Suitability of Labview Home Edition for Network Application

[sfmonks]

I am looking at a number of possible software solutions to help with an extended maker project I am working on and I came across the LabVIEW Home edition. The particular application I have in mind requires a SCADA-like operation of a number of devices and instruments that I have sitting on a network connection to my workshop. The core of the hardware operates on a couple of networkable smart relays and Raspberry PI's and the test instruments are a selection of devices some networked several that will be connected to a local PC and accessed via USB over TCP/IP. The USB devices will use a virtual machine architecture so they will appear as local devices for the purposes of control but the networked hardware is potentially more problematic.

I have not been able to track down any comprehensive or up to date list of drivers and devices supported by LabVIEW and my reading of the LabVIEW spec suggests that the Home edition is really only suitable for local applications with all network and data logging related applications requiring the LabVIEW DSC module. Do I have this right or is there a way to implement what I am after with the Home edition?

[Blokk]

If your question is about whether you can manage LabVIEW comm between two PCs, the answer is yes. Just create the two applications for the two PCs, and using for example the NI Network Streams, the two PC will be able to communicate with each other.

If your question is about how LabVIEW can communicate with hardware connected via a Ethernet-to-USB extender, then you need to specify the things further, I do not have experience with such configs. But I remember I have seen such posts in the forum before, just use the forum search with these keywords...

Maybe you could specify further your network config and all HW elements + interfaces? So people can help you better...

[Alexander_Sobolev]

One more limitation of home edition is absence of application builder, it can be separate.

Whether you need DSC module depends on how complex your communucation with networked intstruments. LabVIEW has networking functions, TCP/IP, UDP protocols. DSC implements protocols, specific for PLCs and PACs. I guess on some level communication can be implemented using basic functions.

For example you can use NI Network streams between 2 PCs, or, if you need to transmit a couple kBs, you can use simple TCP/IP and stop ~10 NI services.

[Blokk]

LV Home Edition has application builder included (NI added this to the licence at a later point).

[Ben]

A lot of the comm done with DSC can be done with datasocket read/writes.

Ben