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Listening (Monitoring) to the GPIB Bus Without Interfering or Disrupting Communications

Primary Software: Driver Software>>NI-488.2
Primary Software Version: 2.4
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: Utility Software>>Measurement & Automation Explorer

Problem:
Is there a way to listen (monitor) on a GPIB bus without interfering with the communication going on?

Solution:
Using a device to simply listen in on the GPIB bus, and not control it or do handshaking, is called a nonintrusive capture. This can be done with a GPIB+ board, along with GPIB Analyzer software (only works with GPIB+ boards). The analyzer can capture and display data, including any combination of the following GPIB events: data transfers, command transfers, control line transitions, handshake line transitions, and parallel poll responses. The GPIB Analyzer can be found by opening Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) and navigating to Tools » NI-488.2 » GPIB Analyzer.

To prevent the GPIB analyzer from participating in acceptor handshaking please do the following:

  1. Make sure the listening GPIB device is not a system controller by launching MAX, expanding Devices and Interfaces, selecting your GPIB device, clicking the 'Properties' tab at the top, and ensuring 'system controller' at the bottom is not checked
  2. In the GPIB Analyzer, uncheck the ‘Participate in Acceptor Handshake’ box in the Settings dialog box (Settings » Change Settings).


Related Links:
KnowledgeBase 0I5AKBEO: Can I Use the GPIB Analyzer if I Am Not Using the Controller in My Application?

Attachments:





Report Date: 03/06/2007
Last Updated: 12/28/2007
Document ID: 475LIBN5

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