Can an external program called by system exec.vi appear 'inside' a labview vi?

[Neumannium]

Hello all,

I'm trying to call an external program using the system exec.vi. I want the instructions for using the external program to appear in a VI. The problem is, the external program completely covers the VI.

Is there a way I can set it up so that the external program appears 'inside' the VI, so I can still have my instructions, etc. visible while the external program is running?

I think I explained this in an extremely convoluted manner, so I apologize ahead of time 🙂

Thanks for the help

Dave Neumann

[Labviewguru]

Dave,

There are a couple of things you can try.

First, if you can build the external application as a DLL, you can call it from within LabVIEW to have it appear as you want. It doesn't sound like this will work though, but if it does, go with it.

Second, try hiding your LabVIEW window(s) programmatically.

Third, use the WINUtil.llb from NI's website to control the window appearance, to make the window for your external application (you will need the window name/handle) appear on top (be modal).

If these suggestions aren't appropriate, or do not work, please post some more detail on your situation, and try to provide a screen shot. Us LabVIEW programmers require visual aids before we can truly understand something...

-Mike