Why does executable not work?

[JoelGR]

I've written an executable vi that implements the DAQ assistant. The vi works fine on my computer that runs labview, but not on the computer that does not have labview installed. The DAQ drivers are installed on the target computer.

-Joel

[Dennis_Knutson]

Could you explain how the executable is 'not fine'? Do you get an error, incorrect readings, or something else? Can you test the device in MAX? Did you export the hardware config to the installer you created and did the import work on the other computer?

[Brooks_C]

Hello Joel,

All of Dennis' suggestions are valid.  I'd also like to mention that you need to install the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine (RTE) to run executables on computers that don't have a full LabVIEW installation.  You will need to make sure that you have the same run time engine version as the computer you built the executable in.  You can download the RTE here by searching for "LabVIEW Run-Time":  www.ni.com/downloads (and click on drivers and updates to search)

Cheers,

[JoelGR]

I apologize for my late response. I've just returned from vacation.

Previously, I had written another executable for the same target computer. It worked fine. However, the second executable I had written implemented an Express VI. A representative informed me that the Express VI's are not guaranteed to work properly when implemented in an executable. Is there a way to implement the Express VI's in an executable successfully? Or, is my only option to write the executable from more fundamental VI's?

[Brooks_C]

Hello Joel,

As a general rule of thumb, Express VIs work just fine in executables.  If someone at NI told you differently I would guess they may have been referring to a single case or chance occurrence.  Can you give a little more information about how your DAQ Assistant its configured and how, as Dennis said, is it "not fine"?  If you'd like you can post the VI you're building into an executable and I can test it out directly.

As a quick test and/or work around you could right click on your DAQ Assistant and select "generate code" to eliminate the express VI.  This would eliminate the express VI, but I wouldn't necessarily expect this to resolve your issue since Express VI's aren't known to cause issues.

Let me know what you find, and if this is still an issue please post back with more information so that I can try to reproduce this issue.

Cheers,

[Pushrod]

Hello.  I believe that I am having a similar problem with an executable that I have written.  I am using a DAQ Assistant sub VI to produce a 5 volt signal.  The original VI and the executable both run fine on the PC that I used to generate the executable, but only the original VI will run on a second PC.  When I try to run the executable file it will not output a voltage (measured at the device).  There are no warnings or errors, and the program appears to be operating correctly otherwise.  For reference I am using a BNC-2110 connected to a 6024 card.

Thanks in advance for the support!

[Dennis_Knutson]

The same questions I asked still apply.

Did you install the labVIEw run time? Did you install DAQmx? Did you install MAX? Did you install any tasks that you created? Can you run the test panel on the new pc?, etc., etc., etc.

It would probably be simpler for you to say exactly what you did on the new pc since I suspect this list is fairly short.

[Pushrod]

I have LabVIEW 2009 on the second PC.  The executable was created in LabVIEW 8.6.

I did install MAX.  I also created the appropriate tasks in DAQmx and tested those tasks in DAQmx to make sure that my PC could command some output.  I was able to see that the commanded voltage was generated at the BNC device.

I have NI-DAQmx 8.9 on my PC.

I created the NI-DAQmx tasks required by the program.  You mentioned something about exporting tasks...is there a way to export the settings on the first PC and put them on the second to avoid re-creating them?

I have self-tested the device (it passed), and I am able to output a signal using either the VI from which the executable was created or the configuration menu in MAX.

I also tried to create an installer which included the runtime engine, but that had the same problems.

[Dennis_Knutson]

First, the 8.6 exe will not run without the 8.6 runtime. The installation of 2009 alone will not make the exe work.

Yes, you can export tasks in MAX - File>Export. You can then take the file and on the second pc use File>Import.

This is also an option when you build the installer and besides DAQmx, the configuration file could be part of it as well.

[Pushrod]

Installing the runtime engine and exporting the tasks in MAX did the trick.  Thank you, sir!