Instrument Control Toolbox 2.9

Accessing Instruments Using Interface Objects

Contents

• Overview
• Creating an Interface Instrument Object
• Accessing an Interface Object's Properties
• Cleanup

Overview

In this demo, you will learn how to create and obtain information about instrument objects with the Instrument Control Toolbox and MATLAB.

An instrument object in MATLAB represents the connection between MATLAB and an instrument. The Instrument Control Toolbox supports two types of instrument objects: interface objects and device objects.

An interface object represents a direct connection between MATLAB and an instrument using one of the supported interfaces, such as the serial port, GPIB, a VISA protocol, or TCP and UDP. The object uses functions such as fprintf, fscanf, fread, and fwrite to exchange low-level commands and data with the instrument.

A device object represents a connection between MATLAB and an instrument by way of an instrument driver. A device object provides high level properties and functions that map to high-level settings and functionality of the instrument and does not expose low-level commands or data.

Creating an Interface Instrument Object

To create an interface object, use one of the interface object constructors.

g = gpib('iotech', 0, 1)

   GPIB Object Using IOTech Adaptor : GPIB0-1

   Communication Address 
      BoardIndex:         0
      PrimaryAddress:     1
      SecondaryAddress:   0

   Communication State 
      Status:             closed
      RecordStatus:       off

   Read/Write State  
      TransferStatus:     idle
      BytesAvailable:     0
      ValuesReceived:     0
      ValuesSent:         0
 

s = serial('COM1')

   Serial Port Object : Serial-COM1

   Communication Settings 
      Port:               COM1
      BaudRate:           9600
      Terminator:         'LF'

   Communication State 
      Status:             closed
      RecordStatus:       off

   Read/Write State  
      TransferStatus:     idle
      BytesAvailable:     0
      ValuesReceived:     0
      ValuesSent:         0
 

v = visa('ni', 'GPIB0::1::INSTR')

   VISA-GPIB Object Using NI Adaptor : VISA-GPIB0-1

   Communication Address 
      BoardIndex:         0
      PrimaryAddress:     1
      SecondaryAddress:   0

   Communication State 
      Status:             closed
      RecordStatus:       off

   Read/Write State  
      TransferStatus:     idle
      BytesAvailable:     0
      ValuesReceived:     0
      ValuesSent:         0
 

Accessing an Interface Object's Properties

Each interface object provides a list of general and interface specific properties.

get(g)

    ByteOrder = littleEndian
    BytesAvailable = 0
    BytesAvailableFcn = 
    BytesAvailableFcnCount = 48
    BytesAvailableFcnMode = eosCharCode
    BytesToOutput = 0
    ErrorFcn = 
    InputBufferSize = 512
    Name = GPIB0-1
    ObjectVisibility = on
    OutputBufferSize = 512
    OutputEmptyFcn = 
    RecordDetail = compact
    RecordMode = overwrite
    RecordName = record.txt
    RecordStatus = off
    Status = closed
    Tag = 
    Timeout = 10
    TimerFcn = 
    TimerPeriod = 1
    TransferStatus = idle
    Type = gpib
    UserData = []
    ValuesReceived = 0
    ValuesSent = 0

    GPIB specific properties:
    BoardIndex = 0
    BusManagementStatus = [1x1 struct]
    CompareBits = 8
    EOIMode = on
    EOSCharCode = LF
    EOSMode = none
    HandshakeStatus = [1x1 struct]
    PrimaryAddress = 1
    SecondaryAddress = 0

get(s)

    ByteOrder = littleEndian
    BytesAvailable = 0
    BytesAvailableFcn = 
    BytesAvailableFcnCount = 48
    BytesAvailableFcnMode = terminator
    BytesToOutput = 0
    ErrorFcn = 
    InputBufferSize = 512
    Name = Serial-COM1
    ObjectVisibility = on
    OutputBufferSize = 512
    OutputEmptyFcn = 
    RecordDetail = compact
    RecordMode = overwrite
    RecordName = record.txt
    RecordStatus = off
    Status = closed
    Tag = 
    Timeout = 10
    TimerFcn = 
    TimerPeriod = 1
    TransferStatus = idle
    Type = serial
    UserData = []
    ValuesReceived = 0
    ValuesSent = 0

    SERIAL specific properties:
    BaudRate = 9600
    BreakInterruptFcn = 
    DataBits = 8
    DataTerminalReady = on
    FlowControl = none
    Parity = none
    PinStatus = [1x1 struct]
    PinStatusFcn = 
    Port = COM1
    ReadAsyncMode = continuous
    RequestToSend = on
    StopBits = 1
    Terminator = LF

get(v)

    ByteOrder = littleEndian
    BytesAvailable = 0
    BytesAvailableFcn = 
    BytesAvailableFcnCount = 48
    BytesAvailableFcnMode = eosCharCode
    BytesToOutput = 0
    ErrorFcn = 
    InputBufferSize = 512
    Name = VISA-GPIB0-1
    ObjectVisibility = on
    OutputBufferSize = 512
    OutputEmptyFcn = 
    RecordDetail = compact
    RecordMode = overwrite
    RecordName = record.txt
    RecordStatus = off
    Status = closed
    Tag = 
    Timeout = 10
    TimerFcn = 
    TimerPeriod = 1
    TransferStatus = idle
    Type = visa-gpib
    UserData = []
    ValuesReceived = 0
    ValuesSent = 0

    VISA-GPIB specific properties:
    Alias = 
    BoardIndex = 0
    EOIMode = on
    EOSCharCode = LF
    EOSMode = none
    PrimaryAddress = 1
    RsrcName = GPIB0::1::0::INSTR
    SecondaryAddress = 0

Cleanup

When an instrument object is no longer needed, remove it from memory and clear the MATLAB workspace of the associated variable.

delete([g s v]);
clear g s v