GETTING STARTED WITH MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC .Net FOR WINDOWS
PROGRAMMING > GETTING STARTED >

Compatibility

The instruNet interface for Visual BASIC is compatible with Microsoft Visual BASIC .Net Version ≥ 7.0, which requires a ≥ 80386 PC / PC Compatible Computer running Windows >= 95 and ≥8 MB Ram.  A BASIC for the Macintosh is not supported by instruNet.

Every instruNet Visual Basic program must include the .vb files in the "VB Common Source" directory.

Getting Started

To get started with Visual BASIC ≥ 7.x, please do the following steps:

1. Make sure you have done Tutorial in its entirety.
2. Install Visual BASIC onto your hard disk, load an example program, compile, and then run to verify that your BASIC is set up properly.
3. Duplicate the  "instruNet \ Programming Interfaces \ Visual Basic" directory -- we will run/modify the files in the duplicate copy.  This directory contains the following sub-directories:
   
   VB Example1: example program #1
   VB Scope: 1 to 16 channel oscilloscope/chart recorder
   VB Instrument:   2ch oscilloscope, XY recorder, Spectrum Analyzer
   VB Direct To Excel: digitize directly to Excel Version ≥8
   VB Common: Source common source code files
4. Run one of the example programs.  If you have any errors, please use the source code to debug the system -- all source code is provided.  Some lines of code open the instruNet World window, and pass control to instruNet World (until the user closes the instruNet World window to return back to the example program).  Don't let this freak you out.
5. Run an example program to verify that the compiler, example files, driver, and computer are all working well together.
6. Read the example program source code and comments to get a feel for instruNet programming.
7. Modify the Example source code to meet your own needs.
8. Click Programming to learn more.