Measurement Studio is an integrated suite of tools and class libraries that is designed for developers using .NET, ASP.NET, and MFC to develop measurement and automation applications.
Measurement Studio 8.6 includes support for Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Visual C#, and Microsoft Visual C++ in Visual Studio .NET 2003, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008. Measurement Studio 8.6 also includes support for Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual C++ in Visual Studio 6.0. Measurement Studio support for Visual Studio .NET 2003, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008 is on one CD. Measurement Studio support for Visual Studio 6.0 is on another CD.
Measurement Studio 8.6 includes separate, parallel sets of class libraries, integration features, and support documentation for developing with Visual Studio .NET 2003, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008. Installing Measurement Studio support for Visual Studio 2008 does not directly impact installations of Measurement Studio support for other versions of Visual Studio or projects or programs that use Measurement Studio class libraries that support other versions of Visual Studio. This does not apply to underlying drivers or other software components, such as NI-DAQmx, that allow only one version to be installed on the system at a time.
This readme documents only Measurement Studio support for Visual Studio 2008. Measurement Studio support for other versions of Visual Studio includes separate readme files.
This file contains the following sections:
This section describes new features that have been introduced in Measurement Studio since version 8.5.
Measurement Studio 8.6 includes Visual C++ support for Visual Studio 2008, including Visual C++ class libraries and tools that integrate into Visual Studio 2008. To use these new libraries, either create new projects in Visual Studio 2008 or use Visual Studio 2008 to upgrade your existing projects from prior versions of Visual Studio that use Measurement Studio support libraries.
Note Measurement Studio 8.6 Visual C++ support for Visual Studio 2008 does not include the following class libraries: NI-DAQmx, NI-VISA, NI-488.2, Microsoft Excel Interface, Microsoft Word Interface, IVI class drivers, and NI-Reports. Support for NI-DAQmx, NI-VISA, and NI-488.2 will be available for download from ni.com/support in the future. If you require support for Microsoft Excel Interface, Microsoft Word Interface, IVI class drivers, or NI-Reports, contact National Instruments. Refer to Technical Support and Professional Services in the NI Measurement Studio Help for information on how to contact National Instruments.
Technical Data Management Streaming (TDMS) is a file format based on the National Instruments TDM data model used to stream data to disk. You can use the TDMS .NET class library to describe, store, and read measurement data that is optimized for high-speed data streaming and post processing. Additionally, you can use the TDMS .NET class library to create files you can use in LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, DIAdem, and third-party industry tools, and files created by these applications can be used by the TDMS .NET class library.
For more information, refer to Key Measurement Studio TDMS .NET Library Features in the NI Measurement Studio Help.
You can use the TDM Excel Add-In to load NI .tdm and .tdms files into Microsoft Excel. Use the toolbar from within Excel to choose which properties are loaded into Excel at the file, group, and channel levels, including custom properties.
Refer to NI Developer Zone for more information about the TDM Excel Add-In.
Different cursor images represent different interactive operations that an end user can perform on a control. For example, when editing or selecting text, you typically display a System.Windows.Input.Cursors.IBeam cursor, and for zooming on a graph, you typically display a magnifying lens. With Measurement Studio 8.6, you can customize mouse cursors, at design time or programmatically, for different interactions with the Measurement Studio Windows Forms and Web Forms controls.
For more information, refer to Mouse Cursor Customizability with Measurement Studio Windows Forms .NET Controls and Mouse Cursor Customizability with Measurement Studio Web Forms .NET Controls in the NI Measurement Studio Help.
Measurement Studio 8.6 also introduces the following new features:
.fp) file. This documentation can contain HTML entities that make it difficult to read the documentation. With this update, the Instrument Driver Wizard includes an option to remove the HTML tags from the documentation, making the documentation easier to read.
AutoSpacingMajorInterval and AutoSpacingMinorInterval properties to get the value of the interval used when plotting with AutoSpacing.
The following sections list the system requirements for Measurement Studio 8.6 and instructions on how to install Measurement Studio 8.6.
Note Review the installer known issues before you install Measurement Studio 8.6. Refer to the Measurement Studio 8.6 Known Issues Web page for a complete, up-to-date listing of known issues in Measurement Studio 8.6.
