labview versus labwindows

[Christian_nor]

I have a few questions concerning labview and labwindows. I work for a small company and we need tools for new software development. We have considered both labview and labwindows. I have some basic knowledge from labview, but never tried labwindows my partner has only tried labwindows, but is experienced in C programming.

What should we choose? We are developing a tool for processing data from a microcontroller. We need a graphical illustration of the received datas and possibilities to communicate with the mc.

Thnx.

[falkpl]

Both will work.  Labview is much easier to learn but if you there is an experienced c programmer then the learning curve shouldn't matter.  I would suggest using Labview since it is much faster to develop and debug.  However if you are looking to program the microcontroller in addition to just processing data from the controller then a c language would make more sense.  I have programmed in both (more in c/c++ than Labwindows/cvi) and most often choose Labview for my projects.  Usually choosing labview makes the project much faster to develop and maintain but there are a few limitations in labview where it cant be used (yet).

Paul

[Ray.R]

I agree with Falkpl,

I am actually using CVI at the moment.  And I often miss LV.  As for programming microcontrollers, you'd be amazed at what you can do with Labview and how fast you can implement it.  I have used LV to interface with embedded OS, such as VxWorks, Linux, and to program the target using a wide variety of tools.   From a test / system configuration point of view, so far, I could implement anything in Labview that I could do in C.  Implementing user interfaces is much faster in LV.

Ray

[Christian_nor]

Thanks alot for the response. We are not going to program the microcontroller with this tool, only communication and presenting datas. Can Labview handle MODBUS communication?

[zav]

Yes, you can find different drivers for Modbus, which work in LabVIEW or you can implement the Modbus-Protocol by your own.