Update Switch Configuration from Switch Executive 2.1 to 3.5

[Oli_Wachno]

Hi everybody,

I tried to update from Switch Executive 2.1 to 3.5 and had to find out, that my configurations have stoppped working. To me, it looks like 3.5 doesn't like my IVI configuration for the switching modules.

The Verify function in MAX tells me that the PXI cards are not accessible. The frontpage of the switch configuration shows no configurations / terminal blocks.

Since the configuration consists of nine matrix cards with a lot of hardwires, I'd really appreciate a way to properly import the old configurations (xml files are available)

Any ideas?

Cheers

Oli

[SFK · Accepted solution]

Hi Oli,

yes, there has been a major change in Switch Executive 3.5 - it is now using DAQmx calls for NI switching hardware. There is a KB documenting the process for upgrading a simulated configuration from a prior version, but you could of course try the steps that make sense, too:

Importing NI Switch Executive 3.0 and Previous Virtual Devices into NI Switch Executive 3.5 and Later

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/1D1099A85B156FA68625778500787444

I have noted though that the KB's editor has been using a .txt configuration file instead of the .xml that you have. I see two options here: first, if you still have an operative system with Switch Executive 2.1, you could probably export the settings in text form there, or you could try to modify the .xml file manually to resemble the text layout (probably quite a lot of work, as you would have to learn the text structure by trial and error using newly created configurations in Switch Ex. 3.5...

Best regards,

Sebastian

[Oli_Wachno]

Hi Sebastian,

I'll try as you recommended. V2.1 does not seem to be able to export the configuration to the mentioned .txt scheme. So I will try to update to 3.0 and then eventually to 3.5. I'll post the results 🙂

Cheers

Oli

[Now_With_Underscores]

Hey Oli,

Background:

By default, NISE 3.5 and later use the DAQmx API (instead of IVI) to directly control switch modules.  This is different from previous versions, which required setting up an IVI session for each NI Switch module.  You can still use IVI with NI Switch modules in NISE 3.5 and later, but this is not the default behavior.

The KB Sebastian referenced lists three different upgrade paths to use exported IVI Virtual devices in NISE 3.5 and later.  As you've discovered, NISE 2.1 has fewer export formats, so we'll need to take the following steps:

Assumptions:

You have virtual devices created in NISE 2.1 (file format doesn't matter).

IVI Sessions and Logical names haven't been setup on your NISE 3.5 machine:

Action items:

Create IVI sessions and logical names.  You could manually create the IVI sessions (as mentioned in the KB), but there's a MUCH easier method:

Right click on the NISE Virtual Devices tab and select 'Create New':

Click the 'auto create IVI devices' button.  A dialogue will pop up... just click yes:

The NISE Create Virtual device window should now look like this:

Notice that we now have IVI devices.  Sweet!  So now just click cancel (yes, cancel)... we only used this dummy virtual device to simplify the IVI creation process.

If you look in MAX, it'll appear as if there still aren't any IVI devices:

Fear not, all we need to do is refresh.  To do this, hit F5, and voila!:

So now all you need to do is change the IVI Logical name to whatever your old IVI Logical name was and then import as normal. 

At this point, you should be operational using IVI devices in NISE 3.5 (if not, post up).  If you'd like to go one step further and upgrade to purely DAQmx calls, just follow the steps in the 'Upgrading from IVI to NI-DAQmx' section.  Note that once you've upgraded to DAQmx, you'll only be able to use exported Virtual devices with NISE 3.5 and later.

Have a great day!

[Oli_Wachno]

Hi Sebastian & John,

it took me some time, but I finally made it I decided to get rid of the IVI layer, so I imported the 2.x configuration into V3.0, exported it form there to a .txt file.

After having edited the .txt file as Sebastian described, the reimport on an only-DAQmx-based V3.5 test platform worked fine for simulated devices. Unfortunately I couldn't upgrade the actual test rack cause I realized that V3.5 doesn't support LV8.2 anymore. 

And this is crucial for the rack, at least for the time being. But anyway, I know how to upgrade now if the 8.2 compatibility becomes obsolete.

Thanks again!

Have a great day!

Oli

[JasonWhite]

Oli,

For whatever it's worth, I believe that you can take the Switch Executive subVIs from your 2.1 installation and use them with LabVIEW 8.2 and the current version of Switch Executive.  I'm not aware of any compatibility issues and as long as your test code is only using features from Switch Exec 2.1 then nothing should be missing.

Jason

[Oli_Wachno]

Hi Jason,

thanks for the hint, it's working! So I'm switching to V3.5

Best Regards

Oli