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Overview
Each release of the NI-DAQmx driver software offers new software features and support for new hardware devices in
addition to the existing functionality of the preceding version. An upgrade to the latest version of NI-DAQmx is a
FREE upgrade to your entire data acquisition (DAQ) application and will both improve performance of your current
application and increase productivity when creating new DAQ applications. This document focuses on the new features
of NI-DAQmx 8.6.
LabVIEW 8.5 includes many other features which new and existing LabVIEW users will find helpful. To learn more,
visit www.ni.com/labview85. Additionally, NI-DAQmx 8.6 includes support for LabVIEW versions 7.1, 8.0, 8.2, and
8.5.
For more advanced data logging, analysis, and report generation, you can use the full version of LabVIEW
SignalExpress. The free download of LabVIEW SignalExpress includes a free 30-day evaluation of the full software
package. This software package includes the following:
• More than 200 analysis functions ranging from statistical calculations to waveform processing
• Customizable reports including graph snapshots
• Data views in a variety of formats such as graphs, charts, gages, meters, and thermometers
LabVIEW™, National Instruments™, and ni.com™ are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their
respective companies. 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.
© Copyright 2006 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved. Document Version 44
• Alarms that can trigger logging, emails, TTL, or analog outputs
You can easily convert your LabVIEW SignalExpress projects into LabVIEW code with a few simple clicks. Using the
LabVIEW development environment, you can turn your LabVIEW SignalExpress data-logging projects into an
advanced data acquisition system or simply add more customizable features. LabVIEW SignalExpress is included in
LabVIEW Full and Professional development systems, Developer Suite, or can be purchased as a standalone package.
Additionally, NI-DAQmx leverages the new multithreaded support added in LabVIEW Real-Time 8.5 providing
greater performance on multi-core real-time targets. Multiple NI-DAQmx real-time tasks can execute in parallel on
different cores allowing real-time DAQ applications to fully utilize the multi-core architecture of modern processors.
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To learn more about how National Instruments optimized NI-DAQmx for multicore performance, read the white
paper Multithreaded Features of LabVIEW Functions and Drivers.
3 www.ni.com
Driver Signing on Windows XP for Select NI USB Data Acquisition Products
For the first time, the NI-DAQmx driver is signed in accordance with Microsoft policies for driver signing. In addition
to assuring system security, this new feature allows for select NI USB DAQ devices to be installed on a Windows XP
machine without requiring Administrator privileges or manually accepting a Windows prompt to install a device driver.
In many situations including academic labs and using a machine as a guest, it is not possible to get Administrator
privileges. A signed NI-DAQmx driver now alleviates the situation as long as the driver was originally installed by an
Administrator. Supported devices include:
• NI CompactDAQ and all supported modules
• USB-6008 and 6009
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• USB-6501
• USB-9162 (USB sleeve for C Series modules)
• Bus-Powered USB M Series (USB-621x)
• Wall-Powered USB M Series (USB-622x and USB-625x)
• Vernier SensorDAQ
TM
For Windows Vista x64 Edition, Microsoft requires a digital signature on all drivers. By requiring new, signed drivers,
Microsoft aims to reduce failures and improve stability by shining a spotlight on vendor responsibility for bugs. With
Windows Vista x86, administrators can install unsigned drivers, but Microsoft continues to discourage their use. All
NI-DAQmx data acquisition devices are digitally signed for Windows Vista x86 and x64. With digital signing, all
devices will install without user prompts or Administrator privileges. PCI devices will install automatically upon start
up, and USB devices will install when plugged in and (if necessary) powered on.
Measurement Studio
1. Gen Mult Current Updates-Int Clk
2. Cont Gen Current Updates Wfm-Int Clk
3. Meas Two Edge Separationg-Buffered-Continuous
4. Meas Pulse Width-Buffered-Sample Clock-Cont
5. Multi-Function-Synch AI-Read Dig Chan
LabWindows/CVI
1. Acq Wheatstone Bridge Samples-9237
NI-DAQmx includes more than 128 example programs C/C++, 78 for C# and Visual Basic .NET, and 7 for Visual
Basic 6.0. An additional 85 examples and 44 technical tutorials are available online at the NI Developer Zone. In total,
more than 300 examples and tutorials are available for using NI-DAQmx in text-based languages. In addition,
NI-DAQmx installs with complete reference help including NI-DAQmx functions and NI-DAQmx properties for
text-based application development.
