Labview GUI development (no data acquisition)

[WilliamLee]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently examining programming languages for the development of a GUI for Windows.  The application would involve no data acquisition, but would involve producing graphs and figures.  The code would calculate and present results using tables and/or figures.  One of the programming languages under consideration is Labview due to its strong graphing capabilities and its graphical programming language.  I have primarily a FORTRAN programming background.  

I have searched for posts concerning using Labview versus Measurement Studio/C# for applications.  Most of the posts seem to concentrate on integrating the two for data acquisition.  The application would contain standard GUI controls (textboxes, comboboxes. etc..) and graphing (2-D, contour, perhaps 3-D).  How does Labview compare to C# or Java in this type of application?  The graphing would have to handled by a graphing library.  And does Measurement Studio contain sufficient functionality for the display and printing of tables/figures/reports?

Thanks

Will

[NestorG]

Hi Will,

For your application, both are great languages and it really comes down to what are you comfortable with - text-based or graphical programming. For your application, you would benefit from LabVIEW's intuitive, easy to use controls. Note that many common tasks, such as reading/writing to a file, have pre-built modules. However, if you are not familiar with G (LabVIEW's programming language), it may require some time to understand differences such as using Toggle Switches for CheckBoxes or using Ring Controls for Comboboxes. Note that a LabVIEW application will also require the end user to install the LabVIEW Runtime Engine.

LabVIEW will offer primarily every feature MeasurementStudio offers and more. MeasurementStudio was primarily designed for .NET users that enjoy the LabVIEW conveniences such as the DAQ Assistant and the Analysis Tools.

For your application, LabVIEW is the way to go. Report generation and graphing is exactly what LabVIEW was design to do.