General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) system and method which provides GPIB call capture and display

A computer-implemented method for monitoring General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) calls made to GPIB driver software by a GPIB application, wherein the GPIB driver software controls a GPIB interface, wherein the GPIB interface connects to one or more instruments, wherein the GPIB application and the GPIB driver software execute on a computer system, wherein the computer system includes a display screen, the method comprising:

• the GPIB application making an asynchronous GPIB call to the GPIB driver software;
• capturing said asynchronous GPIB call made to the GPIB driver software, wherein said capturing said GPIB call includes recording a start time of the GPIB call made to the GPIB driver software;
• the GPIB driver software asynchronously performing an operation indicated by the call;
• wherein said capturing includes recording a time when the GPIB driver software returns control to the GPIB application from the GPIB call;
• displaying said GPIB call on a window of the display screen, wherein said displaying further includes displaying said start time of the GPIB call and said time when the GPIB driver software returns control to the GPIB application.

A computer-implemented method for monitoring General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) calls made to GPIB driver software by a GPIB application, wherein the GPIB driver software controls a GPIB interface, wherein the GPIB interface connects to one or more instruments, wherein the GPIB application and the GPIB driver software execute on a computer system, wherein the computer system includes a display screen, the method comprising:

• receiving user input enabling a GPIB call capture mode;
• replacing a first module in the GPIB driver software with a second module, wherein the first module performs a first GPIB driver function and does not include capture capabilities, and wherein the second module performs said first GPIB driver function and includes capture capabilities;
• the GPIB application making a GPIB call to the GPIB driver software;
• the second module in the GPIB driver software capturing said GPIB call made to the GPIB driver software;
• the second module in the GPIB driver software displaying said GPIB call on a window of the display screen.

A method for monitoring GPIB calls made to GPIB driver software by a GPIB application, wherein the GPIB driver software controls a GPIB interface, wherein the GPIB interface connects to one or more instruments, the method comprising:

• the GPIB application making one or more calls to the GPIB driver software;
• capturing said GPIB calls made to said GPIB driver software;
• displaying said calls on a first window of a computer screen;
• wherein said capturing comprises capturing input parameters, return parameters, time of occurrence and duration for each of said GPIB calls;
• wherein said displaying comprises displaying summary data for each captured GPIB call on said first window of said computer screen in real time, wherein said summary data includes said input parameters, return parameters, and time of occurrence.

A General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) system, comprising

• a computer system including a CPU, memory, and a display screen, wherein the memory stores a GPIB application and GPIB driver software;
• a GPIB interface coupled to the computer system;
• wherein the GPIB driver software controls the GPIB interface;
• wherein the GPIB application makes a GPIB call to the GPIB driver software to control the GPIB interface;
• wherein the GPIB driver software is operable to capture the GPIB call made to the GPIB driver software, wherein said capturing includes recording a start time of the GPIB call made to the GPIB driver software;
• wherein the GPIB driver software is operable to perform an operation indicated by the GPIB call;
• wherein said capturing includes recording an end time of the GPIB call made to the GPIB driver software;
• wherein the GPIB driver software is operable to display the GPIB call on a window of the display screen, wherein said displaying includes displaying said start time of the GPIB call and said end time of the GPIB call.