Getting the message "Error generating preview" when building the installer.

[dj143]

I'm getting this error when attempting to expand the application in the installer.  However, I am able to preview the built application without errors.  Please see the attached screen shots.  I have built this application several times before without incident.  I made some modifications to the application and now I'm getting this error.  What does it mean?  I'm using Win XP and LV8.5.

Dave

[dj143]

I believe I found the cause of the problem.  I had made a number of subvi's as part of the application changes.  As bad luck would have it, I happened to name one of the subvi's the same name of a vi that is in one of LabVIEW's utility libraries.  I changed the name of my subvi and now I'm able to build the program.

I discovered the name conflict by temporarily changing the name of the folder where my subvi's are located.  I then ran the application and of course it could not find my subvis; except the one that it located in the LabVIEW library.

What I don't understand however, is why the application would run, build and provide the preview without errors.

[Amanda_H]

Hi DJ,

I'm glad you were able to correct your problem. It baffles me as well why the executable was able to build. LabVIEW was probably still able to call the subVI, but the executable had problems behaving correctly with the naming conventions.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

[jlg]

I am having the same issue. I only get the error when building the installer. The executable generates the preview with no problem.

I have not added any sub-VI's since the last (of many) successful builds. The only difference is that I have upgraded to 8.5.

Any ideas?

[Amanda_H]

Hi,

Have you tried building the installer again from scratch? Double-check that the names of your subVIs and VIs don't match any folder or files in your installer.

[shb]

I had the same problem building an installer with LabVIEW 2011 SP1. For finding the problem quicker next time, I write here.

All the useful additional information I got in Detail was "Loading product deployment information".

The helpful I got from "sources" in the installer build properties and from "Preview" in the application build properties.

The problem was, that a VI was not referenced properly from a caller. (What I understood is that the library membership had changed, and the caller had a reference pointing to the old membership. Not sure if this is what was said.)

(NI should include more error information in the details of the build dialog.)

[FranzS]

Same Problem after Updating to LV2013 from LV2012SP1.

With LV2012SP1 I build the installer many times without any problems.

Now I have done several things without success:

1. I checked the Dependencies with no result.

2. Build new application

3. Build new installer

4. Build new Project

The Problem remains the same.

For explanation:

I am able to build the application with no errors and the EXE is still running fine.

Any suggestions will bi highly appreciate.

Franz Sturm

CLD

[Prickly_Pear]

If I understand this correctly, you are able to build the executable--it's just that you are not able to see the preview in the Application Builder. Is that right?

I searched some of our internal documentation. I found a record of a customer who also experienced the "unable to generate preview" error when upgrading to a new version. He was able to solve it by making sure that all of the VIs ini the build were saved in the current version of LabVIEW. This may be helpful for you.

Also, I would like to recommend that you create a new forum thread rather than posting on a very old thread like this one. You will generate more discussion from the other ni.com users. It also helps our R&D department to automatically keep track of how often these issues are reported.

Jeremy P.

[FranzS]

Hallo Jeremy,

Thank you for your fast replay.

I cannot build the installer.

The Build Installer throws the Message “Error generating preview”.

In the meantime I have done some work:

1. As you supposed, there was some VIs with the wrong LV Version.

(The VIs are in the Disabled Case of a Digram Disable Structure!)

2. I am using in my Project the VI “Check TDMs File for Fragmentation.vi” in a little bit modified form.

And that leads to the Problem that there a three Files in the Dependencies – vi.lib with warnings.

These VIs was searched in the LLB FileManager.llb which is missing on my system.

The strange thing is, that the VI Check TDMs File for Fragmentation.vi is running without problems.

So I have deleted the VI Check TDMs File for Fragmentation.vi from my Project and al thing works fine!

Strum Franz

CLD

[Prickly_Pear]

Great! Thanks for posting your troubleshooting steps. Those will be helpful for other LabVIEW developers. Thank you for using NI forums.

Jeremy P.