Increase your LabVIEW 8.0.1 mass compile speed

[JeffBoettcher]

We've been doing some research into how long mass compile takes after installing the 8.0.1 update and I'd like to post some information that we've found that you might find useful.

One thing we've determined is that setting the mass compile cache size to (approximately) 10 yields optimal results and we've seen mass compile speed improve by more than 3x over no caching.

Please understand that caching VIs during mass compile does introduce the possibility of VIs getting cross-linked if you have multiple VIs in your distribution with the same (fully-qualified) name.

I have seen a pretty cool VI a user wrote to perform a faster mass compile, and while it is significantly faster than LabVIEW's built-in mass compile with no cache, it uses a sort of "caching" itself, and does not handle LabVIEW file types other than VI and CTL.

For optimal performance, I would recommend skipping the mass compile prompt that comes up after installing LabVIEW and following the manual mass compile steps in the KB below.  However, after selecting the directory to mass compile, make sure you turn on the caching option and set the cache size to 10.  If you do this, however, please understand the slight risk of VIs of the same name getting cross-linked in your distribution, particularly if you have saved anything under the LabVIEW directory.  The VI that helps you mass compile on launch was being extra-conservative in this regard, but at the cost of making the mass compile slower.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/D5C32AD00F07D7D586257110007B54D2

Sorry for the inconvenience this mass compile step causes, I hope this helps reduce your mass compile time!

[altenbach]

Thanks Jeff,

---

@Jeff B wrote:

If you do this, however, please understand the slight risk of VIs of the same name getting cross-linked in your distribution, particularly if you have saved anything under the LabVIEW directory. 

---

Can we turn your statement around and assume that the possibility of crosslinking is zero for people like me who don't store anything personal in the LabVIEW folders? Is this correct?

[rolfk]

---

@altenbach wrote:

Thanks Jeff,

---

@ Jeff B wrote:

If you do this, however, please understand the slight risk of VIs of the same name getting cross-linked in your distribution, particularly if you have saved anything under the LabVIEW directory. 

---

Can we turn your statement around and assume that the possibility of crosslinking is zero for people like me who don't store anything personal in the LabVIEW folders? Is this correct?

---

As long as you do not have any modification to VIs inside the LabVIEW folder AND of course only for compiling VIs inside the LabVIEW folder ;-)

Rolf Kalbermatter

[JeffBoettcher]

Hello altenbach,

Unfortunately, no, I can't say that.  We did most of our internal 8.0.1 testing with no cache during mass compile.  This is really a very complicated issue to address, as aside from LabVIEW, there are modules, toolkits, drivers, not to mention any possible 3rd-party toolkits / drivers any customer could have installed.  Even without 3rd-party files involved, I can make no promises here.

What I can tell you is the following:

• When mass compiling a fresh install of 8.0.1 with a cache size of 10, and no other LabVIEW toolkits / modules / drivers installed, no cross-linking occurs.
• The log for the mass compile (displayed on the mass compile window or sent to file if you choose to do so) will display cross-linkage information in the form of a message like this:

"The VI expected to be at "[path referenced by caller]" was loaded from "[found path]"."

So at the least, you can tell that it happened, and go fix the issue in the event it did.  Hope this helps!

[rolfk]

---

@rolfk wrote:

As long as you do not have any modification to VIs inside the LabVIEW folder AND of course only for compiling VIs inside the LabVIEW folder 😉

---

One correction here. I think it will work for most LabVIEW Toolkits but there seem to be issues with the LabVIEW FPGA (and probably LabVIEW embedded but I didn't try that in 😎 with cross linkage of VIs. Not sure if it is just a cosmetic error or if it will definitely cause serious problems but I got several cross linking messages in the mass compile log for the FPGA related VIs.

Rolf Kalbermatter