A new version of the unique toolkit is now available for download. As announced earlier, LabHSM makes it possible to easily create and then maintain complex event-driven applications in LabVIEW as a collection of HSM-driven active object VIs using a higher level of abstraction and agile software development methodologies. These active object VIs are created based on a universal Hierarchical State Machine ( HSM or statechart ) template. Therefore, all your code looks similar regardless of its functionality!
So, what’s new in version 1.1?
• "No hands" block diagram modifications! Version 1.1 actually creates, renames, and removes actions on the block diagram as you define, rename, and remove them in the editor! (No, it can't fill in all the details for you, but it can do some, if you think ahead, by replicating similar actions.)
• Two new screens, Events Usage and Actions Usage, (available in licensed copies only) clearly show where (in which state(s)/transition(s)) and how (is it an entry action, exit action or event handling action?) a particular event or action is used. Moreover, if after selecting an instance on the list, the Go To button is pressed, it makes the main screen jump to respective location in the HSM structure. In the case of Actions Usage screen, the respective action is also displayed on the block diagram. Thus, these screens provide two more different cross-sections of the HSM data set and two additional ways to navigate it – now along the Actions and Events dimensions too instead of just the state tree in the first version.
• Version 1.1 can duplicate events or actions, which helps when you've got several that are similar. Changes in the events and actions lists are reflected immediately on the main screen and on the block diagram (which solves the previous problem of deleting a renamed event or action when it's still in use).
• The Events and Actions List Editors are no longer modal and neither are the Events and Actions Usage screens, so you can have all the panels and the block diagram visible and move freely among them as you build your HSM (a good argument for an even larger monitor).
• When you save an HSM file, version 1.1 automatically adds the .hsm extension if you leave it out and it remembers the last directory you used.
• The Loaded VIs utility now can open and close block diagrams (if they are not protected with a password) and display only VIs with modal front panels, if desired—useful for quickly finding and closing accidentally opened (e.g., from the hierarchy window) modal VIs. Make a modal version of this utility and keep it on the Desktop for this purpose.
• A new example of a simple hierarchical state machine and two more excellent tutorials from Paul F. Sullivan (SULLutions.com) are included into the package. The tutorials are also available online. The overview article has also been extended.
As before, the LabHSM toolkit is available for UNLIMITED PERIOD trial. Please visit http://www.labhsm.com for details and download. The site also contains references which you may want to check to learn more about hierarchical state machines and active object computing.
Stanislav Rumega
NI Certified LabVIEW Developer
H View Labs
http://www.labhsm.com
info@labhsm.com
US Toll-Free Phone/Fax: 877-570-8684
