LabWindows/CVI Idea Exchange

Post an idea

Hello,

because I had installed CVI2010 on a brand new Windows 7 machine, I was curios to find out about all the service processes running on the system.

It seems that there are quite a few NI services that start after log-on. Some of them seem superfluous, such as the Lookout Citadel service (no LabVIEW, no Lookout installed), but due to the lack of any information I did not bother trying to stop them

Suggestions:

1) NI should critically review the services and only start the services that are absolutely needed.

2) Services that are optional might be selected by a checkbox during installation or from the Options / Environment setting

3) NI should provide some documentation / explanation of each service and why it is needed.

Thanks!

View All (3)

Font installation on Windows Vista/7/8

It appears that when adding a font to the installation package by having the installer copy the font file to the [Fonts] installation directory, all the installer appears to do is copy the font to the C:\Windows\Fonts directory. This is good enough for Windows XP, but in later versions of Windows additional steps must be performed for the font to be recognized by Windows. It would be nice if the installation package could perform these steps when installing fonts on these versions of Windows.

"tagfile" - ini file management

Here is the code of a kind of library "tagfile", I developed more than ten years ago, that I maintain and I always use for the management of my configuration *.ini files.

That works under Windows (CVI) or any UNIX system.

The code enables:

to read and write tags
to list the sections of an ini file
to list the tags of a section
to trap the errors

Most of others ideas about this issue on this blog are written under LabView ; I think a pure C code could be useful for some developers.

Comments are written in French but could be easily translated by any web AI API.

Below are example of functions for reading and writing a ini file. These functions are extracted from a program devoted to the dynamic excitation of a structure (mechanics).

Example of ini file

# --------------------------------------------
# DYNAMICS.INI
# Configuration "gros marteau"
# E.Ringot - BLUESPINE SAS - FRANCE
# https://www.blue-spine.com
# --------------------------------------------
[Sounds]
BUZZER = 0
SPEECH = 1
SPEECHSPEED = 1
SPEECHVOLUME = 93
#
# --------------------------------------------
[sampling]
# rate : Hz
# duration : s
PREFIX = BS
AUTOIMPACT = 6796480
RATE = 20000
DURATION = 10.000000
NBLOCKS = 32
#
# --------------------------------------------
[force]
# sensitivity : mV/N
# valmax : N
# excitation current : mA
DAQCHANNEL = cDAQ1Mod1/ai0
SENSITIVITY_0 = 0.233800
SENSITIVITY_1 = 0.233800
CURRENT = 20.000000
VALMAX = 21385.000000
#
# --------------------------------------------
[pretrigger]
# threshold : N
# hysfactor : no unit
THRESHOLD = 200.000000
HYSTFACTOR = 1.010000
REJECTION = 1000.000000
#
# --------------------------------------------
[acceleration]
# sensitivity : mV/g !!!
# valmax : m/s2
# excitation current : mA
DAQCHANNEL = cDAQ1Mod1/ai1
MODEL = PCB 35C33
SN = LW232997
SENSITIVITY = 101.000000
CURRENT = 10.000000
VALMAX = 480.000000
VALMA_x = 490.000000
#
# --------------------------------------------
[hammer]
# PCB Piezotronics impact hammer
MODEL = PCB 086D20
SN = 45451
TIP0 = GREY: Super soft
RANGE0 = 400
TIP1 = BROWN: Soft
RANGE1 = 450
TIP2 = RED: Medium
RANGE2 = 560
TIP3 = BLACK: Hard
RANGE3 = 1000
TIP4 =
RANGE4 = 0
TIP5 =
RANGE5 = 0
TIP6 =
RANGE6 = 0
TIP7 =
RANGE7 = 0
INDEX = 0
EXTENDER = 0
#
# --------------------------------------------
[post]
#
HMIN = 1.000000E-09
HMAX = 0.001000
HAUTO = 36180524
FLOW = 10.000000
FCUT = 100.000000
FAUTO = 36180524
# --------------------------------------------
FLOW = 10.000000
FCUT = 100.000000
[histo]
DIR0 = C:\dir0
DIR1 = C:\dir1
DIR4 = C:\Users\ringot\Documents\My Teaching\M1_DYNAMIQUE\tp\NI-CVI\polytp
DIR2 = C:\Users\ringot\Documents\My Teaching\M1_DYNAMIQUE\tp\NI-CVI\UT_Hammer
DIR3 = C:\Users\ringot\Documents\My Teaching\M1_DYNAMIQUE\tp\NI-CVI\UT_Newton
DIR5 = C:\Users\ringot\Documents\My Teaching\M1_DYNAMIQUE\tp\NI-CVI\UT_Newton
DIR6 = C:\Users\ringot\Documents\My Teaching\M1_DYNAMIQUE\tp\NI-CVI\UT_ForceOne
# --- EOF ---

