NAME

       visa - Virtual Instrument Software Architecture

SYNOPSIS

       #include <visa.h>

DESCRIPTION

       The   Virtual   Instrument   Software   Architecture  provides  a  generic  interface  for
       communication with test and measurement equipment.

   Resource Names
       Each device is identified by a resource name that specifies the type of  connection  used,
       location information and the device type.

       USB Devices
              USB[bus]::manufacturer::product::serial[::type]

              The  manufacturer  and  product  identifiers  must  be given as hexadecimal numbers
              prefixed with 0x.  The serial number is mandatory, even  if  the  device  would  be
              unique otherwise.

       Ethernet/VXI-11 Devices
              TCPIP[interface]::host[::type]

   Resource Manager
       Access  to resources is mediated through a resource manager; while technically there could
       be multiple instances, usually only the default resource manager is used.

       A handle to the default resource manager can be obtained from  the  viOpenDefaultRM(3visa)
       function.

   Finding Devices
       If  the  resource  name is not known in advance, the resource manager can be queried for a
       list of known devices by using the viFindRsrc(3visa) function.

       This function returns a ViFindList object (along  with  the  first  known  resource),  and
       further  resource names are then queried from the find list using viFindNext(3visa) before
       finally freeing the list using viClose(3visa).