How can I ensure my datalogs can still be read but later versions of my vi's

[ds_1]

Hi!!
    Pretty new to Labview!! I often use data logs to capture data from vi's as it is often handier than processing and saving off data to files. I keep all versions of my vi's saved as I understand that a change to the front panel will make it incompatible with an older data log.
    Is there a way to keep the data logs in a more robust form that perhaps can survive some change in the vi's front panel? (Its just a little awkward going back to previous saved vi's to open these logs, and I hope to gain a better understanding of what the datalog is doing.)

    Thanks.

[smercurio_fc]

Are you referring to the "Log at Completion" menu item under "Operate"? If so, the only time I've ever used that is for debugging. In fact, my belief is that's the only time it should ever be used. If you need to save measurement data you should be using a more general format. Since you already have the data (you're wiring it to the front panel), you can write it to file yourself. A very generic format is a spreadsheet-like file using the built-in Write to Spreadsheet file. This does not create an Excel spreadsheet, but rather a delimited file that can be easily read in by Excel. You can also use the TDM/TDMS file VIs, but that would limit you to LabVIEW.

[AdamB]

Hi,

I would have to agree with "smercurio" here.  The method you are using is mainly for debugging and shouldn't really be used as a final datalogging format.

TDM, TDMS or even ASCII files would be a much better way to go depending on the data types you are going to be saving to file.

Take a look at this document it will give you a good base understanding of the concepts.

Hope this helps

AdamB