BenchVue 3.0 now available – ask the BenchVue team anything

[nctnico]

A Linux version would interest me as well!

[6thimage]

A linux version would interest me as well and I would be more than happy to help in alpha/beta testing.

[BenchVue Team]

Thanks nctnico and 6thImage . It might be a while before we are ready for users to test, but we will keep you on a short list of interested Linux users!

[rosbuitre]

A linux version would interest me as well and I would be more than happy to help in alpha/beta testing.

Me too (debian) 

[Omicron]

I would second the request to add support for the DSO6000L line of rack mount oscilloscopes (DSO6014L, DSO6054L and DSO6104L). They were marketed as 100% software compatible with the DSO6000 line so should be trivial.

It seems the list of supported oscilloscopes is encoded in an XML file that is included as a resource in the AgInfiniiVision6000_06_10_0001.dll driver. I figure adding support for these scopes is as trivial as listing them there. Unfortunately the XML is signed so one can't just hack it in.

[kaz911]

I just installed latest 3.1 to test my new 34465A - but my opinion has not changed from v1.6?

The software is BLOATED - installs far to many background services - is slow - does not follow any UI design standards at all  - installs a permanently loaded "license manager" with taskbar icon?

Here is a list of what I have found running permanently so far

64-bit Agilent 82357 Server Utility - 1.6MB
64-bit Keysight E8491 I/O Server Utility - 2.0MB
64-bit Keysight IO Control - 1.4MB
64-bit Keysight USBMC/USB488 I/O Server Utility 1.6MB
ACE-Server - 20MB
Agilent IO Libraries Named Kernel Object Server 8.3MB
Agilent IO Libraries Service - 4.9MB
Agilent PXI Resource Manager (32-bit) - 3.7MB
Keysight Communications Fabric (32-bit) - 12.8MB
Keysight Licence Notifier (32-bit) - 12.6MB
Keysight License Service (32-bit) - 13.6MB
Keysight mDNS Responder Service - 1.2MB

So in total - 83.7MB of memory used while BenchVue is not open or in use. Why the F does so many things have to RUN in the background?

So in short - it might look better than the 1980's design Fluke does on their software - but it is just bloated and takes 1000 times as much space - probably because it seems to be built on top of Mathlab. It is not because of .Net...

So I will .. uninstall ... again and check version 5 when it comes out.

If you want to run it - put it in a virtual machine where it can do less harm... That is what I might do.
 
Installer bug: Installer requests a reboot - which is not needed. Then if you cancel the reboot - you get no warning - installer just quits with no message. Here it would be normal or nice to say " You can continue to install BenchVue after the reboot" - but since a reboot is not needed at all - it should not be there (On Win10 all services got installed and started without having to resort to a reboot) - just restarted the BenchVue installer and everything continued and BenchVue ran fine without any reboots. But I guess I might find more Agilent/Keysight background processes running after a reboot...

Sorry for the rant but I do not understand why Test gear software needs to be so OTT bloated for the LITTLE amount of features they have. So i'm back at CMD Expert or my own scripts.

[D3f1ant]

I had to disable the plugin it installs into excel, it seems to stop Excel prompting to save changes to documents when it's closed (old office 2010 on win10). With the plugin is disabled the prompt behaviour goes back to normal, perfectly repeatable on my machine.

I also get the occasional warning from the licence manager that my system clock is set forward from real time.

[D3f1ant]

@D3f1ant - Some of the B2900 series are supported with BenchVue today. We currently support the B2901A, B2902A, B2911A, B2912A, B2961A, B2962A. These can be used with our power supply app.

In the PSU app the only thing I can do is turn output on/off and set V and I limit, not exactly feature rich considering the capabilities available on the unit itself.

[BenchVue Team]

@D3f1ant - Some of the B2900 series are supported with BenchVue today. We currently support the B2901A, B2902A, B2911A, B2912A, B2961A, B2962A. These can be used with our power supply app.

In the PSU app the only thing I can do is turn output on/off and set V and I limit, not exactly feature rich considering the capabilities available on the unit itself.

See the Test Flow video that uses a B29xxA SMU as a transistor curve tracer:


Brian

[D3f1ant]

But that's not free, and correct me if I'm wrong but test flow is only available on a yearly renewable licence. (And still doesn't offer full control). I am just suggesting an improvement that might make me reinstall benchvue, as long as I don't have complete harmony amongst my keysight gear I don't see the point of having it installed. The Quick IV Measurement application works fine, would just be nice to have it inside benchvue. I'm sure you can find a way to cripple it just enough to make a pro version a worthwhile expense

Actually another suggestion would be to have a usable free version of Test Flow. maybe limit the number of steps or combination of instruments in the free version but I would be more likely to buy a pro version if I could play with it on my own gear.

[HighVoltage]

BenchVue v3.5 is out since 2016-06-21

"New platform features and enhanced usability. New Test Flow capabilities and added support for new apps (FieldFox, signal generator and more). Also added support for additional Keysight instruments."

http://www.keysight.com/main/software.jspx?cc=US&lc=eng&ckey=2417463&nid=-32762.0.08&id=2417463

[rx8pilot]

I installed and tried BenchVue yesterday - for the first time. The hope was to create some basic automation and logging. The first PC install failed on the C++ components - not sure what to do about that. Moved to another PC and it installed just fine, although it took a remarkably long time.

Once up and launched, the only officially compatible instrument I have (MSOX6004A) will not connect. It shows up at the bottom but without any apparent connection. I comes up in NI Visa and responds to manual commands.

