LabVIEW 2022 Public Beta
LV 64 bit installing 32 bit runtimes
While I was installing the 64-bit 2022 Demo on a clean Windows 10 VM, I browsed through the various packages being installed, and it looks like the last FOUR versions of LabVIEW 32-bit runtimes are coming along for the ride... this struck as odd in two respects:
1) I'm installing 64-bit LabVIEW development... so why are 32-bit runtimes required?
2) Installing the last 4 versions seems like... a lot.
I'm wondering if this is intentional, or an issue... and also wondering if this is going to translate into the application builder as well...
See attached image.
This behavior isn't uncommon. Sometimes utilities are made for some purpose, and then aren't updated to use the newest runtime with every release. One example I can think of is with MAX and DAQmx. Many DAQ tools have manual panels written in LabVIEW. These might be compiled down to an EXE and installed with MAX. These EXEs are built and tested around a single version of LabVIEW. So either NI needs to invest time and money revalidating these EXEs for newer runtime engines, which might create bugs, and more support tickets. Or they just include the runtime engine, and it should run the exact same as before.
I agree that in an ideal world you'd have one runtime engine installed, and all tools and utilities would just use it. And with the advent of a forward compatible runtime engine this should be easier to do. But installing an extra GB or so of runtime engines, is a lower effort than all that revalidation, and testing.
When you build an EXE in LabVIEW 64 bit, then binary made will only be able to be ran in LabVIEW 64 bit. During the build you have the option to make the EXE only work in that version of LabVIEW, or future versions.
