Which file format for a complex configuration file?

[Albert.Geven]

I agree that JSONtext is easiest.

[VinnyAstro]

Well sounds like JSON is fairly unanimous.

Any recommendations on the libraries to use? By default I would avoid the standard Labview libs are they usually are fairly basic.
A quick look on VIPM show quite a few of them, what should I consider other than the amount of downloads (Or the fact that it came from LAVA/JKI) for my choice?

Thanks.

Vincent.

[raphschru]

The fact that "JSONtext" has been mentioned 4 times in the thread should give you a hint 😉.

I've not explored all functions, but I've always found everything I needed in its palette, including malleable VIs that allow very elegant implementations.

[VinnyAstro]

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@raphschru  a écrit :

The fact that "JSONtext" has been mentioned 4 times in the thread should give you a hint 😉.

I've not explored all functions, but I've always found everything I needed in its palette, including malleable VIs that allow very elegant implementations.

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That's a fair point haha

I've focused on JSON and not what's after 🙂

Thanks a lot for all inputs!

[Frozen]

"Use 1 Excel workbook..."

I chose this path. Not everyone is aware that Excel spread sheets can by accessed like a database.

However, my application only ever reads from the file and stores any HW specific info (COM ports, instrument address...) in an ini file.

No need for Excel to be installed on the deployment PC either.... unless of course you want to make changes to the file locally.

[BertMcMahan]

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@Frozen wrote:

"Use 1 Excel workbook..."

I chose this path. Not everyone is aware that Excel spread sheets can by accessed like a database.

However, my application only ever reads from the file and stores any HW specific info (COM ports, instrument address...) in an ini file.

No need for Excel to be installed on the deployment PC either.... unless of course you want to make changes to the file locally.

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Dang, I had no idea. Do you have any examples of this? I see the link in the image, but I'll be honest that's all Greek to me.

[ThomasHenkel]

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@BertMcMahan wrote:

Do you have any examples of this?

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I didn't know about this possibility either and tried it out.

[VinnyAstro]

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@Frozen  a écrit :

"Use 1 Excel workbook..."

I chose this path. Not everyone is aware that Excel spread sheets can by accessed like a database.

However, my application only ever reads from the file and stores any HW specific info (COM ports, instrument address...) in an ini file.

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I didn't know this thanks a bunch! 
For other projects we've always exported everything first as a .csv, making it a nightmare for version control and formatting ....

I think I will still go for the JSON solution specifically for this configuration though as it seems more flexible and integrated on the labview side.

But I will definitely use this elsewhere!

[Yamaeda]

That's AWESOME! I had no idea!

[Lior.Bilia2]

JSON all the way. The JSONext library allows you to plug almost any cluster, and it will parse it into a JSON string. This is especially useful if you want to use any web based interface - Transferring data from LV to a Javascript tool becomes trivial.