Overview

NI-VISA is an implementation of the Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) I/O standard. Generally speaking, VISA is a standard for communicating with devices connected via serial/RS232/RS422/RS485, Ethernet, GPIB, VXI, PXI, LXI, and/or USB interfaces. The NI-VISA Runtime is a minimal subset of NI-VISA comprising just the components needed for runtime access and control of the peripheral port/bus interfaces noted above, and several plugins depend on the NI-VISA Runtime in order to work with such interfaces.

When JADE installs the NI-VISA Runtime dependency, all of the components necessary for your plugins to control the noted interfaces are installed, along with a useful configuration tool named MAX (short for Measurement and Automation Explorer). MAX will display installed devices and allows quick validation and configuration of your hardware installations.

As with most JADE plugin dependencies, this dependency is installed automatically when selected / included in a bundle (*.jadb file), saving you the hassle of having to manually install it.

More Information

For more information from NI, visit the NI-VISA and/or MAX documentation on NI’s website.