Using lvrt.dll, etc, instead of installing the full engine with 7.1 executables

[Johnner]

I have some quick and dirty LabVIEW 7.1 executables--no I/O of any sort--created using Application Builder that I want to share with others, and the full Run-Time Engine installer has never seemed more burdensome.

In my efforts to bypass the LVRTE installer, I dug around and found that it should perhaps be sufficient in LV 7.1 to include lvrt.dll and lvapp.rsc in the same directory as the EXE.

Indeed, although this technique allows the EXE to run on the target machine (no more "Unable to open resource files" message), the UI is oddly messed up in this configuration. Buttons are undecorated and grey, numerics controls don't have visible up/down arrows, etc. (unzip the attached f
ile, copy your LV 7.1 lvrt.dll and lvapp.rsc files into the same directory, and run the EXE to see)

My question is: is it better now--in these days of terribly complex LabVIEW with its legion of supporting libraries--to avoid this particular technique with an EXE, no matter how simple? It seems that I'm close here, and still with a pretty small footprint, but the usability suffers too much with the panel looking the way it does.

Any suggestions on the missing element here?

Thanks,
John

[DD]

In previous versions, I've found it sufficient to include everything in the
run-time directory, c:\Program Files\National Instruments\shared\LabVIEW
Run-Time\x.x


"Johnner" wrote in message
news:506500000008000000D5E50000-1079395200000@exchange.ni.com...
> I have some quick and dirty LabVIEW 7.1 executables--no I/O of any
> sort--created using Application Builder that I want to share with
> others, and the full Run-Time Engine installer has never seemed more
> burdensome.
>
> In my efforts to bypass the LVRTE installer, I dug around and found
> that it should perhaps be sufficient in LV 7.1 to include lvrt.dll and
> lvapp.rsc in the same directory as the EXE.
>
> Indeed, although this technique allows the EXE to run on the target
> machine (no more "Unab
le to open resource files" message), the UI is
> oddly messed up in this configuration. Buttons are undecorated and
> grey, numerics controls don't have visible up/down arrows, etc. (unzip
> the attached file, copy your LV 7.1 lvrt.dll and lvapp.rsc files into
> the same directory, and run the EXE to see)
>
> My question is: is it better now--in these days of terribly complex
> LabVIEW with its legion of supporting libraries--to avoid this
> particular technique with an EXE, no matter how simple? It seems that
> I'm close here, and still with a pretty small footprint, but the
> usability suffers too much with the panel looking the way it does.
>
> Any suggestions on the missing element here?
>
> Thanks,
> John

[Johnner]

I should have mentioned that I did try copying the entire contents of the Run-Time folder alongside the EXE, but I still saw the same odd-looking UI.

You can check for yourself if you have 7.1 and the App Builder; let me know if you see something different.

What I'm curious about is:
1. Is there some simple fix that results in a relatively lightweight installation, or
2. Do 7.1 users simply bite the bullet and always package the full LVRTE installer with their EXEs?

--John

[EdDickens]

Jack Hamilton wrote up a presentation on how to run a LabVIEW .exe without installing the runtime engine. This presentation works only on Windows and does not include NI-DAQ. You can read his presentation here. The basics of it is you must include all the files that get installed with the runtime engine along with your application.

I believe this presentation was done with LabVIEW 7.0, so there may be some differences with 7.1. I've used his method with 7.0 and 6.1 with no problems. This might point to something you;ve overlooked.

Ed

[JellyBeans]

If you use 3D Controls, they will be messed up in built exe unless you copy the "models" folder as well. However if you use just the Dialog controls on UI, then it will look fine by just having lvrt.dll and lvapp.rsc

Something to keep in mind next time you write UI and want to distribute it with just DLL and .rsc file

A Rafiq

[Johnner]

Rafiq,

Beautiful--that was it exactly. In the end, I only needed the following files from the LabVIEW Run-Time directory:

lvrt.dll
lvapp.rsc
mesa.dll
directory

Again, my app is pure software, and it's conceivable that I'll find some glitch that requires additional libraries, but this looks like it. The whole thing (roughly 18 VIs/subVIs) zips up into about 4.5 MB.

Thanks a ton,
John