File Properties of VI show "VI Version" and "LabVIEW Version" meta data.

[Greil]

In File-Explorer you can show File Properties.

Some files show only common information on the "Details" tab.

But Media files show much more Details.

I want to see there "LabVIEW Version" and "VI-Version" of VIs.

[zou]

This is limited by MS Windows.

Only a few multimedia file types can have metadata.

Popular file types, such as pdf, zip..., don't have metadata either.

[GregSands]

Even so, it would be possible to add custom properties for LabVIEW files: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/properties/building-property-handlers

[zou]

Thought about create a handler for FP preview / icon preview.  The problem is that you have to create the handler in LabVIEW, and launch LabVIEW application takes a long time. I would simply open the VI in LabVIEW.  Especially when deal with multiple files.

It might be doable for version# without using LabVIEW.

[GregSands]

Displaying the FP or BD is probably too hard, unless an image was stored in the VI when it was saved. But it should be possible to extract the VI icon without using LV, and perhaps even to replace the thumbnail in Explorer with the icon.

[zou]

> unless an image was stored in the VI when it was saved

It's not.  LabVIEW create images on the fly.

> perhaps even to replace the thumbnail in Explorer with the icon

Will be overwritten by LabVIEW.

[GregSands]

Yes, I was talking about NI enabling these properties, as per this idea, not a third-party.

[zou]

If include image in a VI is an option, an easy way is save VI as metadata in a png file.

[code-lux]

Metadata for VIs is overdue since LabVIEW dropped support for all Windows Versions that did not support Metadata.

In-house "LabVIEW Version" and "VI-Version" are preferably managed by SCC but for external exchange up to now the version is often added to the name of the VI (which is bad) or omitted (which is risky).

I would also like to see "Author" and "Title" which could be more descriptive than the (often cryptic) name of a VI.

[zou]

Don't wait for NI.  You can do this yourself by creating a separate jpg file containing FP/BD/ICON and other properties.

[wiebe@CARYA]

>It might be doable for version# without using LabVIEW.

It is.

I've made a tip strip plug-in for Windows years back (ActiveX, IIRC), using C code to get the version .vi, lvproj, .lvclass, .ctl, .vim, etc.. It did show as a top strip in Windows explorer, but the mechanism changed in Windows 7 or 8 (.NET, IIRC), so it stopped working.

Of course, it's theoretically possible to create BD\FP images as well without LabVIEW, it's just not really feasible. You'd have to parse the heaps and make a renderer.