Can I Simulate a DAQ Card With IVI?

• I have a NI-DAQmx compatible device. Can I simulate it using IVI drivers?
• How do I simulate a counter in NI MAX using IVI?
• Can I use an IVI configuration with my DAQ device?

Yes, a DAQ device can be simulated with IVI. However, NI's DAQ devices are designed to be used with NI-DAQmx  rather than IVI drivers.
To use an IVI configuration, an IVI compliant specific driver must be installed on to the host machine. Currently, there are no IVI compliant specific drivers for NI-DAQmx devices.

It is possible to simulate the DAQ device using the following methods:

1. Creating a custom IVI driver.

• Since there aren't any existing IVI compliant specific drivers for NI-DAQmx devices, a driver can be created from scratch instead.
• This can be done in LabWindows™/CVI. However, the accessibility of the device may be limited when doing this.

2. Simulating using NI-DAQmx.

• The most straight forward method is to use NI-DAQmx to simulate the device. See NI-DAQmx Simulated Devices  for further details.
• After doing this, the device can be accessed and controlled from the chosen development environment.
  • See Using NI-DAQmx in Text Based Programming Environments for details on using NI-DAQmx with text based languages.
  • For LabWindows™/CVI applications, see Using NI-DAQmx in LabWindows™/CVI.
  • For LabVIEW applications, see the LabVIEW section of Getting Started with NI-DAQmx .

Additional Information

IVI-compliant specific drivers can be found at Instrument Driver Network (IDNet).