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622X-855B01 1 release notes.txt
Keithley Instruments
622X-855B01.1
Release Note for Version B01.1
IVI Instrument Driver for the Model 6220/6221
11/23/2008
IMPORTANT: To work properly with the driver, your instrument must have a compatible
version of firmware. Refer to section 2 (System Requirements) below for specific
details regarding the required firmware version for your instrument. Visit
Keithley.com for upgrade instructions if your instrument's firmware is not a
compatible version. The instrument's firmware version is shown on the display when
the instrument is first powered up, immediately to the right of the model number.

This document provides additional information for the installation and use of the
622X-855B01 6220/6221 driver for LabView and LabWindows CVI, Visual Basic, and
C/C++.
Table of Contents
----------------------------------------------
1 Introduction
1.1 Included in this release
1.1.1 KE622X IVI Driver
1.1.2 Installation Locations
2 System Requirements
2.1 Supported Operating Systems and System Software
3 Installation
3.1 Keithley I/O Layer Installation
3.2 Instrument Driver Installation
3.2.1 Installing the driver from the Web
4 Using the 622X IVI Instrument Driver
4.1 Virtual Instruments
4.2 Create your own Virtual Instruments
4.3 Logical Names
4.4 VISA resources
4.4.1 GPIB
4.4.2 RS232
4.4.3 Ethernet (Socket connection)
4.4.4 Example of using VISA resources:
4.5 Driver Speed up solutions
4.5.1 QueryInstrStatus
4.5.2 RangeCheck
4.5.3 Caching
4.6 Using the Example Programs
4.7 Using the driver with LabView
5 Known problems and issues
5.1 Fixed in this release
5.2 LabWindows/CVI examples
5.3 KE622X_WriteInstrData
6 Copyright Notice
----------------------------------------------
1 Introduction
1.1 Included in this release

The components described below are provided as part of the KE622X IVI Instrument
Driver for the 6220 Precision Current Source and the 6221 DC and AC Current Source.
Some shortcuts for them are added to the Keithley Instruments folder on your Start
Menu.

1.1.1 KE622X IVI Driver
Version B01.1 of the KE622X driver supports the 6220 Precision Current Source and
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622X-855B01 1 release notes.txt
the 6221 DC and AC Current Source.
The driver uses the Keithley I/O layer (VISA) to communicate with your instrument.
IVI (Interchangeable Virtual Instruments) and VISA (Virtual Instrument Software
Architecture) provide a common foundation for application development across
multiple communication buses and multiple instrument vendors. This software driver
supports many Application Development Environments under Windows, such as Visual
Basic, C/C++, LabView, LabWindows/CVI, and TestPoint. Numerous examples and an
on-line help utility are provided to help programmers build their custom
applications.
Important note: The Keithley Configuration Utility and Keithley I/O Layer software
are no longer bundled with the driver as a single installation package. The
Keithley I/O layer may be downloaded from the Keithley Web site along with the
driver. The Keithley I/O software should be installed before the driver itself is
installed, if possible.
1.1.2 Installation Locations

Version B01.1 will try to detect the presence of the IVI Shared Components and the
National Instruments IVI Engine. Depending upon the versions it finds the installer
could put the driver files in either of two locations, listed below. If the
installer finds the IVI shared components but no NI IVI engine then it will abort
the installation and ask the user to install the NI IVI Compliance package first.
If the installer finds there is no IVI shared components on the system then the
following files will be installed to the following locations:

Ke622x_32.dll C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\bin
Ke622x.fp C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\Ke622x
Ke622x.sub C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\Ke622x
Ke622x.txt C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\Ke622x
Ke622x.h C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\include
Ke622x.lib C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\lib\bc
Ke622x.lib C:\VXIPnP\WinNT\lib\msc
* Win95 would replace WinNT on Windows 9X systems.

