Example finder error.

[Iron_Bars]

Hi,

I get a strange error message (gibberish) when I search for examples. Please help me fix this. Picture attached.

LabVIEW 2019 SP1 19.0.1f1 (32-bit)

[Bob_Schor]

Give us some "history".  Tell us what Version(s) of LabVIEW have been installed on your machine -- include the Language, as well.  Did you install on Windows 10?  Is this LabVIEW or LabVIEW NXG?  This sounds like a faulty installation -- did you just recently install or upgrade?  Has it always been doing this or did it "suddenly start"?  Is there some specific code/process that you run that produces this result?  [That single picture only says "Something is Wrong", but doesn't, by itself, suggest much more …].

Bob Schor

[Iron_Bars]

Apologies. A few more details.

Installed LabVIEW versions: 2012, 14, 15,17,18,19 and NXG 2.0,3.1,4.0 (MAX picture attached).

Using: LabVIEW 2019 SP1 version 19.0.1f1 (32-bit) , English

OS: Win 10 x64 1909, OS build 18363.778, English (US)

The error occurs with all versions of LabVIEW. I've kept things up to date and do not specifically recall what modification/update caused this error. I could peruse examples a few weeks ago.

Note that I am still able to run my code etc. Apart from examples, the actual usage has not been impacted. This error occurs only when I try to find examples from Help > Find Examples, either from a VI, Project or from the initial LV Project selection window. I can manually hunt for and open any example project with no issues.

[Bob_Schor]

Thanks.  Nothing particularly obvious, but the hint that "Find Examples" doesn't work might be a clue.  I see you are using LabVIEW 2019 SP1 -- when did you install the update?  Sometimes (especially in the last three years when NIPM made its appearance), installations and/or updates can cause NI Services to go missing.  In particular, the NI Service Locator is (I think) required for Find Example to work.  

• Do you recall if this problem with Find Example occurred after you installed SP1?
• Go to the Start button, type "Services" in the Search window and run Services.  Look down the list where the NI Services are and see if NI Service Locator is present.  If it is not, then you have a mis-installation of LabVIEW 2019.
• Run NI Package Manager (Start, National Instruments, NI Package Manager).  Watch when it starts up -- what Version is it?  If it is NIPM 2020 (as opposed to 2019.5 or 2019.6), then that might be your problem.  It took out my LabVIEW system two weeks ago.

Bob Schor

[Iron_Bars]

• The problem did not occur after I installed SP1. I remember looking through examples after the big update.
• NI Service locator is present in Services and is running (set to automatic start).
• There are no indications of the version number on NIPM's initial splash screen, but I am pretty sure it is 2020.

Interestingly, upon closer inspection of the gibberish error window, I found a key that resembles an error code (EC27B891)

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z000000g1PuSAI&l=en-US

The questions are:

1. What are the risks of initiating a repair? I don't want to blow up my system.
2. Should I repair the runtime or LV itself via NIPM.
3. Which LV development version should I repair?

Thankyou.

[Bob_Schor]

Sigh.  I have done a few repairs (including one this week), but in the era of NIPM (and particularly for "one-version-of-LabVIEW" Installations), I recommend a "Untinstall/Reinstall" cycle.

A "Repair" (let's say you want to repair NI Measurement and Automation Explorer, MAX, which I had to do last week) seems to undertake the following steps:

1. NIPM decides to install a component.
2. NIPM finds if this component is installed, possibly by searching the Registry.  If so,
   1. NIPM "uninstalls" it, removing (I presume) its entries in the Registry.
   2. NIPM now Installs the component, updating the Registry.
3. NIPM goes on to the next component until all are done.
4. NIPM finishes and asks you to reboot.

As you watch such a sequence unfold, there are a lot of fits and starts, particularly as the number of components involved gets larger --when I repaired MAX, NIPM found a half-dozen other things it saiit it was repairing, each of which had a half-dozen component files going into (and out of) it.

On the other hand, a complete removal of a full LabVIEW system (which takes three "uninstall" steps!) just goes.  A removal of LabVIEW 2019 with a few Modules and Toolkits should take 20-40 minutees, and the re-install should be similarly quick.  I'd guess the repair route would be 2-4 times as long (but I haven't done a repair in the NIPM era, except for a few really tiny things like MAX.

About 10 months ago, I tried to "repair" LabVIEW 2019 on a system with LabVIEW 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 -- after 3-4 hours, I was left with no intact version of LabVIEW, and it was months until I could get a stable 4-version system up and running (it's on the Laptop I'm using right now).  I've actually rebuilt this LabVIEW installation several times as updates have fried LabVIEW components, and the Uninstall/Reinstall cycle is still my Method of Choice.

Bob Schor

[Iron_Bars · Accepted solution]

I bit the bullet and did a repair of only deployed versions, LV 2019, NXG. It took about 15 minutes and now the problem is solved. I think I am going to stay away from updates for now.

[Bob_Schor]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix (or update) it!"

BS