I'm hoping there is a way to attend something online, since there won't be anymore local events in time, to get those last five points.

I did watch some of NI Connect but didn't see anything about recertification points anywhere.

I'm brand new as a poster on LAVA, but I've been lurking here for some time. So here I go on my first post:

If you've been watching the NI forums today, you may have noticed this post. Coming up this month I will be renewing my CLA certification for the second time, having successfully taken the old-style four hour exam twice. Now I am faced with taking the new (Type R) recertification exam. I'm getting the impression that it's brand new because when I posted the aforementioned question on the NI forums no one seemed to know anything about it.

Looking at the preparation page, there isn't a whole lot to go on except for the sample test. It's a 30 question multiple-guess exam, which doesn't seem all that bad, but the questions seem to focus on two broad topics:

1. A certain NI-branded flavor of software engineering topics.
2. Obscure features of the LabVIEW development environment.

I'm not too worried about the latter, but what concerns me most is that software engineering is such a broad topic that I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what to study. Has anyone taken the new-style exam? I haven't taught any NI courses for a few years now, and I'm wondering if they're referencing their own classes which I am unlikely to be able to attend due to company budget restrictions and my own budget restrictions. I spoke to one of my long time colleagues who recently took it, and he said that some of the questions seemed "way out in left field," and that he barely passed it due to the obscurity of the questions.

Can anyone offer any insight as to what I should study?

Thanks very much,

Jim

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!  TAKE THE EXAM IN PERSON IF YOU CAN!

Take the FREE LabVIEW Fundamentals Exam

LabVIEW Fundamentals Exam

The LabVIEW Fundamentals Exam is a FREE, online assessment offered in conjunction with the NI Training and Certification Program and is ideal for those wishing to quantify their level of LabVIEW knowledge. The exam provides students and professionals with an opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency with the fundamental concepts and programming practices that are integral to success as a LabVIEW programmer. It also acts as preparation for the National Instruments Certification Program.

Details of the Exam

The LabVIEW Fundamentals Exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions with a 45-minute time limit. The exam encompasses essential LabVIEW concepts such as:

• Arrays and Clusters
  
• Charts, Graphs, and Loops
  
• Data Acquisition and Analog Input
  
• General Programming Structures
  
• Strings and Error Handling
  
• SubVIs and Printing
  

Passing the LabVIEW Fundamentals Exam requires an understanding and ability to employ fundamental LabVIEW programming techniques, logically analyze and debug various coding schemes and architectures, and navigate the LabVIEW environment with the skills necessary to develop efficient LabVIEW programs. The skills tested are commensurate with the level of knowledge contained in the LabVIEW Basics I: Introduction Course with an accompanying one to three months of LabVIEW programming experience.

I'm taking the CLA exam in a few weeks and would like some feedback on the solution I put together (attached). A few specific questions:

Can I dump tags in the VI Documentation of the VI like I did in Error Handler - Console Error.vi and get credit since there are instructions for developers to complete this work? This would be my strategy if I run out of time. 

Does this seem like a passing solution? Why/why not?

Where do you think I would lose the most points in this solution?

Any other feedback on this exam or general strategy tips are greatly appreciated!

Best Regards,

Aaron

I passed the Exam this Saturday,

The exam was a little bit harder than the sample exams but 4 hours was enough to complete the requirements and test the project with VI analyzer.

This is the result of the VI Analyzer (Of-course after corrections):

Total tests: 1144.

Fails: 25.

How do you think and Can I pass according your experience??

I'm waiting for your replies. Thank you!!

I'm taking the CLD this week and I have some questions:

1) Can I create a project and add in it the VI given by NI. 

2) I will use a STATE MACHINE and I'm thinking to add a state for the "WAIT EVENT"  within an EVENT STRUCTURE  to responds the user interaction with the UI (if the user click any buttons, this event structure will decide which state execute).

=> It is a good idea or no?

3) At the end, if I will be able to test the Project with the VI analyzer, What I should consider the most in the VI Analyzer results.

4) For the file I/O ( INI file or CSV file)Can I Use an"Application Directory"+"File Name"+"Build Path" to access the file path?