Example of ini file reading

/* ---------------------------------------------------------------

LoadIni

Lecture du fichier inifile

--------------------------------------------------------------- */

int LoadIni(void)

{

#define cx cell.x

#define cy cell.y

Point cell;

int n, flag;

char *section;

long val;

section="sounds";

ReadShortTag(inifile,section,"BUZZER",(short*)&buzzer);

SetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_BUZZER,buzzer);

ReadShortTag(inifile,section,"SPEECH",(short*)&speech);

SetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_SPEECH,speech);

ReadShortTag(inifile,section,"VOICE",(short*)&voice);

SetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_VOICE,voice);

ReadLongTag(inifile,section,"SPEECHSPEED",&speech_speed);

SetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_SPEECHSPEED,speech_speed);

ReadLongTag(inifile,section,"SPEECHVOLUME",&speech_volume);

SetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_SPEECHVOLUME,speech_volume);

section="sampling";

TagErrChk(ReadLongTag(inifile,section,"RATE",&val));

SetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_RATE,rate=val);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"DURATION",&duration));

SetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_DURATION,duration);

TagErrChk(ReadLongTag(inifile,section,"NBLOCKS",&nblocks));

SetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_NBLOCKS,nblocks);

TagErrChk(ReadIntTag(inifile,section,"AUTOIMPACT",&autoimpact));

SetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_AUTOIMPACT,autoimpact);

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"PREFIX",prefix));

if (!*prefix) strcpy(prefix,"CORROHM");

SetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_PREFIX,prefix);

section="force";

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"DAQCHANNEL",forceChannel));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_DAQCHANNEL,forceChannel);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"SENSITIVITY_0",forceSensitivityList));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_SENSITIVITY_0,forceSensitivityList[0]);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"SENSITIVITY_1",forceSensitivityList+1));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_SENSITIVITY_1,forceSensitivityList[1]);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"CURRENT",&forceExcitationCurrent));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_CURRENT,forceExcitationCurrent);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"VALMAX",&forceMax));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_VALMAX,forceMax);

section="pretrigger";

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"REJECTION",&rejection));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_REJECTION,rejection);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"THRESHOLD",&threshold));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_THRESHOLD,threshold);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"HYSTFACTOR",&hystfactor));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_HYSTFACTOR,hystfactor);

section="acceleration";

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"DAQCHANNEL",accelChannel));

SetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_DAQCHANNEL,accelChannel);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"SENSITIVITY",&accelSensitivity));

SetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_SENSITIVITY,accelSensitivity);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"CURRENT",&accelExcitationCurrent));

SetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_CURRENT,accelExcitationCurrent);

TagErrChk(ReadDoubleTag(inifile,section,"VALMAX",&accelMax));

SetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_VALMAX,accelMax);

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"MODEL",amodel));

SetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_MODEL,amodel);

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"SN",aSN));

SetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_SN,aSN);

AllocateMemory();

section="hammer";

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"MODEL",fmodel));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_MODEL,fmodel);

TagErrChk(ReadStringTag(inifile,section,"SN",fSN));

SetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_SN,fSN);

// tips

GetNumListItems(hammerHandle, HAMMER_TIPLIST, &n);

DeleteListItem (hammerHandle, HAMMER_TIPLIST, 0, n);

GetNumTableRows (tab3, TAB3_TABLE, &n);

DeleteTableRows (tab3, TAB3_TABLE, 1, n);

cy = 1; n = 0;

do {

char var[8], label[64];

int ftip;

sprintf(var,"TIP%d",n);

if (ReadStringTag(inifile,section,var,label)) break;

if (!*label) break;

sprintf(var,"RANGE%d",n);

if (ReadLongTag(inifile,section,var,&ftip)) break;

if (!ftip) break;

InsertListItem(hammerHandle, HAMMER_TIPLIST,-1,label,ftip);

