Converting VIs into ActiveX Controls

[Gaurav]

I have developed VI in Labview. Now I want to use it in Windows envirnment. Is it possible? I could think that it has to be converted into ActiveX....Can we convert a VI into an ActiveX control?

[Nadav_Chernin]

Hi,

you can't make it ActiveX control, but you can make it as exe or dll file (if you have Application Builder)

[Gaurav]

Thanks for the reply Nadav. Actually I want to use the VI as a component in Visual Basic in a container. Is it possible to display a VI in a VB container using a dll or exe? I don't want to run VI as a separate process.

[Nadav_Chernin]

Gaurav, unfortunately this is not possible in LabVIEW to make VI as ActiveX control.
You can do this in LabWindows/CVI or if you have Measurement Studio, you can do that in VB/VC.

[Gaurav]

Nadav, my actual requirement is that I have to display and interact with VI in a non browser based java swing panel(without using Appletview). Since there is no way a VI can be displayed in a swing panel, I thought of using a java-com bridge which can display ActiveX controls in a java panel. Please guide me how can I display and catch events of VIs in Java Swing?

[JRA]

LabVIEW 5.0 and above supports the use of LabVIEW as an ActiveX server. This means that using ActiveX automation other programs can interface with the LabVIEW automation server. Using an automation client, it is possible to programmatically launch LabVIEW, open and run VIs, and pass their data back to the calling program. This is done by interfacing with the LabVIEW type library which is located in the "..\LabVIEW\resource" directory. By browsing this type library, information about the classes that LabVIEW exports is available. In general, LabVIEW exports a creatable class, Application, and a dispatch class, VirtualInstrument. For information on all the properties and methods exported by the LabVIEW type library, please see the Online Reference in LabVIEW. Additionally,
LabVIEW executables can be enabled as ActiveX automation servers and can be accessed from any automation clients including LabVIEW itself or even another LabVIEW executable.

You may want to look into using VI Server. This is an easy way to allow other applications to run your VI. It actually uses ActiveX to run it, so it's basically an ActiveX server. Click here for more information about ActiveX and LabVIEW. It's a very useful tutorial and can get you headed in the right direction.