 5)If the application is well documented and I can run it at the end, I can pass it or there is another tip I should consider?

Thank you.

I will take the CLD exam in two days and I would be grateful if anyone could help me in these two questions:

1/ Do I have the ability to change a Cluster from the given UI into a Typedef?

2/ In addition to Tip strips, Is it recommended to add some comments on the front panel or not?

Thank you very much!

Any comments and constructive criticism appreciated.

Here are some images of the block diagram, that at least show my coding style and gives some idea of the architecture:

Thanks!

Mike

CLD Exam 2 - Boiler.zip

I completed it in 4 hours, but found it much more challenging to finish in the time constraint than the Boiler.

This is my first attempt at solving with a producer/consumer architecture.

Any comments/advice would be greatly appreciated!

CLD Exam 3 - Car Wash - 80.zip

I have been looking over the sample projects and I can see an awful amount of local and global variables.  I want to use an example to save time because I think the exam will be similar to the sample projects but I'm worried I would get penalized for using to many local/global variables.

Has anybody had a look at the shipping examples for cRIO like the LabVIEW FPGA Waveform Acquisition and Logging on CompactRIO?  What are your thoughts on them?

Thanks.

Lewis

It will very helpful if anybody can review and give suggestions about the architecture, error handling, documentation and tags placement of my attempt of the CLA ATM sample exam practice.

Thanks in Advance

Hemant

ATM.zip

 I have one doubt about the Centralized error handler.

1. Centralized error handler?

It means we should have a one controller or centralized error module that talk with error API that we have included in to our all modules like user console, sensor etc.

2. or just having a FGV is fine for Centralized error handler.

Can any one  please help me in understanding about the term Centralized error handler.

Thanks In Advance.

Hemant

Thanks,

-Chris Collier

Xuesong Liu.pdf

  I am going to do the exam of re-certification of CLD. I found just one exam sample on NI website. there is someone who have material that can help to study for exam? Other Sample or specific topic to study for covering all exam possible questions?

Any kind of help will be very appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Vinicio 

>>results
Architecture Development: 13/40
>>
Architecture Development: Shutdown module not adequately developed. Brew function modules not designed.
Controller Module Architecture not adequately developed. The sensor module architecture is not fully
developed. Display module architecture not adequately developed. The User Console architecture is not fully
developed. Module communication method not designed / or documented. Error handling module not
sufficiently developed. File IO module to handle configuration data is not fully developed. Timing module not
fully developed. The architecture does not utilize advanced designs, tools and methods. Use interface design
is not scalable or does not meet specification. Method for calling / loading modules is not clearly identified.

Attachment removed because NI explicitly states you are not allowed to take anything with you after the exam or discuss the contents of the exam except when discussing example exams posted by NI publicly.  This violates the NDA you have with NI when taking the exam.

                             ​

                         ​​

See the attached image.

In it, Value1 gets set to a certain value by means of a Val(Sgnl) property node.

When executing this code, Value 2 will be set to the same value as the constant set to Value 1 (in other words, it gets set to 10).

What I'm not understanding is the event queue mechanic. Before reviewing this and running the code, I would have assumed that the Val(sgnl) write event would have been discarded since there were no Event Queues set up at the time of the signaling event. Clearly though, the event structure Value Change event triggers once the dataflow gets to that point in the program.

Do all events simply start stacking up in an event queue somewhere from the beginning of program execution? Is there an intelligent manager that only stacks up events for potential queues that may or may not happen later in the code?

Similarly, if I duplicate the Event queue in that While loop (and change the Value 2 to a new variable, call it Value 3), then both queues get executed. Is there a separate event queue/stack/whatever for each event structure?

Thanks for the help. If there is already a good thread on this please link me- I did some searching and didn't see anything.

2. Did I comment in the proper way ? Did I comment clear enough for developers?
(which is the NI examiner), if I don't build any child message class (for saving time),
just leave the comments to tell how to build them, is that OK? I'm not sure whether I leave enough comments for understanding 

3. I didn't build the timer FGV module, instead, I encapsulate a "local timer" in to controller.lvclass and directly manipulate it in the loop, is that an acceptable method in CLA?

