VI export as Text File

[Petey_2671]

Our industry could use a function to export a VI as a text file, similar to how we can export a UIR file in LabWindows/CVI. We are only allowed to move certain file types off of the system, and .VI will never be one of them. The functionality (ie the nodes, parameters, and connections between the nodes) would be the biggest concern of the block diagram and not so much as the physical layout, and a second file could be used for the layout of the front panel. This would also allow us to perform a Diff between two versions of a VI using a 3rd party comparison tool.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

This was implemented for LabVIEW NXG. It is one of the goals explicit in writing our new platform. Updating decades of save logic for LabVIEW 20xx to make it a text file is a massive undertaking that NI has already evaluated and decided not to do.

LabVIEW NXG always saves VIs as XML.

The text format is useful, no question. But not for diffing. Yes, you can diff the NXG text files, but diffing an interconnected graph with an inherently linear comparison of a text differ turns out to be useless in all but the most trivial edits. You still need a diff tool that comprehends the XML and can render it graphically for most edits.

[Darren]

Declined for reasons listed in AristosQueue's reply.