Web browser plug-in for publishing a front panel

[lmd2]

I have a number of automated systems operating through the corporation. Support is becoming an issue. I plan on running an application on a server, the front panel will look like a 'tech support request form'. Accessed through a browser, users on the LAN will access the "form" and log in a support request. On the back end the VI will log the request to a DB and email me to alert me to the issue
Just read in an excerpt of the LTR that to accomplish this the client machines must have:
"To operate remote panels from a browser, you must first have the LabVIEW 6.1 run-time engine and browser plug-in installed on the client machine."
The runtime engine is no problem, but what , and where, is the br
owser plug-in? and will it operate with both/either Netscape / IE?

[Kamran S.]

I came across this issue a week and a half ago. On a new machine, without LabVIEW, I wanted to access the remote experiements on the NI site.

Only run-time engine is required. On your pages you can include a script that will auto-detect and point the user to download/install the run-time engine.
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/7BD0B01FCF3CF61A86256B510059F0FB?opendocument#5

[Kamran S.]

Sorry about not answering all your questions, it should work on Netscape too. You can test it out yourself by visiting the remote experiments and seeing what you're prompoted for and what the experience is:
http://www.ni.com/academic/live_experiments.htm

[lmd2]

Thanx, only I just tried viewing the Live-Experiments ... I got the video feed of the light bulb/sensor, but where the panel should have been, I got a line of text: "Server does not support Remote Panels".
I suspect that it may be due to the fact that my machine is still running WinNT and Netscape 4.6
We are just upgrading to leased IBMs running Win2000 and IE for the default browser. I'll try this again on a newer machine. Thanx again.
lmd2

[Kamran S.]

I looked through the source code on the html pages, there is some javascript detection. I'm running Win2k and IE 6 and don't have the 6.1 run-time engine on the machine and get prompted to install it.

If you view source of any of the live experiment pages search for "ftp.ni.com" and that should take you to the right place in the html for the script.

Johnathan's post mentiond that NS is only supported for versions greater than 4.7 so that might be one issue with your current setup. I'm sure there has got to be a way to detect your browser version too and then inform people that if they're using an older version they need to upgrade to view the remote panel. Of course, I said I'm sure it's possible which doesn't mean I know myself ho
w to do it 😉 I have seen it on some sites when functionality isn't available for older versions like NS 3.x

One other thing, depding on how you're going to deploy the application and how much control you have over the machines accessing the pages. If the detection is a javascript based detection then you might want to include a detection to make sure people have javascript turned on in the first place. If you think that would be useful let me know and I'll try and see if I can find something.

I'm waiting to hear back from somebody on the NS issues and to confirm the javascript working for both browsers. I'll let you know as soon as I have more information.

Best of luck,
Kamran - NI

[Jonathan_H]

In order to run remote front panels in LabVIEW 6.1, all that is required is the LabVIEW 6.1 Run-Time Engine and a plug-in capable web browser. National Instruments recommends Netscape 4.7 (or later) or Internet Explorer 5.0 (or later).

Also be aware that by default, the remote panel license that ships with LabVIEW allows one client to view and control a front panel. For your application, this means that only one network user can view/log a service request at a time. Additional remote licenses (5, 20 or 50 ) can be purchased from National Instruments at www.ni.com/license. However, this will only allow multiple users to view the front panel, as you may only have one user control the front panel at a given time.

Jonathan Hildyard
Applications Engineer
Natio
nal Instruments