NI-488.

2
TM

GPIB Analyzer User Manual

GPIB Analyzer User Manual

February 2003 Edition

Part Number 371221A-01
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Important Information

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Conventions

The following conventions are used in this manual:

<> Angle brackets that contain numbers separated by an ellipsis represent a

range of values associated with a bit or signal name—for example,
DIO<3..0>.

» The » symbol leads you through nested menu items and dialog box options
to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to
pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options
from the last dialog box.

bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click in the software, such
as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes parameter
names.

italic Italic text denotes variables, emphasis, a cross reference, or an introduction

to a key concept. This font also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word
or value that you must supply.

monospace Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the
keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.
This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives, paths, directories,
programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,
variables, filenames and extensions, and code excerpts.

monospace bold Bold text in this font denotes the messages and responses that the computer
automatically prints to the screen. This font also emphasizes lines of code
that are different from the other examples.
Contents

Chapter 1
GPIB Analyzer Overview
About This Manual ........................................................................................................1-1
GPIB Analyzer Overview ..............................................................................................1-1
Online Help....................................................................................................................1-1
Features of the GPIB Analyzer ......................................................................................1-1
Capturing Data with the GPIB Analyzer .......................................................................1-2
Analyzing Captured Data with the GPIB Analyzer.......................................................1-2
Starting the GPIB Analyzer ...........................................................................................1-3

Chapter 2
GPIB Analyzer Features
Main GPIB Analyzer Window ......................................................................................2-2
File»New Capture Display ..............................................................................2-2
File»Open Capture Display .............................................................................2-2
File»Exit ..........................................................................................................2-3
Settings»Change Settings ................................................................................2-3
Settings»Load Settings ....................................................................................2-3
Settings»Save Settings As ...............................................................................2-3
Windows Menu ...............................................................................................2-3
Help Menu .......................................................................................................2-3
Settings Configuration ...................................................................................................2-4
Capture Stimulus Configuration......................................................................2-5
Trigger Condition Configuration.....................................................................2-6
Configuration of Other Trigger Settings .........................................................2-6
Exiting the Settings Dialog Box ......................................................................2-7
Action Window..............................................................................................................2-7
Bus Monitor Window ....................................................................................................2-8
Capture Display Window...............................................................................................2-9
Menu Choices from a Capture Display ...........................................................2-10
Capture Settings in a Capture Display.............................................................2-11
Markers & Statistics in an Inactive Capture Display ......................................2-11
Controls in a Capture Display .........................................................................2-11
Capture Data in a Capture Display Window ...................................................2-12
Search Capability ...........................................................................................................2-12

© National Instruments Corporation v GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Contents

Chapter 3
How To…
Install the GPIB Analyzer ............................................................................................. 3-1
Start the GPIB Analyzer................................................................................................ 3-1
Exit the GPIB Analyzer................................................................................................. 3-1
Start and Stop Capture of Data...................................................................................... 3-1
Monitor or Participate in GPIB Activity ....................................................................... 3-2
View/Change the State of GPIB Data and Control Lines ............................... 3-2
Accept a Single Byte....................................................................................... 3-3
View Previously Captured Data .................................................................................... 3-3
Configure the Settings ................................................................................................... 3-3
Configure Capture Settings ............................................................................. 3-3
Configure Trigger Settings.............................................................................. 3-4
Timestamp Capture Events ............................................................................. 3-4
Do a Nonintrusive Capture ............................................................................. 3-4
Avoid Overflow Errors ................................................................................... 3-4
Save and Reload Capture/Trigger Settings.................................................................... 3-6
Analyze Captured Data.................................................................................................. 3-6
View the Captured Data .................................................................................. 3-6
Read the Timestamp Column ........................................................... 3-7
Read the Mnemonics Column .......................................................... 3-8
Search for a Capture Event ............................................................................. 3-8
Mark Capture Events to Show Statistics......................................................... 3-9
Print and Save Captured Data........................................................................................ 3-9

Chapter 4
Tutorial
Part 1. Capture and View New Data ............................................................................. 4-1
Part 2. Capture and View New Data with a Trigger Condition..................................... 4-4
Part 3. Search for Data in a Capture Display................................................................. 4-7
Part 4. Show Statistics for Captured Data ..................................................................... 4-10
Part 5. Print and Export a Capture File.......................................................................... 4-12

Chapter 5
Examples
Example 1. Slow Communication................................................................................. 5-1
Description of Problem ................................................................................... 5-1
Setting up the GPIB Analyzer......................................................................... 5-1
Reading the Capture Display .......................................................................... 5-3
Example 2. A Service Request Problem........................................................................ 5-4
Description of Problem ................................................................................... 5-4

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 Contents

Setting up the GPIB Analyzer .........................................................................5-4

Reading the Capture Display...........................................................................5-6
Example 3. Device Not Responding..............................................................................5-7
Description of Problem....................................................................................5-7
Setting up the GPIB Analyzer .........................................................................5-7
Reading the Capture Display...........................................................................5-9
Example 4. Timeout Error During a Read .....................................................................5-10
Description of Problem....................................................................................5-10
Setting up the GPIB Analyzer .........................................................................5-10
Reading the Capture Display...........................................................................5-12

Appendix A
Common Questions

Appendix B
Capture Display Mnemonics

Appendix C
Technical Support and Professional Services

Glossary

Index

© National Instruments Corporation vii GPIB Analyzer User Manual

GPIB Analyzer Overview
1
This chapter gives an overview of the GPIB analyzer software.

About This Manual

This manual contains instructions to help you use the GPIB analyzer
software. The GPIB analyzer software is meant to be used with Microsoft
Windows and with one of the National Instruments GPIB interfaces that
supports the GPIB analyzer. This manual assumes you are already familiar
with the Windows system you are using.

GPIB Analyzer Overview

You can use the GPIB analyzer application for testing, debugging, and
analysis. It can monitor, capture, and participate in bus activity on the
GPIB. You can use the GPIB analyzer to test and debug your own
applications by monitoring and capturing GPIB activity while your
application is running. The analyzer also has tools to help you analyze
the data that you capture. Analyzing this data can help you solve many of
the difficulties associated with GPIB communication, such as addressing
inconsistencies, protocol violations, and simple bus timeout conditions.

Online Help
The GPIB analyzer application includes an online help system, which you
can access while running the analyzer by pressing <F1> or using the Help
menu. The online help contains the same information as this user manual.

Features of the GPIB Analyzer

The GPIB analyzer, created with the National Instruments
LabWindows™/CVI™ development environment, has several major
features.
• Settings configuration—Allows configuration of capture and trigger
settings.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 1 GPIB Analyzer Overview

• Action window—Starts and stops capturing and/or triggering.

• Bus Monitor window—Displays and allows you to modify the state of
each GPIB data and control line.
• Capture Display window—Displays captured GPIB events.
• Search capability—Allows searches within a capture display.

Capturing Data with the GPIB Analyzer

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. You can
participate in handshaking or do a nonintrusive capture.

You might want to capture and display data based on a specific bus event
without knowing when the event might occur. In this case, you can specify
a trigger condition and capture any number of events before and after the
trigger condition occurs. The capture operation proceeds according to the
settings configuration.

The analyzer can perform the acceptor handshake while capturing, and it
can timestamp captured events. The number of recorded capture events can
be configured to be between 10 and 99999999 and is limited by the memory
available on your computer.

Analyzing Captured Data with the GPIB Analyzer

The GPIB analyzer provides several features to help you analyze data that
you have captured.
• Use markers for highlighting and examining specific transactions in
the captured data and for determining elapsed time between captured
events.
• Use the flexible pattern-search utility to locate specific bus patterns.
• Store captured data to disk for later review in the capture display.
• Print captured data to a selected printer.

You can reload previously saved capture events for later review and
analysis. You can even have multiple capture displays open so that you can
analyze current bus activity in one display and previously captured data in
another display.

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 Chapter 1 GPIB Analyzer Overview

Starting the GPIB Analyzer

Launch the GPIB analyzer application from Measurement & Automation
Explorer (MAX), which is started by selecting Start»Programs»National
Instruments»NI-488.2»Explore GPIB. To start the GPIB analyzer, select
Tools»NI-488.2»GPIB Analyzer.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-3 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

GPIB Analyzer Features
2
This chapter describes the features of the GPIB analyzer application.

The features are as follows:

• Settings configuration—Allows configuration of capture and trigger
settings.
• Action window—Starts and stops capturing and/or triggering.
• Bus Monitor window—Displays and allows you to modify the state
of each GPIB data and control line.
• Capture Display window—Displays captured GPIB events.
• Search capability—Allows searches within a capture display.

