Multilple interfaces talking to the same core program?

[chuggins143]

Our company is building a new facilities for show and tell and I've been tasked with writing the controls and testing software... as well as building the hardware side.  I've run into a question that I don't know where to ask, but thought here would be a good place to start.... Our facilities will have multiple rooms with various uses...  We're planning on having a central location for all our sensor and controls hardware.  I'll be putting together a program that will control everything from a central computer...  I want to have a display in each room that'll give the relivant data for the room and have some sort of interface so I can change settings and such on the fly. Either through a wireless connection to my laptop or a keyboard and mouse in the room.  What's the easiest way to accomplish this?  I can easily write a program with tabs to control each room from a central screen, but with a central computer and needing individual front ends for each room.... I must admit I'm a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm willing to learn... where do I start?   Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Chad

[chuggins143]

I'm giving this a bump since I posted it on Friday and it's probably been overlooked...  Any points in the right direction would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Chad

[Pcorcs]

Hello Chad,

I believe the system you describe may be a prime candidate for the LabVIEW WebUI Builder. 

The WEBUI Builder is an application interface designed for tight integration to Web Service Based systems. The WebUI builder would allow you to design a central control system that hosts a number of Web Services. WEBUI may be used to create the custom front panels for each room, parsing the Web Service data appropriately. WebUI is moving in the direction of potentially replacing Remote Front panel options previously offered in LabVIEW. Tutorial information on Web Services is listed here: https://www.ni.com/docs/en-US/bundle/labview/page/tutorial-creating-and-publishing-a-labview-web-ser....

Alternatively, shared variables and network streams may be utilized depending on the application needs as a distributed resource; such that, a customized local application can be deployed to each area of the facility that can connect and operate the shared resources. More information on network streams and shared variables may be found at the links below:

Network Streams Overview

https://www.ni.com/en/shop/labview/lossless-communication-with-network-streams--components--archite....

Shared Variables

https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/06/using-the-labview-shared-variable.html

I hope this information gets you moving in the right direction. Please post back any further questions. 

[chuggins143]

Patrick,

Thanks for the info.  It looks like I'll probably just set the system up in zones with a laptop running each zone.... since I'll need to have a computer to network either way I go.  The other deciding factor is that I can buy all my laptops that I'll need for what it'd cost for one year of the WebUI service.

Thanks again!

Chad

[Pcorcs]

Sure,

In that case, the network streams option is built directly into the development environment, and can make for an very elegant message handling architecture between distributed systems. Network streams do not require any hosting services.

Thanks for the follow up, and best of luck with your system design.

Sincerely,

[nathand]

Another option is to write your own server that provides data and responds to commands from clients.  The free STM library will do most of the work for you.  You can then design as many different interfaces as you want, each requesting and sending only the data it needs.  You might also find that remote access through the LabVIEW web server will do what you want; you can have a single master system running several VIs, one per interface (either in separate windows or possibly as subpanels) and then view those VIs remotely through a web browser (and even control them if the LabVIEW plug-in is installed).

[chuggins143]

Wow.  Thanks guys for the info!  It's much appreciated!

Chad