| Included in Approved IVI Specification |
Since August 1998
(IVI 1.0 based on IVI-C) |
Since January 2003 |
Source Code Availability
(for message-based instruments) |
Generally available |
Not generally available |
| Stability and Robustness |
Industry-proven
(based on VXIplug&play specification) |
New & Evolving
(based on superseded COM technology) |
| Driver Development Tools |
IVI Driver Wizard (CVI) |
3rd Party custom tools |
| Driver ADE Usage |
— |
— |
| Native Interface |
C, CVI |
Visual Basic 6.0 |
Native Interface
(via custom wrapper) 1 |
LabVIEW, C++ 2, .NET 2 |
None |
| Usable Interface |
Visual Basic 6.0 |
LabVIEW 3, CVI, C++, .NET |
| Multiplatform Capability |
Yes 4 |
No |
| IVI-Based Software Products |
NI Switch Executive |
None |
| IVI Features |
— |
— |
| Interchangeability |
Yes |
Yes |
| Simulation |
Yes |
Yes |
| Multithreading |
Yes |
Yes |
| State-Caching 5 |
On all drivers written by NI |
Driver supplier dependent |
| Interchange Checking 5 |
On all drivers written by NI |
Driver supplier dependent |
| Trace Class Level Calls 6 |
Yes
(NI Spy Tool) |
No |
| Advanced Simulation 6 |
Yes
(NI Class Simulation Drivers) |
No |
| Can Support Custom IVI Classes |
Yes |
Yes |
| IVI Configuration Support |
Through NI MAX |
Through Agilent GUI |
