Untypical uses for LabVIEW : G Abuse

[shoneill]

I was just thinking about the times where I have used LabVIEW for things which LabVIEW wasn't actually conceived. I have used it for things as simple as replacing all \n with \r\n in a text file (Whoo hasn't, right?), to a general stopwatch on the desktop to a relatively complex data analysis software (Which dealt purely with text, no graphical output, no instrument control and so on).

I'm sure there are plenty out there who can give much better examples of areas where LV can be used which aren't within the "typical" field of automation.

There are a few discussions going on that LV WILL become a general purpose language. I personally find it interesting to acknowledge that the LV programming style defnitely offers benefits far beyond the SCADA market. Where is LV already good, and where could it be better? Especially OUTSIDE the SCADA market....

How about some examples.

Shane.

[JeanPierre]

I quickly wired a chat romm client/server application. See here.

Don't run the client with the default server address, I don't run the server anymore.

[williamlweaver]

---

@shoneill wrote:
...
There are a few discussions going on that LV WILL become a general purpose language. I personally find it interesting to acknowledge that the LV programming style defnitely offers benefits far beyond the SCADA market. Where is LV already good, and where could it be better? Especially OUTSIDE the SCADA market....

How about some examples.

Shane.

---

Rather than waiting for the "LV WILL become a GPL", I've already accepted that it IS the easiest GPL to teach to students. After discussing flowcharting, as all good software design courses should, we simply press the "run" arrow in LabVIEW to see our results, rather than taking a few more classes to write the code.

-Bill =]

[shoneill]

I had to read the last mail a couple of times wondering what LabVIEW had to do with "software Libre". I understand you're using the GPL as "General Purpose Language" and not as "Gnu General Public License".

It's still amazing how many people are seriously put off by any mention of the name "LabVIEW". It's often viewed as an interpreted language with very limited scope.

I really think a name change would solve at least some of the problems.

Shane.

[Enrique]

A name change? I think "LabVIEW" is the coolest name.

[tst]

I've said it before, I'll say it again: LabVIEW is a terrible name, because it's hard to pronounce (at least for me). B and V together just don't work.

Now, to the topic of the thread:

There is actually a project in the pipes for general open source software written in G. This is supposed to push both developers and LV forwards by doing stuff that's not "native" to LV, and (if the programs will be good enough) maybe help spread the LV word around to people who don't know it.

At the moment this is still in the very initial stages of planning, and is debated offline, but hopefully soon enough responses we are waiting for will arrive and we will know better how well this will fare. This project still doesn't have parents like OpenG, so its exact nature is still unclear. We will post more on this when we have a better idea. Anyone wishing to comment\make suggestion\volunteer to help can do so here or send an email to hthr888@hotmail.com . Be warned that you are unlikely to receive a personal response if you send an email there, but I promise to try and read them all. So far that box is spam-free and I hope it can stay that way.

Incidentally, my suggestion for an opening move for this project was to ask people to design some games in LV, since those are more fun. The obvious types are board games, mind games, puzzles, maybe some old style arcade games. An important thing to remember is that people have different OSes and different versions of LV, so an older version and pure G code are preferable. Since this is still in planning, I suggest that people just start writing and not post here, but wait until more light has been shed on this project.

Personal P.S.
In my opinion, unless NI does a major switch, this will be somewhat doomed to fail. I know there are people in NI who are pushing to make LV more general, but I still don't see LV competing in the near future with many of the things Java or C can do. This is not necessarily unjustified. NI makes its money from selling to a specific market and offering its product at lower costs to a wider market is not something they have to do. It is something many users hope they will choose to do, however, which is one of the main reasons this project was suggested.

Like I said, more updates will follow in the future (don't expect it to be tomorrow).

[chilly_charly]

---

@tst wrote:
I've said it before, I'll say it again: LabVIEW is a terrible name, because it's hard to pronounce (at least for me). B and V together just don't work.

---

Ah ! Thanks, tst thanks !!!

I thought that was due to my grand age. But you directed me to another, much simpler explanation. I'm happy : I know why I'm dribbling...

CC

[becktho]

Hi all

Although I often miss features I can use in Java (which is the other language I use during the workday - except german to talk to my colleagues ;)), it is good that LV is different.
Last year I implemented a simple dataselector using the wizard-template. It allowed the user to extract data out of an access database using different selection criteria which the user had to specify. Usually I'd have coded something like that in Java, but it was so simple that I was much faster with LV.

As mentioned (I think by tst), there are great possibilities using Java or C/C++/C# (or similar languages). I still find it great to know which language to use for different achievements. If I have to automate something I use LV and if I have to do a program which just runs on a pc without DAQ or controling devices I use Java.

Just to add it - I think LV is a real sw-language. You can make programs like you would with other languages. By the way - nobody says that Java is not a full featured language just because it needs a runtime on the target-system.

Thomas

[shoneill]

In reply to tst,

I have been thinking for a while about LV's place in the world of programming languages, and I know Ben is convinced that LV will take over the world some day ;), but I really feel that the (sometimes unneccessary) limitations imposed by NI on the development environment of LabVIEW hampers it's growth somewhat. But then again, maybe it's the tight integration of compiler and development environment which makes LV so cool in the first place. I dunno. I know it's pretty unlikely to happen, but NI allowing a bit more in the way of customisation of the LV development environment would go a long way to allow us to do more with LabVIEW. And let's face it, programming in LV is simply more fun than in any other language, German included....... 😛

I suppose we can always hope.

Shane.

[Ben]

Y'all are great to have coffee with in the AM!

I like tst's idea about games. There have been a few posted to the LV Zone.

http://sine.ni.com/nisearch/nisearchservlet?nistype=default&ddown=3&filter=%2Btaxonomy%3A%22Example+Code%22&q=game

I also agree that anything that has the word "lab" scares away alot of people.

Games are a great example of G Abuse.

According to my son, movies and the like will eventually fall by the wayside as computer graphics gets closer to the look and feel of motion pictures becuase the story changes each time you watch it.

Ben