Calling LabVIEW VI in a sequence

[Troy12]

Hi,

I have a question related to Calling LabVIEW VI in a sequence and using the LabVIEW Run Time Engine:

We have a tool developed in LabVIEW and TestStand. End user interface is a LabVIEW GUI (it's an executable) which executes TestStand sequences. Some TestStand sequences call lower level LabVIEW VIs.

SW Versions: LV 8.0 and TS 3.5

Everything works fine on the development computer where LabVIEW and TestStand is installed. On the target computer in the lab, I installed LV RTE 8.0 and TestStand 3.5, and now when a VI is called in a sequence file, I get the following:

RunState.PreviousStep.Result.Error.Code  -18002 

RunState.PreviousStep.Result.Error.Msg  "LabVIEW: The VI is not executable"

So, the executable opens and works fine (which means that the LV RTE is installed properly), but when a sequence calls a low level VI, it does not make it through. Is it possible to make things work only with the run time engine?

comments/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

Earlier post:

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=177255

[RayFarmer]

Hi,

You will need to configure the labview adapter on your target system to use the RTE.

This you can do under the menu item Configure | Adapters.

Select the LabVIEW Adapter. In the LabVIEW Adapter Configuration dialog change the "Select ot Type Which LabVIEW Server to Use" from the Development system to the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine.

Hope this helps

Regards

Ray Farmer

[Dennis_Knutson]

You also want to make sure that you do a deployment so that the VIs you are calling have all the subVIs included.

[Troy12]

Thanks for the response.

I added the VIs called by the sequences and created an installer using TestStand Deployment Tool. SubVIs were added to a folder called 'SupportVIs' by the Deployment Tool.  Installer was built successfully, however it could not be installed on the target machine. I kept getting some error 1334 related to a missing file in .cab. So, I just copied the 'SupportVIs' folder to the target computer, since other developed sequences and VIs were already installed.

However, I get the same error (The VI is not executable). When I right click and select specify module for the step where the VI is called, I get a file dialog that is looking for 'LabVIEW Test - Test Data.ctl'. Even after the location of 'SupportVIs' folder was pointed at, I kept getting the same file dialog whenever I ran the sequence. I added 'SupportVIs' folder path in the list of search directories, but It doesn't seem to help. How can I avoid doing this everytime?

So, maybe this is not working as it should because the installer was not used or I am not doing it right. Suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

[RayFarmer]

Hi,

Is 'LabVIEW Test - Test Data.ctl' contained in the SupportVIs.llb?

Regards

Ray Farmer

[Troy12]

Yes, 'LabVIEW Test - Test Data.ctl' is in SupportVIs folder (It's not a library).

Also, there is one other .ctl besides the one mentioned above - 'LabVIEW Test - Sequence Context.ctl'.

There are vi's like 'TestStand - Get Property Value (Number).vi', 'TestStand - Set Property Value (Number).vi' etc. that are also present in the SupportVIs folder. They seem to work fine without me having to point to the folder location. It's just the .ctl files. How do I make it search in the SupportVIs folder?

Thanks.

[RayFarmer]

Hi,

Are you sure the affected vi(s) are linked to the .ctl in SupportVIs folder?

Regards

Ray Farmer

[Troy12]

Yes. They are linked... I mean most of the developed VIs have Test Data cluster (In LV 8.0, it's included as Legacy stuff) along with Sequence Context, and Error out.

I observed the same problem for few VIs also (besides the .ctl files). When I get the pop up dialog asking to point to the right location for the file, I point to the right place in the Edit VI properties dialog. However, when I click Reload prototype, I get the same file dialog asking for the location of the same file (the one that was pointed moments ago).

I did observe one thing, if I include the 'SupportVIs' folder in the same folder as the application VI, it works fine without any problems.

We have different application VI folders for different instruments like DAQ, Serial etc.. . So, I would like to avoid including the same 'SupportVIs' folder in every application VI folder since that would be redundant. Configure -> Search Directories in TestStand didn't help. Is there any other way to set the search path for VIs?

Thanks.

[RayFarmer]

Hi,

---

@Troy12 wrote:

I did observe one thing, if I include the 'SupportVIs' folder in the same folder as the application VI, it works fine without any problems.

Thanks.

---

Looks like the paths to these support VI and ctls in your development system and the target system are not the same. You could try adding the path to your SupportVIs folder to your LabVIEW's search path.

Regards

Ray Farmer

[Troy12]

LabVIEW 8.0 run time engine is installed on the target machine.  I know how to add search path with complete LabVIEW development suite installed, but am not sure how to add path when the computer only has a LV run time engine.

Thanks.