LV 8.5 on Linux- Application Builder

[anshuljain]

Hi, I'm developing an application to distribute it to our manufacturing centers...and the application is based on Labview using Opensuse 11.0 (dosen't have any hardware drivers..). My desktop enviornment is KDE 3.5.9 and the UI fonts are Tahoma 8 pt size. The fonts look pretty good during development...but when I create an application and execute it, the fonts change from Tahoma 8 pt to Arial 8 pt and look pretty awful. Is there any way I can set the font properties during build time? Attached is a screenshot of a sample application. Would appreciate some help!

[anshuljain]

Attaching the screenshot..didn't go through earlier.

[Pakman]

Hi anshuljain,

You've asked a great question!  LabVIEW's text changes depending upon the values for three different fonts: Application, Dialog, and System.  How you set their properties within Tools » Options » Fonts determines how the LabVIEW development evironment appears.  To maintain your settings between instances of LabVIEW, the properties are written to the .labviewrc file within your home directory.  You can open this file within your favorite editor and see three lines:

labview.appFont
labview.dialogFont
labview.systemFont

When you build an executable, however, a separate configuration file is created.  This configuration file does not initially specify font properties but instead uses the defaults (Arial in this case).  Thus, to force your executable to use another font such as Tahoma, simply edit the <executable name>.ini file.  You may do so by scrolling to the end and adding the following lines:

<exe name>.appFont = "my font" size
<exe name>.dialogFont = "my font" size
<exe name>.systemFont = "my font" size

Just bundle the <exe name>.ini file when you distribute the application, and you're good to go!

[anshuljain]

Hi Peter, Many thanks for the reply! I did notice a .labviewrc file in my folder. As you suggested I added the following lines to my .ini file in the exe folder:- NAND Flash Programmer v1_0.appFont = Tahoma 11 NAND Flash Programmer v1_0.dialogFont = Tahoma 11 NAND Flash Programmer v1_0.systemFont = Tahoma 11 However, the font doesn't change in the executable file! -Anshul

[Pakman]

Hi Anshul,

Whoops, I made a mistake!  Modify your .ini file so that it reads like so:

NAND Flash Programmer v1_0.appFont: "Tahoma" 11
NAND Flash Programmer v1_0.dialogFont: "Tahoma" 11
NAND Flash Programmer v1_0.systemFont: "Tahoma" 11

The changes are subtle, though necessary.  Instead of the equals sign, use the colon.  Also, the font names need to be surrounded with quotes.  Does it work now?

[anshuljain]

Peter, It works like a charm!! Thank you for this rather simple yet powerful tip. In true Linux style, the application settings are controlled via a config file. I really like that :) -Anshul

[Pakman]

Excellent, thanks for the notification!

[sankarapandian.s]

Hello,

I m facing a different problem , all the texts looks lik square whn i start labview, and also in the programming window looks same as square.

Help me to solve this problem..

I m using Opensuse 10.3 KDE and Labview 8.6. 

sankar.s 

[Pakman]

Hi Sankar,

It looks like your System Font is to blame.  What happens when you change System Font within LabVIEW » Tools » Options » Fonts (uncheck "Use default font" to do so)?

Message Edited by Pakman on 01-30-2009 10:08 AM