DATA AHEAD toolkit support Blog

DATA AHEAD releases a major update of its XLR8 toolkit, v2021.8.0.2

DATA AHEAD releases a minor update of its SP7 toolkit, v2019.6.0.6

DATA AHEAD releases a major update of its git4G toolkit - v2018.9.0.4

New features:

• Support for branches
• Deactivation and transfer of license available

DATA AHEAD releases a minor update of its SP7 toolkit, v2018.6.0.4

Hello,

as some of you already know v2018.3 of SP7 contained an unpleasant and  annoying memory leak error. Luckily this was realized very early after the release of the package and we were also able to fix this error easily.

Because of that error v2018.3.0.5 has been removed move the VIPM repository and has been replaced by v2018.4.0.1

We strongly advice all customers that might be using v2018.3 to upgrade ASAP. If you have created an executable with this buggy version of SP7, do create an update.

We strongly welcome any feedback (negative / positive / missing features) about SP7 that you might have.

Kind regards,

DATA AHEAD

Hey everyone,

we are happy to announce a software update for our toolkits XLR8 and SP7 - v2018.2 resp. has been submitted to NI for upload to the LabVIEW Tools Network.

You will see the following changes:

•  Bad news first: Support for LabVIEW 2010 has been dropped for both toolkits.
• Good news: From now on you will be able to deactivate your license and transfer it to another system. But be aware there is a minor drawback to this: You have to do the activation and deactivation in a LabVIEW version 2014 or up, and you have to automatically activate through an internet connection for this new feature to work. BTW: The deactivation option is the reason why the support of LabVIEW 2010 had to be canceled. It is either deactivation OR support for LV 2010. Since this version is now 7.5 years old the decision was easy: deactivation won.
• Version numbering will from now on be (Year).(Month).(version/fix).(build), hence v2018.2

So what is new in SP7 (see also the quick reference guide😞

• Numerous customers asked for it, and now it is available: connection to a Siemens LOGO! logic module.
• We also got this request several times: is it possible to communicate to several S7-PLCs in parallel? Starting with this version it will be. All read and write VIs are now reentrant and hence work in parallel and independent of each other.
• This bug came up a few times too: A S7-400 PLC allowes variable rack and slot settings which were not covered by our toolkit . With v2018.2 you can now adjust these two values.
• Quickdrop did not work with this library since the naming inside the palette included square brackets. These brackets have been removed and quickdrop is now working smoothly with SP7.
• Finally some minor issues and bugs have been removed.

And for XLR8 you can expect the following changes and bug fixes (also see the quick reference guide😞

• There has been a big memory leak with the usage of XLR8 because quite a few .NET references were left open. I especially like to thank Daniel Rudaz for his excellent investigation on this issue. The good news for everyone: That is resolved now.
• Thanks to the feedback of p0rter2000 a probably annoying - but not very well known option of excel xlsx files will not be set in the future anymore.
• A feature request by another customer that we received by e-mail has been implemented: Insert Image now will accept a "LabVIEW image cluster" as input. Thus it is possible to e.g. add screenshots from your front panels directly without creating an image file on disc first.
• There has been a nasty bug in the function Save Workbook it would only work correctly with xlsx-files, not with the older xls-format. That is also resolved.
• The Clear Sheet call also was buggy - that also has been fixed.
• And then again some minor issues which most users never ran into.
• EDIT: v2018.3 in addition also includes these changes:
• expanded functionality for merging cells, allowing un-merging and checking if a merge request is valid
• extended color selection for cell borders with the xlsx file format
• several settings on "Insert Row.vi" resulted in .NET exception errors. Those are fixed now.

I will update this article when the updates are available - hopefully within the next week.

Thanks to all our users, keep your feedback about extension wishes AND bugs coming.

DATA AHEAD

The title of this entry should explain it well enough:

There exists a very very annoying bug in LabVIEW 2017 64-bit: You cannot activate a third-party toolkit in this particular LabVIEW version. This has come up several times now with our customers and I'm getting tired of always answering the same. So I'm writing this article and in the future, I just can send a link.

So again:

You will not be able to activate a third-party toolkit like XLR8, SP7 or git4G in LabVIEW 2017 64-bit.

What is the solution?

Do not use this LabVIEW version. Either stick to the 32-bit version of LabVIEW 2017 or since February 2018 if you need the 64-bit version stick to LabVIEW 2017 SP1 64-bit.

If you still experience problems with LabVIEW 2017 SP1 64-bit (I once has those during tests in a virtual machine), it seems that the additional installation of LabVIEW 2016 64-bit can resolve the activation problems.

For further general hints read this article from NI's support forum.

Data Ahead

Hey everyone,

We are happy and proud to announce that we just released our new toolkit git4G:

git4G V1.0

(Requirements: LabVIEW 2010+, VIPM 2014+)

git4G is an easy to use toolkit for NI LabVIEW that integrates Git - the well-known and free Source Control Management System -- into the development environment of LabVIEW.

