How do I make Data Logging in the Operate menu unavailable to users?

[Doug_M.]

I am using Labview 6i, and GPIB interface to control and log a power meter. I don't want the Data Logging functions in the Operate menu available to the user as I am logging to a spreadsheet file. I can do this in the run-time menu, but the features are still there in stop mode on the compiled executeable. Any idea how I can do this?

[ian_fung]

Hi, fisrt of all, do you need to let the .exe stays opened even it has been stopped? If not, you may wanna try adding "Quit LabVIEW" function (from Application Control) to your diagram to stop/ quit button's true case. This will close the .exe completely.

User will then invoke the .exe from a short-cut on the desktop. (just like any application from your desktop)

For easy editing, you may wanna use [CTRL]+[+]+[.] to stop the program without exiting from labview.

Not sure if this will help.
Cheers

[Doug_M.]

Thanks Ian F. for the help, this is my 1st VI and I have very limited programming experiance, so any help is welcome. Your recommendations make a lot of sense. One question though, what's the difference if the user shuts down a VI by clicking the Quit Labview function, or if they close the window by clicking the X at the top right hand corner? Could this cause any problems? Thanks again...

[Dennis_Knutson]

Since you're not using 6.1 and don't have the event structure so that you can easily monitor the user click on the X, you should probably disable this by going to VI Properties>Window Appearance>Customize and unchecking Allow User to Close Window. Depending on what you're doing, a premature halt to the program can cause all sorts of problems. You can leave the File>Exit menu option there but make it a user item in a custom menu so that you can monitor this. You could then pop up a dialog box to confirm that the user really wants to close the program and then close any file or instrument references. When using the Quit LabVIEW function, you should also get the application property to see if you are not in development mode. I've attache
d a simple VI that I hope explains what I mean.

[ian_fung]

I believe this example from Dennis has explained it well.

Cheers!

[Labviewguru]

Doug,

There are two ways to fix this:

First, and easiest, is to change the VI Properties to disallow the menu altogether. This will hold through a build as well (been there done that.)

Second. Use the custom menu. This is much more complicated, and I have never really used it. It is a bit difficult to get through, especially if you are a new user, and also because I don't know of a lot of documentation on the subject (search ni.com for this, I may have missed a good tutorial on the subject.) This allows you to remove or add items from the run-time menu. However; I do believe that it does revert when the VI stops. The only way to fix that would be to close the VI's front panel upon stopping, this is actually something that should be done for all
executables, as it gives users access to run VIs using the runtime engine.

Good luck