Method for controlling an instrument through a common instrument programming interface
First Claim
1. A method of performing input and output operations between an electronic instrument and a computer system, said computer system comprising a plurality of types of interfaces, wherein said method is independent of the type of interfaces used to connect said instrument to said computer system, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) retrieving an interface type and interface address of said instrument from a configuration means, wherein said configuration means is separate and independent from said instrument;
(b) using information from said configuration means to create an instrument identification data structure;
(c) receiving all input and output operation subroutine calls from a user program through an instrument programming interface means;
(d) creating a plurality of interface module means, one of said plurality of interface module means being created for each of said types of interfaces;
(e) using said instrument identification data structure to select one of said plurality of interface module means;
(f) performing said input and output operations using said selected interface module means; and
(g) performing said input and output operations through a commander interface means and through a second computer system acting as a commander.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system that defines a programming interface between a computer system and a test instrument independently of the electronic interface or operating system being used. This independence is accomplished by building a data structure, from a configuration system, which contains the operating system and electronic interface information that allows the system to perform different commands to different electronic interfaces or different operating systems. The system implements all commands that will be used by all operating systems and performs these commands even in operating systems where they are not necessary. The system also provides a formatted input/output capability for the instrument control functions. In addition to commonly understood formatting capability, such as conversion and printing of integer numbers, the interface provides instrument specific formatting capability, such as creating numbers that are compatible with the IEEE 488 interface.
56 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of performing input and output operations between an electronic instrument and a computer system, said computer system comprising a plurality of types of interfaces, wherein said method is independent of the type of interfaces used to connect said instrument to said computer system, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) retrieving an interface type and interface address of said instrument from a configuration means, wherein said configuration means is separate and independent from said instrument; (b) using information from said configuration means to create an instrument identification data structure; (c) receiving all input and output operation subroutine calls from a user program through an instrument programming interface means; (d) creating a plurality of interface module means, one of said plurality of interface module means being created for each of said types of interfaces; (e) using said instrument identification data structure to select one of said plurality of interface module means; (f) performing said input and output operations using said selected interface module means; and (g) performing said input and output operations through a commander interface means and through a second computer system acting as a commander. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for performing input and output operations between an electronic instrument and a computer system through one of a plurality of types of interfaces used to connect said instrument to said computer system, wherein said method is independent of said plurality of types of interfaces, said system comprising:
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instrument programming interface means for receiving all input and output operation subroutine calls from a user program; a plurality of interface module means, one for each of said plurality of interface types; configuration means, separate and independent from said instrument, for providing an interface type and interface address of said instrument; means for accessing said configuration means and for creating an instrument identification data structure; means within said instrument programming interface means for using said instrument identification data structure to select one of said plurality of interface module means; and means for performing said input and output operations using said selected interface module means. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of accessing an electronic instrument from a computer system, said computer system comprising a plurality of types of interfaces, wherein said method is independent of the type of operating system used within said computer system, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) retrieving an interface type and interface address of said instrument from a configuration means, wherein said configuration means is separate and independent from said instrument; (b) accessing said configuration means and creating an instrument identification data structure; (c) receiving all input and output subroutine calls from a user program through an instrument programming interface means; (d) creating a plurality of interface module means, one of said plurality of interface module means being created for each of said types of interfaces; (e) using said instrument identification data structure to select one of said plurality of interface module means; and (f) performing said input and output subroutine calls using said selected interface module means; and (g) performing a second set of input and output functions within said instrument programming interface means, said second set being identical to the input and output operations performed in step (f), a subset of the second set may include functions which are unnecessary in some of said types of operating systems, whereby said user program uses a same set of functions regardless of said type of operating system. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification