How do I distribute lbb files (created from a CVI .fp file)

[Kevin-PTP]

I am a LabWindows/CVI developer and have written VISA instrument drivers as function panels (.fp) in the past. I have successfully imported these into LabView and written examples.

How do I distribute the driver to the end user. I know I can simply send out the .fp file and DLL allowing the user to import that themselves but this doesn�t seem the nicest solution. Can I distribute the LBB files, if so how? Do I have to be careful about file locations which I assume are absolutely stored.

I am working with LabView 6.0.2 and App Builder Ver 6.0

[Dennis_Knutson]

Your best bet might be to submit it to NI and let them distribute the driver. Info on that can be found here. To distribute the llb, you'll also have to include the fp and dll and have it installed to \vxipnp\WinNT. The source (.fp, .c, .uir) gets installed into the instrument name folder and the dll gets installed in the Bin folder. The llb should also include mnu files so that the driver functions appear on the palette. The llb and mnu files are typically put into a folder under LabVIEW\instr.lib.

[thehobbs]

Dennis is correct in that NI would be happy to have you submit your CVI driver and LabVIEW wrapper to the Instrument Driver Network. When creating your LabVIEW wrapper, refer to the "IVI-C Instrument Driver Conversion Tools for LabVIEW" section at our Development Resources page (http://www.ni.com/devzone/idnet/development.htm). Here you will find 2 tools (Documentation Converter, VI Updater) that can be run before and after the wrapper conversion and will result in a higher quality wrapper. While these tools were originally created for IVI drivers, they can also be used for VXIpnp drivers created in CVI. Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to including your drivers on the Instrument Driver Network.

Thanks,
Jason Hobbs

[Kevin-PTP]

Thanks for you assistance. Still one thing I am not too sure on is the distribution, namely:

1. The directory under VXIpnp is o/s dependent so the installation must take this into account?
2. If I create my .llb with say c:\VXIpnp\ and C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW etc and the client installs onto 😧 are there any absolute paths stored in the .llb, .mnu or other support files that will cause a problem?
3. I think I am write is saying that the CVI DLL used on a LabView only PC will need the CVI runtime engine installed. I can easily build a distribution kit in CVI so is the thing to do to create a LABView VI installer that then calls the CVI installation?
4. Given that I am going to have a simple demo VI in LABView (and
I have application builder) is the best way to make an installer to use the 'Build application' option? If so how do I target the .LLB into the users instr.lib as there is no "cuddly" name for it? Also I don't particularly want to distribute my demo as an .EXE though it doesn't matter if I do.

Thanks in advance and appologies if these are basic LV question but I am a CVI developer!

[thehobbs]

Talking in terms of the LabVIEW distribution, I would recommend zipping the .llb, .mnu files, and .dll in a .zip file with a folder path of "driver prefix". The LabVIEW user can then extract this zip file to thier \instr.lib\"driver prefix" folder. This should minimize any issues with working on different OS's or different machines.

Also, it is important that your LabVIEW wrapper VIs have only a relative path to the dll stored in the Call Library Node. Basically, this will have LabVIEW look in all predefined paths on the computer for the dll. One of these paths is the current directory. Therefore, the VIs should have no problem linking to the dll if the dll is in the same directory as the VI (or if the dll is in any oth
er defined system path like the VXIpnp directory).

The CVI run time engine should be installed with LabVIEW. It is also installed with VISA, so if you wrote your driver with VISA this should not be an issue.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding this approach. I would also like to include your drivers on IDNet when you are finished so don't forget to submit them.

Hobbs