SUGGESTIONS? Reusing Express VI configuration panel in interactive applications

[Tomi_Maila]

I have an interactive program with a graphical user interface in which data is filtered using a filter. There is a button on the user interface that would allow user to modify the filter properties. Pressing this button would pop up a configuration window, where the user can configure the filter properties. I use the same filter as part of my non-interactive programs. To allow fast configuration I have created an express vi from my filter. The configuration happens easily using the express vi configuration utility which I have written.

The problem is that I need to code the same or similar user interface for the filter configuration separately for the express vi and for the interactive program. It would be reasonable to use same code for the configuration of both of these instances. And this is not a individual case, but instead I have a huge need for not needing to duplicate my user interfaces both in express vi's and in interactive programs.

What suggestion do you folks have to get this thing done? I'm using LV 8.0 so all the Labview features are available.

[Bob_Y.]

Tomi,

Could you please explain why you are having problems using the same config VI for both the runtime and the Express VI (edit time)?  Here is what I think you might be having problems with, but there may be more to it. 

The way most Express configuration VIs work is by reading in the present configuration, having a UI loop for (re)configuring, then writing out the configured values.  Some of the reading and most of the writing cannot be performed during runtime due to the limitations of the VI server (which is used to change the control and constant values of the instance being configured).

What you would need to do is to encase the reading and writing sections in a case structure and then use the present read/write when launched via ExpressVI (maybe check to see if some of the refnums are valid??) and if it is during runtime, perform those actions differently.  I am not really sure how you would go about performing the read and write sections, but I bet you can figure something out.

Hope that this helps,

Bob Young