perforce

[roodrood]

Hi,

Is there a good tutorial on using perforce with LabVIEW. I have found this one:

file:///C:/Users/farhad/Downloads/Using%20Perforce%20with%20LabVIEW%20(1).pdf

But I was hoping if there is a better more recent one available.

[RavensFan]

Where did you find that file?  Your message just gives a path to where that file is located on your PC.

[Bob_Schor]

If you Google "Using Perforce with LabVIEW", you will find more recent posts than the 2009 post that seems to be the one you downloaded.  My guess is that the (much) more widely-used VCS with LabVIEW developers is Subversion.

Bob Schor

[Hooovahh]

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@Bob_Schor wrote:

My guess is that the (much) more widely-used VCS with LabVIEW developers is Subversion.

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That's been my experience too but to my surprise, Perforce is one of the few SCC that has some integration into LabVIEW natively.  Of course I think the integration is poor for my work flow so I don't use that.  I do however use the explorer plugin.

Also I think Perforce is semi-common for LabVIEW because it supports the Lock/Commit paradigm and not the diff like most other SCC use.  Of course SVN can be configured for either.

[roodrood]

so the link that your refered too is from this page:

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-3203

I talked to the NI tech support group before choosing a SCC software and they recommanded Perforce! Is Subversion a better choice?

[Hooovahh]

I believe NI uses Perforce, which is why they probably suggested it.  SVN is fine and shares similar features, but I feel like Tortoise SVN has such nice integration into Explorer, making me like it so much.

SVN you do have to set a few settings to enforce the Lock/Commit design, because by default it looks to merge, which doesn't work so well with the binary file type LabVIEW generally creates.  You set the NeedsLock in the config which will make files that aren't locked Read-Only.  Once you get an exclusive lock the file can be edited.  Then you commit back to the server and unlock it so another developer can lock it and edit it.

Either SCC has a learning curve and which ever one you pick, you'll be asking yourself if the other was easier to use.  Having used both I prefer SVN, but both work just fine for LabVIEW development.

[Bob_Schor]

I've not had a problem using Tortoise Subversion without any "locks" (or "bells", or "whistles", for that matter).  The only times I've encountered "merge" issues is with Project (I agree -- you do not want to Merge), but if it looks screwy, it is easy enough to bring down the "last Good Project" file and "fix by hand", something I've rarely had to do ...

But everyone has their "familiar Workflow", and what I find "intuitive" others may find "convoluted" ...

Bob (Intuitive) Schor

[nathand]

I've used LabVIEW and Perforce together at several companies over a decade. If you need help getting Perforce set up initially, consult the Perforce documentation. Once you have the server up and running, setting up the clients is straightforward, and to a large extent the LabVIEW integration is as simple as pointing LabVIEW at the correct directory (where you've chosen to store the local copy of the Perforce repository) and choosing "Check Out" and "Check In" from the project right-click menu or the Tools menu of an individual VI. In my opinion, the integration is quite good once everything is configured. Is there a more specific question or problem you're having?

[roodrood]

well, I spent a couple of days playing with Perforce and LabVIEW and had to figure out everything by trial and error, there is not much documentation and/or examples for using it with LabVIEW. I am still somewaht confused when about using the P4V client  with LabVIEW. I don't know if it is better to use built in LabVIEW SCC tools or just control everything from the P4V client.

Seems like SVN is much more popular, It seems like SVN is the better choice since more developers are using it and it is free and more KB is avialbale on it.