Figure 2-1 shows the main GPIB analyzer window. The Action and
Bus Monitor windows are always open.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Figure 2-1. Main Window of the GPIB Analyzer

Main GPIB Analyzer Window

The GPIB analyzer opens with the main window, which includes the
Action and Bus Monitor windows. The following sections describe the
menu choices from the main window of the GPIB analyzer.

File»New Capture Display

Choosing New Capture Display from the File menu opens a new, active
capture display. When you start capturing GPIB events by selecting one of
the capture buttons in the Action window, you can view the events in the
active capture display.

File»Open Capture Display

Choosing Open Capture Display from the File menu in the main window
opens a previously saved window of captured GPIB events as an inactive

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 Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

display. Filenames for GPIB analyzer capture files typically use the .CAP
extension.

File»Exit
Choosing Exit from the File menu in the main window closes the GPIB
analyzer application. The analyzer prompts you to save any capture display
that contains unsaved GPIB events. The current settings for capturing and
triggering are saved automatically, and they are automatically loaded the
next time you start the GPIB analyzer.

Settings»Change Settings
Choosing Change Settings from the Settings menu in the main window
opens the Settings configuration dialog box so that you can change the
settings used for capturing GPIB events and triggering on specific GPIB
events. Refer to the Settings Configuration section for more information.

Settings»Load Settings
Choosing Load Settings from the Settings menu in the main window
opens a file of previously saved settings to be used for capturing GPIB
events and triggering on specific GPIB events. Filenames for GPIB
analyzer settings typically use the .SET extension.

Settings»Save Settings As
Choosing Save Settings As from the Settings menu in the main window
allows you to save the current settings used for capturing GPIB events and
triggering. Whenever possible, use the .SET extension for GPIB analyzer
settings filenames.

Windows Menu
The Windows menu in the main window lists all currently open GPIB
analyzer windows. When you select a window from this menu, it moves to
the front.

Help Menu
The Help menu in the main window accesses the online help for the GPIB
analyzer. It also accesses information about the analyzer software, such as
version number and hardware configuration.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-3 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Settings Configuration
To configure capture and trigger settings, select Change Settings from the
Settings menu in the main window. Figure 2-2 shows the Settings
configuration dialog box.

Figure 2-2. Settings Configuration Dialog Box

The configured settings apply only to active capture displays. Notice that
the settings in this window cannot be changed unless capturing and
triggering are turned off. (Use the Action window to turn off capturing and
triggering.)

The Retain up to _____ capture events edit control specifies the number
of captured GPIB events that can be kept in the internal capture memory
buffer. When the buffer becomes full, the oldest GPIB events are discarded
to make space for new GPIB events.

The Participate in Acceptor Handshake checkbox selects whether the

GPIB analyzer participates in acceptor handshake on the GPIB. If it is
checked, the analyzer hardware participates in the GPIB handshake at the
handshake rate selected from the Handshake rate list box. You can use this
feature to slow down GPIB transfers to a particular rate or to avoid overflow
errors.

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 Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

The Handshake rate list box selects the rate at which the GPIB analyzer
accepts data and command bytes. It is disabled unless Participate in
Acceptor Handshake is checked. The Maximum option allows the
analyzer to accept bytes at the fastest rate possible without causing
overflow errors. The other options slow down all GPIB transfers to a rate
no greater than that specified.

The Enable Timestamping checkbox enables or disables timestamping of

captured GPIB events by the GPIB analyzer. Timestamp resolution is at
50 ns intervals. When checked, timestamping is enabled and the GPIB
analyzer records the time that has elapsed between each GPIB event
captured.

Capture Stimulus Configuration

The Capture Stimulus group box in the Settings dialog box lets you
choose the various types of GPIB events to capture.

The Data Transfers checkbox enables the capture of GPIB data bytes.
Both IEEE 488 and HS488 data bytes are captured.

The Command Transfers checkbox enables the capture of GPIB

command bytes.

The Control Line Transitions checkbox enables the capture of EOI, ATN,
SRQ, REN, and IFC GPIB control line transitions. These lines manage the
GPIB interface system.

The Handshake Line Transitions checkbox enables the capture of GPIB

handshake line transitions (NRFD, NDAC, DAV). The handshake lines
control the transfer of both GPIB data and command bytes. Selecting this
option causes a large amount of GPIB events to be captured and could cause
overflow errors; therefore, select it only when you need to debug a problem
with the handshaking of a particular GPIB device. Notice that some
handshake line transitions may fall within the 50 ns resolution of the
analyzer, so they might be captured and displayed as a single event when
you check this box.

The Parallel Poll Responses checkbox enables the GPIB analyzer to

capture all GPIB parallel poll responses. To delimit the beginning of a
GPIB parallel poll, the analyzer captures the assertion of ATN and EOI.
The next capture, after 2 µs, denotes the beginning of the parallel poll
response. The analyzer then captures data each time the response on a GPIB
data line changes. To delimit the end of a GPIB parallel poll, the analyzer
captures the point at which EOI is unasserted.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-5 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

For more information about setting the capture stimulus, refer to the
Configure the Settings section of Chapter 3, How To….

Trigger Condition Configuration

The Trigger Condition group box in the Settings dialog box lets you
configure the GPIB data and control lines that define the trigger condition.

You can enter the GPIB data lines trigger condition as an ASCII value in
the ASCII edit control, a hexadecimal value in the Hex edit control, or a
binary value in the D8 to D1 spin controls. Notice that the GPIB data trigger
condition is replicated in all three representations: ASCII, hexadecimal,
and binary. Also notice that the D8 to D1 spin controls have the added
feature of letting you select x (don’t care) values for particular GPIB data
lines whose states are not relevant to the GPIB data trigger condition. For
example, if you want to configure the GPIB data trigger so that any
non-ASCII GPIB data causes a trigger, set D8 to 1 and set D7, D6, D5, D4,
D3, D2, and D1 to x.

You can enter the GPIB control lines trigger condition for each of the GPIB
control lines using the spin controls for EOI, ATN, SRQ, REN, IFC,
NRFD, NDAC, and DAV. Notice that the x value (don’t care) can be
chosen for GPIB control lines whose state is not relevant to the trigger
condition.

Configuration of Other Trigger Settings

Immediately below the Trigger Condition group box in the Settings
dialog box are the controls that allow you to configure the other trigger
settings. Three of these controls are spin controls.

The spin control on the left configures how to capture data around the first
trigger point. The choices are Capture around first trigger point and
Capture indefinitely after trigger point. If you select Capture around
first trigger point, capture is stopped at a specified point after the first
trigger is noticed, and the three controls below that spin control are enabled.
These controls are the Thumb denotes first trigger point slider control,
the events before trigger edit control, and the events after trigger edit
control. These three additional controls specify the exact location in the
capture buffer for the first trigger point. If you select Capture indefinitely
after trigger point, these three controls are disabled and capture continues,
even after the trigger condition is noticed.

The two spin controls on the right side below the Trigger Condition group
box configure the number of triggers that get recorded and whether beep

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 Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

sounds occur when the trigger condition is noticed. If you select Trigger
on first occurrence of condition, a single trigger is recorded in the capture
buffer. If you select Trigger on all occurrences of condition, every
instance of the trigger condition is recorded in the capture buffer. To
configure beeping that you want to accompany trigger conditions, select
Do not sound a beep on any trigger, Sound a beep on first trigger point,
or Sound a beep on all trigger points.

For more information about selecting the trigger settings, refer to the
Configure Trigger Settings section of Chapter 3, How To….

Exiting the Settings Dialog Box

Clicking the OK button in the Settings dialog box saves the changes made
to the settings and closes the window. These settings are used the next time
you start capturing and/or triggering. If you want to save these settings to a
file for later use, choose Save Settings As in the Settings menu of the main
window.

Clicking the Cancel button cancels the changes made to the settings and
closes the window.

Clicking the Default button restores the settings to match the default
values, without closing the window.

Action Window
The Action window contains controls you can use to turn capturing and/or
triggering on and off. The Action window, shown in Figure 2-3, is always
open. If the window is hidden, select Windows»Action Window to bring
it to the front.

Figure 2-3. Action Window

When the GPIB analyzer application is started, capture and trigger are
both off.

Clicking the Capture button causes the analyzer to begin capturing GPIB
events into the active capture display. Data is captured according to the
current capture configuration settings. Triggering is not enabled.

