Mantis VWorks Driver

A driver for controlling the Formulatrix Mantis liquid dispenser through Agilent VWorks automation software.

Overview

This project is a .NET-based driver that implements the IWorksDriver COM interface, allowing Agilent VWorks to communicate with and control a Formulatrix Mantis instrument. It works by sending commands to the Mantis WCF service, which is part of the standard Mantis software installation.

Features

The driver exposes the following commands to VWorks:

• Dispense: Executes a dispense operation based on a provided dispense list file (.dl.txt).
• Wash All: Performs a wash cycle on all installed chips.
• Prime All: Performs a prime operation on all installed chips.
• Diagnostic Window: A user interface for manual control, status checking, and debugging.

Prerequisites

• Agilent VWorks Automation Control software.
• Formulatrix Mantis software, with the integration service running.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2.
• Visual Studio 2017 or later (for building from source).

Building the Driver

The driver must be compiled as a 32-bit (x86) assembly to be compatible with VWorks.

1. Run Visual Studio as an Administrator. This is required for COM registration.
2. Open the Mantis VWorks Driver.sln solution file in Visual Studio.
3. In the Solution Explorer, right-click the Mantis VWorks Driver project and select Properties.
4. Go to the Build tab.
5. Set the Platform to x86.
6. Check the Register for COM interop checkbox. This is crucial for VWorks to recognize the driver and it will generate the necessary Type Library (.tlb) file.
7. Build the solution. If you've just changed the COM interop setting, you may need to Clean and then Rebuild the solution.
8. The compiled files (Mantis VWorks Driver.dll, Mantis VWorks Driver.tlb, and Mantis VWorks Driver.pdb) will be located in Mantis VWorks Driver\bin\x86\Debug\ or Mantis VWorks Driver\bin\x86\Release\.

Installation

1. Navigate to your VWorks plugins directory, typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Agilent Technologies\VWorks\Plugins\.
2. Copy the following files from the build output directory into the plugins folder:
   • Mantis VWorks Driver.dll
   • Mantis VWorks Driver.tlb
3. (Optional) For debugging purposes, also copy Mantis VWorks Driver.pdb.
4. Start or restart VWorks. The Mantis device should now be available to add to your device files.

Testing

There are two primary ways to test the driver outside of a full VWorks protocol.

IWorksTest Utility

VWorks includes a utility for testing drivers.

1. Ensure the driver DLL and TLB files are in the VWorks Plugins directory as described under Installation.
2. Run IWorksTest.exe from the VWorks installation folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\Agilent Technologies\VWorks\).
3. The "Mantis VWorks Driver" should appear in the list of available plugins. You can use this tool to call methods like Initialize, GetMetaData, and ShowDiagsDialog.

TestRig Project

The solution includes a TestRig WPF application project. Running this project will launch the driver's diagnostic window directly. This is very useful for development and for debugging communication with the Mantis service without needing VWorks or IWorksTest.exe.