Creating LabVIEW executables & installers

[Ram_Chidambaram]

Hello all,

I am trying to create an executable & installer for an application as described in http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5406. I am having issues with both. I'd appreciate some pointers.

1. EXE: I have attached a zip folder here called "exe screen shots 1" with screen shots of the error. The errors is related to the HWS drivers on the target machine. The application runs fine on the host computer. I have installed the 821 run time engine from ni.com on the target. I have also tried placing the instr.lib/nihws.llb at the same location as host machine but to no avail. Is there a specific place for lvrt.dll?

2. Installer: Screenshots of the build errors are attached. Message indicates a "Windows SDK Function" returned an error. The installer build never completes. The path for HSDIO and Runtime engine are valid.

Thanks,

-Ram. 

[Jennifer_R]

Hi Ram,

First, I'll address the issue of running the executable.  Error 3, which was in the screenshots you provided, is due to Application Builder's default process of removing subVI front panels when creating executables.  Looking at your build specification, you seem to have two options.  The first is to include front panels for all dependencies (VIs in instr.lib and vi.lib), although this will increase the size of your executable.  The other option is to manually add the HWS VIs to the project, thus removing them from the dependencies.  You can then include front panels for those individual VIs and not affect the executable size as much. 

To add the HWS VIs to the project, right-click on My Computer.  Select Add File...  Browse to the correct directory, select each VI by holding <Ctrl>, and click Add File.

You can specify whether or not to remove front panels of subVIs under the Source File Settings category of the build specification.  Dependencies and any other VIs in the project can each be configured separately.

Fore more details, you may wish to read the article here.on load error 3.  

Regarding the installer, it appears that the driver cannot be located at the given installer source location.  Are the locations in the installer properties the same as where they were originally installed from?  Do the release dates match?  Also, are you using volume licensing, which has been known to cause this error? 

Please do post back if you still are unable to create an executable or installer. 

[Ram_Chidambaram]

Hello Jennifer,

Thank you for your inputs.

1. EXE:

A. I tried rebuilding the executable by adding the VI components as you had suggested. However, I still end up missing NIHWSU.DLL files on the target. This might be related to missing HSDIO driver.

B. One of the NI Application Engineers Doug Farrell recommended that I install the NI HSDIO Driver (http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/1126/lang/en). This fixes all above issues. However the driver is about 1.1GB. I'd rather not ask my customer to have to install it if I could lump this into the executable. Any thoughts?

2. Installer:

Are the locations in the installer properties the same as where they were originally installed from?  YES.

Do the release dates match?  YES

Also, are you using volume licensing, which has been known to cause this error?  YES. Could you explain this further? Do we have any workarounds?

Thanks,

-Ram.

[Jennifer_R]

Hi Ram,

I have tried building and running various executables from your code.  Regardless of the files included in the build specification, the executable still has missing files and functions.  Since the HWS VIs are part of the HSDIO driver, the target machine really should have that driver installed. 

The installer error you are seeing is discussed in the document VLM Volume License Installer Causes Error -12 When Building Distribution in Application Builder.  To summarize, LabVIEW seems to be creating the installer using files related to VLM.  If you change the installer source location to point to installers unassociated with VLM, that should eliminate the error. 

Hope that helps!

[Ram_Chidambaram]

Hello Jennifer,

Thank you for your recommendations.  

I am not sure that I follow "If you change the installer source location to point to installers unassociated with VLM, that should eliminate the error". How do I get installers unassociated with VLM? Are you suggesting getting a driver CD? 

Thanks,

-Ram.

[GDEV]

Hello Ram,

regarding your need to install NI HWS on the target computer.
NI HWS is distributed with NI-HSDIO, but also supports a feature in LabVIEW, which allows you to create a custom, application specific installer distribution. This feature is accessable from the LabVIEW project build specification when creating application specific installers.

To do this 'right click' on 'Build Specifications', and select New>>Installer. Under 'Category' select 'Additional Installers', you already find the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine selected. Additionally select 'NI Hierachical Waveform Storage'.
Using these steps, I created a custom installer of ~300MB, which should install all the required NI HWS binaries as well as the LabVIEW 8.2.1 Run-Time Engine onto your target computer.

Regards,

Marian

[Jennifer_R · Accepted solution]

Hi Ram,

The latest version of the HSDIO driver, NI-HSDIO 1.5.4, is available on the National Instruments website under Drivers and Updates.  Unless you need to continue development with version 1.5.0, I would suggest upgrading.  Once you download the driver to your computer, using either of the download options, and install it, any installers you create should refer to the new installer source location on your local machine.  With it no longer pointing to a network location or VLM files, that should eliminate the build error.