How to Match Camera GenApi Versions to Fix XML Loading Errors

This article provides instructions on how to resolve a version mismatch between multiple cameras using different Generic API XML schemas in National Instruments Measurement & Automation Explorer. When cameras use conflicting schema versions, such as GenApi Version 1.0 and GenApi Version 1.1, NI-IMAQdx may fail to load the XML file for whichever camera is initialized second. This conflict results in the error below,

Error 0xBFF6901D Unable to load camera's XML file.

Follow the instructions below to make your application use matched versions of GenAPI standard for all both cameras.

• Identify the GenApi version of each camera. Check the manufacturer documentation or software utility for each camera to verify if it uses GenApi Version 1.0 or GenApi Version 1.1.
• Update the camera firmware using the manufacturer's software utility. Ensure that all cameras are configured to use the same GenApi version. It is highly recommended to upgrade any camera using GenApi Version 1.0 to GenApi Version 1.1 to match your other devices.
• Close NI MAX if the application is currently running.
• Navigate to the local XML cache directory C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-IMAQdx\Data\XML.
• Delete all files in this folder to clear the incompatible schemas.
• Reopen NI MAX.
• Initialize each camera to generate fresh, matching XML files.

After aligning the GenApi versions on both cameras and clearing the XML cache directory, NI-IMAQdx will successfully generate compatible XML schemas for both cameras. Both cameras will initialize correctly in NI MAX without encountering Error 0xBFF6901D Unable to load camera's XML file.