Installation

Before starting, ensure you have the official NI-DAQmx driver installed – nistreamer is only a layer on top of the driver and will not work without it.

Installing with pip

The easiest way to get nistreamer is by using pip. Activate the desired Python environment (e.g. conda activate ...) and run the following command:

pip install nistreamer

This will download and install a fully pre-compiled package into your Python environment. You should be able to import and use nistreamer immediately:

from nistreamer import NIStreamer, std_fn_lib

Next, check out quick-start tutorials.

Note

A pre-compiled version is only available for Windows, x86-64/AMD64 architecture, Python 3.7 and higher. You need to build from source to run on other platforms (see instructions below).

Building from source

You need to compile the project directly from source in the following cases:

• When adding custom waveform functions through usrlib option;

• Your platform is not supported by the pre-compiled distribution[1].

The step-by-step guide is provided below.

1. Get the tools

Install Rust by following the official instructions. This process will install all necessary Rust components including cargo – the command-line tool we will be using to compile the backend. You can verify that cargo was installed by running cargo --version.

We also need maturin to install compiled backend as a Python package. maturin itself is shipped as a Python package, so activate the desired environment (e.g. conda activate ...) where you want nistreamer to be eventually installed and run pip install maturin.

Finally, we recommend installing git – the command-line version control tool. This is the best way to get nistreamer source code you need and also pull the updates in the future. Download and run the official installer. Alternatively, you can manually download source code as .zip archive from GitHub.

2. Get the source code

The full source code is hosted on GitHub. Download the repository with git:

git clone https://github.com/NIStreamer/nistreamer.git

(or you can manually download and unpack .zip archive from GitHub if git is not installed).

To build with a library of custom waveforms, you should also get a clone of nistreamer-usrlib (GitHub) which you will be populating with new functions. We recommend creating your own GitHub fork of this repo - this way you can both version-control your own library and also pull in any future interface updates.

Once forked, clone your nistreamer-usrlib next to nistreamer - your directory tree should look like this:

parent_directory/
├── nistreamer/
│   ├── Cargo.toml
│   ├── pyproject.toml
│   └── ...
└── nistreamer-usrlib/
    ├── Cargo.toml
    └── ...

3. Compile and install

Open a terminal and navigate into nistreamer directory (this location should contain both pyproject.toml and Cargo.toml files). Don’t forger to activate the desired Python environment (e.g. conda activate ...).

For a default installation with the built-in waveform library run:

maturin develop

while building with the usrlib option requires adding the features flag[2]:

maturin develop --features usrlib

This command will both compile the back-end and install the full package into your active Python environment. If this operation completed without errors, you should be able to import and use nistreamer immediately:

from nistreamer import NIStreamer, std_fn_lib 
from nistreamer import usr_fn_lib  # only if this feature was enabled

Next, check out quick-start tutorials.

If build failed, refer to troubleshooting guide.

Troubleshooting

If build fails, read the error message - it contains a lot of useful information and sometimes suggests a fix to the issue.

Building with usrlib

If building with --features usrlib fails, try compiling without it as a sanity check. If default build works, there is likely a mistake in your Rust code.

Look through the full print-out. It will look something like this:

   Compiling pyo3-build-config v0.22.6
   Compiling pyo3-macros-backend v0.22.6
   ...
   ... many lines skipped ... 
   ...
   Compiling nistreamer-base v0.0.0 (C:\Users\...\nistreamer-base)
   
   Compiling nistreamer-usrlib v0.1.0 (C:\Users\...\nistreamer-usrlib)   <-- THIS STEP FAILED
   
error[E0277]: cannot add `{integer}` to `f64`   <-- ERROR TYPE, COPY FOR WEB SEARCHING

  --> C:\Users\...\nistreamer-usrlib\src\lib.rs:19:40   <-- PRICESE LOCATION
  
... 
help: consider using a floating-point literal by writing it with `.0`  <-- SUGGESTED FIX
...

In this example, it is indeed nistreamer-usrlib which failed to compile due to a mistake in custom Rust code. In such cases, see if the compiler suggested any fixes. A web search with the error type can also give solutions for the most common Rust pitfalls.

Cargo is not recognized

If you installed Rust and still get the following error:

cargo is not recognized as an internal or external command

ensure that Rust binaries are added to your system’s PATH. The installer typically does this, but in case it didn’t, add C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\.cargo\bin to your system’s PATH.

Cannot open input file NIDAQmx.lib

Error message ending with the following line:

note: LINK : fatal error LNK1181: cannot open input file 'NIDAQmx.lib'

means that Cargo did not find the NIDAQmx static library which has to be present on the computer to compile the backend (unless you are compiling with nidaqmx_dummy feature, see advanced build options). On Windows, the following location of NIDAQmx library is assumed by default:

C:/Program Files (x86)/National Instruments/Shared/ExternalCompilerSupport/C/lib64/msvc/NIDAQmx.lib

If on your system it is located somewhere else, update the linker arguments in nistreamer/.cargo/config.toml with the correct full path.

Advanced build options

Back-end can be compiled with optional build features[2]:

maturin develop --features feature_name

The following features are available:

Name	Desctiption
usrlib	Include user function library. nistreamer-usrlib crate should be placed in the same directory with nistreamer.
nidaqmx_dummy	Compile with a “dummy” instead of the actual NI-DAQmx driver. Helpful for development on a computer without the driver installed.

Multiple features can be combined: --features "usrlib, nidaqmx_dummy"

---

[1]

The project was only tested on Windows. In principle, it should also work on Linux - NI provides DAQmx drivers for Linux and nistreamer source code should be compatible as well. You will need to add NIDAQmx.lib location in .cargo/config.toml (see this note).

[2] (1,2)

If building on Linux, add the pyo3/extension-module feature like this: maturin develop --features "usrlib, pyo3/extension-module"