(I use this method in real world a lot, since I just need a local timer in one loop, I do not need set up another timer FGV to confuse me in the project)

4.Also the example has a data base module, I do not either. It's more flexible to me let the ancestor class 

handle the data base then share it to every child class.

Elevator.zip

I successfully passed my CLD just a few weeks ago at NIWeek and will attempt the CLA on September 10th. I did a lot of research, attended the session on the CLA preparation, and won't bother you with the usual basic questions, I think I have a good understanding of what is expected.

However, there are two things I'd like your help with:

1) Requirement tag: I never used them and I'm amazed by how little information there is online. Where do you put them:

- BD: Free labels, wire labels

- FB: Free labels, free labels inside a cluster

- Documentation inside VI Properties

- Others?

2) Error Handling: I must admit I lack experience and knowledge about how to create an error handling module, let alone a good one! In my past projects, each module and sub-module was always performing its own error handling... Could you point me to a few different techniques and examples? I'd like to get a good understanding of what is expected from such a module. If I only look at the one from the sample exam, I'm afraid I will just try to memorize and recreate it and it's not what I want to do...

I'll start working on the sample exams and will likely post my solution here to ask for some feedback.

Thanks 

I have used cRIO on four different projects and gotten nice reliable systems that keep ticking along for months at a time.

This includes writing custom FPGA code. So I was disappointed that I didn't pass.

Any tips out there from people who have done it?

Does anyone know what's going on behind the scenes, or why there have been so many delays? Is NI still planning on supporting it? Based on the comments I'm reading on the recertify board and a few conversations with other CLAs, it seems like things have been slow for a good long while.

I guess there was a brief period last year when they were responsive, but then the replies have slowed down to a crawl again?

I did one of the CLA prep exams today. Was wondering if anyone wanted to take a look and offer any advice or criticisms? 

Github link is here: https://github.com/iyeager2004/Elevator_CLA_Prep

Any feedback is appreciated.

-Ian

After some months of suffering and 5 long weeks of waiting, I am glad to tell you all that I have finally passed my CLA Exam, I also have to admit that I had never done it withouth fab's help, she is been driving me to achieve this goal

Now that I do not have to invest my spare time preparing the certifications (this is not completely true, as I am already thinking of the CLED...) I will try to contribute a bit more to the forum.

For a machine control application, the most appropriate choice for the mechanical
action of a STOP button would be:
a. Switch when pressed.
b. Latch when pressed.
c. Switch when released.
d. Latch when released.
e. Switch until released.
. For Windows based dialogs and UIs, the most appropriate choice for the
mechanical action of a STOP button would be:
a. Switch when pressed.
b. Latch when pressed.
c. Switch when released.
d. Latch when released.
e. Switch until released.

• CLAD - 2 years (same as before)
• CLD - 3 years
• CLA - 4 years
  

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/9605/en/

I like this change. The two year renewal always seemed to sneak up.

Always go first with documentation and style where you can easily gain points.

I wonder if anyone could review my CLD Sample Exams codes, giving me a few tips. I plan to take the CLD exam soon.

Best regards,

CLD1 ATM.zip

CLD2 Boiler.zip

CLD3 Car Wash.zip

CLD4 Sprinkler.zip

Well, strange remarks aside, what matters is the end result, and I'm quite happy with that. Thanks to everyone here for the loads of great advice, even the bits I ignored at my own peril.

15 on Style, 13.5 on Functionality, and 10 on Documentation. I'm quite pleased.

I just wanted to say thanks for the great discussions here; they have certainly helped me along the way.

-Chris

After reading people's suggestion and read some material from NI, here is my conclusion and QUESTIONS. Please let me know if you have some other suggestion and answer for my question.

For CLAD,

• Study the manual,
  
• Study Labview for everyone,
  
• do the sample exam from NI,
  
• read the NI preparation guide,
  
• read the example & code in Lava
  

Here is my CLAD related questions,

• It seems some sample exam questions are tricky, for example whether 2 parallel running loops can pass data to each other during running. I think the answer is "NO". But I am not sure. Does any more source for me to practice?
  
• As I understand the exam need me to know analog stuff and acquisition, am I correct?
  
