System and method for controlling an instrumentation system

A computer-implemented method for creating a program for controlling an instrumentation system, wherein the instrumentation system comprises a computer system and one or more instruments coupled to the computer system, wherein the instrumentation system further includes at least one input/output interface coupled between the computer system and said instruments, the method comprising:

• providing an object class stored in the memory of the computer system which provides operation control, attribute services, and object lifecycle services;
• providing an object manager stored in the memory of the computer system for creating and distributing objects derived from the object class;
• providing a session class stored in the memory of the computer system which derives functionality from the object class and provides functionality to identify and control individual sessions to a resource, including event management, extended attribute control, and access control;
• providing a resource class stored in the memory of the computer system which derives functionality from the object class and provides global variable capabilities;
• providing a plurality of instrument control resource classes stored in the memory of the computer system which provide functionality for controlling instrument device capabilities of said one or more instruments, wherein said plurality of instrument control resource classes each derive functionality from said session class and said resource class;
• generating a plurality of instrument control resources for controlling instrument device capabilities of said one or more instruments, wherein said generating includes said plurality of instrument control resources inheriting functionality from said plurality of instrument control resource classes, wherein said generating further comprises storing said plurality of instrument control resources in the memory of the computer system, wherein said plurality of instrument control resources are generated based on the at least one input/output interface and said one or more instruments comprised in said instrumentation system;
• providing a resource manager stored in the memory of the computer system for providing user control, communication and access to said plurality of instrument control resources;
• constructing an instrumentation control program which uses one or more of said plurality of instrument control resources to control the instrumentation system, wherein said constructing is in response to user input;
• and
• said instrumentation control program executing to control the instrumentation system, wherein said instrumentation control program executes regardless of said input/output interface type used in said instrumentation system.

A computer-readable storage media for operating in an instrumentation system, the instrumentation system comprising a computer system including a central processing unit, one or more instruments coupled to the computer system, and at least one input/output interface coupled between the computer system and the instruments, wherein the computer-readable storage media includes a substrate having a physical configuration representing data, the storage media comprising:

• an object class comprised on the storage media which provides operation control, attribute services, and object lifecycle services;
• an object manager comprised on the storage media for creating and distributing objects derived from the object class;
• a session class comprised on the storage media which derives functionality from the object class and provides functionality to identify and control individual sessions to a resource, including event management, extended attribute control, and access control;
• a resource class comprised on the storage media which derives functionality from the object class and provides global variable capabilities;
• a plurality of instrument control resource classes comprised on the storage media which provide functionality for controlling instrument device capabilities of said one or more instruments, wherein said plurality of instrument control resource classes each derive functionality from said session class and said resource class;
• a plurality of instrument control resources comprised on the storage media for controlling instrument device capabilities of said one or more instruments, wherein said plurality of instrument control resources inherit functionality from said plurality of instrument control resource classes, wherein said plurality of instrument control resources are based on the at least one input/output interface and said one or more instruments comprised in said instrumentation system;
• a resource manager comprised on the storage media for providing user control, communication and access to said plurality of instrument control resources, wherein said resource manager maintains a data structure comprising information on said instrument control resources;
• and
• an instrumentation control program comprised on the storage media using one or more of said plurality of instrument control resources, wherein said instrumentation control program controls the instrumentation system, wherein said instrumentation control program executes regardless of said input/output interface type used in said instrumentation system.