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Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Clicking the Capture & Trigger button causes the analyzer to begin
capturing GPIB events into the active capture display and monitoring for
trigger conditions. Data is captured according to the current capture
configuration settings, and triggers are monitored according to the current
trigger configuration. The capture and trigger configuration can be
modified using the settings configuration described in the Settings
Configuration section.

Clicking the Off button causes the analyzer to stop capturing GPIB events
and stop monitoring for trigger conditions.

Notice the following capabilities concerning captures:

• You can switch back and forth between Capture and Capture &
Trigger during the capture without losing data.
• The GPIB analyzer timer resolution is 50 ns, so the fastest rate of
capturing GPIB events possible is one GPIB event every 50 ns.
• You can view multiple capture displays simultaneously.

Bus Monitor Window

The Bus Monitor window allows you to monitor and control each of the
16 GPIB data and control lines. It also allows you to accept GPIB data, one
byte at a time. The Bus Monitor window, shown in Figure 2-4, is always
open. If the Bus Monitor window is hidden, select Windows»Bus
Monitor to bring it to the front.

Figure 2-4. Bus Monitor Window

The state of the GPIB data and control lines is displayed on the row of
LEDs and the upper ASCII and Hex edit controls. You can alter the value
of the GPIB data and control lines using the row of binary switches and the
lower ASCII and Hex edit controls.

You can enter the GPIB data value as an ASCII value in the ASCII edit
control, a hexadecimal value in the Hex edit control, or a binary value in

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 Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

the 8 to 1 binary switches. Notice that the GPIB data value is replicated in
all three representations: ASCII, hexadecimal, and binary.

You can enter the GPIB control value using the EOI, ATN, SRQ, REN,
IFC, NRFD, NDAC, and DAV binary switches. The up position
corresponds to the assertion of the line.

Clicking the Unassert Lines button moves all of the binary switches to the
down (unasserted) position and disables the Accept Byte button.

Clicking the Enable Accept Byte button prepares the analyzer to accept
either GPIB data or command bytes, one byte at a time, and changes the
button title to Disable Accept Byte. The analyzer unasserts NRFD and
asserts NDAC. When another GPIB device on the bus asserts the DAV
signal, indicating that data is available, clicking the Accept Byte button
accepts the byte and prepares for the next byte. Enabling this feature
disables the manual binary switches for the NRFD and NDAC control lines.
When you are finished accepting data, clicking the Disable Accept Byte
button releases control of the handshaking lines.

The Accept Byte button causes the analyzer to examine the state of the
DAV line to determine whether another GPIB device is trying to send a
byte. If DAV is unasserted, clicking Accept Byte has no effect because no
data is available to be accepted. If DAV is asserted, clicking Accept Byte
accepts a single byte of GPIB data by automatically toggling NRFD and
NDAC in the proper sequence. Before you can use this button, you must
click the Enable Accept Byte button in the Bus Monitor window.

Capture Display Window

The Capture Display window displays captured GPIB events. You can
have more than one capture display open at one time, and capture displays
can be either active or inactive. Active capture displays show GPIB events
as they are being captured. Inactive capture displays show previously
captured events, so that they are unaffected by newly captured GPIB
events.

To open an active Capture Display window, choose New Capture

Display from the File menu in the main window. To open an inactive
Capture Display window, choose Open Capture File from the File menu
in the main window. To switch between active and inactive capture modes,
you can click the Switch to Active (Inactive) Display button to toggle
between the two modes. Figure 2-5 shows an example of an inactive
Capture Display window.

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Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Figure 2-5. Capture Display Window (Inactive)

Menu Choices from a Capture Display

Choosing Save As from the File menu saves the GPIB events in the capture
display to a file. Both inactive and active (provided capture is turned off)
capture displays can be saved. Whenever possible, use the .CAP extension
for GPIB analyzer capture files.

Choosing Print from the File menu prints the contents of an inactive
capture display to a selected printer.

Choosing Export from the File menu saves the GPIB events in an inactive
capture display to an ASCII text file, which can be imported into other
applications such as word processors. You cannot import the ASCII file
back into the GPIB analyzer.

Choosing Close from the File menu closes the Capture Display window.
The analyzer program prompts you to save any unsaved GPIB events.

The Help menu accesses the online help for the GPIB analyzer.

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 Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Capture Settings in a Capture Display

The Capture Settings group box contains information on the capture
settings configuration that was defined when the capture was made.
It contains the following items:
• The Stimulus field lists the capture stimuli (as defined by the settings
configuration) used during capture of the GPIB events in the capture
display.
• The Capture size field lists the capture buffer size (as defined by the
settings configuration) used during capture of the GPIB events in the
capture display.
• The Handshake rate field lists the value of the handshake rate
(as defined by the settings configuration) used during capture of the
GPIB events in the capture display.

Markers & Statistics in an Inactive Capture Display

The Markers & Statistics group box provides capture statistics based on
various markers in the capture buffer. In addition to Begin, End, and
Cursor markers, you can add markers (M0, M1, M2, and so on) to the
capture buffer by double-clicking on the entry to be marked. The capture
statistics displayed include the Number of capture events between
markers, the Time elapsed between markers, and the Capture events per
second for the data between the markers. Notice that markers and statistics
are available only in inactive Capture Display windows.

The From box is used to select the beginning marker used to calculate the
capture statistics.

The To box is used to select the ending marker used to calculate the capture
statistics.

The Go To box allows you to go to a particular marker in the capture

display.

Controls in a Capture Display

The controls in a Capture Display window include Find, Find Next, and
Switch to Inactive/Active Display buttons and a Display Mode spin
control.

Click the Find button to open the Find dialog box, which you can use to
specify search criteria for finding a particular GPIB event in an inactive
Capture Display window.

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Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Click the Find Next button to search for the next occurrence of your search
criteria in the inactive capture display. This button is disabled if you have
not yet entered your search criteria in the Find dialog box.

Click the Switch to Active/Inactive Display button to switch between

active and inactive capture display modes. Active capture displays show
GPIB events as they are being captured. Inactive displays show previously
captured GPIB events. With inactive displays, you can place markers, view
statistics about the captured GPIB events, and search for specific GPIB
events. Switching from inactive to active display deletes all captured GPIB
events and markers, but the analyzer prompts you to save your data before
switching to an active display.

The Display mode spin control chooses the display mode used for the
captured GPIB events. In Detailed display mode, captured GPIB events are
shown one per line. In Summarized display mode, multiple events can be
shown on each line. Line transitions are displayed on separate lines, but
data and command transfers are grouped on the same line. In both display
modes, data transfers are shown in blue, command transfers are shown in
green, and control line transitions, handshake line transitions, and parallel
poll responses are all shown in black.

Capture Data in a Capture Display Window

The capture display shows captured GPIB events, markers, timestamps,
and helpful mnemonics. It can also show control line and handshake line
transitions. If the line name is followed by an up arrow, the line went from
unasserted to asserted. If the line name is followed by a down arrow, the
line went from asserted to unasserted. This field might also display an
overflow error message if the FIFO is full and events are lost.

For specific information about how to interpret the capture display, refer
to the Analyze Captured Data section of Chapter 3, How To…, or to
Appendix B, Capture Display Mnemonics.

Search Capability
The Find and Find Next buttons in the capture display allow you to search
for specific GPIB data and control line patterns, data strings, or trigger
points in an inactive capture display.

To do a new search, click the Find button in an inactive capture display to

bring up a Find dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 2-6. To repeat
the search, click the Find Next button in the inactive capture display.

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 Chapter 2 GPIB Analyzer Features

Figure 2-6. Find Dialog Box

To find a trigger point in the Capture Display window, check the Find
Trigger checkbox, and then click the Find button.

To find a particular data and control line pattern, set the pattern of the data
lines using either the ASCII or Hex edit controls or the D8 to D1 spin
controls (for binary values), and set the pattern of the control lines using the
EOI, ATN, SRQ, REN, IFC, NRFD, NDAC, and DAV spin controls.
Notice that the spin controls allow you to select 0 (unasserted), 1 (asserted),
or x (don’t care) for each data and control line. When the data and control
lines have been selected, click the Find button.

To find a series of GPIB data and control line patterns, use the Insert
Above, Insert Below, and Delete buttons to add and remove entries from
the Find String list box until it contains the desired series of GPIB data and
control line patterns. Click the Find button to conduct the search.

Use the Search Direction switch to specify the direction to search from the
current cursor position in the capture display.

Click the Cancel button to cancel the search and close the Find dialog box.

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How To…
3
This chapter describes how to accomplish specific tasks within the GPIB
analyzer application.

