Can CVI 8.0 and CVI 6.0 co-exist on the same system?

[Steve_Macha]

Can CVI 8.0 and CVI 6.0 co-exist on the same Win XP system?  And since CVI 6.0 is supported with NiDAQ 7.x then can NiDAQ 7.x  and Ni DAQ 8.0 co-exist?

[JGS]

Hello Steve,

I have running CVI8.0 and CVI6.0 running on the same Windows XP system.

The installation manual for CVI8 describes that this is possible. (So please read it as I probably forget some warnings.) And that you have to take care that you do not install  it in the same subdirectory. However I do not expect (nor tried) that the UIR panels and CWS/PRJ project descriptions from CVI8 are backwards compatible with CVI6. So make a backup/copy of your CVI6 project before you import/save it with CVI8.

I do not know about NI-DAQ7 versus NI-DAQ8. With CVI6 and the hardware I had, I only used traditional NI-DAQ. So when I also got new hardware that specified NI-DAQmx, I installed NIDAQmx8. However it is installed parallel to traditional NIDAQ as I use with some projects low-level NIDAQ functions for which I did not yet find the NIDAQmx replacement. (I don't know wich version of the traditional NI-DAQ is installed as I'm now not in work. But I have never seen a newer version than 7.4.1).

I also do not know which runtime version will be distributed when I build new distributions from CVI6: cvirte.dll version 6 that is made when I build the distribution or version 8 that it retrieved from \windows\system32. However as NI promises that its downwards compatible this should be no problem.

Succes, Jos

[RobertoBozzolo]

I have had several combinations of CVI versions in the past, at present I am running CVI6 and 7.1 on the same machine without any problem. Jos experience confirm me that this configuration is possible even with version 8.

As per the run-time engine, there can be only one run-time active in every system, and it's definitely the most recent one installed. This is the runtime that is incorporated in the distribution kit whichever is the environment that created the kit (and it's the one whith which I am testing the executable on my machine ).

[Mert_A.]

As of CVI 8.0, the runtime engine that ships with your distribution is the one that is installed on your system.  That is, in the future, if you install CVI runtime engine 9.0 on your system, distributions built with CVI 8.0 will include version 9.0 of the runtime.  This is so that the runtime packaged with your applications matches the one that it was designed and tested against.

In the past, this was not the case; each version of CVI on the system would include the runtime engine that shipped with it.  This meant you could be developing an app in 6.0, testing it against the 7.1 runtime engine installed on your machine, then distributing it with the 6.0 runtime, which might cause your app to behave differently.

We hope this new practice will help our users avoid potential problems.

Mert A.
National Instruments

[GDE]

Steve,

I clarify some of the DAQ issues. JGS was on the right track with the DAQ stuff. DAQmx 8.0 will replace any mx components that your DAQ 7.X installation has. But, since DAQmx 8.0 has no Traditional components it will leave those alone. So if you install say DAQmx 8.0 over DAQ 7.4, that machine will have DAQmx 8.0 and Traditional DAQ 7.4 (but not DAQmx 7.4). That is the extent of co-existing that you will get. Now if you are in CVI 6.0 and you are only using Traditional DAQ you should be fine with the before described setup. Also so you know, the latest version of Traditional DAQ is 7.4.1 which will only contain Traditional drivers, no mx.

Newest Traditional Drivers (be sure to read the "Readme"):
http://digital.ni.com/softlib.nsf/websearch/3DBF3D343476A28F8625709E006A4937?opendocument&node=132060_US

Hope that clears things up.

-GDE