If the IVI shared components are found on the system then the following files get
installed to the following locations:

Ke622x _32.dll C:\Program Files\IVI\bin
Ke622x.fp C:\Program Files\IVI\Drivers\Ke622x
Ke622x.sub C:\Program Files\IVI\\Drivers\Ke622x
Ke622x.txt C:\Program Files\IVI\\Drivers\Ke622x
Ke622x.h C:\Program Files\IVI\include
Ke622x.lib C:\Program Files\IVI\lib\bc
Ke622x.lib C:\Program Files\IVI\lib\msc

2 System Requirements
Pentium-class PC.

6220 firmware release A02 or later. DDC Mode is not supported by the driver.
6221 firmware release A02 or later. DDC Mode is not supported by the driver.
Keithley I/O Layer software KIOL-850 version B02.3 or later.
NOTE: Keithley strongly recommends that you power your computer and instrument from
an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) when running a critical application.
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2.1 Supported Operating Systems and System Software

Windows XP Professional service pack 1 or later
Windows 2000 Service pack 3 or later
Windows NT Service pack 6a or later
Windows 98 Second edition only
Note: Windows 95 and Vista are not supported.
Chinese Windows 98 (Second Edition), 2000, and XP Pro are supported.
Japanese Windows 98 (Second Edition), 2000, and XP Pro are supported.

LabVIEW versions 5.1 through 7.1 are supported.
3 Installation
3.1 Keithley I/O Layer Installation
Before installing the KE622X instrument driver, download and install the Keithley
I/O Layer, KIOL-850, following the instructions in the I/O layer readme file to
install and configure the software, and to connect your instrument to your computer.

3.2 Instrument Driver Installation
3.2.1 Installing the driver from the Web
If you have an earlier version of the driver software installed on your computer,
uninstall it by following the steps below before installing this version.

Using the Add/Remove Programs Wizard in Control Panel, uninstall the following
components:

Keithley 622X IVI Driver.
Keithley I/O Layer.
NI-VISA x.x.x Runtime (If present) (x.x.x will be the VISA version)
Reboot your computer.

Download the driver software from the Keithley Web site, www.keithley.com. The
software is a single compressed file and should be downloaded to a temporary
directory.
Run the downloaded file from the temporary directory.

Follow the instructions on the screen to install the software.
When the installation is complete, reboot your computer.
4 Using the 622X IVI Instrument Driver

To connect to the instrument via the driver you need to first call KE622X_init or
KE622X_InitWithOptions. The first parameter for either function is a VISA resource
string, which indicates to the I/O layer which communication device you want to use
to connect to the instrument and in most cases the address of the instrument. This
can be specified using a Virtual Instrument name, a Logical Name, or a VISA Resource
string. We recommend that you do not use the VISA resource string form, since it
builds hardware and bus dependencies into your code. If you use the Virtual
Instrument Name or the Logical Name form, the Keithley Configuration Panel can be
used to select a different bus or address with no code changes required.
4.1 Virtual Instruments
The Keithley I/O Layer installer creates several virtual instruments that you can
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use to automatically connect to an instrument.
If you are using a National Instruments GPIB card, select KE622X_GPIB12 as your
device. By default, the logical name KE622XExampleInstr is also assigned to this
device. This logical name is used by the example programs but can also be used by
user programs.

If you are using a Keithley Instruments or CEC ISA or PCI GPIB card, select
KE622X_GPIB1_12 as your device.

If you are using a Keithley Instruments or INES PCMCIA GPIB card, select
KE622X_GPIB2_12 as your device.

If you are using COM Port 1, select KE622X_COM1 as your device.
If you are using COM Port 2, select KE622X_COM2 as your device.
If you are using Ethernet to connect to a 6221, you will need to use the Keithley
Configuration Utility to add a device with the proper IP address.
An example of using a Virtual Instrument Name to connect to an instrument connected
to COM Port 1 is:
KE622X_init("KE622X_COM1", VI_TRUE, VI_TRUE, handle)
4.2 Create your own Virtual Instruments

If you want to create your own virtual instruments then use the Configuration Panel
or Wizard. Open the Configuration Panel by selecting Start> Programs> Keithley
Instruments> Keithley Configuration Panel, and wait for the Wizard to start. Follow
the Wizard instructions to create a new configuration or modify an existing one.

4.3 Logical Names

You can also define logical Names for your devices using the configuration panel.
One logical name is created by default: KE622XExampleInstr. This default logical
name is used by the example programs supplied with the driver, and is associated
with the KE622X_GPIB12 device by default.

4.4 VISA resources
4.4.1 GPIB

For GPIB instruments, you would use a resource string of the following format:
"GPIBx::yy::INSTR".
x is the GPIB card number.
yy is the GPIB address of the instrument.