Install the GPIB Analyzer

The GPIB analyzer software is installed along with the other NI-488.2
software components from the NI-488.2 for Windows CD. To install the
GPIB analyzer, insert the CD and choose the Install Software option from
the CD autorun screen.

Start the GPIB Analyzer

Launch the GPIB analyzer application from Measurement & Automation
Explorer (MAX), which is started by selecting Start»Programs»National
Instruments»NI-488.2»Explore GPIB. To start the GPIB analyzer, select
Tools»NI-488.2»GPIB Analyzer.

Exit the GPIB Analyzer

Choose File»Exit to close the GPIB analyzer application. The analyzer
prompts you to save any capture display that contains unsaved GPIB
events. The current settings for capturing and triggering are saved
automatically, and they are automatically loaded the next time you start the
GPIB analyzer.

Start and Stop Capture of Data

To begin capturing data, complete the following steps:
1. Configure the capture settings and trigger conditions using Settings»
Change Settings.
2. If an active display is not already open, open a new Capture Display
window using File»New Capture Display.

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3. Bring the Action window to the front using Windows»Action

Window.
4. Click the Capture or Capture & Trigger button in the Action
window to begin capturing data.

To stop capturing new data, click the Off button in the Action window.

Monitor or Participate in GPIB Activity

View/Change the State of GPIB Data and Control Lines
You can view or change the state of the GPIB data and control lines from
within the Bus Monitor window.

The state of the GPIB data and control lines is displayed on the row of
LEDs and the upper ASCII and Hex edit controls. You can alter the value
of the GPIB data and control lines using the row of binary switches and the
lower ASCII and Hex edit controls.

You can enter the GPIB data value as an ASCII value in the ASCII edit
control, a hexadecimal value in the Hex edit control, or a binary value in
the 8 to 1 binary switches. Notice that the GPIB data value is replicated in
all three representations: ASCII, hexadecimal, and binary.

You can enter the GPIB control value using the EOI, ATN, SRQ, REN,
IFC, NRFD, NDAC, and DAV binary switches. The up position
corresponds to the assertion of the line.

To accept a byte of data on the bus, use the NRFD and NDAC binary
switches to simulate the IEEE 488 handshake, or use the Accept Byte
button, which automatically toggles NRFD and NDAC in the correct
sequence. The Accept Byte button is enabled by clicking the Enable
Accept Byte button.

If you are using the Bus Monitor to assert GPIB lines, do not use the
NI-488.2 ibfind or ibdev functions. These functions unassert the lines
on the bus, even though the switches in the Bus Monitor window show that
the lines are asserted. If you encounter this problem, click the Unassert
Lines button and avoid using the ibfind or ibdev functions.

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Accept a Single Byte

To accept a single byte of data on the GPIB, first click the Enable Accept
Byte button in the Bus Monitor window. Then click the Accept Byte
button in the Bus Monitor window. This action automatically toggles the
NRFD and NDAC lines in the correct IEEE 488 handshaking sequence to
accept a single byte. If you disable the Accept Byte feature, you can control
the NRFD and NDAC lines manually using the binary switches in the Bus
Monitor window.

If you try to accept a byte when no GPIB device is currently trying to source
a byte (DAV unasserted), toggling the handshake lines or clicking on
Accept Byte has no effect.

View Previously Captured Data

To open a Capture Display window to view previously saved GPIB
events, choose File»Open Capture File.

Configure the Settings

Settings are configured with the Settings configuration dialog box, which
you can open by choosing Settings»Change Settings.

Configure Capture Settings

Complete the following steps to configure the capture settings.
1. Click the Off button in the Action window. (Selecting
Windows»Action Window brings the Action window to the front.)
2. Open the Settings dialog box by choosing Settings»Change Settings.
3. Configure the capture settings. Refer to the Settings Configuration
section of Chapter 2, GPIB Analyzer Features, for details on all the
capture settings you can configure.
4. When you are finished making changes, click OK in the Settings
dialog box.

You can save your capture settings by choosing Settings»Save Settings As

and reload them by choosing Settings»Load Settings.

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Chapter 3 How To…

Configure Trigger Settings

Complete the following steps to configure the trigger settings for your
capture.
1. Click the Off button in the Action window. (Selecting
Windows»Action Window brings the Action window to the front.)
2. Open the Settings dialog box by choosing Settings»Change Settings.
3. Configure the trigger settings. Refer to the Trigger Condition
Configuration section and the Configuration of Other Trigger Settings
section of Chapter 2, GPIB Analyzer Features, for details on all the
trigger settings you can configure.
4. When you are finished making changes, click OK in the Settings
dialog box.

You can save your trigger settings by choosing Settings»Save Settings As

and reload them by choosing Settings»Load Settings.

To use the configured trigger settings, start capture using the Capture &
Trigger button in the Action window, instead of the Capture button.

Timestamp Capture Events

Timestamping shows you the elapsed time between GPIB events captured
by the GPIB analyzer. The timestamp information appears in the timestamp
column of the capture display.

To enable timestamping, check the Enable Timestamping checkbox in the

Settings dialog box.

Do a Nonintrusive Capture
To prevent the GPIB analyzer from participating in acceptor handshaking,
uncheck the Participate in Acceptor Handshake checkbox in the
Settings dialog box. If this checkbox is checked, the analyzer participates
in all handshaking on the GPIB. You might want to select this checkbox to
slow down the GPIB transfers or to avoid overflow errors.

Avoid Overflow Errors

An overflow error occurs when the GPIB analyzer FIFO hardware buffer
fills up with GPIB events faster than the software can receive them. If this
happens, an error message with asterisks and the word OVERFLOW appears
in the capture display, as shown in Figure 3-1.

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Figure 3-1. Overflow Error

If an overflow error occurs, one or more GPIB events have been lost. You
can usually avoid overflow errors by making one of the following changes:
• Check the Participate in Acceptor Handshake checkbox in the
Settings dialog box, and set the Handshaking rate to Maximum.
This configuration causes the analyzer to hold off when the FIFO is
almost full. It prevents high speed GPIB data transfers when the FIFO
is almost full, which can be a common cause of overflow errors.
• Uncheck the Handshake Line Transitions checkbox in the Settings
dialog box. If this option is selected, you might capture up to six times
as many GPIB events as when choosing to capture only data and
command transfers. The reason for this is that when you enable the
capture of handshake line transitions, you start getting GPIB events
such as NDAC↑ and NRFD↓, which reflect the multiple changes that
occur to the states of the GPIB handshake lines for each byte
transferred on the GPIB. This high volume of events is likely to cause
overflow errors.

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• Uncheck the Enable Timestamping checkbox in the Settings dialog

box. If you do not need to see the timestamping information, disabling
this option can reduce the amount of data transferred from the FIFO
and reduce the possibility for overflow errors.
• Uncheck the Control Line Transitions checkbox in the Settings
dialog box. Some GPIB devices may toggle the control lines
incorrectly, and overflow errors could result.
• Close all active capture displays while capturing. The analyzer
captures GPIB events more efficiently if they do not need to be
displayed immediately.
• Increase the Retain up to _____ capture events value in the Settings
dialog box. This field specifies the maximum number of capture events
retained in the capture buffer.

Save and Reload Capture/Trigger Settings

The analyzer uses the current capture and trigger settings until you change
them again and automatically saves them when you exit the analyzer
program. If you want to save the current settings for later use, use
Settings»Save Settings As. Whenever possible, use the .SET extension for
analyzer settings filenames.

To load a file of previously saved settings, select Settings»Load Settings.

Analyze Captured Data

After you have captured GPIB events, you are ready to view and interpret
the captured data, calculate statistics, search for specific capture events,
print the captured data, or save the captured data.

View the Captured Data

You can view the captured GPIB events in either detailed display mode or
summarized display mode. With detailed display mode, captured GPIB
events are shown one per line. In summarized display mode, multiple
events are combined on single lines. Line transitions are displayed on
separate lines, but data and command transfers are grouped on the same
line. In either display mode, lines are color coded based on the type of event
captured. Table 3-1 shows the color coding scheme.

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Table 3-1. Color Coding in the Capture Display

Type of Event Color

Data transfers Blue
Command transfers Green
Control line transitions Black
Handshake line transitions Black
Parallel poll responses Black
Trigger event Dotted box
Overflow White

Read the Timestamp Column

In detailed mode, where each line represents a single capture event, the
timestamp value represents the time elapsed between the event on that line
and the event on the previous line. If you want to determine the time
elapsed between the capture of the first event and the fifth event, add up the
timestamp values on the second, third, fourth, and fifth lines. Alternatively,
you can switch to an inactive display using the Switch to Inactive Display
button, and put markers on the first and last event of interest, then use the
From and To fields in the Markers & Statistics group box to have the
GPIB analyzer calculate a Time elapsed value for you.

