Programmatically Deploy Build Specification

[akeister]

First the HW/SW census:

Windows 7 Ultimate Laptop for development.

LabVIEW 2009 SP 1

NI RIO 3.4

I have an RT project, with an sbRIO 9642XT target. My problem is to transfer a .ini file from the laptop to the sbRIO. I wouldn't mind being able to do this in reverse as well. I have found FTP to be extremely flaky and unreliable, even with the File Transfer command built-in to MAX. (Tangential question: what software components of the OS need to be installed on the sbRIO in order for FTP to work flawlessly? I am NOT interested in pursuing the FTP route a lot at the moment, because we have a lot of mission-critical testing to do, and I'm simply not comfortable with the performance, or lack thereof, of FTP. I find that a laptop reboot is always required after FTP fails, which it always does at the moment.) Hence, my work-around has been to create a small Build Specification in the RT Project, with some nominal, very quick-running VI as the startup VI. I "Always Include" my Params.ini file, and I tell it where to go. This procedure works just fine for transferring the file to the sbRIO. Naturally, I can't use it to retrieve files off the sbRIO.

What I would like to do is automate the building and deploying of this build specification; I create a VI that finds the build specification, builds it silently, and then deploys it silently. However, even with VI Scripting enabled, which I have, I can't seem to get a reference to the build specification. And even if I could, is it possible to do what I'm proposing?

Finally, how do I get files off the sbRIO without using FTP?

Thanks in advance for your time. 

[Patricia B]

Hello,

Are you having trouble with FTP in Windows Explorer or the LabVIEW FTP VIs?  If the issue lays with the FTP VIs, perhaps you could post any error messages if you are having difficulty using the FTP VIs. Below are some articles that may be of some use:

Programmatically Deploy a VI

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-4154

Programmatically Launch an Executable or VI on a Real-Time Controller

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/A7DBA869C000B5AE862570B2007C4170?OpenDocument

Regards, 

Patricia B.

[akeister]

It's been a while since I've tried those methods. I have tried Windows, FTP VI's, and the MAX FTP client. None of them work, so far as I remember. What happens in the MAX FTP client is that whenever I try to transfer a file, certain text in the client starts blinking rapidly, and no file transfer takes place. I get no error messages. I've tried this on multiple PC's, and multiple RIO's (cRIO 9073's, and sbRIO 9642XT's). In order to recover any functionality, I have to reboot everything. I can use the MAX FTP client to browse just fine, and that's been useful to look at timestamps on files. But I have great difficulty in using FTP actually to transfer any files.

Thank you for the links you sent. With regards to the first one, I have this question: when I actually get to the deploy command, at the tail end of the VI execution, does LabVIEW automatically know what build distribution that VI is in, and deploy that? You see, I'm reallly trying to transfer an ini file to the sbRIO controller. So if my nominal startup VI, that's part of the distribution (because every dist. must have a startup VI), was deployed in this fashion, would the ini file come along for the ride? I suppose I could just try it and see.

As for the second link, I'm not sure that's going to work, as it seems to require FTP for LV 2009, which is what I'm trying to avoid! 

[Patricia B]

Hello,

As long as the ini file is part of your project, you should be able to place the name of the ini file in the 'vi path input' and be able to deploy that file.

Regards,

Patricia B.

[akeister]

I can deploy the ini file. I've long been able to do that. What I want to do is automate that deployment: automate the build and deploy steps of the build specification in the RT project. It might sound trivial, but when you have to do it so many times in a day, it gets old. 

[Patricia B]

Hello,

There is a utility called RTAD (Automated LabVIEW Real-Time Deployment (RTAD) Reference Application) that can aid in automating RT deployment which uses the NI System Configuration API. You can access the System Configuration API if you feel you need to customize the RTAD further to meet your needs. Below are links with further information about each.

Automated LabVIEW Real-Time Deployment (RTAD) Reference Application

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/5986

Welcome to the NI System Configuration API

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-13216

NI System Configuration API
https://decibel.ni.com/content/thread/8145

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Patricia B.

[akeister]

Thank you for that information. Implementing it will take some time, so I may not get back to you very soon.