Can I download Shell32.lib?

[byrd01]

I've been trying to get LabWindows to programatically open a default web browser.  After a quick search here, I found that I should be able to do this by adding the Shell32.lib to my project.  However, when I browse to "C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\CVI81\sdk\lib" the library in question is not there.  I've done a general search of my entire computer, and it just doesn't seem to be there.  What am I missing?  From reading these forums, it sounds Shell32.lib should be a standard part of the LabWindows install.

Is there anyplace else that Shell32.lib can be found or downloaded from?   It does not seem to be available in the National Instruments downloads section.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[RobertoBozzolo]

Which version of CVI are you using? I mean, is it base version or full? That library is part of the SDK that comes with CVI full version: it is possible, but I'm not sure, that if you are running base version not all the SDK is installed.

[muks]

Yes you need to to have the full SDK installed to use this. Not comes with the base version.

[byrd01]

Thanks guys!  I'm not positive, but I bet that's the issue.  The company purchased 8.1 a couple years ago and  it must have been the base version.  Is there a way to tell from the  install what version is installed?

Thanks again!

[Wolfgang]

Yes, you can use Help / About LabWindows/CVI. The popup panel says 'Full Development System' if you have the full version, and probably something different ('Base Development System'?) if not.

Wolfgang

[RobertoBozzolo · Accepted solution]

Have you tried OpenDocumentInDefaultViewer function in the Programmer's Toolbox? It should not require you to load any library. I see nothing in the documentation that says it is in full version only, so you should be able to find it in your machine.

Message Edited by Roberto Bozzolo on 01-30-2010 05:04 PM

[byrd01]

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Wolfgang wrote:

Yes, you can use Help / About LabWindows/CVI. The popup panel says 'Full Development System' if you have the full version, and probably something different ('Base Development System'?) if not.

Wolfgang

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I tried this yesterday and thought I must be looking in the wrong place.  The popup panel on my version only says "Version 8.1.0 (271)".  There's no mention of base or full developement system.  I think it's safer to assume that I'm running the base developement system.  We may be upgrading LabWindows in the near future.  I'll have to look into whether or not there are enough other additional features in the Full Development system to make the extra upgrade worth while.   Over course, I'll then have to convice the powers that be that is worth while.

[byrd01]

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Roberto Bozzolo wrote:
Have you tried OpenDocumentInDefaultViewer function in the Programmer's Toolbox? It should not require you to load any library. I see nothing in the documentation that says it is in full version only, so you should be able to find it in your machine.

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I wasn't aware of this function.  That seems to have done the trick!  The only thing that I'm not sure of is what the "windowDisplay" parameter of the OpenDocumentInDefaultViewer function does.  The help page only says that windowsDisplay "Specifies how the document will be opened".  It doesn't say what the various options are or what they do.  I just used 0, but a value of 1 (or even 10) doesn't seem to do anything different.

Thank!

[RobertoBozzolo]

As you may know, source code for the Programmer's Toolbox is distributed together with the instrument, so it's possible to look at it to understand what every single function does. In case of OpenDocumentInDefaultViewer, 'windowDisplay' parameter accepts standard UI constants that describe window appearance: VAL_NO_ZOOM, VAL_MINIMIZE, VAL_MAXIMIZE. Their values are 0L, 1L and 2L and are translated in a compatible value for the command. Try passing one of those constants to the command and look for the result. In case you don't see any difference, you could try to detect if OpenDocumentInDefualtViewer return any error and which one.

As a last resource you may try to attach the source code to the Programmer's Toolbox and execute this function step by step looking at values passed and returned to the function in every moment.