Darren's Occasional Nugget 02/14/2007

[Darren]

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!  I had an extra minute this morning so I thought I'd whip up a quick nugget...although, since I'm sure candy is on everybody's mind today, perhaps it should be a "nougat"? 

Anyway, today's nugget pertains to the VI Analyzer.  If you don't have it, you should buy it.  Don't forget that it's included in the NI Developer Suite, so if you have Dev Suite, you already have the VI Analyzer.  One of the cool features I added in VI Analyzer 1.1 (which supports LabVIEW 8.0 and later) is the "Quick Launch" test feature.  The documentation mentions this feature, but to summarize, you can create an analysis VI with the VI Analyzer VIs off the palette, and launch it from the Tools > VI Analyzer > Quick Launch menu to perform a quick analysis on your VI...with this approach, you don't have to actually go through the process of selecting your VI and your tests through the VI Analyzer UI, since this is already done within the Quick Launch VI. 

But I don't expect you to be interested in this feature just by my words alone...which is why I've written a Quick Launch test for you to try out!  If you have VI Analyzer 1.1, you can do this very easily.  Take the attached VI and drop it in your [LabVIEW]\project\VI Analyzer\Quick Launch folder.  After relaunching LabVIEW, you should have the Tools > VI Analyzer > Quick Launch > Quick Code Check menu option available.  You can select this option on any open VI that is saved to disk.  It will run several (but not all) of the shipping VI Analyzer tests on your VI to check for "gotchas"...you know, things you may not notice in a visual code inspection, but that could cause bugs nonetheless?  An example might be an Increment function where the input wire is also wired under the function to the rest of your diagram, so that it looks like you're using the output of the Increment but really you're using the non-incremented value...the Wires Under Objects and Unused Code tests would both catch this bug.  Anyway, when you try this out, after selecting the "Quick Code Check" menu option, the analysis should take a few seconds, then the VI Analyzer Results Window should come up telling you if there are any test failures...it's just that easy!

Anyway, if you want to write your own Quick Launch tests, you can use this VI as a starting point...a template is also available at [LabVIEW]\vi.lib\addons\analyzer\_analyzerutils.llb\VIAn Quick Launch VI Template.vit.

Have fun!

-D

P.S. - Check out past nuggets here.

[JDave]

"Quick Launch menu to perform a quick analysis on your VI...with this approach, you don't have to actually go through the process of selecting your VI and your tests through the VI Analyzer UI, since this is already done within the Quick Launch VI. "

When I first tried VI Analyzer I felt it was a long process.  This nougat will make VI Analyzer much more usable on a day-to-day basis.  Thanks.

[EdDickens]

Very nice feature Darren.

Should be very useful, especially for our junior developers to catch things earlier while developing. The earlier you catch problems, the easier they are to fix.

Ed

Message Edited by Ed Dickens on 02-18-2007 09:07 AM

[Chris_Co]

Darren,

Thanks for the nugget, much anticipated.  I would love to use this resource, but unfortunately it did not come with the development purchase as the literature stated.  I have looked everywhere to download this addon but there is no option to free download.  BTW I have the development suite.  I figured the only way to get this is to contact my representative.  Is there another way?

Chris Co.

[altenbach]

Chris,

Are you possibly confusing the "LabVEW Full (or Professional) Development Sytem" with the "NI Developer Suite"?

Only the NI Developer Suite includes the VI analyzer. None of the LabVIEW development systems have it.

Message Edited by altenbach on 02-18-2007 01:00 PM

[Darren]

The VI Analyzer is not a downloadable toolkit.  It should be on one of the CDs you received with the Developer Suite.

-D

[Chris_Co]

Aldenbach,

Do you ever get tired of ALWAYS being right.   Is your brother Stephen Hawking?

Yup, I was not aware there was one more package beyond the professional dev.  Sorry for the post, I should checked more thoroughly than I did ( I did check).  But then again I'm not the sharpest pencil in the drawer.

Chris Co.

[mavimi]

I realize this is an really old post, but when I opened the "Quick Code Check.vi" the arrow was broken, because the "VI Ref" control was missing.

I attached a 2013 version, where I used the diagram in the shipped template, and the Test names from the nugget - and it seems to be working.