problems of building excutable application

[laputagd]

I wrote a Labview program to control Keithley 2400 source meter and the program is based on Keithley VXIPnP/VISA driver (http://www.keithley.com/products/currentvoltage/?path=2400/Downloads). A keithley KUSB-488A card is used for data acquization and software is Labview 8.0 professional. The program runs perfectly and then I buit the excutable application by using "Tools-->Build excutable". Then I tested the built excutable file and it also worked with no problem. But when I copy the excutable file to another computer which does not have labview installed, the program couldn't run and it showed Labview runtime engine is needed. Then I installed Labview8.0 runtime engine and also the VXIPnP/VISA driver and driver for the KUSB-488 card. Now the program can run but it doesn't interact with the 2400 source meter.

My questions are:

1. Whatelse is needed to run this program in a computer which does not have labview installed?

2. When I build the excutable file, how do I let all the related driver files included in the final excutable file, so other users do no need to install Keithley VXIPnP/VISA driver?

Thank you!

Jinjun

[Deepu]

I suggest you to check these few things:

In the system where you run the source code, check if the device is visible in NI MAX under devices and interfaces. If yes, see if there is any device ID. In this case likely your device ID in the other PC is different. You can do a simple program that can search the PXI devices in the PC and instal and run it on the PC with problem.

Another thing to notice is that: when you say copy, did you really just copy or run the installer ? I guess you run the install and if not so may be you should do. And for VISA, you need to install the proper VISA runtime engine as well. Check the VISA in your source code system and get the runtime installer of the same version. This you can download from NI web.

[TCPlomp]

If you build an executable via Tools->Build executable you have a LabVIEW version prior to 8.0 so you need the correct runtime.

If you are using 8.0, you can create a Build spec in the project, and an installer spec. in th installer spec you can add the runtime engine and the VISA runtime engine.
I don't think it is possible to include 3rd party installers. However you could add them to a source distribution, include that in your build and run the install exe after the installation.

Ton

[laputagd]

Deepu, as Labview is not installed in the computer that I would like to run my program, how do I use NI MAX? I suppose NI MAX is installed with Labview program. And after I build the excutable file, I just got one excutable file (.exe) and a dll file, it is not an "installer" because it can be run directly instead of a "installation". Thank you.

[laputagd]

TonP, thanks for the reply. Can you give me more details about how to creat a "Build spec" and "installer spec"? I didn't find out how to include the runtime during the compilation. I did install VISA runtime in the computer that does not have labview installed. 

[Dennis_Knutson]

You asked how to get all of the files on the another pc but you don't want to create an installer? Why not? That's the only way to get all of the files you need in one place. The installer should include the LabVIEW exe you created, the instrument dll, the LabVIEW Run-Time, NI-VISA, NI-MAX, and probably NI-VISA Configuration Support.

[laputagd]

Dennis, sorry for my English, maybe I didn't say that clear. Yes I do want to generate an installer, but the question is that I do not know how to do that. Every time I compile the file, I only got an excutable file which can be run directly. Can you please let me know how to generate an installer? I am using Labview 8.0 professional development system. Thank you.

[Dennis_Knutson]

In the project explorer, right click on the Build Specifications and select New>Installer. You can also select Help. In the help window that pops up, there is a link to 'Installers' that will provide more information.

[laputagd]

Thank you Dennis. Now I can build the installer. I will try the installer later on the other computer.

[Deepu]

Hi laputagd,

I believe you should create an installer as Dennis explained earlier. An installer will ensure that your system with no LabVIEW has the correct LabVIEW runtime engine for running the exe. I believe when you create the installer, you will be able to add NI Max in the package as an additional item. Pls go through the help and it will be very useful.