Using DAQmx in Visual Studio .NET With or Without Measurement Studio

• Do I need Measurement Studio to be able to use NI-DAQmx with the .NET languages, such as Microsoft Visual C# and Visual Basic .NET?
• Do I need Measurement Studio license and a Microsoft Visual Studio license to use NI-DAQmx in Visual Basic or C#?
• Do I need Measurement Studio to communicate with an I/O card in Visual Studio?
• How do I install DAQmx to work within Visual Studio if I do not need Measurement Studio?

It is not necessary to have Measurement Studio in order to communicate with DAQ cards in Visual Studio. NI provides a native .NET API for NI-DAQmx that is available as part of the NI-DAQmx driver and does not require Measurement Studio. 

If Measurement Studio is installed, it will provide additional native .NET class libraries, integration, and code generation tools for Visual Studio. For example, Measurement Studio 7.0 and later adds the DAQ Assistant for code generation, integrated Visual Studio help, user interface .NET controls, and project wiards. 

To install .NET support with the NI-DAQmx driver, refer to Installing NI Software for Visual Studio C# or .NET Development. For NI-DAQmx .NET Library help documentation and examples, refer to .NET Resources for NI Hardware and Software.

Additional Information

For more information on which versions of Visual Studio are compatible with the different DAQmx .NET Frameworks, please see the DAQmx readme: Finding NI Readmes for Supported OS, ADE, Device, Modules and More.

Note: To install language support for Visual Studio 2008 C++ MFC, you must have Measurement Studio for Visual Studio 2008.