InsertTableRows (tab3, TAB3_TABLE,-1, 1, VAL_USE_MASTER_CELL_TYPE);

cx=COL_TIP; SetTableCellVal(tab3,TAB3_TABLE,cell,label);

cx=COL_FRQ; SetTableCellVal(tab3,TAB3_TABLE,cell,ftip);

cy++; n++;

} while(1);

SetCtrlVal(tab3,TAB3_NTIPS,n);

if (ReadLongTag(inifile,section,"INDEX",&n)) n=0;

SetCtrlIndex(hammerHandle,HAMMER_TIPLIST,n);

cx=COL_SEL; cy=n+1;

SetTableCellVal(tab3,TAB3_TABLE,cell,"X");

TagErrChk(ReadLongTag(inifile,section,"EXTENDER",&flag));

SetCtrlVal(hammerHandle,HAMMER_RADIOEXTENDER,flag);

forceSensitivity=forceSensitivityList[flag];

// dir history

TagErrChk(ReadHistoDir(inifile));

tagstop:

return tagerr;

#undef cx

#undef cy

} // LoadIni

Example of ini file writing

/* ---------------------------------------------------------------

SaveIni

Sauvegarde du fichier inifile

--------------------------------------------------------------- */

int SaveIni(void)

{

#define cx cell.x

#define cy cell.y

Point cell;

int tipindex=0, n;

char *section;

// -- TAB4

section="Sounds";

GetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_BUZZER,&n);

WriteShortTag(inifile,section,"BUZZER",buzzer=(short)n);

GetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_SPEECH,&n);

WriteShortTag(inifile,section,"SPEECH",speech=(short)n);

GetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_SPEECHSPEED,&speech_speed);

WriteLongTag(inifile,section,"SPEECHSPEED",speech_speed);

GetCtrlVal(tab4,TAB4_SPEECHVOLUME,&speech_volume);

WriteLongTag(inifile,section,"SPEECHVOLUME",speech_volume);

// -- TAB0

section="sampling";

GetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_RATE,&rate);

TagErrChk(WriteLongTag(inifile,section,"RATE",rate));

GetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_DURATION,&duration);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"DURATION",duration));

GetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_NBLOCKS,&nblocks);

TagErrChk(WriteLongTag(inifile,section,"NBLOCKS",nblocks));

GetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_AUTOIMPACT,&autoimpact);

TagErrChk(WriteIntTag(inifile,section,"AUTOIMPACT",autoimpact));

GetCtrlVal(tab0,TAB0_PREFIX,prefix);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"PREFIX",StrClean(prefix)));

// -- TAB1

section="force";

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_DAQCHANNEL,forceChannel);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"DAQCHANNEL",forceChannel));

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_SENSITIVITY_0,forceSensitivityList);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"SENSITIVITY_0",forceSensitivityList[0]));

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_SENSITIVITY_1,forceSensitivityList+1);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"SENSITIVITY_1",forceSensitivityList[1]));

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_CURRENT,&forceExcitationCurrent);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"CURRENT",forceExcitationCurrent));

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_VALMAX,&forceMax);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"VALMAX",forceMax));

section="pretrigger";

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_REJECTION,&rejection);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"REJECTION",rejection));

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_THRESHOLD,&threshold);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"THRESHOLD",threshold));

GetCtrlVal(tab1,TAB1_HYSTFACTOR,&hystfactor);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"HYSTFACTOR",hystfactor));

// -- TAB2

section="acceleration";

GetCtrlVal(tab2, TAB2_MODEL,fmodel);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"MODEL",amodel));

GetCtrlVal(tab2, TAB2_SN,fSN);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"SN",aSN));

GetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_DAQCHANNEL,accelChannel);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"DAQCHANNEL",accelChannel));

GetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_SENSITIVITY,&accelSensitivity);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"SENSITIVITY",accelSensitivity));

GetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_CURRENT,&accelExcitationCurrent);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"CURRENT",accelExcitationCurrent));

GetCtrlVal(tab2,TAB2_VALMAX,&accelMax);

TagErrChk(WriteDoubleTag(inifile,section,"VALMAX",accelMax));

// -- TAB3

section="hammer";

GetCtrlVal(tab1, TAB1_MODEL,fmodel);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"MODEL",fmodel));

GetCtrlVal(tab1, TAB1_SN,fSN);

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,"SN",fSN));

// tips

GetNumListItems(hammerHandle, HAMMER_TIPLIST, &n);

