LabVIEW Real-Time Idea Exchange

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The new web interface offered when you install a system image to an RT target is very rudimentary, it offers almost none of the configuration options that we had in the Silverlight-based version. You cannot edit the network card settings, you cannot change the date and time etc. All it does is refer you to use NI Max, which kind of defeats the point of having access to basic config without the need for anything but the web browser.

Are there any plans of an update to the web interface any time soon?

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Currently, non default map constants (like the one shown below) are detected as fatal insanities when deploying to Real-Time targets and crash the LabVIEW development environment.

There is a workaround, which is to build the map from other data structure constants. The map constant above was built from the code below. However, it takes longer to execute, and it takes more code. That is okay in some cases, but it would be better if there was an option to simply use the map constant above.

build map.png

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Build on deploy, if necessary

The best thing about Pharlap is that it will run dll's like Windows.

Making shared libraries for VxWorks (*.out files) is quite an arduous process if you don't have Wind River software. The GNU toolchain, that used to be the free alternative, does not work on Windows Vista or 7, leaving those of use who have chosen to upgrade out of luck.

It would be great is LabVIEW could provide a way to compile *.out files from the Application Builder and thereby provide more complete support for development on the CompactRIO platform.

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Android target option for TPM

I know there has been some discussion in other areas about an "Android build" of LabVIEW, but I am thinking specifically about the Touch Panel Module. An option to target and deploy an HMI onto a low-cost, readily available Android tablet would be tremendous for RT projects, in my opinion. I've got 2 different projects right now that require expensive Win7 tablet PCs, but all they are doing is running a custom LV application to be used as a basic HMI, which is complete overkill. I know the webserver is an option, but it has some limits, and I'd like to have multiple varieties of HMIs available to show varying degrees of system data and performance, which gets dicey with a webserver situation (at least, in my experiences so far).

It just seems like expanding the TPM so that it's keeping up with the times (Android and iOS dominance) seems like a win/win for NI and developers.

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I can currently write code that uses the SysConfig Restart VI to run some cleanup operations and then shutdown a cRIO.

However, if I rebuild my startup application in LabVIEW, and then want to deploy it (or want to restart from MAX) then I have no easy way to call this code when restarting - the cRIO restarts and any handles are left open/half-open until the other end clears them up.

Could we have the ability to register a shutdown VI that is called whenever the target is programmatically restarted (e.g. by LabVIEW's Project Explorer or MAX)?

I understand that in the case of failure and a hard reset via the Reset button then probably this is impossible/implausible, but in the "normal" workflow, this would be a useful addition.

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Hello LabVIEW Enthusiast,

NI has introduced malleable VI function since LabVIEW 2017. It is a great function to have in advanced LabVIEW application development.

But "Stall Data Flow.vim" function is missing in Real-Time Target OS from timing function palette since 2017.

It is not like you can not use malleable VI in RT side, I have copied same VI from desktop VI to RT VI. It works fine without any error or broken arrow.

NI should include this types of VIs in RT package by default.

RT has Type Specification Structure too, which creates question for me on this missing VI.

If you have any reason(s) to share on this why it is not included on RT side, Please share your thoughts.

RT Side.JPG

Host Side.JPG

Thanks,
Vinal Gandhi

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If you have an RT target set up with a startup application (ready to be deployed in the field), running a VI on it from the IDE should not change anything permanently.

Today (LabVIEW RT 2013), doing this will not just temporrarily stop the VIs running on the target (from the executable) - as you get warned about, but also cause the RTTarget.LaunchAppAtBoot=True line to be removed from the ni-rt.ini. So the startup application will not be launched the next time the device is started up, rendering your device useless in the field. Why?

- We had an incident where we narrowly escaped such a scenario. The RT target was embedded into a cannister that was about to be sealed, but an unforseen issue made it necessary to run a special test on it, with a VI from the IDE. The startup application in this case provides the only way into the system once the cannister is sealed (no Ethernet access, just RS485), so having it no longer start would be a catastrophy. No one expected running the VI would actually change anything permanently. We tested it of course, and saw that it stopped the startup application (and so we loaded an image of the correct setup afterwards to be sure all changes were removed), but it would be much better and more intuitive if no such permanent and fundamental changes occured (if actually possible to implement in a such a way).

Allow ip address sharing within a project

We have some software which runs in different versions on the same hardware and in testing, we often need to have the software running for benchmarking or debugging from the development environment.

A major pain is the inability for devices within a single project to share an IP address (when not connected). I would suggest that multiple targets within a single project should be allowed to have the same IP address set (although of course only one can be connected at a time).

Shane.

SFTP support for Real Time Targets?

As cRIO's are deployed in ever growing applications, it would sure be nice if there was an option to use SFTP (and disable FTP altogheter) on the controller. Ideally it would be supported at the OS level, i.e. the existing cRIO FTP server is upgraded or extended to include SFTP as well.

