How to programmatically build applications in a usable way

[Stijn]

We have about 10 projects with each at least 1 build definitions, building these manually is tedious.

Looking into automating this I came across http://www.ni.com/example/30051/en/. This has two problems making it not really usable:

•  it uses application arguments, so you invoke it like LabVIEW.exe programmaticbuild.vi -- my.lvproj, but suppose you have labview already running and use that command it will pass the arguments of the already running instance
•  to counter that I made a standalone application from programmaticbuild.vi, however that fails with
  Error Code: 1025
  Error Source: Open VI Reference in NI_App_Builder_API.lvlib:Build (path).vi->BuildTargetBuildSpecification.vi->programmaticbuild.vi

Ideally a solution to the second problem would be ideal, however a nice way around the first one would already be a good start. Any ideas? Thanks!

[Sam_Sharp]

If you already have LabVIEW running, you can use VI Scripting functionality to invoke a build from a build specification. Scripting allows you to automate a lot of functionality from LabVIEW (even things thing wiring up terminals!).

For the second error - there isn't enough information in your post to figure out what's going wrong - maybe a path issue? Can you post a simplified version of your project/files that replicates the error?

[jcarmody]

This article from our friends at JKI is old, but still good - http://blog.jki.net/jki/can-you-build-your-application-in-one-click/

[Stijn]

@SamSharp I've attached the programmaticbuild.vi, only slightly modified from the original, and a project which just creates a standalone application from it.

Called from the commandline like ProgrammaticBuild.exe /path/to/my.lvproj, the generated logfile contains

ProgrammaticBuild
/path/to/my.lvproj
/path/to/my.lvproj was unsuccessful for build.  Error Code: 1025   Error Source: Open VI Reference in NI_App_Builder_API.lvlib:Build (path).vi->BuildTargetBuildSpecification.vi->programmaticbuild.vi<APPEND>
VI Path: <b>_bin\vi.lib\AppBuilder\BuildTarget.vi</b>

I don't know for which vi the 'Open VI Reference' error is

The exact same command works when ran through labview, i.e. if I call  "C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2013\LabVIEW.exe" programmaticbuild.vi -- /path/to/my.lvproj the logfile has

LabVIEW
/path/to/my.lvproj
/path/to/my.lvproj was built successfully.

@Jim interesting but it also uses BuildTargetBuildSpecification.vi, so will probably generate the same error I'm facing now

[mikeporter · Accepted solution]

By definition your second option won't work because one of the things stripped out of a standalone executable is the ability to compile code.

In terms of option 1, the issue is whether the list of command line parameters would get updated with additional "launches". I don't know if it would, but I never tried it either...

The utility I wrote just asks for a project name when it starts.

Do you do this a lot? It might be worthwhile to create a sort of build server that automatically rebuilds things after any changes to a predefined list of projects.

Mike...

[Stijn]

---

@mikeporter wrote:
one of the things stripped out of a standalone executable is the ability to compile code.

---

Aha, that explains a lot.

We're planning to make building of our Labview projects part of a continuous integration, so yes we're going to build them often.

Another workaround for option 1 would be to write the projects to build to a file which is then read by the vi.

But the idea of a 'server' application which builds is probably the most viable. Thanks!

[mikeporter]

The thing is, as a practical matter the server would likely need to run on a separate computer since building executables consumes all of an instance's time.

Mike...