How Do I Install My Third Party Instrument Drivers?

Primary Software: LabVIEW Development Systems>>LabVIEW Base Package
Primary Software Version: 1.0
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: Instrument Drivers/IVI>>IVI Driver Templates


Problem:
I downloaded a third party instrument driver for LabVIEW and ran the executable to install the driver, but when I reopen LabVIEW my new driver VIs are nowhere to be found. Where can I find them and how do I integrate them with LabVIEW so they appear on my instrument driver palette?

Solution:
For LabVIEW to access an instrument driver through the palette menu the driver must be located in the instr.lib directory, which is contained in your LabVIEW folder. For example, the default installation location for LabVIEW 7.1 would be C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 7.1\instr.lib.  The instr.lib folder has the instrument driver folders containing all necessary *.mnu files and a *.llb or *.lvlib file as well. The *.mnu files alone only tell LabVIEW where on the palette the VIs should be found and do not contain the source. The source for the driver files can be found in the *.llb or *.lvlib file.

It is the case that some third party drivers will install these files to the C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA directory, where LabVIEW will not be able to find them. In this case, you must manually copy and paste these files to a folder within the instr.lib directory. For example, consider a driver named my_test which installs to C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\my_test and contains subfolders examples and labview. To make these drivers available to LabVIEW, do the following:

1. 
   
2. Exit out of LabVIEW if it is currently loaded in memory.
   
3. Copy the LabVIEW directory under C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\my_test\ to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\<LabVIEW>\instr.lib.
   
4. Rename the folder to the name of the driver, in this case, my_test.
   
5. Restart LabVIEW and from the block diagram your instrument drivers should appear under Functions ? All Functions ? Instrument I/O ? Instrument Drivers.
   
6. http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/86256F0E001DA9FD86256F0B0057E6E7