Feildpoint Express VIs not available in LV 2010?

[scubadude]

I have to take over the LV programing from our programmer who left. He was also working on an old laptop so I decided to reinstall LV on my desktop.

I am tryin to program our Fieldpoint modules but the Express VIs we have used in the past do not seem to be available.  When I go to the Fieldpoint tab of the functions I only get get the very basic FP VIs show here.

I would like to use the Express VIs that make programing much simpler. They look like this...

I am runing LV 2010 and have installed FP 6.0.11 which is supposed to be compatible.

Anyone have a clue as to how to get these Epress VIs to show up?

[mikeporter]

If the don't exist, they don't exist. Some time shortly after 2010 NI dropped support for Fieldpoint altogether so they may have started trimming-back the supported VIs to only those needed for compatibility.

A bigger problem is that if the system you are maintaining has "a lot of life left in it" you need to be looking at how to replace the FP.

Mike...

[RavensFan]

It really isn't that hard to convert over to using the regular Read and Write Fieldpoint VI's.

The only thing you may need to do is open your code in an older version of LabVIEW so you can see what channel settings were buried in each of those Express VI's originally.

[scubadude]

The disapointing thing is that my Fieldpont modules have "a lot of life" left in them.  Its discuouraging that they have not at least continued to supprt the products they have made and are still working.  The older VIs I have, still have the Express VIs in them, so they at least work when they are already there.  Just can't program new stuff easily.

[Norbert_B]

I understand that shift in technology hurts some times. But it is happening and outdated technology will vanish over time.

Nowadays, you will have a hard time to get computers with ISA devices, not to mention having an OS with drivers which is compatible to current computer interfaces (USB, Bluetooth, ...).

If hardware is obsolete, it is not sold anymore by that company. So why should the company maintain (read: allocate resources for development) software for a product which does not create any revenue anymore?

This behavior is true for all vendors i can currently think of.....

Norbert

[mikeporter]

I agree with you on the nonsupport. Something that NI doesn't get is that in manufacturing environments customers expect to use the same hardware -- with support -- for decades. I once had a contract where the test system's basic mechanical structure was built in the 1930s!

Mike...

[Norbert_B]

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@mikeporter wrote:
 Something that NI doesn't get is that in manufacturing environments customers expect to use the same hardware -- with support -- for decades. [...]

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I concur. However, other vendors also don't provide that extended support for free. There is always the option to ask for an extended support contract.

That, however, has to be done before the product is already years in its end-of-life phase.....

Norbert

[Ben]

Norbert,

The lack of support for older hardware lmits NI oppertunity to sell into long term markets.

It rules NI out for application that should run for a long time.

Imagine NI FP for a nuke plant or a military applcaiton. If the Navy had considered FP for the new calss of subs, it would have been replaced by cFP before the first boat was commisioned and obsolted before the first overhaul.

It hurts NI more than it hurts those of us who get paid to keep up with musical chairs.

Does anyone remeber how to spell BridgeVIEW?

Ben

[scubadude]

We could certainly discuss the merrits of continued support for old hardware for quite a while but that is not the point of my thread.

Fieldpoint modules were available until 2011 for the network modules and 2012 for other add-ons.  SO...

Since I am using LV 2010 and as up-to-date a version of FP I can get, these modules should still work and the Express VIs still be available. (probably the reason we did not continue to update our LV). 

I just want to know how to make it work now.  Do I need to downgrade my FP add-on so that these VIs are available?  They were available back when we got 2010, so what was THAT configuration?

[nathand]

Have you already run across this thread http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/fieldpoint-express/m-p/2717487#M805461? Looks like it might answer your question.

Your post included an image of the VI you want to use. Did you get that image from a screenshot of your code on your computer (with your current version of LabVIEW), or from somewhere else? If the VI icon shows up properly on your computer, then you have that VI available, and you can copy-paste it elsewhere, even if it's not in the palette.

The Read, Write, and Read/Write VIs are straightforward though, so you should consider using them in place of the Express VI.