PyVISA

PyVISA is a handy tool for programming measurement instruments, but let’s be real—it can sometimes feel like a headache. There are tons of different protocols, and they come through various interface and bus systems. No matter what programming language you choose, you’ll need to hunt down libraries that work with both your device and the bus system it uses.

The Birth of VISA

To make things a bit easier, the VISA specification was created back in the '90s. Nowadays, VISA is available on all major operating systems. A few vendors offer VISA libraries, but most of them come in binary form.

Compatibility with Devices

These libraries can work with different peripheral devices, though they might only support specific interface devices like the vendor’s GPIB card. The Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) has clear bindings to popular languages like Visual Basic, C, and G (which is LabVIEW's visual coding language). But guess what? You can also use VISA with any language that can call functions in a DLL—and Python is one of those languages!

What’s PyVISA?

The PyVISA project offers a way to use VISA with Python. It relies on an external library file that you can grab from your interface vendor’s website—think National Instruments or Agilent. PyVISA gives you easy access to this library through two layers:

• First Layer: The lower-level vpp43 directly calls the VISA functions from Python. If you're curious about this part, check out the PyVISA low-level implementation for more details.


• Second Layer: On top of that is an object-oriented Python module called visa simple. If you're ever unsure which to use, go for visa—it’s easier and more user-friendly! The vpp43 layer is mainly for those who want full control or need specific official VISA functions.

What's New in This Release?

• - Fixed some timeout errors that were slipping through unnoticed.


• - Resolved issues caused by older VISA DLLs missing certain functions.


• - Both problems have been addressed!

If you're ready to simplify your programming woes with PyVISA, give it a try!