Setting *.* in file type

[Ronster]

How do I set the 'file type' to *.* or all files instead of *.lvm?

[Christian Mergl]

Hey,

If you use the Express VIs (Read/Write Measurement File), there is no possibility to do this.

If you use the File I/O low level functions the standart setting at file open is *.* .

Christian

[Ronster]

Will that handle multiple channel files?

[DFGray]

The Express VI will certainly handle multiple channels.  If you use LVM format (text), I would recommend keeping the data size below a few thousand points.  Use a binary format for data of larger size (e.g. TDMS, flat binary, or NI-HWS).

However, the Express VI will not handle multiple channels of an arbitrary binary file.  TDMS and NI-HWS are specific binary formats.  The Express VI does have limited ASCII import capabilities, but works best when the ASCII file is in the LVM format.

Message Edited by DFGray on 08-29-2008 08:19 AM

[Christian Mergl]

It depends on how you programm it. 

It would be a lot easier to help if you would explain what you want to do.

Christian

[Ronster]

I have a test stand where in order to greatly simply the collection of vibration data, I take six channels all at once and write out the data as ASCII for the six velocity spectra (0 - 300,000 cpm, 8000 lines of resolution), six time waveforms (from the same collection spec which results in approximately 4 seconds of data from all six channels), and six overall vibration level calculations.  Also, based on the users input, the data is saved in one of three folders, 'incoming', 'final' or 'other'.  So, the user has to first open the folder he wants and then, if multiple data files were recorded, they are also in one of those folders as 'finalvibes_1', 'finalvibes_2', etc.

My vi reads the data back.  So, the three ASCII files are  finalvibes.dat (velocity fft data), time.dat (time waveforms), and overalls.dat (the six overall numbers).  It works great, and maybe I should just forget changing anything.  I just want to take away the added step of the user having to manually click and change the filetype from *.lvm to *.*.

The more I think about it, the more I ought to be thankful that the whole thing works well and leave it alone!!!!

[DFGray]

If you are really into pain, there is a method you could use.  Convert the Express VI into a normal VI, save the entire hierarchy elsewhere so you don't change your LabVIEW (or lose your changes if you change LabVIEW versions), then dive into the code, find the file dialog and change the defaults.  If everything goes well, this would take about an hour, but would add a huge cross-linking problem unless you did it just right (try using a library). The VI is complex, but relatively straightforward . I have already said too much...

[Ronster]

Like I said, I think I plan to leave a working, reliable vi alone!!!!