Virtual instrument software architecture: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Test and measurement API}}

'''Virtual instrument software architecture''' ('''VISA''') is a widely used [[Input/output|I/O]] [[Application programming interface|API]] in the test and measurement (T&M) industry for communicating with [[Measuring instrument|instruments]] from a computer. VISA is an [[Technical standard|industry standard]] implemented by several T&M companies, such as, [[Anritsu]], [[Bustec]], [[Keysight Technologies]], Kikusui, [[National Instruments]], [[Rohde & Schwarz]], and [[Tektronix]].

{{for|other uses of the term visa|Visa (disambiguation)}}

'''Virtual instrument software architecture''' ('''VISA''') is a widely used [[Input/output|I/O]] [[Applicationapplication programming interface|API]] (API) in the test and measurement (T&M) industry for communicating with [[Measuring instrument|instruments]] from a computer. VISA is an [[Technical standard|industry standard]] implemented by several T&M companies, such as, [[Anritsu]], [[Bustec]], [[Keysight Technologies]], Kikusui, [[National Instruments]], [[Rigol]], [[Rohde & Schwarz]], and [[Tektronix]].

The VISA standard<ref name="VISA Specification">{{cite news |url=http://www.ivifoundation.org/specifications/default.aspx

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}}</ref> (over [[USB]]).

The VISA library has standardized the presentation of its operations over several software reuse mechanisms, including through a C [[Application programming interface|API]] exposed from Windows [[Library (computer science)#Dynamic linking|DLL]], visa32.dll, over the Microsoft [[Component Object Model|COM]] technology, and through a [[.NET Framework|.NET]] API. Although there are several VISA vendors and implementations, applications written against VISA are (nominally) vendor-interchangeable thanks to the standardization of VISA's presentation and operations/capabilities. Implementations from specific vendors {{Specify|date=August 2015}} are also available for less common programming languages {{Specify|date=August 2015}} and software reuse technologies.

==History==