To use Measurement Studio, your computer must have the following:
Note This version of Measurement Studio supports and was tested with the latest operating system service packs that were available at the time this version of Measurement Studio was released. National Instruments highly recommends using Measurement Studio with the latest operating system service pack.
Note You must have Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 installed on your machine for Measurement Studio to function properly.
Optional Installation—In order for links from Measurement Studio help topics to .NET Framework help topics to work, you must install the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK 3.5.
To use .NET or Visual C++ class libraries that interface to National Instruments device
drivers, NI-DAQmx, NI-VISA, NI-488.2, NI-SCOPE, and the MAX (Measurement
& Automation Explorer) configuration utility, you must install the
underlying device drivers in addition to the .NET or Visual C++ class libraries. You can
run the underlying device driver installers from the NI Device Drivers DVD
included with Measurement Studio. Alternatively, refer to NI Drivers and Updates on ni.com and enter Device Drivers into the search field to download the latest version of the NI Device Drivers DVD. If you require a Device Drivers CD instead of a DVD, refer to the National Instruments CD Request Form (Windows Only) Web page on ni.com.
Note NI-SCOPE does not include Visual C++ libraries. To download NI-SCOPE .NET class libraries, refer to NI-SCOPE .NET Driver Support.
Note Measurement Studio 8.6 Visual C++ support for Visual Studio 2008 does not include the following driver class libraries: NI-DAQmx, NI-VISA, and NI-488.2. These class libraries will be available for download from ni.com/support in the future.
To deploy an application built with Measurement Studio .NET class libraries, the target computer must have a Windows Vista/XP operating system and .NET Framework 3.5.
To deploy an application built with Measurement Studio Visual C++ class libraries, the target computer must have a Windows Vista/XP operating system.
Complete the following steps to install Measurement Studio. These steps describe a typical installation. Please carefully review all additional licensing and warning dialog boxes.
Note If prompted, insert the Device Drivers DVD and select Rescan Drive to install device drivers. If you require a Device Drivers CD instead of a DVD, refer to the National Instruments CD Request Form (Windows Only) Web page on ni.com.
National Instruments recommends that you exit all programs before running the Measurement Studio installer. Applications that run in the background, such as virus scanning utilities, might cause the installer to take longer than average to complete.
Complete the following steps to install Measurement Studio:
Note The Measurement Studio installation process includesdevenv.comandHelpMerge.execommand windows that open and close on your desktop. These commands can take a long time to complete; the progress bar continuing to move within the installer dialog box is an indication that the installer is functioning properly while these command windows are open. Closing these windows prematurely causes the installation to fail.
Note If you want to upgrade a Windows XP machine to Windows Vista, National Instruments recommends first uninstalling all National Instruments software, including both application software and drivers.
Note You can have only one version of Measurement Studio installed on a system for each version of Visual Studio or the .NET Framework installed on the system. For example, you can have Measurement Studio 8.1.2 for Visual Studio 2005 installed on the same system as Measurement Studio 8.6 for Visual Studio 2008, but you cannot have Measurement Studio 8.1.2 for Visual Studio 2005 installed on the same system as Measurement Studio 8.6 for Visual Studio 2005.
If you install a newer version of Measurement Studio on a machine that has a prior version of Measurement Studio installed, the newer version installer replaces the prior version functionality, including class libraries. However, the prior version assemblies remain in the global assembly cache (GAC); therefore, applications that reference the prior version continue to use the prior version .NET assemblies.
Note This does not apply toNationalInstruments.Common.dll.NationalInstruments.Common.dlluses a publisher policy file to redirect applications to always use the newest version ofNationalInstruments.Common.dllinstalled on the system, for each version of the .NET Framework.NationalInstruments.Common.dllis backward-compatible.
For assistance in getting started with Measurement Studio 8.6, refer to the Measurement Studio Overview and the Getting Started with the Measurement Studio Class Libraries topics in the NI Measurement Studio Help or refer to the Measurement Studio User Manual and the Measurement Studio Release Notes. You can launch the NI Measurement Studio Help in the following ways:
To view the Measurement Studio User Manual and the Measurement Studio Release Notes, select Start»All Programs»National Instruments»<Measurement Studio>»User Manual or Start»All Programs»National Instruments»<Measurement Studio>»Release Notes. To view these documents, you need the free Adobe Reader. Refer to the Adobe Systems Incorporated Web site at www.adobe.com to download Adobe Reader.