It provides all important source control managing functions and furthermore supports many popular Git hosting services like GitHub and GitLab. Since Git is a distributed revision control system a server is not mandatory. All source control managing functions can be used without a server.

The Git functions can be called directly from the LabVIEW Project Explorer. The current status of the files and the repository are indicated by icons inside the project window.

Looking forward to your feedback

Thanks

Ruediger

Hi Everybody

I was wondering if anybody ever tried to communicate to Logo!8 via the SP7 Toolkit?

Is there a chance this could work?

Thanks

HU

Hey everyone,

We are happy and proud to announce that we just released our new toolkit versions:

XLR8 V2.3

And

SP7 V1.6

(Requirements: LabVIEW 2010+, VIPM 2014+)

Based onyour feedback we have improved our products XLR8 V 2.3 and SP7 V1.6 seriously in order to solve some issues. We were able to enhance the overall performance and compatibility of the products. Especially SP7 is now able to communicate with S7 1200 plc´s which was an urgent need of many customers.

Changelog SP7 V1.6

- Additional support of S7 1200 plc

-  Empty Input Array fixed

- Connected Boolean fixed (#795)

- Optimized error handling (#1231)

- Extended documentation

- Maximum offsets and values are not limited by SP7 anymore (#820)

- Reliability of connection indicator in open connection (#795)

- More datatypes in DB functionality "S5Time, Date, Date and Time" (#763)

- Extended documentation

- Performance improvements

Changelog XLR8 V2.3

- New polymorphic function "Color Area"

- New function "Get Cellstyle"

- "write to named range" automatically selects the corresponding sheet (#928)

- "close Workbook" outputs the original file path (#1196)

- "close Workbook" input "save file" is recommended not required (#1196)

- "format Area" policy bug fixed (#1176)

- "wrap Text" style bug fixed (#1173)

- "hyperlink" bug in .xlsx fixed (#804)

- "get named ranges" outputs the corresponding sheet with the correct rows and columns (#984)

- "delete sheet" removes corresponding named ranges (#798)

- "read Area" reading below last row bug (#802)

- Performance improvements in style handling

- Improved memory handling

Please continue to give us feedback and feel free to rate XLR8 or SP7 on ni.com. Use this community to share your wishes, goals and ideas for our tools as we continue to make it even more compatible and more powerful. Your feedback is very important to us!

All the best

Hajo

Hey everyone,

we are happy and proud to announce that we just released our toolkit XLR8 V 2.1.0.7.

(requirements: LabVIEW 2010+, VIPM 2014+)

We have been working hard to further improve the product and took your feedback seriously in order to solve some  issues. We were able to enhance the overall performance and compatibility of the product.

Among the many improvements are:

- Optimized multiple save operations (#750)

- "Read Area (All Types)" double as date interpretation solved (#423, #556)

- "Read Area (All Types)", formula results are now user-selectable (#738, #739)

- "Wipe Sheet" functionality improved (#731)

- multiple sheets selected issue solved (#722, #700)

- "Get Named Ranges" returns the correct row and column value (#736)

- Charts are no longer modified by XLR8 (#711, #627)

- correct display of formula results (#710)

- writes blank cells for NaN or Inf values in "Write Area" (#326)

- no longer underlines text when changing the font of a cell (#427)

- enhanced and clarified documentation of various VIs (e.g. column width)

Please continue to give us feedback and feel free to rate XLR8 on ni.com!

Use these forums to share your wishes, goals and ideas for XLR8 as we continue to make it even more compatible and a powerful replacement for ActiveX control of Microsoft Excel.

All the best

Peter

Hey everyone,

the holiday season is in full swing. As our main event for this year's SPS/IPC/Drives booth, we released our new tool "SP7".

It is a toolkit to enable LabVIEW users to easily share and exchange data with Siemens Simatic S7-200/300/400 PLCs. It requires an Ethernet connection to the PLC and allows read and write operations on M, DB, AI, DI, DO code modules. The PLC code does not have to be modified!

Learn more about SP7 on our homepage http://www.dataahead.de/en/products/software/sp7-labview-toolkit.html.

Try it out as a free 30-day trial version from ni.com (requires VI Package Manager 2014): http://www.ni.com/gate/gb/GB_EVALTLKTSP7DATAGMBH/US

Wish you all happy holidays and a great start into 2015!

-Peter

Hey everyone,

I am happy to announce that our quick demo of XLR8 is now online on YouTube.

