C Interface Generator for LabView Instrument Drivers

[ReedDrake]

Hi,

I'm trying to evaluate the differences between the various LabView packages to deteremine which one I need.   In the package comparison charts, one feature that is available on the Professional and Developer versions but not on Full or Base is a C Interface Generator for LabView Instrument Drivers.  What capability does this feature provide?   Will this allow me to integrate C code in with LabView?  Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

Sincerely,

Reed

[smercurio_fc]

I could be mistaken, but I believe this is referring to the tool that creates LabVIEW wrapper VIs for instrument drivers written in LabWindows/CVI. So, if you had an instrument driver that you got that was done in CVI that has a front panel (.fp file) and its associated DLL, you could use this tool to auto-generate the corresponding VIs. This is not a tool that magically allows you to generally incorporate C into LabVIEW.

[ReedDrake]

Thanks for answering my question.

Reed

[Matt_F]

The C Interface Generator (also called the Instrument Driver Export Wizard) allows you to take LabVIEW instrument drivers and use them in C programming lanuages.  Along with creating a shared library it also creates C friendly functions, documentaion and .fp files (for LabWindows/CVI users)  You can learn more about the tool at the following link:

Enhanced C Code Integration with LabVIEW 8.20

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4160

[smercurio_fc]

Funny, I don't see a "Instrument Driver Export Wizard" or "C Interface Generator" (wish you guys would keep consistent with names) in my LabVIEW 8.2, and I have the Professional edition. Is this a separate download, or am I missing something?

[ReedDrake]

Thanks for the continued replies.   The naming of this feature was confusing, which was why I had difficulty identifying helpful information in the Knowledge Base.    The link that Matt provided was helpful though.   As for where this feature is located in the Professional version, I can't speak to that as I am still evaluating which version to buy.  

Reed

[Spex]

Hi everyone,

I would like to shed some light on this issue.  The LabVIEW Instrument Driver Export Wizard (C Interface Generator for LabVIEW Project-Style Instrument Drivers) is available as a download from the developer zone on NI.com. 

The reason it is marketed as a feature only for LV Pro and Dev Suite is that it requires the Application Builder to compile the LV instrument driver into dll's.  To save space on default LabVIEW installations (and the shipping CD) it is available as a separate download for driver developers who need this functionality.  So smercurio_fc, it is a separate download, although it is difficult to find.

Hope this helps!

[Chrisinlf]

Has anybody successfully used this tool to convert a LabView PnP driver in .Lib to a .LvLib and then to CVI with PnP .c and .h files?

I have someone at NI working on this but have not gotten a definitive answer yet.

Thanks...