Toolkits that are Compatible with LabVIEW 2024 Q3 64-Bit

[gmr2017]

I have looked but I can't seem to find a list of toolkits that are compatible with LabVIEW 2024 Q3 64-Bit.

Can someone point me to a list?

[rolfk · Accepted solution]

Not sure there is a list really. But if you have a specific toolkit in mind you can always check the download page for that and it will list what bitness it supports. Basically by now NI has ported all toolkits that they still maintain, to support 64-bit too. One exception that I know of and that most likely indicates rather that they will eventually discontinue that officially than anything else, would be the LabVIEW DSC Toolkit. That will likely die the instant NI announces to only release 64-bit versions of LabVIEW anymore. And that time is coming, within a few years at most.

[gmr2017]

We are considering this version of LabVIEW I mentioned and because we use many many toolkits I was just looking for a shortcut to looking up each one individually.

If NI support all toolkits they maintain to be 64-bit LV compatible then that reduces my research considerably.

Thanks very much rolfk!

[softball]

Hi

There is a kind of a list. See here :

https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/22/extending-compatibility-between-labview-...

The short version of that is that NI has given up on most Modules and Toolkits. And most/all of those remaining has now been converted to the new Addon concept introduced late 2022. And 64 bit support seems to have influenced what has been allowed to live. 

Meaning, that once a desired Module is enrolled onto the Addon platform then you don't need to worry about compatibility with future LabVIEW versions.

There are of course additional niche toolkits available on VIPM and elsewhere. But that is not version managed by NI.

NI has also excluded some Modules from being Addon converted. Makes sense. Quote :

"There are no current plans to make LabVIEW Real Time, LabVIEW FPGA, and LabVIEW Data Supervisory Control Module independent of LabVIEW versions."

Regards

[rolfk]

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@softball wrote:

The short version of that is that NI has given up on most Modules and Toolkits. And most/all of those remaining has now been converted to the new Addon concept introduced late 2022. And 64 bit support seems to have influenced what has been allowed to live. 

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Given up? That list is much larger than the Toolkits that they have abandoned. But yes there are Toolkits that they have stopped updating for a few years, such as all the Industrial Communication Toolkits. But they all are available for 32-bit and 64-bit too. They are currently evaluating what to do about them. I'm personally talking with them about an alternative to their OPC UA Toolkit for instance.

[softball]

Hi Rolf

Communication modules and toolkits are essential for the stated LabVIEW-back-to-core future business. A setback of that future were of course the closure of the SystemLink Cloud server concept six months ago. So they need something else.

What I meant by topics given up by NI are things like SoftMotion, NI-MOTION and its forerunners.

And MATRIXx ( not availabe by the public since 2012 ), CDS since 2022 as well as MathScript also in 2022.

And Robotics. Not a moneymaker but a statement of interest in the future.

NI has a record of releasing "test balloons'. Release some preliminary software to check interest. Like the "Analytics and Machine Learning Toolkit". Available in 2017 and 2018.

Regards

[rolfk]

Yes, they regularly redefine their strategy. The list of acquired and/or developed products that have been abandoned in the last 20 years is quite large. Motion in any form and taste was part of that. Vision with the exception of a few adapters too. So were Industrial Controllers (RIO based hardware in a robust enclosure with fairly powerful specs) or Fieldpoint.

The list of software products is even larger, HiQ, Lookout, DasyLab, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, Multisim/Ultiboard are just a few of them.

In terms of toolkits the story is usually a bit more complex. There are toolkits that are actively maintained, others that still work and since the introduction of the version independent Addon concept also do not need to be updated with every LabVIEW version again. And then there are a few that could use some love but that NI simply has lost view in their radar. Also they repeatedly folded existing toolkits into newer more extended toolkits, or simply added them as cleaned up standard component into the LabVIEW distribution itself.

The DSC Toolkit likely is an extreme exception. It is a very complex one, combining lots of different components all glued together to look like one consistent system, yet each of them is a major effort to update and port to new platforms such as 64-bit. And it is a niche product. These two things make it extremely hard to justify the effort to port it to 64-bit, so that the most likely outcome will be its dismissal as soon as 32-bit LabVIEW goes away.