Check out how to exchange data between LabVIEW and Microsoft Excel® using XLR8 by DATA AHEAD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCc0uqAI_8c&list=PLlys7J2EbeEki69_-iLJi-1WZKusE7L1r&index=14

Cheers

Peter

NI just launched a new webcast series on how to build an embedded control system. At DATA AHEAD, an experienced integration partner, we have been offering embedded solutions to our customers for more than ten years. We are happy to be part of the webcast series - introducing the very basic concept of PID control.

http://www.ni.com/build-control-systems/

http://www.ni.com/gate/gated-multimedia/control-systems-fundamentals-ctrl-algorithms/en

Learn more about the products services we offer at http://dataahead.de. Feel free to contact us with any questions or feedback.

Thanks

Peter

I am excited to announce that our tool XLR8 won the "DAQ Product of the Year" award in the LabVIEW Tools Network!

At the same time, we are happy to announce the release of V 2.0 of XLR8.

Key new features are:

- support of all common Microsoft Excel® File formats: xls, xlsx

- support of named ranges/cells

- additional editing and formatting functionality: delete cells/rows, insert images, merge cells and much more!

It's available for download from the LabVIEW Tools Network.

Please note that the VI Package Manager V2014 is required to install the XLR8 2.0 package.

If you are attending NI Week this year, make sure to meet us at the LabVIEW Tools Network pavilion in the exhibition.

Cheers from Austin

Peter

Hey everyone,

we're very happy to announce that both the German soccer team (scnr) and our MS Excel reporting tool, XLR8, advanced to the final!

Thanks for all your downloads, your valuable feedback and interest in XLR8. We also finished XLR8 2.0 and it should go live around NI Week.

If you attend NI Week this year, make sure to swing by the LabVIEW tools network pavillion and see some new, exciting features of XLR8 and our cloud storage solution daqloud.

See you soon!

-Peter

Hey everyone,

we are happy to confirm our participation at NI Week 2014. We will have a kiosk at the LabVIEW Tools Network Booth, presenting both our daqloud cloud storage solution, as well as the XLR8 toolkit.

Speaking of XLR8: Due to unexpected minor issues, development of version 2.0 is slightly delayed. We are still determined to present a final version at  NI Week 2014!

Looking forward to some hot summer days in Austin, TX!

Peter

Hello everyone,

If you want to participate in the XLR8 2.0 beta test please shoot me an email @ xlr8 AT dataahead.de

XLR8 2.0 will be released in August 2014 and will sport the following features:

• Full support of both the current Microsoft Excel Files (*.xlsx, Excel 2007-2013) as well as the older *.xls format
• "Named Ranges" that greatly simplify the use of templates
• API is fully backwards compatible. Use both Microsoft Excel file formats, easily.
• Free upgrade for registered users.

For any questions, feel free to post in the forums.

Peter

Find us on linkedin @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/data-ahead-gmbh

Hey everyone,

DATA AHEAD wants to wish you a happy and healthy new year!

Now, to get an exciting and successful 2014 started, we just released XLR8 1.1 for everyone to download.

Features include:

- improved error handling, returning more specific errors

- increased speed of area read and write functions

- added "Insert Row" functionality

- improved icons for formatting functions

- minor bug fixes

- adapted NPOI library for speed improvements

Feel free to download from the LabVIEW Tools Network and give it a try!

Also, please let us and other users know what you like (or dislike) about XLR8 - Feel free to review XLR8 on our NI site - http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/de/nid/212056

Thanks

Peter

Hi everyone,

I just posted an early version of the MQTT LabVIEW library. It's a starting point for anyone looking into distributed monitoring and M2M applications in general. It is a light-weight protocol and has been used extensively at IBM and Facebook.

Feel free to try it out, improve the VIs, fix some bugs and let us know what you think.

Peter

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-32539

Hello everyone,

just a quick note: Our web site www.dataahead.de has been overhauled and is fully available in English (go to dataahead.de/en).

Learn about our various fields of expertise from Distributed Monitoring to Embedded Design. Find information on our toolkits and other products.

Feedback is always welcome!

Peter

Hey everyone,

DATA AHEAD is a Silver level Alliance Partner with the Electronic Design Specialty, based out of Nürnberg, Germany. Find our website at www.dataahead.de

We recently started to release tools to the LabVIEW tools network. In order to enable an exchange with NI customers, and to have a space to support the tools, we created this group.

Please feel free to try our tools and give us feedback. So far, we released the daqloud API - find it here on ni.com: http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/de/nid/211891

What is daqloud?

It is an cloud-based, intelligent historical database for storing distributed monitoring data. It is a scalable, robust platform to add online storage to any monitoring / M2M application.

What's in the pipeline?

• We will soon release "XLR8" - a toolkit to allow binary access to Microsoft Excel® files without using ActiveX and without requiring a Microsoft Excel® license
• We are also working on a LabVIEW implementation of the "MQTT" protocol. This is a smart, "soon-to-be standard" for the IoT (Internet of Things) and allows for flexible communication possibilities in the M2M / monitoring realm
• Also, we are developing a driver to interface Siemens PLCs directly from LabVIEW

Stay tuned for more information - and feel free to leave us a message!

Peter