Polymorphic VIs

[CraigGraham]

Completely by chance I came across the document "Menu Reorganization in
LabVIEW 6i" on zone.ni.com. and found this interesting comment;

----
Selecting File»New opens the New dialog box, which allows you to create new
VIs,
global variables, controls, run-time menus, polymorphic VIs, VI templates,
global
----

Does this mean the days of making multiple duplicate utility VIs to handle
different datatypes are finally coming to a close?

[Johnner]

Craig Graham wrote:

> Completely by chance I came across the document "Menu Reorganization in
> LabVIEW 6i" on zone.ni.com. and found this interesting comment;
>
> ----
> Selecting File»New opens the New dialog box, which allows you to create new
> VIs,
> global variables, controls, run-time menus, polymorphic VIs, VI templates,
> global
> ----
>
> Does this mean the days of making multiple duplicate utility VIs to handle
> different datatypes are finally coming to a close?

Yep, you've got it. For more technical information on LabVIEW 6i's new
features, you might want to check out the LabVIEW 6i manual set from the NI Web
site. Here's a search that turns up the 6i manuals:

http://digital.ni.com/manuals.nsf/websearch?SearchView&Query=labview%20and%206.0

I'd suggest
starting with the new 6.0 User Manual; the polymorphic VI
functionality is covered in chapter 5. Speaking from personal experience, I'd
rate polymorphism as a very intuitive and intelligently implemented new
feature. It also got plenty of exposure during Wednesday morning's keynote
address at NI Week about LabVIEW 6i.

Best Regards,
John Lum

[Greg_McKaskle2]

> Does this mean the days of making multiple duplicate utility VIs to handle
> different datatypes are finally coming to a close?

The web site should explain something about the different features, and like
John, I think that polymorphic VIs are a really cool feature, but you will
still need to implement the polymorphic VIs. This will involve defining what
you want to happen with the accepted datatypes. Often these will be implemented
with lower level VIs, but exported through wrapper VIs that accept different
datatypes. The real benefit comes to the user of the polyVI, as they are
exposed to simpler interfaces and don't have to see all of the datatype stuff.

Enjoy
Greg McKaskle