In summarized mode, where more than one event can be present on a line,
the timestamp value represents the time elapsed between the first event on
that line and the first event on the previous line.

The timestamp column in the capture display shows the timestamp in a

minute, second, millisecond, microsecond, and nanosecond notation. If the
timestamp exceeds 60 minutes, the timestamp is shown in an hour, minute,
and second notation. The abbreviations used for the various time scales are
listed in Table 3-2. The smallest recordable timestamp is 50 ns.

Table 3-2. Timestamp Abbreviations in the Capture Display Window

Time Unit Abbreviation

Nanoseconds ns
Microseconds µs
Milliseconds ms

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Table 3-2. Timestamp Abbreviations in the Capture Display Window (Continued)

Time Unit Abbreviation

Seconds s
Minutes mi
Hours hr

Read the Mnemonics Column

Various mnemonics appear in the right column of the capture display to
provide a quick interpretation of the captured GPIB events. The column
may also show line transitions. If the line name is followed by an up arrow
(↑), the line transitioned from unasserted to asserted. If the line name is
followed by a down arrow (↓), the line transitioned from asserted to
unasserted. Notice that if the analyzer is capturing handshake line
transitions, the assertion of DAV represents a GPIB data byte or command
byte. For a detailed list of the mnemonics and their meanings, refer to
Appendix B, Capture Display Mnemonics.

Search for a Capture Event

To search for a specific GPIB event within a capture display from the
current cursor location, complete the following steps:
1. Switch to an inactive Capture Display window.
2. Click the Find button.
3. Enter your search criteria in the Find dialog box.
To find a trigger point in the Capture Display window, check the Find
Trigger checkbox.
To find a particular data and control line pattern, set the pattern of the
data lines using either the ASCII or Hex edit controls or the D8 to D1
spin controls (for binary values), and set the pattern of the control lines
using the EOI, ATN, SRQ, REN, IFC, NRFD, NDAC, and DAV spin
controls. Notice that the spin controls allow you to select 0
(unasserted), 1 (asserted), or x (don’t care) for each data and
control line.
To find a series of GPIB data and control line patterns, use the Insert
Above, Insert Below, and Delete buttons to add and remove entries
from the Find String list box until it contains the desired series of
GPIB data and control line patterns.

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Use the Search Direction switch to specify the direction to search

from the current cursor position in the capture display.
4. Click the Find button in the Find dialog box. This action automatically
closes the Find dialog box and takes you from the current cursor
position to the first GPIB event in the capture display that matches your
search criteria.

To find the next occurrence, click the Find Next button.

Mark Capture Events to Show Statistics

Markers are allowed only in inactive capture displays. All inactive capture
displays contain at least two markers: Begin and End. Single-clicking
places the cursor in a capture display. Double-clicking places markers in a
capture display and removes placed markers. Markers are labeled M0, M1,
M2, and so on, as they are created.

After you have placed your markers, you can use the From and To controls
in the Markers & Statistics group box to examine statistics about the
captured data.

If you are using summarized display mode, you might have more than
one marker for each line. In this case, the letter M appears in the marker
column. You can click the M several times to see each marker for that line.

Print and Save Captured Data

To print the contents of an inactive Capture Display window, select
File»Print. You can print the entire capture display or limit the printing to
captured events between particular markers.

Both inactive and active (if capturing is turned off) capture displays can be
saved to a file. To save the data in a Capture Display window, use
File»Save As. Whenever possible, use the .CAP extension for saving
capture display files. Captured data is saved in an analyzer-specific format
and can be reopened as an inactive capture display.

You also can export an inactive capture display as an ASCII text file to
another application, such as a word processor. Use File»Export to export
the captured data. You can export captured data as text in both detailed and
summarized formats. You cannot import the ASCII text file back into the
GPIB analyzer.

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Tutorial
4
This chapter contains a hands-on tutorial to help you practice using the
different features of the GPIB analyzer application.

Before you start the tutorial, check the following:

• Make sure that the NI-488.2 software, GPIB analyzer software, and
GPIB analyzer hardware are installed on your computer. For
installation instructions, refer to the Install the GPIB Analyzer section
of Chapter 3, How To….
This assumes that the GPIB controller with GPIB analyzer capability
is configured as GPIB0.
• Disconnect all GPIB cables from your GPIB hardware.

Part 1. Capture and View New Data

1. Launch the GPIB analyzer application from Measurement &
Automation Explorer (MAX) by selecting Start»Programs»National
Instruments»NI-488.2»Explore GPIB. To start the GPIB analyzer,
select Tools»NI-488.2»GPIB Analyzer.
When you open the application, a new Capture Display window and
the Action window are visible.
2. Choose Settings»Change Settings to bring up the Settings
dialog box.
3. In the Settings dialog box, click the Default button to reset to the
default settings.
4. In the Capture Stimulus section, choose to capture the following
stimuli: data transfers, command transfers, control line transitions, and
parallel poll responses. Do not select handshake line transitions.
5. Click in the Retain up to _____ capture events box and change the
setting to 60,000 capture events.
You do not need to change the trigger settings, because this part of the
tutorial does not use triggering.

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Chapter 4 Tutorial

The Settings dialog box should now look like Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1. GPIB Analyzer Settings

6. Click OK to use these settings.

You can save these settings for later use. To save them, choose
Settings»Save Settings As from the main window. To retrieve saved
settings, choose Settings»Load Settings from the main window.
7. If the Action window is hidden, bring it to the foreground by choosing
Windows»Action Window from the main window.
8. Click the Capture button in the Action window. The analyzer is ready
to capture GPIB events.
9. Open the Interactive Control utility from MAX, which is started by
selecting Start»Programs»National Instruments»NI-488.2»
Explore GPIB. To start Interactive Control, select Tools» NI-488.2»
Interactive Control.
10. At the prompt, enter $ "c:\Program Files\National
Instruments\NI-488.2\Analyzer\Tutorial.txt" to run the
tutorial script. (The path to the file might be different if you did not use
the default installation directory when you installed the GPIB analyzer
software.) Wait until the script has executed. The NI-488.2 commands

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in this script file write data on the GPIB, and the analyzer portion of
the GPIB hardware captures the data.
11. At the : prompt, type quit and press <Enter> to exit the Interactive
Control utility.
12. Switch back to the GPIB analyzer, and click Off in the Action window
to stop the capture.
13. In the active Capture Display window, use the scroll bar to go to the
beginning of the capture file.
The Capture Display window should look like Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2. Capture Display Window

By default, the capture display is in detailed mode, which shows one

GPIB event per line. This mode shows the greatest amount of detail,
including the status of each GPIB line and helpful mnemonics. In this
display, you can see that the tutorial script file issued the following
commands: clear the GPIB interface, address a device to listen, and
write data to the device.
14. Change the display mode from detailed to summarized by clicking on
the arrow beside the Display Mode spin control. Summarized display

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mode is often easier to read if you do not need to see one event per line,
but it displays less information.

Part 2. Capture and View New Data

with a Trigger Condition
1. Choose Settings»Change Settings to bring up the Settings
dialog box.
2. In the Capture Stimulus section, choose to capture data transfers and
command transfers. Deselect the checkboxes for the other types of
transfers. This restricts the analyzer to capture only data and command
transfer events on the bus.
3. Click Maximum in the Handshake rate box to see your choices. Then
click the 1 Kbyte/s option. This handshake rate slows down the GPIB
transfers.

4. Choose to retain up to 50 capture events.

5. Select the Enable Timestamping box to enable the timestamping
feature.
6. In the Trigger Condition section, enter 1 in the ASCII edit control
and notice the corresponding changes in the Hex box and the D8 to D1
toggle switch boxes.
7. Use the binary switches to set the ATN line to 0, NRFD to 0,
NDAC to 1, and DAV to 1. Leave the EOI, SRQ, REN, and IFC lines
set as don’t care (x).
8. Make sure that Capture around first trigger point shows up as the
current setting. This option stops the capture when a certain number of
events have been captured after the trigger point. Use the Thumb
denotes first trigger point to specify how many events to capture
before and after the trigger point. Move the slider below Thumb
denotes first trigger point so that the capture file shows five events
before the trigger point and 44 events after the trigger point.

