Remote Debugging

[Imran Shahid]

I want to debug LV application running on a machine on the network which has the LV runtime installed, from my machine which has LV installed on it. How do I do that? Can anyone help?

Imran Shahid

[tst]

I'm pretty sure you can't do that, if only for the reason that the built application no longer has the source code.

What you can do is connect to the front panel of the remote VI, either by using a third party tool (like XP pro's built in Remote Desktop or any VNC client) or use LV's internal Remote Front Panels feature to connect to the front panel.

Both options will demand that you install\setup something, so I suggest you go with the remote control tool, because it's simpler. If you have XP, you can use Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance to connect by simply allowing the connection (Control Panel>>System>>Remote>>Allow...). Search google\microsoft for the relevant info. VNC isn't much more complicated.

[shoneill]

I would also recommend using the Remote desktop function of WinXP.

I've recently discovered this at home to allow me to "service" more than one PC from a single mouse and keyboard, something which has increased the WAF (Wife acceptance factor) of my office space since I got rid of extra input devices.

One question remains though.  I have often considered this aspect of programming for work where I'd much rather debug in my office than in the noisy lab.  What does NI's licensing department say about Debugging a LabVIEW program on a different PC than it's actually installed.  I suppose LV itself isn't actually running on the PC I'm using so I don't expect any problems, but it's be nice to hear from NI how they see it.

Shane.

[tst]

Well, a quick look at the license agreement reveals this paragraph:

All of the SOFTWARE must be installed and used on the same computer. You are not authorized under the single seat license to install or use any of the SOFTWARE on multiple computers, a network storage device, or other storage device

Note the use of and and or. I suppose that if they really wanted to stretch it (and you know lawyers can) they could say that remote control is using LV on the remote PC, even if it's not installed there and if no one else can use it at the same time.
Despite that, given NI's approach towards this (like the home use exception or the recent licensing announcement), I don't think they will do this. If you want, you can add a post to that thread about this. I'm assuming it will catch their attention.

[tst]

Just to clear it up, the text is from version 7.0, paragraph 2.A and the bold and underlining effects do not appear in the original text. I still think that even if it technically violates the agreement, they don't care about it, because you're only using it from one computer at a time. If you wanted to extend it further you can ask this: if you connect a second screen, mouse and keyboard to the PC and put them in another room, is this considered another computer? Using a remote connection is basically the same thing. If you really want to get technical, you could probably claim that you're not "using" LV on the second computer, but you're using Remote Desktop.

[Khalid]

Just wanted to add, now that LabVIEW 8.0 is released, that it now supports remote debugging of built applications. 

-Khalid