Help making standalone .exe?

[elpierce6]

Hi all,

I found this tutorial http://www.ni.com/tutorial/3303/en/ but am just looking for some further guidance to make use of it. As the reviews below the article indicate it's not the most helpful...

I have a .vi I put together, it takes in data from a cDAQ, does some live analysis, spits out some .lvm files on demand. It uses a few subVIs. Nothing that fancy really. One thing to note is I never bothered to set it up as a project or anything, just the .vi's (and a control).

I want to be able to use it on another PC with no LabVIEW programs of any kind installed. I'm wondering how I'll handle the challenges of it assigning different names to different cDAQ chassis. I'm also not really understanding the distinctions between the different options in that tutorial and how to choose which is appropriate for me. Any guidance would be super appreciated.

[Bob_Schor]

1. As noted in the Tutorial, the Application Builder is an "add-on" (extra cost) option unless you have the Professional version.
2. As noted in the Tutorial, you build an Application within the context of a LabVIEW Project.  If you don't want to "bother to set it up as a Project", you can stop right there.
3. Generally, building an executable is fairly easy.  I strongly recommend writing a few simple VIs (maybe generate 1000 random numbers, plot them, take their mean, and write them to a Delimited Spreadsheet file) and try creating an executable that you can test.  Take little steps first.
4. If you want to run your executable on another PC "with no LabVIEW programs of any kind installed", you'll be out of luck -- you need the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine (generally a free download from NI) to be installed on your target PC.
5. I recommend that you start with the first option, the Stand-Alone Executable.  True, as the previous point notes, you need to install the RTE on your target, but building an Executable is extremely simple and (almost) idiot-proof.  The other alternative, in your case, is an "installer", which also puts the Run Time Engine(s) on the target.

I do agree that the example reminds me of the LabVIEW examples I read a decade ago that made building applications sound much more difficult than it needs to be.  In the vast majority of the Applications that I've built, I've built Stand-Alone Executables where the only VI I put in the Build Specification is the Top-Level VI, which calls other VIs (and pulls them into the Build) that call still other VIs that call DAQmx functions that call other functions, and before you know it, everything is in memory, built into an Executable, and loads and runs.

The best way to convince yourself is to try it.  Start with something simple.  Build it in a Project.  Write a Build Spec.  Run it.

If it behaves strangely, do the following:

1. Be sure that your Project and all of the VIs that it calls are in a single Folder on your PC.
2. Compress the Folder to make a .ZIP file.
3. Attach the ZIP file to your request for help.  This step is vital, as we need to see the Program, the Project, the Build Spec, and then see how the Executable differs in function from the code run in Development Mode.  Otherwise, you are wasting your time and our time.

Bob Schor

Bob Schor