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9. Click in the spin control with the words Trigger on first occurrence
of condition to see your choices. Select Trigger on all occurrences of
condition. This option captures and displays all occurrences of the
trigger condition.
10. Click in the spin control with the words Do not sound a beep on any
trigger to see your choices, then select Sound a beep on first
trigger point.
The Settings dialog box should look like Figure 4-3.

Figure 4-3. GPIB Analyzer Settings

11. Click OK to use these settings.

12. Bring the Action window to the front by choosing Windows»Action
Window. Click the Capture & Trigger button. The analyzer is ready
to capture data and look for the trigger condition specified in the
Settings dialog box.
13. Bring the Capture Display window to the front, and notice that the
changes you made in the Settings dialog box are shown in the Capture
Settings section because you clicked Capture & Trigger.

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14. Open the Interactive Control utility from MAX, which is started by
selecting Start»Programs»National Instruments»NI-488.2»
Explore GPIB. To start Interactive Control, select Tools» NI-488.2»
Interactive Control.
15. At the prompt, enter $ "c:\Program Files\National
Instruments\NI-488.2\Analyzer\Tutorial.txt" to run the
tutorial script again. (The path to the file might be different if you did
not use the default installation directory when you installed the GPIB
analyzer software.)
16. Switch back to the analyzer program and click Off in the Action
window to stop the capture.
17. In the active Capture Display window, click Switch to Inactive
Display.
18. If necessary, switch to detailed display mode. Scroll to the top of the
capture display.
The Capture Display window should look something like Figure 4-4.

Figure 4-4. Capture Display Window

The trigger points are enclosed in dotted boxes and the display shows
five events before the first trigger point.

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19. Choose File»Save As.

20. Enter trigger.cap as the capture filename and click Save. Notice
that trigger.cap appears on the title bar of the Capture Display
window.
21. From the main File menu, choose Exit to quit the analyzer application.

Part 3. Search for Data in a Capture Display

1. Open the GPIB analyzer application.
2. Choose File»Open Capture File.
3. In the dialog box, enter trigger.cap to retrieve the capture file that
you saved in part 2 of this tutorial, and click OK. The capture file is
automatically opened as an inactive display.
4. Click the Find button in the Capture Display window to bring up the
Find dialog box.
5. Select the Find Trigger checkbox to search for the captured trigger
event, ASCII 1, which was the trigger point specified in part 2 of this
tutorial. The trigger pattern is displayed in the Input Bus State field
and the Find String field.
6. Click Find to start the search. The result will be highlighted as shown
in Figure 4-5. ASCII 1 appears in the “A” column of the highlighted
row.

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Figure 4-5. Capture Display Window

7. Click the Find button to bring up the Find dialog box.

8. Deselect the Find Trigger checkbox.
9. In the Input Bus State section, enter 5 in the ASCII edit control.
10. Click Find to locate the search pattern.
11. Return to the Find dialog box.
12. To create a string to search for, choose Insert Below to enter another
pattern in the Input Bus State.
13. Enter 6 in the ASCII edit control to indicate the second pattern in the
search.

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14. Choose Insert Below again, but this time enter 7. These characters
form a string (“567”) that the analyzer searches for in the capture file.
The Find dialog box should look like Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-6. Find Dialog Box

15. Click Find to search for the string “567.”

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Chapter 4 Tutorial

16. The first character of the matched search string, “5,” will be
highlighted as shown in Figure 4-7.

Figure 4-7. Capture Display Window

17. Click the Find Next button to continue your search. The next
successful search result will be highlighted.

Part 4. Show Statistics for Captured Data

Use the trigger.cap capture file that you obtained in part 2 and opened
in part 3 of this tutorial.
1. In the Capture Display window, create a marker at the line containing
the ASCII character “A” by double-clicking on that line. The marker
M0 appears in the marker column of that line.
2. Create another marker at the line containing the letter “Z.” M1 appears
in the marker column of that line.
3. Click the word Begin in the From spin control in the Markers &
Statistics group box to see your choices, then select M0, the marker
for the letter “A.”

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 Chapter 4 Tutorial

4. Choose M1 for the To list box.

The analyzer calculates and displays statistics as shown in Figure 4-8.

Figure 4-8. Capture Display Window

The capture display statistics show the total number of captured events
from marker M0 to marker M1. The Time elapsed statistic shows you
the total time to transfer this block of data. The Capture events per
second box shows system performance during this period of time.
5. Choose M0 in the Go To list box to highlight the line with the letter
“A” again.

© National Instruments Corporation 4-11 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 4 Tutorial

Part 5. Print and Export a Capture File

This part of the tutorial is continued from part 4. Use the trigger.cap
capture file that you used in part 4.
1. Choose File»Print.
2. In the print dialog box, select M0 for the From Marker and M1 for
the To Marker.
3. Click OK. The portion of the capture display from M0 to M1 will be
printed. If you want to print the entire capture display, choose Begin
for the From Marker and End for the To Marker.
4. Save the capture file as ASCII text by choosing File»Export.
5. Enter trigger.txt in the export dialog box, and click Save. You can
view the exported file in a text editor, but you cannot import it back to
the analyzer.
6. From the File menu in the main window, choose Exit to quit the
analyzer application.

GPIB Analyzer User Manual 4-12 ni.com

Examples
5
This chapter contains several examples that illustrate how to use the GPIB
analyzer application to solve your IEEE 488 problems.

Example 1. Slow Communication

Description of Problem
A technician is running a GPIB application in which a GPIB interface
is communicating with a multimeter. In the application, the Controller
instructs the instrument to reset to its default settings, measure Ohms,
and return a reading. The application seems to be running slowly, and the
technician wants to determine the cause of the slow performance.

Setting up the GPIB Analyzer

By using the timestamping feature of the GPIB analyzer, the technician can
determine what is causing the application to run slowly. In the Settings
dialog box of the GPIB analyzer, he chooses the following settings:
• Capture data transfers, command transfers, and control line transitions
• Retain 10,000 events
• Timestamping feature enabled
• Do not participate in acceptor handshake

The Settings dialog box looks like Figure 5-1.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 5 Examples

Figure 5-1. GPIB Analyzer Settings

The technician clicks OK to close the Settings dialog box and clicks
Capture in the Action window to start capture, then runs his application.
After the application executes, he switches back to the analyzer and clicks
Off in the Action window to stop capture.

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 Chapter 5 Examples

Reading the Capture Display

Figure 5-2 shows the resulting capture display.

Figure 5-2. Capture Display WIndow

The technician has chosen Summarized display mode. In the capture

display, he sees the string RST; OHMS; VAL1?, which instructs the
multimeter to reset, measure Ohms, and send a reading to the Controller.
The next string, +150.38E+0 is the reading from the device. The
technician switches back to detailed display, and after he places the markers
in the capture display, he selects various markers in the From and To list
boxes. For example, he calculates the time the device takes to start sending
its measurement, which is 45 ms, 858 µs, and 650 ns. The statistics that the
technician sees reveal that the system performance is satisfactory, but the
instrument is slow in returning a measurement.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-3 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 5 Examples

Example 2. A Service Request Problem

Description of Problem
A test engineer has a GPIB system with two GPIB devices connected. The
engineer expects that when a device requests service, it asserts the SRQ
line. He has specified in his application that when SRQ is asserted, the
Controller serial polls the active devices to determine which device is
requesting service and then takes the appropriate action. In this particular
application, the time between the device asserting SRQ and the device
receiving service is too long, so the engineer wants to check the SRQ and
serial poll response of his system.

Setting up the GPIB Analyzer

By using the timestamping feature of the GPIB analyzer, the engineer can
view the service request process and measure response times. He
configures the analyzer to trigger at the assertion of SRQ and to capture
GPIB events afterwards. By observing the captured events with
timestamping information, he learns more about the sequence of events
during a serial poll of his system.

In the Settings dialog box of the GPIB analyzer, the engineer chooses the
following settings:
• Capture data transfers, command transfers, and control line transitions
• Capture 500 events after the trigger point
• Trigger condition set to SRQ asserted (SRQ = 1) and all other lines
equal to “x”
• Timestamping feature enabled
• Capture around the first trigger point

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 Chapter 5 Examples

The Settings window looks like Figure 5-3.

Figure 5-3. GPIB Analyzer Settings

The engineer chooses Capture & Trigger in the Action window and runs
his application program.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-5 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 5 Examples

Reading the Capture Display

The resulting capture with two added markers (M0 and M1) looks like
Figure 5-4.

