Upgrade version issues?

[dusty_g]

I posted this question along with some other question in the TestStand forum, but thought I might get some better answers here.  I'm working with some special test equipment and my company is really slow to update.  The version they have on the equipment is version 7.1.1 and the version I have at my desk is version 8.6.  If i'm developing in version 8.6 and then running what I wrote in 8.6 on version 7.1.1 what kind of compatability issues will i be running into?  Is there something in the versions later then 7.1.1 that is a must have feature that I would be missing out on?

[Snowman 6008 · Accepted solution]

Hey again Dusty,

Noticed you didn't get much response, so figured I would chime in.  All versions of CVI rely on a runtime engine for execution, and they are backwards compatable, meaning you can run a CVI 7.1.1 project off of the the lastest version of LabWindows that you have ( such as CVI 8.5 or 9.0, there is no CVI 8.6). You can only have one runtime engine installed at a time, but this shouldn't matter because the latest and greatest RunTime engine will run any previous versions of CVI. So keeping this in mind, if you want to take what you've developed on the new version and put it on an older version you would have to put the latest run-time engine that you have, on to all of your systems including the system with 7.1.1. As far as the UIR issues that you may run into, you should save your UIR back to version 7.1. You can do this by selecting the UIR file, then going to File » Save As and slecting a previous version in the drop down box. 

 

If you use a feature that wasn't available in 7.1.1 , the system you have can run the compiled code, but will not be able to run the source, or debug the code. As far as "must have features" it really depends on your application, if anyone has a personal experience with a new feature that really helped them out, please let us know. 

Message Edited by Snowman 6008 on 05-15-2009 10:37 AM

[dusty_g]

Hey thanks for the response.  This is all very helpful.  and if someone chimed in on some other specific examples that would be great too