I was hoping to get lucky and be able to control my older PSU's HP and Agilent 66xx series. That does not seem to be on the list. Predictably, I cannot control Keithley DMM's or Chroma DC loads which makes sense. I think I have to keep pushing forward with LabView to accomplish any automation. I feel like I will always have a brand mix of instruments needing to be automated.

Is there any plan to create a more general purpose tool or is BenchVue largely on the market to encourage buying only Keysight instruments? Totally understandable of course, but it would be nice to see this easy to use tool available for more. LabView is very powerful at the expense of complexity and a steep learning curve. Most of what I am after is fairly basic, but doing basic things in LabView requires a solid commitment in training/programming.

[HighVoltage]

My DSOX6004A connected to BV without any problems on first try and works really well.

Does your MSOX6004A show up correctly in the I/O libraries?
Can you communicate to the instrument via the I/O libraries commands?

[rx8pilot]

My DSOX6004A connected to BV without any problems on first try and works really well.

Does your MSOX6004A show up correctly in the I/O libraries?
Can you communicate to the instrument via the I/O libraries commands?

When you say I/O Libraries - do you mean the NI Explorer? That is what launches when I select open libraries. The scope shows up there and responds to *IDN? correctly. The name shows up at the bottom of the BenchVue screen - but it is not connected.  No serial # or firmware reported. The graphic is generic. Not sure where to turn first.

EDIT:
It returns data, but there is also an error.

EDIT2:
Oops. I was on the raw socket connection. Query the INSTR and it works just fine in the NI VISA Test Panel.

[rx8pilot]

....Now I am installing the Keysight IO Libraries with it's 'secondary' VISA. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Lets see if it does better now.

[rx8pilot]

That worked! Connection success. Now it's time to explore to see if BenchVue solves any of my daily challenges.

Sent from my horrible mobile....

[HighVoltage]

Great, yes you have to have the VISA connected to the Keysight libraries.
Re- Installing the I/O libraries new, usually fixed the problems for me.
I am not sure if you even could use the NI VISA.
I have only the Keysight Libraries installed and all my Agilent / Keysight gear is working perfectly with it.

[HighVoltage]

New BenchVue Version 3.7 has been officially released

http://www.keysight.com/main/software.jspx?cc=DE&lc=ger&ckey=2417463&nid=-32133.0.08&id=2417463

Release Date: 2016-12-01
Version: 3.7

Notable changes:
- Bug fixes and performance improvements
- Troubleshooting Tool installed as part of BenchVue installation
- Added new If/Then/Else block in BenchVue Test Flow

BenchVue has become an important part of my lab and for documentation purpose.
Thank you to Keysight for providing regular updates.

[nfmax]

New BenchVue Version 3.7 has been officially released

I fired up Benchvue (3.1) for the first time in quite a while last night, to check out an E3642A PSU I just scored. I checked for updates, and it told me an update was available. Clicked the download button for that - great, now I'm on 3.5. Fired that up, and it told me there was a new version of the DMM app available. Downloaded that, and it proceded to download and install Benchvue 3.6 as a prerequisite. OK, so I clicked, waited for all that to finish, fired it up, and just for a laugh, checked for updates. Only now do I see 3.7 is available. Clicked yet again for yet another 500MB download and install. Finally got there!

By this time it was 11:50pm. Now my broadband has been upgraded, I get just over 4mb/s synch speed, so the whole evening was basically wasted waiting for packets. Oh and before I could start all this there was a whole batch of critical Windows Updates to download and install.

A whole wasted evening.

Keysight, please can you get all your s**t in one sock & sort out your updates?

[HighVoltage]

I noticed the update system is far from perfect.

One way to get around all this is to download the latest version of BV from the Keysight website.
At least it worked for me.
 

[prasimix]

I'm wondering is it possible to add in BV support for a SCPI device that is not produced by Keysight?

[nfmax]

I'm wondering is it possible to add in BV support for a SCPI device that is not produced by Keysight?

I'm wondering is it possible to add in BV support for a SCPI device that is produced by Keysight?

[prasimix]

Sorry, that is not produced by Keysight

[plesa]

In Testflow app you can control instruments which are not HP/Agilent/Keysight brand.
You needs to know exact commands of course and it is not so intuitive.

[guenthert]

New BenchVue Version 3.7 has been officially released

I fired up Benchvue (3.1) for the first time in quite a while last night, to check out an E3642A PSU I just scored. I checked for updates, and it told me an update was available. Clicked the download button for that - great, now I'm on 3.5. Fired that up, and it told me there was a new version of the DMM app available. Downloaded that, and it proceded to download and install Benchvue 3.6 as a prerequisite. OK, so I clicked, waited for all that to finish, fired it up, and just for a laugh, checked for updates. Only now do I see 3.7 is available. Clicked yet again for yet another 500MB download and install. Finally got there!

By this time it was 11:50pm. Now my broadband has been upgraded, I get just over 4mb/s synch speed, so the whole evening was basically wasted waiting for packets. Oh and before I could start all this there was a whole batch of critical Windows Updates to download and install.

A whole wasted evening.

Keysight, please can you get all your s**t in one sock & sort out your updates?

I'm not on their team, but as a software engineer I can say that it is fairly common practice (even for expensive for-profit software) to require updates in sequence.  This is to i) simplify the software (each version needs only to know only one previous version's data format etc. from which to upgrade) and ii) keep the software test matrix at a manageable size.  So I'd be surprised if they are going to change that requirement.

An alternative is to uninstall the old version (and potentially throw away configuration and all old data or convert it into a 'portable' format prior).