Device 1
Response Time

Device 2
Response Time

Figure 5-4. Capture Display Window

The marker M0 appears on the first line, which shows the assertion of the
SRQ line. The engineer places a marker M1 where the Controller starts the
serial poll by sending the Unlisten command (UNL). By choosing M0 in
the From list box and M1 in the To list box to calculate the Time elapsed
statistic, he sees that the Controller takes 953 ms, 52 µs, and 400 ns to
respond to the service request.

The Controller sends its listener address (LA0 in this case) and the serial
poll enable (SPE) command. The Controller sends TA1 so that the first
device can talk, then unasserts ATN and reads the status byte (0x00) from
the device. By reading the timestamp information on the line where the first
device sends 0x00, the engineer knows that the device takes 3 ms and
465 µs to send its status byte.

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 Chapter 5 Examples

Because the first device is not the one requesting service (because its status
byte does not have bit 6 set), the Controller addresses the second device to
talk. The Controller then reads the device’s status byte (0x40), which
indicates that it is requesting service. By reading the timestamp information
on the line where the second device sends 0x40, the engineer sees that the
device takes only 4 µs and 850 ns to send its status byte.

Because the response time of the second device polled is shorter than the
first device, the engineer changes his application so that the Controller
always polls the faster device first. If the faster device is the one requesting
service, the Controller will not need to poll the slower device.

Example 3. Device Not Responding

Description of Problem
A programmer has written an NI-488.2 application, but her device is not
responding to the application.

Setting up the GPIB Analyzer

The programmer configures the analyzer so that she can check for
communication problems. In the Settings dialog box of the GPIB analyzer,
she chooses the following settings:
• Capture data transfers, command transfers, and control line transitions
• Retain 60,000 events
• Participate in handshaking and transfer rate set to maximum
• Timestamping disabled

© National Instruments Corporation 5-7 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 5 Examples

The Settings dialog box looks like Figure 5-5.

Figure 5-5. GPIB Analyzer Settings

The programmer chooses Capture in the Action window and captures the
sequence of events on the GPIB. She then clicks Off in the Action window
of the analyzer.

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 Chapter 5 Examples

Reading the Capture Display

The resulting capture display looks like Figure 5-6.

Figure 5-6. Capture Display WIndow

In this example, the Controller does not seem to be sending any data bytes.
In her application, the programmer set up the device to have primary
address 3 and secondary address 0. She notices, however, that at the line
containing the marker M0, the Controller configures the device to be a
Listener at primary address 3 with no secondary address. The device is
not responding because the Controller is not addressing it correctly.
The programmer corrects her application and runs the capture again. The
Controller can now write to the device, and the capture display looks like
Figure 5-7.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-9 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 5 Examples

Figure 5-7. Capture Display Window

Example 4. Timeout Error During a Read

Description of Problem
A programmer’s application returns a timeout error while waiting to
receive data from a device.

Setting up the GPIB Analyzer

The programmer configures the analyzer so that he can examine the GPIB
activity during a read from the device. In the Settings dialog box of the
GPIB analyzer, he chooses the following settings:
• Capture data transfers, command transfers, and control line transitions
• Retain 60,000 events
• Participate in handshaking and transfer rate set to maximum
• Timestamping disabled

GPIB Analyzer User Manual 5-10 ni.com

 Chapter 5 Examples

The Settings dialog box looks like Figure 5-8.

Figure 5-8. Capture Display Window

The programmer chooses Capture in the Action window and captures the
sequence of events as the device sends data on the bus. He then clicks Off
in the Action window of the analyzer.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-11 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Chapter 5 Examples

Reading the Capture Display

The resulting capture display looks like Figure 5-9.

Figure 5-9. Capture Display Window

This capture display shows that the device asserts EOI with the last byte.
The programmer remembers that he set up his application to expect an
End-of-String character to terminate the data transfer from the device. He
changes the program so that it expects the assertion of EOI to terminate the
data transfer. The application then runs without an error.

GPIB Analyzer User Manual 5-12 ni.com

Common Questions
A
This appendix answers common questions about the GPIB analyzer.

Why can’t I use the analyzer to monitor an NI-488.2 application which

uses the NI-488.2 ibln or FindLstn command?
You can use the analyzer to monitor an application with these commands,
but you cannot select Participate in Acceptor Handshaking in the
Settings dialog box of the analyzer. Selecting this feature
asserts/unasserts the NDAC and NRFD lines in response to the Talker’s
assertion/unassertion of DAV in the GPIB handshake sequence. Therefore,
when you run an application that executes a FindLstn or ibln command,
all possible GPIB addresses are returned.

How does selecting “Participate in Acceptor Handshake” in the

Settings dialog box affect the GPIB?
When Participate in Acceptor Handshake is selected, the analyzer
circuitry behaves like a GPIB Listener for the duration of the capture and
participates in acceptor handshaking on the GPIB. You can use this feature
to slow down GPIB transfers to a particular rate and to avoid overflow
errors.

How do I choose a handshake rate? What does “Maximum” mean?

You can use the handshake rate to slow down the transfer rate on the
GPIB while debugging timing-related problems. Choosing a particular
handshake rate guarantees that the transfer rate on the bus will be less than
or equal to that rate. Choosing the Maximum rate causes the analyzer to
respond as a Listener as fast as it can without causing overflow errors.

How do I define a trigger point to capture a command byte such

as TA0?
In the Settings dialog box, set the data lines of the trigger condition by
entering either the ASCII or hex equivalent of TA0 or set each of the data
lines independently to represent TA0. Set the ATN, DAV, and NDAC lines
to 1. Set NRFD to 0. The remainder of the control lines should be set to x.

© National Instruments Corporation A-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Appendix A Common Questions

This state of the handshake lines is necessary to guarantee that valid data is
present on the data lines.

What do the rows of lights and switches in the Bus Monitor window
represent?
The LEDs represent the state of the bus lines at all times. The toggle
switches represent the assertion of lines from within the Bus Monitor
window of the analyzer. If the LED for a particular line is on, and the switch
for that line is off (down position), the line is asserted, but not by the Bus
Monitor.

What is the difference between active and inactive capture displays?

Active capture displays show GPIB events as they are being captured. In
other words, active capture displays are windows into the single capture
buffer used to store new GPIB events. Inactive capture displays show
previously captured GPIB events statically so that they are unaffected by
newly-captured GPIB events. You must make the capture display inactive
if you want to use the search or print features.

What do the “Capture Settings” in the Capture Display window mean?

The Capture Settings section of the Capture Display window shows the
capture settings that were used when the data in the window was captured.
They help you interpret the captured data in the Capture Display window.
They are not necessarily the same as the current capture settings.

How do I use the timestamping information in detailed display mode

and summarized display mode?
In detailed display mode, where each line can correspond to only one
capture event, the timestamp value represents the time elapsed between the
event on that line and the previous event. If you want to determine the time
elapsed between the capture of the first event and the fifth event, add up the
timestamp values on the second, third, fourth, and fifth lines.

In summarized display mode, where more than one event can be present on
a line, the timestamp value represents the time elapsed between the first
event on that line and the first event on the previous line.

How can I prevent overflow errors?

For detailed information about avoiding overflow errors, refer to the Avoid
Overflow Errors section of Chapter 3, How To….

GPIB Analyzer User Manual A-2 ni.com

Capture Display Mnemonics
B
This appendix explains the mnemonics that appear in the capture display of
the GPIB analyzer application.

DAB GPIB data byte captured using the data transfer

or handshake line transition

GPIB command bytes captured using the command transfer or handshake

line transition:

ACG Addressed command group

CFE Configuration enable

DCL Device clear

GET Group execute trigger

GTL Go to local

LA0-LA30 Listen addresses 0–30

LLO Local lock out

PPC Parallel poll configure

PPU Parallel poll unconfigure

SC0-SC30 Secondary command 0–301

SDC Selected device clear

SPD Serial poll disable

SPE Serial poll enable

TCT Take control

1 If SC appears after a talk or listen address, it is a secondary address. If it appears after a parallel poll configure, it is either a
parallel poll enable (PPE) or a parallel poll disable (PPD) command. If it appears after configuration enable (CFE), it is the
cable length for HS488.

