Initializing a Driver Session with the NI-DC Power Driver In C#

Updated Jul 28, 2023

Reported In

Hardware

  • PXI-4110

Driver

  • NI-DCPower

Programming Language

  • C# .NET

Issue Details

I am having trouble successfully initializing a driver session with the NI DC-Power Driver through C#. When I try I get the following exception: 

"IVISessionFactory:  The specific driver’s main class (assembly qualified class name) is not specified in the configuration store.  Driver Session: niDCPower  Specific Driver (software module): NI-DCPower"

Solution

To begin, you need to have the correct driver and APIs installed. To do this: 

1. Download the NI-DCPower driver and the NI-DCPower .NET Class Libraries. This compatibility chart lists the driver and API that correspond with each other with links to download them (note that NI DC-Power 17.0 is also compatible with .NET API 14.1 although not listed). 

2. Create a driver session and logical name in NI MAX that points to the instrument driver software module for the correct version of .NET you are using. The logical name needs to point to the driver session you just crated in the drop-down menu. 

To create the driver session and logical name: 

1. Right click the driver session drop down and choose “Create New” 
 
2. Select the Software tab and choose the Software Module for the version of .NET 

3. Navigate to the hardware tab at the bottom of the screen and add the hardware resources you are going to use. 
4. Save the driver session (top left >> Save IVI Configuration). 
5. Create a new Logical Name (right click Logical Name drop down >> create new)  C
6. Configure it to point to the driver session you just created. It should populate in the drop-down menu. 
7. Click Save IVI Configuration 

At this point, you should be able to compile your C# code using the logical name specified in the above steps to successfully initiate a driver session.

Additional Information

If you have the .NET API installed successfully, you should see the following hierarchy showing the driver: