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October 2021
This file contains installation instructions and compatibility information for NI-DCPower 21.3.
You can find more release information on ni.com.
If you plan to use LabVIEW NXG, refer to LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations.
Product Security and Critical Updates
LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations
IVI Compliance Package Functionality
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10
Unsupported Windows Operating Systems
NI Software Drops Support for Phar Lap ETS Real-Time Operating System in 2022
NI-DCPower is an NI instrument driver that communicates with all NI programmable power supplies and SMUs. NI-DCPower is an interchangeable virtual instrument (IVI)–compliant instrument driver, and it features a set of operations and properties that exercise the functionality of the power supply or SMU and includes examples.
NI-DCPower 21.3 has the following requirements:
Refer to the LabVIEW Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for LabVIEW.
NI-DCPower 21.3 supports the following operating systems:
1 These operating systems are not supported for the following features:
NI-DCPower 21.3 supports the following application software versions, including service packs. If you are not using NI application software, refer to Microsoft Visual Studio Support or Python Support.
| Application Software | Versions Supported by NI-DCPower |
|---|---|
| LabVIEW | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| LabVIEW Real-Time Module* | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| LabVIEW NXG† | 5.1 |
| LabWindows™/CVI™ | 2015 and later |
| LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module* | 2015 and later |
| * No support for PXIe-4162/4163 source measure units. † No support for independent channels. | |
If you are using the NI-DCPower .NET Class Library, the .NET Framework 4.0 (minimum) is required. The NI-DCPower .NET Class Library can be used with the Visual C# or Visual Basic .NET programming languages in any Visual Studio version that can target the .NET Framework 4.0 or the .NET Framework 4.5.
To use the .NET API, you must select the .NET Framework 4.0 Languages Support or the .NET Framework 4.5 Languages Support packages in the NI-DCPower installer to install the .NET class libraries 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 .NET Resources for NI Hardware and Software.
For more information on installing and using Python, refer to the nidcpower module.
Download the NI-DCPower 21.3 installer from ni.com/downloads. NI software includes NI Package Manager to handle the installation. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.
Note
NI automates LabVIEW NXG installation using NI Package Manager. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code NIPMDownload to download NI Package Manager. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. For information about critical updates from NI, refer to Available Critical and Security Updates for NI Software.
NI-DAQmx-Based Power Supplies and SMUs
Non-NI-DAQmx-Based Power Supplies and SMUs
NI-DCPower 21.0: The NI-DCPower Soft Front Panel has been replaced by InstrumentStudio, which is automatically installed when you install the NI‑DCPower driver. You can access InstrumentStudio in one of the following ways:
The deprecated NI-DCPower Soft Front Panel remains available for download. Visit Legacy Soft Front Panels for NI-DCPower, NI-DMM, NI-FGEN, and NI-SCOPE for more information.
NI-DCPower 20.6: To support independent channels, numerous NI-DCPower functions have been superseded by new versions that can access instrument channels independently. In addition, numerous NI-DCPower properties can now be configured per channel rather than per session.
Refer to the NI DC Power Supplies and SMUs Help accessible from Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-DCPower»NI-DCPower Documentation, for information about NI-DCPower.
You can access all the installed NI-DCPower examples at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-DCPower»NI-DCPower Examples and online at ni.com/examples.
Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI to launch the NI Example Finder. LabVIEW examples for NI-DCPower are located in the LabVIEW XXXX\examples\instr\niDCPower directory. You can modify an example VI to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a VI that you create.
The NI Example Finder offers two ways to access all installed LabVIEW example VIs and their descriptions:
The following sections detail considerations for using LabVIEW NXG with NI-DCPower.
Software support for LabVIEW NXG differs in the following ways:
NI 411x, 413x, 414x, and 4154 Power Supplies and SMUs
NI 416x SMUs
View context help in LabVIEW by pressing <Ctrl-H> and hovering over an object.
Search for items using the search bar in the upper right corner of the LabVIEW window. You can also view context help for the search results.
Additional documentation is available online at ni.com/manuals.
Launch LabVIEW and click the Learning tab.
LabVIEW lessons are located in the Lessons tab, and LabVIEW Examples are located in the Examples tab. Follow the instructions in the lessons and examples.
NI-DCPower no longer installs IVI Compliance Package. NI-DCPower supports IVI configuration and runtime, but no longer supports the following features:
If you want to use the above features, you must install IVI Compliance Package separately, either from ni.com/downloads or from the NI Device Drivers 2018 DVD.
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.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.6.2, 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 4.6.2 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to Automating an Installer in the NI Package Manager manual.
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, refer to NI Product Compatibility for Microsoft Windows 10.
NI-DCPower no longer supports Windows Vista/XP/7/8.x, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012, or any 32-bit Windows operating system. Versions of this product that ship after May 1, 2021, may not install or execute correctly on these operating systems. For detailed information about NI operating system support, visit http://www.ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.
NI Software will drop support for Phar Lap ETS Real-Time Operating System starting in 2022. Versions of this product that ship after May 1, 2022, may not install or execute correctly on this operating system. For high-level information on the support roadmap for Phar Lap and its replacement, NI Linux Real-Time, please visit ni.com/r/xf35k1. To find out what hardware is supported on PXI controllers running NI Linux Real-Time, please visit ni.com/r/b7g5wi.
Copyright
© 2007–2021 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.
Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.
NI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.
End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
U.S. Government Restricted Rights
If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.
IVI Foundation Copyright Notice
Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.
The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
Trademarks
Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on NI trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Patents
For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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