DeleteListItem (hammerHandle, HAMMER_TIPLIST, 0, n);

GetNumTableRows (tab3, TAB3_TABLE, &n);

for (cy=1; cy<=MAX_NBTIPS; cy++)

{

char var1[8], var2[16], label[64];

int k=cy-1, ftip;

sprintf(var1,"TIP%d",k);

sprintf(var2,"RANGE%d",k);

if (cy<=n)

{

cx=COL_SEL; GetTableCellVal(tab3,TAB3_TABLE,cell,label);

if (*label=='X') tipindex=cy-1;

cx=COL_TIP; GetTableCellVal(tab3,TAB3_TABLE,cell,label);

cx=COL_FRQ; GetTableCellVal(tab3,TAB3_TABLE,cell,&ftip);

InsertListItem(hammerHandle,HAMMER_TIPLIST,-1,label,ftip);

}

else

{

*label=0; ftip=0;

}

TagErrChk(WriteStringTag(inifile,section,var1,label));

TagErrChk(WriteLongTag(inifile,section,var2,ftip));

}

SetCtrlIndex(hammerHandle,HAMMER_TIPLIST,tipindex);

TagErrChk(WriteLongTag(inifile,section,"INDEX",tipindex));

AllocateMemory();

TagErrChk(WriteHistoDir(inifile));

tagstop:

return tagerr;

#undef cx

#undef cy

} // SaveIni

Download All

Allowing install on Pre Windows 10

I develop software for many older systems that can not be upgraded or are running windows embedded. I just tried to create a new application and could not install it from my distribution. I found out I had to go and edit the setup.ini. NI Installer Requires Windows 10 64-Bit (Version 1507) or Newer. I've been using CVI since the DOS days. One of the advantages has always been that I could recompile and I generally didn't have to worry about Windows updates screwing up my software. This change seems ridiculous all of a sudden.

I recently installed the LabWindows 2017 beta version on a lab PC and tried using it to run a project built with 2015 SP1. Unfortunately it didn't work because of a bug I found in the beta: calling the NewBitmap or SetBitmapData function crashes the program if the number of bits per pixel is 1 or 4.

Uninstalling the beta is proving to be difficult. I performed an uninstall on LabWindows 2017 and Run-Time Engine 2017 through the Windows control panel, but it made me uninstall LabWindows 2015 SP1, NI-DAQ, and LabVIEW as well (because they were all dependent on the RTE). Windows appeared to run the uninstall successfully, but the RTE folder and DLLs were somehow not removed or changed. So when I rebuilt and re-ran my project, it still linked with the 2017 RTE and still crashed. I had to manually copy the 2015 RTE files from another PC.

Even after this, there are still some other elements of the 2017 version left on the PC, such as the activation manager.

I would like to NI change this so that when the user uninstalls a new RTE, it automatically restores whatever previous version was active before the update without the hassle of having to uninstall and reinstall LabWindows, LabVIEW, etc.

View All (3)

vision system dev

At present, when you double-click on a .cws or .prj file the most recent version of the CVI IDE is launched with the selected .prj or .cws file loaded.

However, both project and workspace files include the release of CVI they are developed on, so it would be possible to search in the system whether that release is installed and open it instead of the most recent one. This is crucial when you need to modify a program already deployed to a customer but do not want / is not possible to update the target machine configuration installing a newer Run-Time module than the one already installed.

At present you have no control over this event, but consider also that in case you make modifications to the UIR files also, it may become difficult to revert to the original IDE format; for this reason when I need to update an old program I need firstly to open the project file in notepad to see which CVI release to use for this.

If automating the launch in the correct release is not possible, at least issue a warning stating the difference in the IDE release used with respect to the original one.

Add NI Example Finder to the Start Menu

View All (1)

What do you need our team of experts to assist you with?

Request a quote Find the right product Place an order Get support on a product

How can we help?

Please enter your information below and we'll be intouch soon.

This field is required

Preferred communication method

Email Phone call

What do you need our team of experts to assist you with?

Request a quote Find the right product Place an order Get support on a product

LabWindows/CVI Idea Exchange

Reduce and document the NI services running after Windows logon

Font installation on Windows Vista/7/8

"tagfile" - ini file management

Allowing install on Pre Windows 10

Make rollback more graceful during an uninstall

vision system dev

Automate opening an existing project in the proper release of CVI

Add NI Example Finder to the Start Menu

run executablable after instalation