Best architecture and design pattern to use

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

I am currently designing a moderately sized LabView application and cannot decide on the best architecture/design pattern or combinations thereof to implement.

The program basically polls an instrument connected to a serial port continuously at a 2-10Hz rate. When operator clicks a button to start a run, the polled data is then filtered, has math functions performed on the data, writes collected data to files, and produces reltime graphs and calculates point-by-point statistics. At the completion of a run, some additional data files are written. I pretty much know how to accomplish all these tasks.

What is also required is main-vi front panel interaction by the operator to access a database (via a C# dll with .Net) to query for specifications to apply in order to determine pass/fail status. Setup conditions also need to be changed from time to time by the operator and applied to the data in real time (ie- a measurement offset). I have prototyped the database portion successfully thus far.

For the main vi, I started off using the Top Level Application Using Events design pattern (Event structure within a while loop). Copious use of bundled clusters and shift registers keep the database data updated. I cannot figure out how to have the top level vi concurrently poll the serial device as outlined above. The Event structure is only active when defined control values change, and use of a timeout is no help since it prevent data from being collected while the user is accessing the database. All database and setup parameters must be applied to the data as it comes in from the serial port. Error trapping/recovery is a must.


I believe what I need is two parallel processes running under my main vi (one for database and setup, the other for polling and data processing/display, but what would be the preferred choice here?
Revert back to a polled loop in lieu of Events, use notifiers, occurrences, user-defined events, Producer-consumer loops?

It�s been about 3 years since I have had an application on this level (which used a state machine architecture), and a lot has changed in LabView (using 7.1 Prof Devel). I am currently having a mental block while trying to digest a lot of features I have never used before.

Suggestions Welcome!

Thanks.

[johnsold]

I suggest a (3) state machine(s) architecture. The first is the user interface. Your main VI is a good start. Another state machine handles the instrument I/O (your serial polling). The third handles all data processing. The three loops run independently. Each has a wait to allow LV's scheduler to share CPU time among the loops. I like queues or functional globals for inter-loop communications.

This allows a lot of flexibility. Each portion can be tested alone. Each can have different timing and priority.

Spend some time thinking about what needs to be done and plan the structure carefully before you do any coding (except for little test programs to try new ideas).

I also like Conway and Watts "A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW", published
by Prentice Hall.

Lynn