Using the TekScope IVI-COM Driver from C# .NET
Introduction
This document describes the step-by-step procedure for using the TekScope IVICOM driver from a .NET environment using C#. Microsoft .Net supports COM
interoperability allowing .Net components to easily call COM components.
In this simple exercise, you will learn how to import the TekScope IVI-COM
driver from the C# environment and to generate “Runtime Callable Wrappers”.
You will also learn how to use these wrappers to build a simple user interface
(UI) to connect your computer to an oscilloscope and get current record length.
Requirements
The following software must be installed on your oscilloscope:
TekVISA.
IVI shared components.
TekScope IVI-COM driver.
Visual Studio .NET.
Step-by-step Development
Step 1: Create the new C# project
Open Visual Studio .NET and, from the Start page, choose New Project.
Select Visual C# Project from the tree view on the left.
Select Windows Application as the project template.
Set the name of the application to TekScopeIVITest, as shown in Figure 1,
and click OK to create the project.
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Using the TekScope IVI-COM Driver from C#.Net
Figure 1: Start the new project
Step 2: Design the Form
From the “Solution Explorer” window, double click on the Form1.cs file to open
the default form in the editor. Add two buttons to the form, as shown in Figure 2,
and set the properties of those button controls, as given in Table 1.
Table 1: Button Control Properties
Control Type Property Value
Button Name button1
Text Record length?
Button Name button2
Text Close
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Figure 2: Form with two buttons
Step 3: Generate the Runtime Callable Wrappers for the driver
In this step you will generate the Runtime Callable Wrappers (RCWs) for the
TekScope IVI-COM driver. Visual studio .Net provides two different ways to
generate this. One is using the tlbimp.exe tool and the other is using the studio
Project > Add Reference… option. Here we will use the second method.
Click Project, and then click Add Reference.
In the Add Reference dialog box, click the COM tab.
Search for the IVI TekScope driver from the list and click Select, as shown
in Figure 3. The selected components will be added to the lower listview in
the dialog box.
Click OK to create RCWs for the driver in your Visual C# .NET project.
When you do this, you'll find that Visual C# .NET actually creates a DLL in your
project's /Bin folder, with a name Interop.TekScope_TektronixLib.dll. This dll is
a .Net assembly containing RCWs for the driver.
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Figure 3: Search for the IviScope driver
Step 4: Write the code to use driver
Now you're ready to write code that uses the driver methods and properties
available in the TekScope_TektronixLib class. Click View, click Code, and paste
this code, as shown below, just after Main() function body.
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//Declare a global driver object
private TekScope_TektronixLib.TekScope myScope;
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
//Create the driver object
myScope= new TekScope_TektronixLib.TekScopeClass();
//Initialize the driver by connecting it to "GPIB8::1::INSTR"
myScope.Initialize("GPIB8::1::INSTR",false,false,"");
//Get the current record length
int RecLen= myScope.Horizontal.RecordLength;
//Format the value and display in a message box
MessageBox.Show("Record Length is:"+RecLen.ToString());
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
//Close the driver
myScope.Close();
//Terminate the application
Application.Exit();
}
Note:
• Precede each line of C# code with a line of comment describing the functionality of the code.
• If you would like to generate your own code, then you can double click on the buttons and add
code inside the function body.
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Using the TekScope IVI-COM Driver from C#.Net
• In the given sample code, the Initialize() function connects to GPIB8::1::INSTR. You can
modify this depending on your VISA resource name for your oscilloscope.
• Visual Studio Intellisense will help you to browse through all properties and methods of the
driver. Figure 4 shows C#’s Intellisense in action.
Figure 4: Intellisense in action
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Step 5: Run the application
Save the project using File > Save all menu.
Build the application using Build > Build Solution menu.
Run the application using Debug > Start menu. Figure 5 shows the
application in running mode.
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Figure 5: The application in running mode
Conclusion
You can also use other driver functions from C# and Visual Basic .Net.
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