5 www.ni.com
With NI-DAQmx 8.6, you can either build the different runtime engines yourself while building an installer for your
LabVIEW application, or you can download one of the different runtimes from ni.com. The following sections describe
the five different NI-DAQmx runtime engines and provide possible use cases for each version.
Full
This distribution installs all the driver software included in NI-DAQmx but does not include:
• NI LabVIEW SignalExpress
Use Case: This is the default selection when building a custom installer that includes NI-DAQmx. Use this version if
you need to do additional development in NI-DAQmx on your target machine.
Runtime
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This distribution installs all the driver software included in NI-DAQmx but does not include:
• NI LabVIEW SignalExpress
• Application development environment (ADE) support for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and NI Measurement
Studio
Use Case: If you are deploying your NI-DAQmx application into an executable that requires no further development,
and you used the DAQ Assistant in the development of the application, you can use this option when creating the
NI-DAQmx installer.
Runtime 2
This distribution installs all the driver software included in NI-DAQmx but does not include:
• NI LabVIEW SignalExpress
• Application development environment (ADE) support for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement Studio
• The DAQ Assistant
Use Case: If you are deploying your NI-DAQmx application into an executable that requires no further development,
and you did not use the DAQ Assistant in the development of the application, you can use this option when creating the
NI-DAQmx installer.
Runtime 3
This distribution installs all the driver software included in NI-DAQmx but does not include:
• NI LabVIEW SignalExpress
• Application development environment (ADE) support for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement Studio
• The DAQ Assistant
• NI-DAQmx documentation
Use Case: If you are deploying your NI-DAQmx application into an executable that requires no further development,
you did not use the DAQ Assistant in the development of the application, and you do not require NI-DAQmx
documentation including help files on your target machine, you can use this option when creating the NI-DAQmx
installer.
Runtime 4
This distribution installs all the driver software included in NI-DAQmx but does not include:
• NI LabVIEW SignalExpress
• Application development environment (ADE) support for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement Studio
• The DAQ Assistant
• NI-DAQmx documentation
• LabVIEW Real-Time support
Use Case: If you are deploying your NI-DAQmx application into an executable that requires no further development,
you did not use the DAQ Assistant in the development of the application, you do not require NI-DAQmx
documentation including help files on your target machine, and the application will not be deployed to a LabVIEW
Real-Time target, you can use this option when creating the NI-DAQmx installer.
Runtime 5
This distribution installs all the driver software included in NI-DAQmx but does not include:
• NI LabVIEW SignalExpress
• Application development environment (ADE) support for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement Studio
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• The DAQ Assistant
• NI-DAQmx documentation
• LabVIEW Real-Time support
• Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)
Use Case: If you are deploying your NI-DAQmx application into an executable that requires no further development;
you did not use the DAQ Assistant in the development of the application; you do not require NI-DAQmx
documentation including help files on your target machine; the application will not be deployed to a LabVIEW
Real-Time target; and you do not require MAX for such things as troubleshooting installation, setting up device
configurations including device names, tasks, scales, and channels, you can use this option when creating the
NI-DAQmx installer.
8 www.ni.com
Newly supported devices include:
NI PXI-4496
16 AI channel, 204.8 kS/s, 24-bit, AC-coupled, IEPE DSA
device
NI PXI-4498
16 AI channel, 204.8 kS/s, 24-bit, AC-coupled, IEPE DSA
device
NI USB-6225 Mass Termination
250 kS/s, 16-bit, 80 channel M Series device
NI USB-6225 Screw Terminal
250 kS/s, 16-bit, 80 channel M Series device
NI USB-6255 Mass Termination
1.25 MS/s, 16-bit, 80 channel M Series device
NI USB-6255 Screw Terminal
1.25 MS/s, 16-bit, 80 channel M Series device
9 www.ni.com
NI-DAQmx now supports TEDS (Transducer Electronic Data Sheets) sensors with the USB-9233, 4-channel IEPE
module, and the new USB-9237, 4-channel bridge-based module. TEDS sensors, based on the IEEE 1451.4 standard,
reduce the time and challenges associated with sensor configuration and management. The standard establishes a
universally accepted method of giving sensors plug-and-play capability, similar to the plug-and-play capability of a
USB mouse and your computer. The combination of TEDS sensors with USB data acquisition gives the user a true
plug-and-play experience all the way from the sensor to the computer.
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• LabVIEW support for synchronous and asynchronous DAQ events
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NI-DAQmx 7.1 (October 2003)
• 83 data acquisition devices supported
• Accelerometer, LVDT, and RVDT measurements added to DAQ Assistant
Related Links:
12 www.ni.com