Is it possible to develop on 64-bit Labview, but compile on 32-bit?

[AllisonSCJ]

I'm currently working with VIs developed within 32-bit Labview. Roughly 60% of the machines where I work are 32-bit, but many are being progressively changed to 64-bit. Because I'm on a 64-bit kernel, I was instructed to install 64-bit Labview. 

I understand that 64-bit Labview cannot develop a 32-bit .exe, as discussed here. 

My question is, can I develop VIs on a 64-bit version of Labview, but build the .exe on a 32-bit version of Labview, as a 32-bit-compatible application?

I guess this can be answered by, is there a difference in 'bitness' before compiling? I tried opening  a VI developed in 32-bit in my 64-bit labview, and a VI mean to set the display was not compatible with my 64-bit version of Labview. If I CAN develop VIs in 64-bit, but compile them on 32-bit, perhaps we could use a Conditional Disable structure to load bit-dependant VIs depending on the current kernel the .exe is running on?

[crossrulz]

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@AllisonSCJ wrote:My question is, can I develop VIs on a 64-bit version of Labview, but build the .exe on a 32-bit version of Labview, as a 32-bit-compatible application?

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Yes.  The 32-bit LabVIEW will open up VIs from the same 64-bit version (ie LabVIEW 2016 32-bit will open VIs from LabVIEW 2016 64-bit).

However, it you are just making the 32 bit executables in the end, just install LabVIEW 32-bit.  I actually do not even bother with LabVIEW 64-bit even though all of my machines are 64-bit just because there are a lot of toolkits that have not been ported to 64-bit yet.  64-bit machines run the 32-bit executables with no issues.

[Yamaeda · Accepted solution]

The VI's/sourcecode is compatible, so yes, you can do that. A caveat regarding toolkits and DLL's though as they'd also need to follow the bitness. If the program is raw/basic LV, that it should work well.

/Y

[altenbach]

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@AllisonSCJ wrote:

 Because I'm on a 64-bit kernel, I was instructed to install 64-bit Labview. 

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Who gave these "instructions"? Nobody here would instruct you to install 64bit LabVIEW on a 64bit OS, so this might be some random blabbering from some uninformed IT guy. Go back and ask for the reason behind the "recommendation".

Unless you need to memory space of LabVIEW 64bit for massive data volumes (and also have sufficient RAM to support it!). It is highly recommended to use LabVIEW 32bit on Windows 64bit. There are still drivers and toolkits that are not supported under 64bit so you save yourself a lot of potential headaches sticking with LabVIEW 32bit (see also). 32bit LabVIEW actually runs better on 64bit windows, because it can use a full 4GB of memory.

So go back to the IT guy, show him this thread, and install LabVIEW 32bit.

[AllisonSCJ]

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Who gave these "instructions"? Nobody here would instruct you to install 64bit LabVIEW on a 64bit OS, so this might be some random blabbering from some uninformed IT guy. Go back and ask for the reason behind the "recommendation".

Unless you need to memory space of LabVIEW 64bit for massive data volumes (and also have sufficient RAM to support it!). It is highly recommended to use LabVIEW 32bit on Windows 64bit. There are still drivers and toolkits that are not supported under 64bit so you save yourself a lot of potential headaches sticking with LabVIEW 32bit (see also). 32bit LabVIEW actually runs better on 64bit windows, because it can use a full 4GB of memory.

So go back to the IT guy, show him this thread, and install LabVIEW 32bit.

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It was a misunderstanding of the differences between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Labview, as well as general curiosity about transitioning to 64-bit development. I promise you, it was not a random IT guy.

[RTSLVU]

I'm currently working with VIs developed within 32-bit Labview. Roughly 60% of the machines where I work are 32-bit, but many are being progressively changed to 64-bit. Because I'm on a 64-bit kernel, I was instructed to install 64-bit Labview. 

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Who ever "instructed" you to install 64 bit LabVIEW just because you were upgraded to a 64 bit OS was a moron.

This reminds me of one of my first LabVIEW jobs. Windows 95 has just recently come out and I was hired to "upgrade" this code to 32bits. 

They Wanted me to go in and change all the 8 and 16 bit integers to 32 bit integers! 

I'm like "But....", nope "Windows 95 is 32 bit so everything has to be 32 bits now"...I could not tell them any different.

[Blokk]

This topic comes up very often by beginners. I think NI should create a kind of "warning" pop-up information window, so whenever someone tries to download or install LabVIEW x64, a clear info should appear there stating that unless you really know why you need x64 LV (like large RAM usage, etc.), just install instead the 32 bitness one...

[AllisonSCJ]

That's an important note to make. Beginners to Labview may not know that the version of Labview is specifically to develop for that specified platform. This is especially true for anyone who has programmed within an environment that could swap between platforms to build executables to.

[crossrulz]

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@Blokk wrote:

This topic comes up very often by beginners. I think NI should create a kind of "warning" pop-up information window, so whenever someone tries to download or install LabVIEW x64, a clear info should appear there stating that unless you really know why you need x64 LV (like large RAM usage, etc.), just install instead the 32 bitness one...

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Personally, I say to get rid of LabVIEW x64.  NXG is only 64-bit.  So let that be the 64-bit version and "classic" LabVIEW is the 32-bit.  It would help alleviate these kinds of issues.

[rolfk]

The problem with that is that there are Vision applications which really NEED that memory. And with the exception of some Toolkits that are not yet available for 64 Bit (in some cases the Toolkit itself would run in LabVIEW 64-Bit too, but there hasn't been a new installer released that knows about 64 Bit LabVIEW) there is no real reason to avoid LabVIEW 64-Bit with hostile attempts. 

But if you don't know what you are doing, I would always recommend to install 32-Bit until now.