learning labview?

[psk]

Hi,
i have EE background....I started to use/learn labview 5 weeks ago, i have task to add some functions on very complex already written program to finish up in 6 weeks and have 1 more week. Now i am really strugalling to understand data flow of program. now i am feeling like it will take very long time to understand program well enough so that i can make modification as my boss wants. there is abt 100 sub vi's....now i am not sure whether i am dumb or somethign else? anybody wanna share..

[Andrew Buchan]

I've usually found Brose -> Show VI Heirarchy form the top-levelvi to be a
good starting point for this kind of thing - it shows which vi's call other
vi's which can be usefull if you know what particular branch you are looking
at.

Hope it helps

All the best

Andy Buchan
"pratap" wrote in message
news:50650000000800000041370000-1007855737000@exchange.ni.com...
> Hi,
> i have EE background....I started to use/learn labview 5 weeks ago, i
> have task to add some functions on very complex already written
> program to finish up in 6 weeks and have 1 more week. Now i am really
> strugalling to understand data flow of program. now i am feeling like
> it will take very long time to understand program well enough so that
> i can make modification as my b
oss wants. there is abt 100 sub
> vi's....now i am not sure whether i am dumb or somethign else? anybody
> wanna share..

[Ben]

Hi Pratap,

As mentioned, start with the view VI hiearchy and leave the help screen open.
If,
1) The VI's have descriptive names
and
2) The help documentation has been filled in,
you shoulde be able to get an idea of what is happening and where in the app.

If the two conditions mentioned above are not satisfied, you should not feel dumb or whatever. As an Select Integrator, I have been asked to "deal with" code like this on a number of occations. Depending on what I have found, and the availability of funding, I have either gone back and documented, or completely re-written apps.

Ben

[Joe_Guo]

well, from my past experiences, reading someone else's code is a big task for me, everytime. Like people who posted before me, vi hierarchy is a good place to start. when in doubt about the functionality of a vi, run it in debug mode, go step by step, record information you think it is important. At the beginning, focus on the main flow of the program, set aside less important feature, such as fileIO, conversion, calculation, DAQ VIs. In another word, try to simplify the program.

Joe Y. Guo
Roush Industries, Inc