• Many nice people suggest me to read Lava, could anyone please tell me any specific sections in LAVA that I should read, for example useful reading material, takers' experience
  
• Does Anyone want to give/sell his/her CLAD/CLD manual to a poor guy? (just grad., no job, using credit card to feed himself). If I get those free or low price, I will pass those stuff to other Lava people at no charge in future.
  

For the CLD,

• To program the exam does not need knowledge on data acquisition, active X, etc
  
• The most important is style, maybe more important than a working program
  
• Need document everything
  
• Do all the examples and read more codes
  

Here is my questions for CLD

• Labview for everyone seems for entry level, does it still useful for CLD. If yes, which part should I focus on?
  
• Any Labview books specificly talk about the style?
  
• Any material that I can find from Lava to make me pass the exam?
  
• Once again, Does Anyone want to give/sell his/her CLAD/CLD manual to a poor guy? (just grad., no job, using credit card to feed himself). If I get those free or low price, I will pass those stuff to other Lava people at no charge in future.
  

Thanks

I did my third run-through of the ATM Practice. In 3hr10min, I managed to hit just over 70% of the requirement tags. (I subtracted 50 minutes because I assume I'll lose that much time getting used to the new problem.)

I'm wondering: is this close to enough? For those who passed, about what fraction of the requirement tags did you have down, with at least a comment for documentation? I'm worried that near-100% is expected.

Thanks guys.

This is my SECOND attempt at the CLA practice exam. Because it was my second attempt, I reduced my time to 3:10 instead of the full 4:00. I figure I'll lose ~45 minutes on the real exam getting acclimated to the problem.

I'm pretty comfortable using Actor Framework for my professional work, so I tried to apply it here. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to need to switch gears... the result feels nowhere near complete. The time crunch is much worse compared to when I did the CLD.

Overall, looking for thoughts on my organizational structure, general recommendations on what I might get dinged for on what IS done, and of course opinions on how far from a "pass" this solution is. I definitely don't consider this a passing solution, but some thoughts on what I should work on would be helpful.

It's in LabVIEW 2012, where Actor Framework is native. If you would like to look at it in a different version of LabVIEW, let me know and I'll try to back-convert.

Thanks.

Mike

ATM Practice MQL2 (LabVIEW 2012).zip

Especially if you've already passed the CLA and have your practice solution handy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share it here. I imagine it would be a helpful resource for others studying for the CLA as well.

Thanks all,

Mike

This took me about 4.5 hours (though I had to pause overnight at 2.5 hours). I didn't do any planning at all: code-and-go all the way.

The UI is the only actor. I really wanted to make the file I/O an actor of its own, as well as a countdown timer (so their FPs could be shown during DEBUG==True), but I'm not THAT fast. Overall, I'm happy with it, for the time spent. Comments are welcome.

my ATM AF Solution.zip

LV2012, AF package 4.1.1.33

my AF Boiler Solution.zip

I just received my CLA results... and I passed!

This was my first attempt and I really appreciate all the good informations I found here

Take care!

The first time around I worked on the api's for each major component and tried to get them connected together via messaging. None of the components were fully implemented. I had developed the messaging structure and tried to make sure the mediator loops (that handle message routing) were routing messages to their correct destinations. Honestly though, I don't remember how complete that part of the app was. At the time I felt like I had developed a reasonably good framework that could be filled in by CLDs who understood the framework. As I detailed in Nom, Nom, Nom..., NI disagreed.

One piece of feedback I received from NI while reviewing the first exam was to implement one component completely so developers could use it as an implementation example for the other components I design. I did that this time around, but it took so much time I didn't do any work on several modules and the top end component tying all the pieces together wasn't fleshed out at all. When I finished the exam my solution felt far less complete than my solution for the first exam. There were many [Covers: xxx] tags I didn't get around to working on. I left with no expectations whatsoever and figured I'll keep presenting and keep retaking the exam until they take pity on me or just get tired of seeing my name.

To prove truth is stranger than fiction, I passed. I am honestly just as surprised I passed this time as I was that I failed the first time. The overall structure of my app was the same this time around as the first time--components executing in parallel communicating via hierarchical messaging and Harel/UML style state machines as needed. I think I used class-based state machines the first time whereas this time I used a flat state machine contained on a single block diagram. That might have made it easier to understand but IMO is an implementation detail not terribly important to the overall architecture.