© National Instruments Corporation B-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Appendix B Capture Display Mnemonics

TA0-TA30 Talk addresses 0–30

UCG Universal command group

UNL Unlisten

UNT Untalk

GPIB parallel poll responses captured using the parallel poll response
capture stimulus:

PP-B Parallel poll is beginning

PP-E Parallel poll is ending

PP-R Parallel poll response (occurs between PP-B and PP-E)

GPIB Analyzer User Manual B-2 ni.com

Technical Support and
C
Professional Services
Visit the following sections of the National Instruments Web site at ni.com
for technical support and professional services:
• Support—Online technical support resources include the following:
– Self-Help Resources—For immediate answers and solutions,
visit our extensive library of technical support resources available
in English, Japanese, and Spanish at ni.com/support. These
resources are available for most products at no cost to registered
users and include software drivers and updates, a KnowledgeBase,
product manuals, step-by-step troubleshooting wizards, hardware
schematics and conformity documentation, example code,
tutorials and application notes, instrument drivers, discussion
forums, a measurement glossary, and so on.
– Assisted Support Options—Contact NI engineers and other
measurement and automation professionals by visiting
ni.com/ask. Our online system helps you define your question
and connects you to the experts by phone, discussion forum,
or email.
• Training—Visit ni.com/custed for self-paced tutorials, videos, and
interactive CDs. You also can register for instructor-led, hands-on
courses at locations around the world.
• System Integration—If you have time constraints, limited in-house
technical resources, or other project challenges, NI Alliance Program
members can help. To learn more, call your local NI office or visit
ni.com/alliance.

If you searched ni.com and could not find the answers you need, contact
your local office or NI corporate headquarters. Phone numbers for our
worldwide offices are listed at the front of this manual. You also can visit
the Worldwide Offices section of ni.com/niglobal to access the branch
office Web sites, which provide up-to-date contact information, support
phone numbers, email addresses, and current events.

© National Instruments Corporation C-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Glossary

Symbol Prefix Value

n nano 10 –9
µ micro 10 – 6
m milli 10 –3
k kilo 10 3
M mega 10 6

A
ANSI American National Standards Institute

applet program that can only be used within another application

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange

B
B bytes

D
DIO digital input/output

DMA direct memory access

E
EOI end or identify

EOS End-of-String

© National Instruments Corporation G-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Glossary

F
FCC Federal Communications Commission

FIFO first-in-first-out

FTP file transfer protocol

G
GPIB General Purpose Interface Bus

H
hex hexadecimal

HS488 high-speed IEEE 488 transfers

Hz hertz

I
I/O input/output

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

in. inches

IRQ interrupt request

ISA Industry Standard Architecture

K
Kbytes kilobytes

GPIB Analyzer User Manual G-2 ni.com

 Glossary

L
LED light-emitting diode

legacy board ISA board whose system resources are chosen by changing physical
switches or jumpers on the board

M
m meters

MB megabytes of memory

P
PC personal computer

PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect

PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card International Association

PLC Programmable Logic Controller

R
RAM random-access memory

resource hardware settings used by devices in a computer system, including ISA

interrupt level, DMA channel, and base I/O address

S
s seconds

© National Instruments Corporation G-3 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Glossary

V
VCCI Voluntary Control Council for Interference

VDC volts direct current

VXI VME eXtensions for Instrumentation

GPIB Analyzer User Manual G-4 ni.com

Index

A capturing new data, 4-1

with a trigger condition, 4-4
about this manual, 1-1
Change Settings, 2-3
accepting a single byte, 3-3
common questions, A-1
Action window, 2-7
configuring settings, 3-3
analyzing captured data, 1-2
contacting National Instruments, C-1
conventions used in the manual, iv
B customer
Bus Monitor window, 2-8 education, C-1
professional services, C-1
technical support, C-1
C
capture display, 2-9
capture data, 2-12
D
controls, 2-12 data capture
menu choices, 2-10 starting and stopping, 3-1
mnemonics, B-1 device not responding example, 5-7
searching for data in, 4-7 diagnostic resources, C-1
capture event documentation
marking to show statistics, 3-9 online library, C-1
searching for, 3-8 drivers
timestamping, 3-4 instrument, C-1
capture file, printing and exporting, 4-12 software, C-1
capture settings, 2-11
configuring, 3-3
E
saving and reloading, 3-6
Capture Stimulus configuration, 2-5 example code, C-1
captured data examples
device not responding, 5-7
analyzing, 1-2, 3-6
printing and saving, 3-9 service request problem, 5-4
showing statistics for, 4-10 slow communication, 5-1
timeout error during a read, 5-10
viewing, 3-6
reading the mnemonics column, 3-8 Exit, 2-3
reading the timestamp column, 3-7 exiting the GPIB analyzer, 3-1
viewing previously captured data, 3-3
captured event, searching for, 3-8
capturing data, 1-2

© National Instruments Corporation I-1 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Index

F marking capture events to show

statistics, 3-9
File menu, 2-2
monitoring or participating in GPIB
frequently asked questions, C-1
activity
accepting a single byte, 3-3
G viewing/changing state of GPIB data
and control lines, 3-2
GPIB activity
New Capture Display, 2-2
monitoring or participating in, 3-2
nonintrusive capture, 3-4
GPIB analyzer
online help, 1-1
Action window, 2-7
Open Capture Display, 2-2
analyzing captured data, 1-2, 3-6
overview, 1-1
avoiding overflow errors, 3-4
printing and saving captured data, 3-9
Bus Monitor window, 2-8
Save Settings As, 2-3
capture display, 2-9
saving and reloading capture/trigger
capture data, 2-12
settings, 3-6
controls, 2-12
search capability, 2-13
menu choices, 2-10
searching for a capture event, 3-8
mnemonics, B-1
settings configuration, 2-4
capture settings, 2-11
Settings menu, 2-3
Capture Stimulus configuration, 2-5
starting, 1-3, 3-1
capturing data with, 1-2
starting and stopping data capture, 3-1
Change Settings, 2-3
timestamping capture events, 3-4
common questions, A-1
Trigger Condition configuration, 2-6
configuring capture settings, 3-3
trigger settings configuration, 2-6
configuring trigger settings, 3-4
tutorial, 4-1
examples
viewing captured data, 3-6
device not responding, 5-7
viewing previously captured data, 3-3
service request problem, 5-4
Windows menu, 2-3
slow communication, 5-1
GPIB data and control lines
timeout error during a read, 5-10
viewing/changing state, 3-2
Exit, 2-3
exiting, 3-1
exiting Settings dialog box, 2-7 H
features, 1-1, 2-1 help
File menu, 2-2 professional services, C-1
Help menu, 2-3 technical support, C-1
installing, 3-1 Help menu, 2-3
Load Settings, 2-3
main window, 2-2
Markers & Statistics, 2-11

GPIB Analyzer User Manual I-2 ni.com

 Index

I P
installing the GPIB analyzer, 3-1 participating in GPIB activity, 3-2
instrument drivers, C-1 phone technical support, C-1
printing captured data, 3-9
professional services, C-1
K programming examples, C-1
KnowledgeBase, C-1

R
L reloading capture/trigger settings, 3-6
Load Settings, 2-3

S
M Save Settings As, 2-3
main window, 2-2 saving capture/trigger settings, 3-6
Markers & Statistics, 2-11 saving captured data, 3-9
mnemonics, B-1 search capability, 2-13
mnemonics column service request problem example, 5-4
reading, 3-8 settings configuration, 2-4
monitoring GPIB activity, 3-2 Settings dialog box, exiting, 2-7
settings, configuring, 3-3
slow communication example, 5-1
N software drivers, C-1
National Instruments starting data capture, 3-1
customer education, C-1 starting the GPIB analyzer, 3-1
professional services, C-1 stopping data capture, 3-1
system integration services, C-1 support
technical support, C-1 technical, C-1
worldwide offices, C-1 system integration services, C-1
New Capture Display, 2-2
new data, capturing and viewing, 4-1
with a trigger condition, 4-4 T
nonintrusive capture, 3-4 technical support, C-1
telephone technical support, C-1
timeout error during a read example, 5-10
O timestamp column
online help, 1-1 reading, 3-7
online technical support, C-1 training
Open Capture Display, 2-2 customer, C-1
overflow errors, avoiding, 3-4 Trigger Condition configuration, 2-6

© National Instruments Corporation I-3 GPIB Analyzer User Manual

Index

trigger settings W
configuring, 2-6, 3-4
Web
saving and reloading, 3-6
professional services, C-1
troubleshooting resources, C-1
technical support, C-1
tutorial
Windows menu, 2-3
capturing and viewing new data, 4-1
worldwide technical support, C-1
capturing and viewing new data with a
trigger condition, 4-4
printing and exporting a capture file, 4-12
searching for data in a capture display, 4-7
showing statistics for captured data, 4-10

V
viewing new data, 4-1
with a trigger condition, 4-4
viewing previously captured data, 3-3

GPIB Analyzer User Manual I-4 ni.com