Is there a method to confine VI search region?

[steady]

Hello,

It is well known LabView has a pitfall dealing with multi files with same name. It may be worse, considering I can't find a method to prohibit it searching a specific region. For example, I have two project folders: A and B. When I creat files for A, I used several VI in B, and I copy them into A. But I don't want A to intelligently search B further. I want it to prompt which are needed! But they just automatically get everything they need in B. It is annoying.

The search path setting in Option can't stop it. Even if I clean up the search path, it just get everything from B.

Thanks,

[Mark_Yedinak · Accepted solution]

Are you using LabVIEW projects? If not I highly recommend that you start using them. They help quite a bit in eliminating cross linking as well as make it easy to fix cross linking errors when they do occur.

[steady]

Thanks Mark. Becasue I am working on a legacy and must synchronize with other team member, I can't use newer version but 7.1. Curiously do you know where is more info about the seach path syntax? I just can get very brief info from help. I want to know such as what "\*" does mean. In default setting, <foundvi> doesn't have such symbols but others have. And can I sepcify the parents folders?

Thanks,

[tst]

The search path is irrelevant. It is only used when LV can't find a file where it expects to find it. Normally, the file is found, so no need for search.

In general, LV uses a relative path to remember where each VI's subVIs are. When you open a VI which wants to load a subVI called B.vi and there's already a B.vi from another path loaded, LV will use the one already loaded and then display a dialog informing you of this.

Ways to fix/work around:

1. Make sure to never ever have projects A and B open at the same time.
2. Never ignore that dialog. If you get that dialog when you open a VI, something is wrong. Read the text to see what went wrong, close everything (WITHOUT saving, or you'll save the new link) and fix the issue by placing the files where they should be.
3. Give your projects a prefix or postfix and add it to every VI. This will make sure the VIs don't have the same name.
4. Use File>>Save with Options and select a distribution which maintains the hierarchy. Then look at the new place where you saved the files. You will see the exact hierarchy and see which files come from the wrong project, so you can now fix it. The easiest way is opening the file from the correct project and then opening the project itself. The project will load the correct file, because it's already in memory, and give you the dialog.