfaces through special drivers (called TULIP TULIP drivers), which NI-VISA can also use to support Keysight hardware interfaces.

In general, your VISA program links to visa32.dll. Then, depending on the type of hardware interface, whether National Instruments Passport is enabled or disabled (default setting), etc., visa32.dll determines which VISA implementation to use and routes your program code accordingly. Alternately, you can link your program to Keysight's ktvisa32.dll to use only Keysight's VISA implementation. For detailed information, see Using Keysight VISA with Another Vendor's VISA (32-Bit).

Note: NI's Passport to TULIP driver (which allows NI-VISA to communicate with Keysight I/O hardware) is not enabled by default. You must manually enable it in National Instruments MAX. Click here for instructions to enable National Instruments Passport.

For details and diagrams of this architecture, see Keysight's 32-Bit Software Compatibility Architecture.

Installation

If you install the Keysight IO Libraries Suite before NI-VISA, then when you install NI-VISA, you will be given the choice of either overwriting Keysight VISA or aborting the installation. In general, you do not need to install NI-VISA to use NI's GPIB cards and devices. You can install NI-488.2 as a driver for these devices and avoid the complications of side-by-side operation. For more information, see Using Keysight VISA with Another Vendor's VISA (32-Bit).
If you install NI-VISA before the Keysight IO Libraries Suite, then when you install the Keysight IO Libraries Suite, it defaults to installing Keysight VISA in a side-by-side installation which will not overwrite NI-VISA.

General Configuration Tips

NI-488.2 must be installed and National Instruments GPIB cards configured before they can be accessed by SICL and VISA programs.
After installing and configuring the National Instruments hardware and software, use Keysight IO Libraries Suite's Connection Expert to recognize the National Instruments hardware.
NI-VISA does not configure Keysight I/O hardware interfaces. You must use Keysight Connection Expert to configure the hardware.
National Instruments can communicate with Keysight interfaces through a Passport to TULIP driver which allows NI-VISA to communicate with Keysight hardware. However, this driver is not enabled by default; you must manually enable it. Click here for instructions to enable National Instruments Passport.

VISA Configuration on 64-Bit Systems

Unlike the 32-bit VISA architecture, the 64-bit VISA architecture provides a common visa64.dll and a built-in conflict resolution process which allows multiple vendors' VISA implementations to be installed and used together automatically.

For details of the 64-bit VISA architecture and configuration, see 64-Bit VISA Architecture and VISA Conflict Manager.