LabVIEW NXG 5.0: Instrument Drivers from LabVIEW and a decision to make

[andrewDJ]

I am intending to do some repeatable, automated testing on one of my projects and downloaded NXG Community Edition to do this (I just do my own personal projects for my interest) - I've not used any LabVIEW product before.  I've spent a few days getting a reasonable high-level view of  using NXG to control the 4 instruments I have: Keithley DMM6500, R&S HMC8043, Siglent SDS1104X-E and Siglent SDG1032X.  I can send SCPI commands to all these instruments using NI-VISA and simple queries.

In LabVIEW, Instrument Drivers seem to be the way to go.  In NXG 5.0 these are installed via Package Manager but I've only found one driver and that's for the SDS1104X-E (I can't get any example application that comes with it to work but that's a different matter).  

There appears to be an instrument driver for the DMM6500 but it's for NXG4.0 and isn't recognised for use in NXG5.0 - I installed it through Package Manager but the instrument in System Designer isn't recognising its availability so I won't associate.

There is nothing available for the other two instruments.  For all instruments though, there appear to be LabVIEW drivers.  As I understand it these are not compatible with NXG so I can't use these and I don't know if it is possible to actually make them compatible.

In addition, part of my project make use of an Arduino and I'm thinking that incorporating that into testing would be useful, particularly as heavy use of I2C is made - these features don't seem to be available for NXG right now.

Now I think I have a decision to make.  I can see that I can build up my own sub-VIs and VISA SCPI controls to control these instruments but do I cut my losses with NXG, uninstall it, and install LabVIEW 2020 instead?  It's probably not imperative that I use the Arduino in testing.

I've only sunk a few days into NXG so far and whilst I like what I see, I wonder if I'll struggle more than necessary.  I'd be interested in views of people more experienced with these tools bearing in mind I'm not emotionally or experientially invested in either product yet.  Perhaps there is a way of converting LabVIEW instrument Drivers to work with NXG that's worth pursuing for example.

Thanks,

Andrew

[cbutcher]

Hi Andrew,

I haven't yet made much use of NXG - I occasionally try and use it but so far there's always something missing that I need.

There is a code conversion tool, but the last I heard it was still being somewhat mocked - that being said, for SCPI drivers I'd guess it has a reasonable chance of success (if you wanted to try and convert LabVIEW 201x code to NXG). You can also directly call LabVIEW 201x code in NXG, but you need to have LabVIEW Current Gen installed to do that. See Migrating LabVIEW Source Code to LabVIEW NXG and VI Interop.

You can install both 2020 and NXG side by side, which may help you make a decision (obviously this requires a bunch more disk space, but that aside it's an option).

As I've understood it, NXG is a good choice if you want to develop Web VIs (basically creating browser-viewable front panels without requiring you to write html or install Silverlight on the viewing device).

Otherwise, I think most current developers are sticking with "current gen" for big projects, and increasingly "trying out" NXG to see how far they can get.

I'll probably take another look at it in the next version, but I wouldn't be surprised if I stick with 202x for a few more years (that being said, at some point we'll all have to move...).

Good luck with whichever you choose, but just know that most things work nicely in 20{1x,20} and there is a lot more existing code to use as examples or drivers (as you've already found).

[andrewDJ]

Thanks.  I am running NXG on a Windows VM on my MacBook right now and I'm waiting on an SSD to arrive so I can get more disk space - then I'll probably give LabVIEW 2020 a go and take it from there.  I can see how easy it would be to create a bunch of Sub-VIs to make reusable code components for the instruments I have - I've given that a go already - but it does feel like reinventing the wheel.  

[billko]

I hate how NI has been shoving us towards virtual folders for decades and with NXG suddenly we're forced to use autopopulating folders.  It makes using versioning software a real PITA.