NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4
Copyright 2005 National Instruments Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.


This file contains release notes, patent information, and last-minute 
information for NI-488.2 for Windows. Information in this file is too 
recent to be included in the official documentation set.


Release Notes
-------------
NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4, is the latest driver offering
from National Instruments. Every attempt has been made to maintain 
backward compatibility with the installed base of existing NI-488.2 
applications.


Supported Interfaces
--------------------
NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4, supports the following hardware on 
Windows 2000/XP.  Windows 98/Me is no longer supported.
      
AT-GPIB/TNT(PnP)
GPIB-ENET/100  
GPIB-USB-B
GPIB-USB-HS - NEW
PCI-GPIB
PCI-GPIB+
PCI-GPIB/LP
PCI-8212
PCI-8232
NI PCIe-GPIB (PCI Express(TM) Interface for GPIB)
NI ExpressCard-GPIB (ExpressCard (TM) Interface for GPIB) - NEW
PCMCIA-GPIB
PCMCIA-GPIB+
PMC-GPIB
PXI-GPIB
PXI-8212
PXI-8232


Compatible Software
-------------------
This driver version has been tested with the following software.
 
NI-VISA 3.2 and 3.3
LabVIEW 6.1, 7.0, and 7.1.1
LabWindows/CVI 7.1
Measurement Studio 7.1

This driver should work with older versions of the software, 
but we have not tested against older versions.


Enhancements and Bugfixes in Version 2.4
----------------------------------------
NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4 adds support for GPIB-USB-HS, NI 
ExpressCard-GPIB, and a revised version of the PCI-GPIB+ 
Controller/Analyzer board. Support for the obsolete GPIB-USB-A 
interface has been dropped in this release.

Driver version 2.3 performance during IBCMD and serial poll calls was 
lower than version 2.2.  This has been fixed and improved over 
version 2.2.

Documentation has been updated for various features.


Enhancements and Bugfixes in Version 2.3
----------------------------------------
NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.3, adds language support for Chinese 
(Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), and Korean. This is in addition 
to English and Japanese languages supported by the previous versions 
of NI-488.2 for Windows. All Components of this release have been 
localized with the exception of:

- NI-488.2 Interactive Control Utility
- GPIB Analyzer Software
- Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX)
- NI-VISA
- User documentation

This release also includes new Getting Started documentation in all 
languages supported, available through the 'View Documentation' 
utility on the NI-488.2 for Windows CD.

Bugfixes
--------
Microsoft Sysprep utility - The Sysprep utility would cause a crash 
in some cases of deployment. This has been fixed.

IBCMDA and IBSTOP - An IBSTOP call was unable to stop asynchronous 
IBCMDA calls. This has been fixed.

Some cosmetic issues with GPIB utilities have been fixed.


Enhancements and Bugfixes in Version 2.2
------------------------------------------
AT-GPIB/TNT(PnP) - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds support 
for the AT-GPIB/TNT(PnP) interface.

PCI Express(TM) Interface for GPIB - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 
2.2, adds support for the PCI Express(TM) Interface for GPIB.

Power Management  -  NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds the EPWR 
error code.  This error indicates that the interface lost power.  
This may occur when the system goes to standby or hibernate mode.  
The NI-488.2 driver attempts to prevent the system from going to 
standby or hibernate if there is an application with an open NI-488.2 
handle.

.NET Support - National Instruments provides two interfaces for 
developing GPIB-based applications in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 
2003 or later: 
1) the native .NET API and 
2) the NI-488.2 wrapper interface. 
We recommend the native .NET API as the preferred method of developing
GPIB .NET applications because of its superior integration into the 
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET IDE. The native .NET API can be installed
from the NI-488.2 CD by selecting it from the custom installation 
section.  It is installed in the "National Instruments\Measurement 
Studio" sub-directory.  Full integrated help for this API is available
inside the Visual Studio .NET environment.  The NI-488.2 wrapper 
interface can be found on the CD in the "Microsoft .NET Language 
Interface" directory. 

New ibask option - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds the 
IbaSerialNumber option to ibask.  This allows customers to query the 
serial number of the board that they are using.  The ibask call will 
return a 32-bit serial number for supported interfaces. The driver 
will return with ERR bit set in ibsta, and iberr set to ECAP for 
unsupported interfaces.  This feature is not supported with the Visual
Basic language interface.  The VB language interface for ibask does 
not handle unsigned 32-bit numbers.

Older National Instruments PCMCIA-GPIB devices would not enumerate 
properly with the 2.1 driver.  This has been fixed.

The driver would sometimes not call the ibnotify callback, or call the
ibnotify callback improperly when waiting for RQS.  This has been 
fixed.

The driver would hang if a device-level ibconfig was called with 
IbcSPollTime, IbcPAD, or IbcSAD when an ibnotify call on the same 
device descriptor was in progress.  This has been fixed.

The driver had a small memory leak when being used by VISA.  This has 
been fixed.

The GPIB Analyzer application would crash when launched with some 
video cards.  This has been fixed.

Enabling DOS support worked improperly when logging in as a different 
user that it was enabled as.  This has been fixed.


Enhancements in Version 2.1
------------------------------------------
PCMCIA-GPIB  -  NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.1, adds support for
the PCMCIA-GPIB interface. Following the precedent of Version 2.0
of the driver which unified the driver for the PCI, ENET, and USB
interfaces, this version ensures that those interfaces along with
the PCMCIA-GPIB can function simultaneously with the same driver.

Analyzer  -  NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.1, supports the GPIB
analyzer portion of the PCI-GPIB+ and PCMCIA-GPIB+ on the Windows
2000 and XP operating systems. This support was previously only
available on Windows NT, 98, and 95.


Enhancements in Version 2.0
---------------------------
Installer - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, improves the 
installation experience for the user.

Windows 2000/XP - In the past, there were separate drivers for 
plug-in interface boards (PCI-GPIB, etc.), the GPIB-ENET family, 
and the GPIB-USB-A. Only one of these three could be installed and 
used at any one time. NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, removes 
this restriction. All supported interfaces function simultaneously
with the same driver.

Windows 2000/XP - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, resolves the 
issue that prevents users running the software in USER mode (as 
opposed to ADMINISTRATOR mode).

Internationalized Software Support - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 
2.0, offers an improved localized solution in Japanese.


Patent Information
------------------
For patents covering National Instruments products, refer to the 
appropriate location: Help>>Patents in your software, the 
patents.txt file on your CD, or ni.com/patents.
    

 
