How to Copy & Customize NI_LVConfig.lvlib

[TeraTech]

I would like to customize some of the standard Ini file functions. I know enough not to edit VIs that are distributed with LabVIEW so I would like to copy and then customize NI_LVConfig.lvlib.

I found this Knowledge Article on the subject: “How Can I Edit and Move Libraries in vi.lib to a Different Location?”

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z000000g0RpSAI&l=en-US

In my case I want to copy ALL the VIs owned by NI_LVConfig.lvlib.

Q1:Will doing so makes copies of all the VIs belonging to the lvlib or simply make a copy of the single NI_LVConfig.lvlib file?

The article doesn’t caution about references. In the Save As dialog it states, “Does not update referencing files outside of the library to refer to the copies.”

Q2: Since I opened the NI_LVConfig.lvlib from Windows Explorer (not within a LV project) and it will be renamed, and since lvlib's have namespacing, then do I need to be concerned about references?

Also, I have an existing project that uses some of the top level Ini file functions in the “Configuration Files Vis” palette.

Q3: Is there a relatively simple way to replace those Vis from NI_LVConfig.lvlib with the new corresponding Vis from My_LVConfig.lvlib? I realize I can do a Find and Replace of them but wondering if there is another way to “override” them. There are only 9 of these top level Ini function so wouldn’t be too bad, but a Find will not find them inside of dynamically loaded Vis.

Q4: What about VI icons? Is there some handy way to update them all?

Q5: Should I save the new lvlib under User.lib folder or to my own project tree?

Thanks in advance!

[tst · Accepted solution]

1. Saving a copy of the library should copy all the VIs as well and link the copies to the new library.
2. I'm not sure what references you're talking about, but as the dialog says, it will not relink VIs outside the library. They will keep calling the original NI VIs, as the linking is done by path ("<vilib>\....."). The full name of each VI also includes the name of the library (That's the namespacing part).
3. I don't know of an easy way. If you temporarily remove the vi.lib VIs (move them somewhere else on disk) and then load your project, then you'll get a search dialog for every VI in the project which uses them and you can select your own VIs there and save them, but for that your VIs do need to be loaded. This sometimes doesn't work if the VIs have different names, but it might work if just the library was renamed.
4. If you change the icon of the library, it will ask you if you want to update the icons in the VIs. Note that you then need to save them. If you open icon editor for a VI in a library, you can also import the library banner with an option in the Edit menu.
5. You can decide where to put it, but it's generally easier to manage if it's in the project folder. If you want to reuse it, then that's another matter, but you should look into how you manage reuse code.