I'm not complaining about passing but I have to say I still don't understand NI's grading system at all. Here's my scoring breakdown with evaluation comments in parentheses:

Style: 10/10

Documentation: 16/20 (Architecture/modules not documented adequately for developer to implement/complete functionality.)

Req Coverage: 18/30 (Percentage of requirements covered = 60%.)

Arch Development: 30/40 (Comments had 4 different "xxx module not designed.")

Baffled...

(See y'all at the arch summit! )

This is my first message in the forum, so I take advantage of this to salute you all,

I need to prepare for CLAD in a very few time, it has to be before January 8 mandatory. I am relatively new to Labview,

I am only have 8 months of developing experience (but no professonally) and mostly I have learned by myself, reading books

and NI guides, as I had to work with an SB-RIO to develope a Control application for my final career work.

I have the Labview Basic Course I and II but I do not know if they are outdated and if it would be a problem to prepare

for the exam using these, unfortunately I do not have access to more recent Labview Core 1 and 2.

Do you guys think that using the Basic Courses as a base-material should be ok?

Also I read here in the forums that "Labview for Everyone" is the prefered book, but I have some other books and

before spending my funds on amazon I wanted to check with you if they are more or less equivalent

and valid to my purpose of obtaining the CLAD in this time.

"Labview advanced programming techniques 2nd Edition"

"Labview for Engineers"

"Labview Based Advanced Instrumentation"

"The Labview Style book"

Plus I also have the Compact Rio developers guide and the 6 hours course ...ect

I think I am going to use the Basic Courses but I need your opinion if I am going to need to complete

this study with some books, and if this is true, would be some of the titles I post above sufficient?

Please let me appologize because my lack of experience is causing some king of anxiety to the task I

have ahead.

And let me thank you in advance.

I have a question about the CLA Exam. Earlier this year I took the exam and failed at 63%. I think I will do better this time but I took the exam with LV 2011. Has anyone took the exam with LV 2011 and LV 2012? Was the exam harder in anyway? I developed my main architect during the LV2011 exam duplicating the message queues design of the beta LV 2012 version. Now that the message queue design is part of LV 2012 it will save me time.. I think.

Any help would be great.

Thanks Bill

I have just passed the architect exam, and I just wanted to say that I have learned a lot from the posts on this site. Many thanks all.

A special thanks to the lava member FAB to came over to the UK from the US to do the advanced architectures course at NI and was by far the best lecturer that I have had there.

I'm taking the CLD Exam on Wednesday (9/26) and I'm pretty nervous. I attached my SECOND attempt at the ATM for review; this one is functional unlike my first try.

This time I finished the ATM in 3 hours exactly, with the benefit of being familiar with the application already.

I finished the Car Wash in 3.5 hours and the Boiler in 3 hours (both on first attempt).

Is there anything I should try to do this weekend before the exam? Anything I should review? Anything in my ATM solution that looks odd or problematic?

Should I feel pretty prepared based on the practice exams, or is it pretty different from the real deal? I googled around for forum topics and most of them are a couple years old.

Thanks guys,

Mike

I just received my CLD exam results and I passed! I got 88.33% and I'm pretty happy with it!

Style 13.5/15 Documentation 9/10 Functionality 12.83/15

I learned a lot here so thank you all for posting on LAVA!

Regards,

This is my first post since joining the forum, so first of all hello to you all.

It's a bit late really considering I have the exam tomorrow morning, but I did my last two practice exams this week for the ATM and Sprinkler system and thought I'd pop them up to see if anyone has some last minute feedback or wise words. Both are saved for LV 8.6.

I've actually only been using LabVIEW for about 12 months and not as a full time developer, so I probably fall a bit short of the recommended experience, but the opportunity arose and I figured there's no harm in giving it a shot!

Thanks in advance for any feedback or pointers...

CLD Attempts 8.6.zip

Please advise if the attachment could score a good mark. The requirement document I had found on internet doesn't seem to be complete. The solution however covers the requirements given in the document.

