exporting labview code to a text file

[Josh]

A lot of defense contractors (like myself) use Labview on classified computers to run tests and collect data.  The problem is that once we finish debugging a Labview VI on a classified computer, we have no way of copying this VI back to an unclassified PC.  The reason for this is that only text can be transferred from these systems because it allows us to inspect it for classified information.  Only after a rigorous review of the text file, we are then allowed to transfer this file to an unclassified machine.  Is there any possible way of converting a Labview VI to a text file (XML, etc.) and then be able to convert it back?  This feature would be extremely useful for defense contractors because currently, the lack of this feature really restricts us from using Labview and forces us to use CVI.  Thank you for your time.

[tst]

---

Josh wrote:

Is there any possible way of converting a Labview VI to a text file (XML, etc.) and then be able to convert it back?

---

No.

There are some unexposed and unsupported tools which would allow you to write code which will export most of the VI's data and even code which will then reconstruct the VI, but this is not a trivial endeavor and there are probably some things which are not accessible.

I assume this means you can't transfer other binary formats either, right? I mean stuff like .xls and .doc and .jpg.

[Josh]

Excel files and word documents are not allowed to be transferred because security is afraid that there could be some hidden information.  To get around this, I usually export these files to html or xml.  As for images, only formats without compression are allowed.

[johnsold]

If you are going to need the VIs on a non-classified computer, can you do the development on the non-classified side and then move the VI to the classified computer, or is that also prohibited?

Lynn

[Josh]

That's what I currently have to do.  Do my development on the unclassified and then transfer it over to the classified computer.  The problem is that I can only debug the code on the classified PC because it is connected to the real hardware.  There is only so much I can debug on the unclassified PC.  So currently I have to remember all of my changes and attempt to keep the unclassified up to date.  However, that proves to be extremely difficult remembering every little modification.  I can't have the PCs next to each other because thats a violation.

[johnsold]

A VI property node provides access the revision history. If you discipline yourself to make detailed notes in the revision history as you debug, you could save the history to a text file which you could then take to the security review. You could write a VI which gets references to all the VIs you are working on and loop to get revision histories for all. This might be an alternative to trying to remember all of the changes.

Lynn

[Ben]

A good of bit of my buisness is under the same restrictions.

The labs are like a "Black hole", any code that crosses the event horizon ( guard shack) is never seen again.

I take detailed hand writtien notes for any fixes I have to apply inside the lab.

One of my customers is allowed to take print-outs of the code out of the lab.

Lynn's suggestion is probably your best option.

Ben

[Josh]

Yeah, I was hoping to avoid this.  I have been pretty good at taking notes on my current code, but there is tons of legacy code that I didn't write, but would like to have a backup before the hard drives are destroyed.

[Ben]

You should still be allowed to make a backup that is kept in the lab I would hope. After all, loosing the functionality you have now is a rsik in itself.

Ben

[Josh]

Yeah, there will be backups of course, but once I am off the program, I will not have access to it anymore.