If this is already supported, try searching for "sftp" or "crio sftp" and you'll see only one 3rd party tool-kit, but I confirmed with that company (Labwerx.net) that it (labSSH) does not support cRIO/FPGA/RT targets and there are no concrete plans to add support to other targets.

NI: I call on you to either create the FTP toolkit I need to write my own SFTP server, or better yet, update the cRIO FTP server to include the "s". . . It is only one letter, how hard can that be!? 😉

If this is already possible through some (obscure?) way, please update your site-search engine to reckognize sftp and/or crio sftp, and/or link to a KB or Whitepaper on the topic as I did not find any.

(Note: cRIO safety and security IS covered in pretty good detail in the article series starting with Overview of Best Practices for Security on RIO Systems and the linked 3 articles.)

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Enable Secure Shell Server by default

Could we have SSL on by default in the standard software sets for RT targets? It is not like there is much security in the default setup anyway, so having SSL active as well as the web interface with default passwords is just more practical (if that is the rationale for not having it on...(?)).

Background:
Whenever I have loaded a default software package onto an RT target using NI MAX, I run into this little snag; I try to log onto it using SFTP or PuttY - only to rediscover that this is disabled. So then I have to go to the web interface or NI MAX to enable it. Most of the time we use RAD to replicate PACs anyway, but this is still another little thing we have to remember every time when dealing with the very first setup.

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A recent forum post discussed possibilities for "Securing a cRIO": Securing CompactRIO, and identified that LabVIEW project access allows the project to upload new rtexes without a password.

You are then prompted for a password to reset the cRIO, but this can be somewhat similarly achieved with a screwdriver and the reset button... (of course, this assumes physical access to the cRIO, whereas project access does not - but I suspect in the forum users' case, the two were approximately equivalent).

Would it be possible to move the login prompt before the new rtexe and accompanying files are uploaded, rather than for the restart?

Currently a VI running in a Real Time environment does not support run time menus. I understand the restriction, but what I find odd is VIs that have the menu reference wire cannot compile for RT targets. This may seem like no big deal, because why would you have a menu reference wire, but not use it? But I have come to find two examples that make RT code a bit more difficult due to this issue.

If I have a polymorphic VI, and one of the polymorphic types has a menu reference terminal, then I can't use that polymorphic VI in an RT VI, even if the instance that is being used doesn't use the menu reference. One work around for this is to wrap the entire VI that does use the menu reference (terminals and all) in a conditional disable structure so that it does nothing on RT.

Another issue comes in the form of templates. I have various temples to get code started, and most of it can run on RT or other targets without any need to change the code, just place conditional disable structures where needed. But I found one issue where I can't have an event structure on RT, that has the Shortcut Menu Activation? event, because it generates a menu reference wire. Ideally this event just can't be generated on RT, so the compiler would know to not include it, and it would allow the VI to run on RT. Same for polymorphic VIs that have a menu reference in one of its instances.

A better solution might be to lift all restrictions of using the menu reference wire on RT, and just assume that using the menu reference on RT does nothing, like a No-Op. Optionally an error could be generated if one of the menu reference functions are used, but for the sake of simplicity I'm not sure that is needed. What I'm really looking for, is a way to allow VIs to run on RT, that have menu reference wires types, but aren't used. Note the VI below which can't run on RT and the reason given is that the menu reference can't be used on RT, but it isn't being used, it is just wired to a disabled case.

If you right-click on the RT target in the project and select Utilities you can:

-View in system manager

-View in browser

-etc...

It would be useful to have a View in FTP Client there as well. I seldom need to access the web interface, but I often want to delete files prior to a new deployment e.g. and this would be a quick way to do it.

Yes, you can use the web interface to access the files as well, but that's much more cumbersome than to just open an ftp connection.

LabVIEW Real-Time Idea Exchange

Allow management of network, date and time etc. in non-Silverlight web interface

update the SQLite version available via opkg

Start including the Ethercat industrial communication drivers in the device driver DVD.

Allow non default map constants on Real-Time targets

Build on deploy, if necessary

Add ability to change text color on the RT Debug String VI

Support for Building VxWorks Shared Libraries (*.out files)

Android target option for TPM

Implement a Shutdown VI that could be called when restarting a cRIO (e.g. from MAX, Project Explorer)

Missing "Stall Data Flow.vim" VI in RT side

Running a VI from the IDE should not touch the application launch flag

Allow the deploy libraries method to work in RT OS

Allow ip address sharing within a project

SFTP support for Real Time Targets?

Allow Create Network Stream to reopen a existing reference.

Allow Dynamically Launched VIs to be marked as "Always Deploy"

Enable Secure Shell Server by default

Require password to upload RT application rather than to restart

Don't Break VIs with Menu Reference Wires

Connect to FTP server option under Utilities