August 2015
Thank you for using NI-568x. This file contains important information regarding NI-568x and is organized into the following sections:
Installed Software, Documentation, and Examples
Product Security and Critical Updates
Uninstalling/Modifying NI RF Power Meters Software
Behavior Changes and Upgrade Notes
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.x
NI Software Support for Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
NI-568x 15.0 includes the following new features:
NI-568x 1.2 includes the following new features:
NI-568x 1.1 includes the following new features:
The NI-568x instrument driver supports the following power meters:
Device-specific information about these modules is included in the NI RF Power Meters Help.
NI-568x 15.0 supports the following operating systems:
Note NI-568x 15.0 and later does not support non-R2 editions of Windows Server 2008 and later.
NI recommends that you have the most recent service pack for your operating system installed.
Note The minimum USB port requirement for NI USB-5683 and NI USB-5684 devices is USB 2.0.
Note NI recommends that you disable Windows power management modes, such as sleep, standby, and hibernate when using this product. These modes terminate any operation in progress. Notice that in Windows Vista or on a laptop computer, the default power management settings are likely to enable sleep mode.
Note You should install ADEs, such as NI LabVIEW, NI LabWindows/CVI or Microsoft Visual Studio®, before installing NI-568x. To add support for ADEs installed after installing NI-568x, modify your NI-568x installation or launch the NI-568x installer again.
| Note | $(IVIROOTDIR32) is configured as an environment variable on the target system. |
If you upgraded an installation of IVI, your files may be located in the following location:
|
| Note | $(IVIROOTDIR64) is configured as an environment variable on the target system. |
| Item | Installed Location on Windows 10/8.1/8.0/7/Vista |
|---|---|
| NI-568x | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Drivers\ni568x |
| NI-568x Function Panel | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Drivers\ni568x\ni568x.fp |
| NI-568x LabVIEW Examples | <NIDocDir>\NI-568x\Examples | LabWindows/CVI Examples | <NIDocDir>\CVI\Samples\ni568x |
| NI-568x Header files | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Include |
| NI-568x Import Library files (32-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Lib\msc |
| NI-568x Import Library files (64-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Lib_x64\msc |
| NI-568x DLL (32-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR32>\Bin |
| Item | Installed Location on Windows 10/8.1 (64-bit)/8.0 (64-bit)/7 (64-bit)/Vista (64-bit) |
|---|---|
| NI-568x Function Panel | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Drivers\ni568x\ni568x.fp |
| NI-568x Header files | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Include |
| NI-568x Import Library files (64-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Lib_x64\msc |
| NI-568x DLL (64-bit) | <IVIROOTDIR64>\Bin |
Select Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-568x»NI-568x Soft Front Panel to launch the NI-568x Soft Front Panel.
Documentation for NI RF Power Meters is located at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-568x»NI-568x Documentation. The documentation set is composed of the following documents.
| Document | Format | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NI RF Power Meters Help | HTML/Windows Help | Contains primary help content for NI RF Power Meters products. The help is an HTML version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
|
| Getting Started Guide for your device | Printed and PDF | Contains software and hardware installation, MAX configuration, signal connection, and troubleshooting information for your device. |
| Specifications for your device | Lists technical specifications for your device. | |
| NI-568x Readme | HTML (this document) | Contains information about supported hardware and operating systems, new features, fixed issues, and legal notices. |
| NI-568x IVI Compliance Document | TXT | Contains information about IVI compliance. |
| Introduction to ni568x | HTML | Contains information about driver documentation, examples, connecting to your instrument, configuring instrument settings, and known issues. |
For the most recent revisions of documentation and for newly released documentation, visit ni.com/manuals.
To use the .NET API, you must install the the .NET class libraries or the .NET Wrapper in addition to the NI device driver. For information about versions of the .NET Framework and the drivers each supports, as well as the download location of the installer files, refer to the National Instruments .NET Driver Support document at ni.com/info and enter Info Code NETAPIdriversupport.
Note To view PDFs, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. You can install the viewer from www.adobe.com/acrobat.
To access the LabVIEW sample projects and templates from the New Project dialog, select Sample Projects in the left pane and navigate to the project that best matches your application requirements.
NI-568x palette VIs are available from the Functions»Instrument I/O»Instrument Drivers»NI-568x palette.
NI-568x functions are available in LabWindows/CVI from the Instrument menu. To load the NI-568x function panel (.fp), select Instrument»Load, and navigate to IVI\Drivers\ni568x\ni568x.fp.
In LabVIEW, you can use the NI Example Finder to search or browse examples. NI-568x examples are classified by keyword, so you can search for a particular device or measurement function. In LabVIEW, select Help»Find Examples to launch the NI Example Finder. The NI Example Finder offers two ways to access all installed LabVIEW example VIs and their descriptions:
The NI Example Finder is also available in LabWindows/CVI by selecting Help»Find Examples.
You can also access all the installed NI-568x examples for LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-568x»NI-568x Examples.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about National Instruments products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from National Instruments.