4.4.2 RS232
For RS232 instruments, the VISA resource string has the following format:
"ASRLx::INSTR" where x is the COM Port number.
4.4.3 Ethernet (Socket connection)
For Ethernet instruments, such as the 6221, use the following VISA resource string
format:
"TCPIPx::IP::Port::SOCKET".
x is the Ethernet card number.
IP is the IP address of the instrument.
Port is the port number of the instrument (1394 for the 6221).

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4.4.4 Example of using VISA resources:
To connect to a 622X at GPIB address 12 via GPIB1:
KE622X_init("GPIB1::12::INSTR", VI_TRUE, VI_TRUE, handle)
4.5 Driver Speed up solutions
Using the KE622X_InitWithOptions function there is a parameter, called OptionString,
where you can enable/disable certain features of an IVI driver.
4.5.1 QueryInstrStatus

If this feature is enabled the driver will query the instrument after every function
call to see if there were any errors. This is useful while you are writing your
application but once it is finalized then you can disable this feature to gain extra
performance.
4.5.2 RangeCheck
If enabled the IVI engine will check to see if the parameters you are passing in are
within range. Disabling this feature in the final application will also gain some
performance increase.
4.5.3 Caching

The driver has the option of caching all the settings it sends to the instrument so
that it doesn't send a setting to the instrument a second time if it hasn't changed.
By default this is enabled.
4.6 Using the Example Programs

The KE622X Driver includes a number of example programs written in Visual Basic,
LabView, and C. The examples demonstrate how to perform common functions using the
driver. The example programs are hard coded to use the logical name:
KE622XExampleInstr for the device identifier. By default, this logical name is
associated with the KE622X_GPIB12 device, which is a 622X at GPIB address 12 using a
National Instruments GPIB interface card for communications. If you are using a
different bus, address, or interface card, you must reassign the logical name to the
correct device using the Keithley Configuration Panel. For example, if you are
using a CEC GPIB card instead of a National Instrument GPIB card, you would use the
Keithley Configuration Panel to reassign the logical name from the KE622X_GPIB12
device to the KE622X_GPIB1_12 device.

4.7 Using the driver with LabView
LabVIEW versions 5.1 through 7.1 are supported.

If LabView is already installed on your computer when the driver is installed, the
LabView VIs will be installed in the proper subdirectory of the LabView directory so
that they are directly accessible from within LabView.
If LabView is not installed on your computer when the driver is installed, the
LabView VIs will placed in a subdirectory of the Keithley Instruments directory.
Once LabView has been installed, the VIs must be copied to the proper subdirectory
under LabView before they can be used. This directory is typically:
C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabView X\instr.lib\KE622X
Depending on the particular driver, there may be separate versions of the VIs for
LabView 5.x and 6.x, in which case they will be installed into separate directories.
Copy the appropriate version of the VIs into the National Instrument directory
tree. The 6.x VIs are compatible with versions 7 and 7.1.
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5 Known problems and issues

5.1 Fixed in this release
This version now supports Ethernet correctly on NI-VISA 3.3 or higher.
5.2 LabWindows/CVI examples
The examples were built on a system where the VXIPnP directory was installed on the
d: drive. If VXIPnP is on the C: drive then you may see a warning dialog when you
open up the example project in LabWindows/CVI. It has detected this mismatch and is
asking if you want to switch to the correct location. Select yes and the project
should compile and link. If not see the following issue.
The LabWindows/CVI examples have the Ke622x.fp and Ke622x.lib files referenced in
the project files. These files could be installed under the VXIPnP folder or the
Program Files/IVI folder. See issue 1.1.2 about this.
When you compile these examples if there is an error that these files can't be found
then replace them in the project. Right-mouse-click on the ke622x.lib or ke622x.fp
file in CVI and then select "Replace File in Project" and browse for the file. Refer
to 1.1.2 for the correct location.
5.3 KE622X_WriteInstrData
When using this function you must append a linefeed character to the end of the
command that you send to the instrument. In LabVIEW and C add a "\n" whilst in
Visual BASIC add the "Chr(10)" or "vbLf" command to the end of the string.

6 Copyright Notice

The VISA software supplied with the Instrument Driver is Copyright (c) 2001-2004
National Instruments Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

The KE622X Series instrument driver is Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Keithley Instruments.
All Rights Reserved.
End of Release notes.

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