Your comments will be appreciated.

Kind Regards

Austin

08-07-2012.zip

I got my CLD and now I want to get the CLA. But I work as a contractor and can't sweettalk my employer into dropping a 2-3 thousand dollars on training.

So I'm thinking of heading down to Austin from Dallas and taking the next "software engineering"

and "advanced architectures" and possibly the LVOOP course.

However, they are $1200 each (900 for the web version... meh). I want to think carefully about spending my hard earned cash.

So I wanted to ask here if anyone had taken this courses and if so, what they thought of them. Did you learn a lot? Were the instructors good? Who paid? I think classroom instruction can be very valuable because you can ask questions far more easily and directly and understand the material faster.. if you have the right instructors. What don't want is some overpriced glorified powerpoint presentation.

What are your opinions?

I guess it should be updated since, for example:

1. Can a wire be used to pass data between loops that are intended to run in parallel?

The answer should be yes if you pass a reference like a DVR for example.

2. Which of the following is the best method to update an indicator on the front panel?

Connecting dirrectly to the indicator might lead to low performance if you are inside a loop.

3. What is one disadvantage of using the State Machine VI architecture?

With all the available state machines like a QSM and the lack of parallelism is better suited.

4. The most efficient method for creating an array is?

A variant attribute

5. You develop a SubVI that only outputs a value and need to use this SubVI in a (calling) VI. Which of the following is the best way to enforce dataflow to control the execution of the SubVI?

Error and sequence are about the same, however, inside a parallel program without a sync msg mechanism it is hard to control the data flow.

In general, most NI courses, I think, are outdated with no OO, design patterns, HAL, MAL, Actors, advanced TDMS, Gateway Requirments, Testing, G#...

Is there a course somewhere that teaches how to test an OO large scale project that uses Hardware Abstraction Layer, design patterns, UI framework and so on?

I would gladly pay for an online best practices course with examples.

I am taking CLD in few weeks and going through the sample questions. I tried ATM Controller. It is fully functional but it took me 5 1/2 hour to finish it off and include documentation. There are certain things on the front panel which are not quite right. For instance, menu buttons are not being released. I documented on the front panel all the things which I thought could be useful to mention for an effective advice.

Not sure if I can finish this faster by doing something different?

Many thanks in advance

Kind Regards

Austin

11-02-2012.zip

i am gonna take on my CLAD exam on dec 20 th 2011 i would like to take valuable inputs from you .How to prepare for labview ....I had got LabVIEW for Everyone: Graphical Programming Made Easy and Fun, Third Edition By Jim Kring

in this book what are all the chapters i should cover for clad alone .....and how i should read this book can i read only the concepts are can i work on some exercises given in it ....... just reading this book is enough to clear clad exam????????. thanks in advance ....

Anyway, I took the exam, proctored by my NI rep. After the Exam he asked what I thought about it. I said I am pretty sure I did not pass, but I wanted to find out where I bombed. I thought an extra 30-45 minutes would help to get everything done.

So I kept checking my Mail stop at work looking for that letter stating I did not pass and where I made mistakes

Fast forward to tonight, I am relaxing checking my emails at home and see an email from certification@ni.com, I thought oh great there is my failure letter

but to my surprise.. I PASSED!!!!! Wahooooo!!!

I received the same review one of the other members here got:

Style: 10/10

Documentation: 15/20 (Architecture/modules not documented adequately for developer to implement/complete functionality.)

Req Coverage: 26/30 (Percentage of requirements covered = 85%.)

Arch Development: 30/40 (Comments had 4 different "xxx module not designed.")

I am Officially a CLA

Now to convince work to send me to the Summit

I'm just starting preparing for the CLD exam and I'd like to get some feedback on my coding style.

I think my documentation is weak, and I have some functionality issues (slides doesn't seem to work so I added a digital display I dunno what I've done wrong).I did not used tip strips for FP objects as it seems like they removed it from the exam requirements.

I found the time limit to be tight (maybe I'll get 15 extra minutes with the new format as I don't need to make the front panel)

Can you please rate my code?