To create a Measurement Studio project using class library and application templates, open Visual Studio and select File»New»Project to launch the New Project dialog box. In the Project Types pane, select the folder for the language you want to create the program in, and then select Measurement Studio. In the Templates pane, you can then select which type of project you want to create.
For step-by-step guides in learning how to develop applications with Measurement Studio, refer to the Measurement Studio Walkthroughs section of the NI Measurement Studio Help.
For information about deploying applications built with Measurement Studio 8.6, refer to Deploying Measurement Studio Applications in the NI Measurement Studio Help.
Note To deploy an application built with Measurement Studio .NET class libraries, the target computer must have a Windows Vista/XP operating system and .NET Framework 3.5.
The following items are bugs fixed in Measurement Studio 8.6.
| Bug ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 96837 | Fixed an issue where examples that reference .NET hardware class libraries cause Measurement Studio to prompt you to upgrade assembly references. |
| 99334 |
Fixed an issue where the .NET controls do not persist changes to their Cursor properties.
|
| 101538 | Fixed an issue where silently installing Measurement Studio to a custom directory fails. |
| 105609 | Fixed an issue where the font size of annotation text in the ActiveX graph control decreases after rendering to a device context other than the screen context, such as a printer context. |
| 107630 | Fixed an issue with the printed image quality when printing .NET controls that do not use 3D styles. |
| 107860 |
Fixed an issue where the PreferredSize property of the .NET legend control does not update when new items are inserted.
|
| 108205 | Fixed an issue where the ActiveX 3D graph sometimes draws too few edges around points on a surface plot. This causes the shapes of the areas surrounding some points to be unnecessarily different than shapes of the areas surrounding other points. |
| 113612 |
Fixed an issue where non-visible plots in .NET graph controls incorrectly continue to affect axis ranges when using AutoScaleVisible options.
|
| 114942 |
Fixed an issue where Measurement Studio .NET ControlArray-derived controls do not show focus when you select or tab to them.
|
| 118146 | Fixed an issue where Visual Studio generates an unhandled exception when you close the Designer window for a user control that contains a Measurement Studio control. |
| 118411 | Fixed an issue where panning the scatter graph results in the plot looking distorted. |
Note Refer to the What's New in Measurement Studio topic in the NI Measurement Studio Help for information about bug fixes in previous versions of Measurement Studio.
You can access the known issues in Measurement Studio 8.6 online. Refer to the Measurement Studio 8.6 Known Issues Web page for a complete, up-to-date listing of known issues in Measurement Studio 8.6.
For a complete list of incompatibilities in Measurement Studio with previous versions of Measurement Studio and otherwise supported features, including a list of obsoleted members and members that have been changed to sealed override or non-virtual, refer to the Measurement Studio Incompatibilities topic in the NI Measurement Studio Help.
fp, lv, and System.
Measurement Studio 8.6 also reserves any network variable process that begins with the NI_ prefix. Reserved process names are not case-sensitive, and
an attempt to create a process using a reserved name raises an exception.
NationalInstruments.NetworkVariable.NetworkVariableBufferedSubscriber<TValue>.ReadData reports the buffer
status and data quality of network variables in real time with each call to the method. In previous versions of Measurement Studio, NationalInstruments.NetworkVariable.NetworkVariableBufferedSubscriber<TValue>.ReadData reported the buffer status and data quality at the time the data was placed in the buffer.
The new behavior does not affect the data values in the buffer.
NationalInstruments.NetworkVariable.NetworkVariableBufferedSubscriber<TValue>.ReadData to subscribe to an implicitly created variable, you subscribe to the variable before any data is written to the variable, and then you write data to the variable, you receive two data items in the buffer. The first data item contains a data status of noKnownValue and no actual value.
The second data item contains a data status of good and the actual value.
In Measurement Studio 8.6, in this scenario, you only receive one data item with the actual value. The data item that contains noKnownValue no longer appears.
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