Running a competition with vi's from multiple LabVIEW versions

[Jim_Kring]

Chris,

Unfortunately the hierarchy window only shows VIs and not primitives, like File I/O and TCP-IP functions (which can do a heck of a lot of damage and breach of security).

Bottom line: don't run the competition on a system you care about. I recommend buying a copy of Virtual PC (or similar) and running it there.

-Jim

[Greg_McKaskle2]

> This is a good start, but you will be unable to test for the presence
> of File I/O and other dangerous primitives. These could potentially
> wipe out your whole system. Checking each VI manually isn't good
> enough. It would be very possible to hide code so that you can't see
> it. I recommend asking NI if they have any code that will test for
> the presence of such things. I am sure that they use automated tests
> to inspect submissions to their LabVIEW Zone coding challenges.
>

Yes they are often automated, but I guess I'm just old fashioned and
trusting. I have the user's info for their submission, and probably the
worst they will do is wipe the computer I'm on. LV is mostly used by
adults that either get pa
id for their work or hope to get paid when the
turn in their work.

To the best of my knowledge, nobody has been naughty -- yet.
Greg McKaskle

[crelf]

That's a really good point Jim - A suggestion to the NI guys: maybe the hierachy window should include a button to include the display of primatives - right next to the one that shown vi.llb vis, global variables, etc...

[Enrique]

I just want to mention that my original intention was not exactly about security; it was more about automating the detection of code not allowed for the competitions (CINs, dll, etc.)

[Jim_Kring]

Yes, I am very trusting of most LabVIEW folks, too. However, the risk assumed is inversely proportional to one's awareness and prevention efforts.

And lastly, since I've got your ear I would say that this is a good example of why we need scripting 😉

-Jim

[Jim_Kring]

File IO and Network access are not allowed in the contest either 😉

[Enrique]

I just made this application, VI Background Check, part of OpenG.org.

Let see if it evolves...

[vibots]

Wow, a whole new set of problems to consider! Thanks again for the advice. Someone needs to address this if NI hasn't already. Perhaps Enrique's application is a good platform to build on?
James/.

[crelf]

🙂

[Greg_McKaskle2]

> Wow, a whole new set of problems to consider! Thanks again for the
> advice. Someone needs to address this if NI hasn't already. Perhaps
> Enrique's application is a good platform to build on?


In certain cases this may be something to worry about, but on the
otherhand, remember that almost any program that does anything useful
would be flagged as "potentially dangerous". In fact much of what is
shared concerning LV is I/O, or writing to your registry or disk.

For a comparison, Java has a feature -- JavaScript, that will only allow
certain safe operation to take place. Nice, but it can't do much more
than graphics and text parsing. So in the end, a tool that li
sts all of
the potential dangers might be useful, but you will find that by design
and necessity, most LV users want their VIs to do the useful things that
JavaScript and other safe environments cannot.

Greg McKaskle