LabView Rant - lack of Express node support

[Rich_Tennant_Tech]

Just kind of annoyed with LabView and would like to know if "maybe" I'm just missing something.

Recently I wrote a program using LV Pro 2014.:

Used mostly "Express" nodes and specifically the "Mask and Limit Testing"

And it ran fine.

Then I tried to run the same program on a system with LV Base and kept getting an error.

Come to find out that "Mask and Limit Testing" doesn't exist in the base package and as a result it will not run.

Which I think is really stupid.  We own both programs so why would they strip out that function??

On a side note, it would be really nice if there was an Express node that would "Globally" control data speeds so that different modules (like a 9211 vs. 9239) could run at the same scan time and not crash from a buffer error.

Ok, end of rant, thank you and have a nice day!

[RavensFan]

You say you own both programs.  But do you have LabVIEW 2019 professional?

If you do, then what you show in your screenshot is that you've only activated the license for 2019 base, not 2019 professional.

Check NI License Manager to see what is activated.  And check your ni.com account to see what licenses you own.

[Kyle97330]

If you know you need to go from a "Pro" version to a "Base" version, if you can plan ahead you can actually convert Express VIs to normal VIs.

If you right-click an Express VI node on the block diagram in your Pro version, one of the options is "Open front panel".  Select that, and it gives you the option to convert it to a regular VI.  You can then save the VI to your program directory.

Of course, you do lose the ability to access the configuration popup for the express VI.  You also have to see if there's any subVI dependencies that also aren't in the Base edition that you'd need to make a copy of.

As pointed out above, if you could just go to "Pro" on the 2019 install, you'd be fine, but if you can't afford that I would also point out that going to a "Full" version also adds those express VIs and was half the price of Pro last I checked.  

[Rich_Tennant_Tech]

We do not own LV 2019 Pro, I'm a new user and only picking up the LV pieces from tech's previous to me.  As the only LV user here when I signed up for Core 1 they never stated what program I would need to take the course, so I bought 2019 Base.  Would have bought Pro but never knew that I would run into this and now there's nothing left in the budget until maybe next year (thanks to Covid-19).

[Rich_Tennant_Tech]

Been playing with converting Express VI's in Pro to Base, it's not really smooth and again as a new user it's no where's near as user friendly as using Express.

I might be able to upgrade next year, so what's the real difference between Full and Pro?  All I really want is to be able to control NI cDaq chassis, we own 5 or 6 of them for measuring and control.  Having an Express node that can handle buffering issues would be nice too...

[wiebe@CARYA]

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@Rich_Tennant_Tech wrote:

On a side note, it would be really nice if there was an Express node that would "Globally" control data speeds so that different modules (like a 9211 vs. 9239) could run at the same scan time and not crash from a buffer error.

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That would suit you, but not everybody. People will complain they can't run different modules at different speeds.

[RavensFan]

Differences between packages.

https://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/labview/select-edition.html

[Rich_Tennant_Tech]

I totally agree, and in that circumstance they wouldn't have to use it.  I'm only suggesting that one be made available to users that don't need or want modules to run at different speeds.  In my job I acquire a "a lot" of data - its common for single tests to run for months ~ sometimes years, having more than one scan rate for different channels serves no value as I always chart and compare events against one another.

[crossrulz]

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@Rich_Tennant_Tech wrote:

I totally agree, and in that circumstance they wouldn't have to use it.  I'm only suggesting that one be made available to users that don't need or want modules to run at different speeds.  In my job I acquire a "a lot" of data - its common for single tests to run for months ~ sometimes years, having more than one scan rate for different channels serves no value as I always chart and compare events against one another.

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You should be able to do that if you put in the same task (DAQ Express).  Then you just have to pull out the values for the different types to do whatever you need with them.  This is assuming the same cDAQ chassis and both modules support the rate you are requesting.

[BertMcMahan]

I'd heartily recommend avoiding ExpressVI's as much as possible, especially for tests that run over long periods of time.

See this article:

https://www.ni.com/en-us/support/documentation/supplemental/06/learn-10-functions-in-ni-daqmx-and-ha...

Also, if you are JUST looking to log data to files and not do any actual programming, NI's FlexLogger program might help you out. It's super easy to set up random data collection schemes, plot them, save them to files, etc. You can't do any programming in it outside of a few triggers ("start recording data when this analog value goes above 2 V") but it's very easy to collect data from cDAQ chassis.