NI-568x versions are now aligned with the versions of major NI application software products. This alignment gives you information about the year the driver was released and the most recent software version the driver was designed to work with. Driver versions now start with a two-digit year indicator: <ProductName><Year-BasedVersion>. For example, NI-568x 15.0 is the version released with LabVIEW 2015. The last version released under the old numbering scheme is NI-568x 1.2. The first version released under the new numbering scheme is LabVIEW 2015.
For Windows 7/Vista, complete the following steps:
For Windows 8.x, complete the following steps:
For Windows 10, complete the following steps:
As part of the NI-568x 15.0 installation, the following software is installed. To completely remove the NI-568x 15.0 installation from your system, you must also remove all of the following packages:
Caution Several of the software packages listed above are shared with other NI software packages. If you attempt to remove a piece of software that something else is dependent on, a message launches to warn you about the software dependencies. You can choose to either uninstall all of the software or to leave the shared software installed. If you choose to uninstall the shared software, some of your other NI software may no longer function correctly.
Note Do not attempt to uninstall by manually deleting files.
The following VIs are no longer accessible from the LabVIEW palette. NI-568x continues to support VI functionality, but users are encouraged to use replacement VIs.
| Deprecated VI | Replacement VI |
|---|---|
| ni568x Read Time Slot Data VI | ni568x Read Power VI (polymorphic) |
| ni568x Read Scope Data VI | |
| ni568x Fetch Time Slot Data VI | ni568x Fetch Power VI (polymorphic) |
| ni568x Fetch Scope Data VI | |
| ni568x Initialize VI | ni568x Initialize VI (polymorphic) |
| ni568x Initialize with Options VI | ni568x Initialize VI (polymorphic) |
NI-568x no longer supports the following VIs. Using these VIs returns an error code.
| Obsoleted VI | Behavior |
|---|---|
| ni568x Get Next Coercion Record VI | The VI compiles but returns an error. Remove these VIs from your application to prevent errors. |
| ni568x Get Next Interchange Warning VI | |
| ni568x Clear Interchange Warnings VI | |
| ni568x Reset Interchange Check VI |
You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the NI-568x Known Issues at ni.com and enter the Info Code exez53 for an up-to-date list of known issues in NI-568x 15.0.
The following items are changes in NI-568x 15.0 from NI-568x 1.2.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 240557 | Fixed an issue in which scope mode would error when using short capture times. |
| 409122 | Fixed an issue in which VISA aliasing would fail in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX). |
| 523688 | Fixed several issues in which attribute behavior was inconsistent with IVI compliance standards. |
The following items are changes in NI-568x 1.2 from NI-568x 1.1.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 238457 | Fixed an issue in which power meters did not appear in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) after installing the NI-568x driver. |
| 238742 | Fixed an issue in which timeout errors occurred in scope mode. |
| 238918 | Fixed an issue in which you could not use the power meter after disconnecting and reconnecting the power meter. |
The following items are changes in NI-568x 1.1 from NI-568x 1.0.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 93562 | Fixed an issue in which the NI-568x properties were not accessible from the property node. |
| 211620 | Fixed an issue in which LabVIEW 8.2 would not launch after installing NI-568x. |
| 106509 | Fixed a timeout error when reading from the NI 5680. |
You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.
When you install National Instruments software on Microsoft Windows 8.x, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher.
NI Launcher helps you find and launch installed NI products. It provides you with a method of finding NI products similar to the Start menu in previous versions of Microsoft Windows. To use NI Launcher, click the NI Launcher tile in the Apps view. NI Launcher launches the desktop and opens a menu containing a list of NI products. Click any NI product to launch it.
| Note NI MAX does not appear as a desktop shortcut when installed on Microsoft Windows 8.x. You can launch NI MAX either from the Apps view or from within NI Launcher. |
For convenience, you can pin your most-used NI applications, such as MAX, to either the Start screen or the Taskbar on the desktop, as necessary.
| Current Application | Icon Location | Pin to Action |
| Windows 8.x Desktop | Desktop Taskbar | Right-click application and select Pin to Taskbar |
| Windows 8.x Desktop | Start screen | Right-click application and select Pin to Start |
| Windows 8.x Start screen | Desktop Taskbar | Right-click application and select Pin to taskbar from the menu bar on the bottom of the screen |
If you want to find a particular application or related files, such as documentation files, from the Start screen, you can access all installed files from the Apps view. To get to the Apps view, right-click anywhere on the Start screen and select All apps (Windows 8.0) or click the down arrow on the bottom left of the screen (Windows 8.1).
For more information about NI support for Windows 8.x, visit ni.com/windows8.
NI-568x 15.0 drops support for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Versions of NI-568x 15.0 and later will not install or run on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes.
National Instruments 568x will drop support for Microsoft Windows Vista as of July 1, 2016. Versions of 568x that ship after July 1, 2016 will not install or run on Windows Vista. For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes.
| Product | Info Code |
| NI LabVIEW | lifecycle |
| NI LabWindows™/CVI™ | cvi_lifecycle |
| NI Measurement Studio | mstudiolifecycle |
| NI TestStand | tslcp |
| NI DIAdem | ddlcp |
| NI SignalExpress | selcp |
| NI VeriStand | nivslifecycle |
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You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
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Patents
For patents covering the National Instruments products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the National Instruments Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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