Where do I find the CAN read vi and similar vis?

[LabVIEW_IsCool]

Hello. I was looking at the "NI CAN Hardware and software manual.pdf" and saw they mention the use of the vis such as CAN read under the section "Channel API for LabVIEW". Keep in mind I installed the core package of the NI developer suite because my company only has the license for this. I tried opening up a blank project and looked for the "CAN read" vi but couldn't find it. What am I missing?

[udka]

Did you check this link NI-CAN Driver Software: http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/206955
-It mentions Free download available (see the Resources tab)
-Download the version matching to your LabVIEW version:http://search.ni.com/nisearch/app/main/p/bot/no/ap/tech/lang/en/pg/1/sn/ssnav:drv/q/ni-can/

[LabVIEW_IsCool]

I had already installed the "NI CAN 15_0 USB driver" software and did notice that in one of the installation windows it allows you to make the install for a particular version of the LabVIEW. However, previously I installed LabVIEW 2016, and it doesn't seem like LabVIEW 2016 is supported yet. Is this correct? I looked up the following support info for the different LabVIEW versions.

This version of the NI-CAN software supports the following development environments:

• LabVIEW 2012 (32-bit), LabVIEW 2013 (32-bit), and LabVIEW 2014 (32-bit), LabVIEW 2015 (32-bit)
• LabVIEW Real-Time (ETS) 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015
• LabWindows/CVI 8.0 (or newer)
• Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
• Microsoft Visual C/C++ 6.0
• Borland C/C++

Before seeing the reply on this forum, I had asked a coworker if it was alright if I installed the 2015 NI Developer suite. He said I could and mentioned that I could either have the drivers for 2016 or 2015, but not both. When I install the 2015 Devloper suite, does this mean I select all components out of the core package except for the drivers?

[luda.mattski]

Hey LabVIEW_IsCool,

You're correct in saying that the NI-CAN 15.0 driver is not yet supported in LabVIEW 2016 and I'm not sure if there are plans to add it.  Depending on your hardware, you may be able to program with the NI-XNET driver.  Here's the download link with the readme linked for some more information:  http://www.ni.com/download/ni-xnet-16.0/6128/en/

If you end up going back to LabVIEW 2015, there should be a list of driver options presented during the install.  It's possible that you'll get some conflicts if you are reverting driver versions from 2016 so it may be advisable to uninstall any 16.0 drivers you have on your computer beforehand.

[Hooovahh]

Yes this is quite annoying.  NI says they will be releasing a new update "later this year", but in the mean time it means many cheap CAN hardware cannot be used in LabVIEW 2016 officially.

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Keep-supporting-NI-CAN/idc-p/3336034#M35648

Unofficially as I mentioned you can probably get away with just installing the drivers for 2015, then copying files around and see if it works, but honestly I see this as a gap in driver support that NI needs to fix.  NI currently sell hardware, that is not deprecated, or obsoleted, that cannot be used with the newest version of LabVIEW.  I've known no other time in my NI/LabVIEW career that that has been true, until now.

[LabVIEW_IsCool]

Yes, you're right. I haven't programmed in LabVIEW in a very long time so I was hoping I wouldn't have to mix and match LabVIEW versions. Anyway, I installed LabVIEW 2015 (obtained from the 2015 NI developer suite. I only selected to install LabVIEW 2015. Nothing else) on top of my existing 2016 NI developer suite. I installed the "NI CAN 15_0" USB drivers that support LabVIEW 2015. In one of the installation windows it asks for which version of LabVIEW you want to install for. I selected "LabVIEW 2015". So I think this means I currently have these NI CAN drivers so that I can use my "NI USB-8473" device and that I also have additional 2016 drivers (e.g. NI VISA) on my computer. Is this right? Sorry for all the questions. I'm still learning this DAQ system.

[Hooovahh]

Okay if you have NI-CAN 15.0 installed, and you want to develop in LabVIEW 2016, you can try to copy the attached files into your LabVIEW 2016 install directory.  This is usually:

C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2016

The attached zip files are from the LabVIEW 2015 install pulling the vi.lib, examples, and palette items.  I'm unsure if there are more that are needed which aren't in the shared directory, which should already be there after installing NI-CAN 15.0.  After extracting the zip into 2016 I have the NI-CAN palette on my block diagram, and if I open one of the examples it opens without error.  This is a very hacky solution and NI should release an updated version of NI-CAN, making these files unnecessary, but until then this is the only way to develop in 2016 for NI-CAN drivers.

[Hooovahh · Accepted solution]

I just checked and saw that NI-CAN 16.0 was release and can be installed for support to have NI-CAN hardware in LabVIEW 2016.

http://www.ni.com/download/ni-can-16.0/6439/en/