>I'll just run the different CVI versions/rte's on
separate PC's, no need for us to get too artful about the rte really I
don't think.
There is one possible alternative solution to this, and that is to build a distribution of your application that uses a "local" version of the CVI run-time. You select this option in the Advanced tab of the "Edit Installer" dialog (check the "Install LW/CVI Run-Time Engine in the application directory"). You could then accomplish the following (assuming that this is your goal):
Computer A has CVI 8.1 installed: in this computer, you build a distribution for application 1, that uses a local installation of CVI RTE 8.1. Computer B has CVI 7.1 installed: in this computer, you build a distribution for application 2, that uses a local installation of CVI RTE 7.1.
Then, if you install applications 1 and 2 in the same computer, whether it is computer A, B, or C (other), those applications will be guaranteed to run with the version of the CVI runtime that was included in their installer, regardless of what version of the CVI runtime is installed globally for that computer. This is the best approach if you would like to have some more compartmentalization of the runtime components.
One caveat is that only the standard CVI libraries can be installed locally. This does include the RS-232 library. As Mert mentioned, some other CVI libraries depend on some other, fairly large, NI software that can only be installed globally. If you're interested in pursuing this option, I'll be happy to provide you a list of exactly which libraries can be installed locally.