Best regards,

Rodéric

Boiler Controler.zip

1. Don't use object-oriented design patterns. Before the exam our local sales rep hosted a call with an exam grader, and he indicated using LVOOP (or GOOP) was acceptable. I can only assume that means they don't reject it out of hand. I used facades, mediators, and an object-based state machine, all of which are common in other languages, yet apparently are unrecognizable to the graders and/or grading rubric.

2. Be careful how you break the app into components. For example, in the sample exam there are a couple security requirements listed. I was dinged hard on several items for what would be equivalent to "Security module not designed." Notice there is no requirement listed for a "security module," there are only security requirements. That my design satisfied the listed requirements is irrelevant--no security module, no points. This one really rubs me the wrong way. One of the primary things an architect does is figure out how to break the requirements into functional components. Forget about balancing the tradeoffs between different options; the only right way is NI's way.

3. Assume your design will be thrown "over the wall" to developers who have been outsourced. I'll set aside the fact that the "ivory tower architect" scenario is a failed development process and just accept that I don't get to explain any details to the developers. That is sort of implied in the exam requirements. However, even though in the exam's hypothetical architecture scenario I'm handing the design off to our developers, apparently it's a mistake to assume they might have become familiar with some of the patterns we've been using in our time together. In fact, it appears the requirement is that design can be handed to any random developer and he'll know what to do with it. (I guess NI expects architects to micromanage the implementation details.)

Sour grapes? Yeah, probably a bit. Disillusioned with the certification process? Oh yeah. Disappointed that I won't be able to attend the architectural summit next year? Definitely. That's been my entire motivation for pursuing certification. Oh well, life goes on...

[Edit - After reflecting on the issue for a couple days I posted some thoughts on this post here.]

A few of us at Enable have just passed our CLD's. Cheers and high fives all around.

*Hint Hint: Look at my signature.*

I gonna take the CLAD test at the end of July. Frankly speaking, I was quite confident to pass the exam since I have worked on Labview around 1 and half years. But my CLAD sample exam resulted not so good, only 70% correct. So it seems practice expereinces are slightly different from what NI prefer you to understand in CLAD exam.

I guess I have to get more practice by taking more CLAD sample exams.

Could anyone be nice to provide some hints or resources for my preparation?

Thanks in advance

Best regards

Would you please shear your personal experience about the exam? How much is it different from the CLAD exam, besides format?

My certification is almost expired so it is time to take the recertification exam. However, I don't know how much preparations is needed. My work has deviated from Labview to C++ for the recent one year so I don't to what degree should I resharpen my Labview skills.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Bo

To be continued...

I'm planning to take CLD next month and tried out a few examples from the sample questions available on the NI website.

I'm trying to create a template which can be used for all timing related problems, and have come up with this solution. Can anybody go through this code and give your comments?

I have attached the Question and code for the sprinkler controller example.

awaiting comments,

kathir

100927-01.pdf

Sprinkler_For_Forum.zip

I've been poking around here for some time, but not really posting much though I'm sure that will change. There's not too many people in the world that know what a CLD is, so I figured I'd come share it here.

I have started preparing for CLD. This is my first try with Car wash example.

Please spare your some time for my example and tell me few tips, corrections.

I know there will be many points, may be bugs in my program. Also let me know how I can avoid using local variables and still update "Wash Options" control.

I have two local variables. How bad effect it will have on scoring ?

Also let me know if you will give me passing score or not out of 40.

I hope there are less bugs.

Gaurav k

CLAD Certified !!!!!

100929-01.pdf

CLD Car wash.zip

Sprinkler Controller LV 8.6.zip

I used LabVIEW for everyone, so thanks to Jim Kring and Jeffrey Travis, this book is worth a read!

I don't want to review gak's carwash practice exam because I am going to do that one next.

Sprinkler Controller.zip

the ni sample papers seem to be easy and i m not confident . . . forum members do have any advice ?

ATM machine

Boiler controller

Car wash (different)

Sprinkler system

https://lumen.ni.com/nicif/us/ekitcldexmprp/content.xhtml

Good thing I double checked again...

I did take it a couple of years ago, but NI lost the exam papers when they posted them back to the States.

I am also due to do a small presentation (very small) at the London NI Days event, not sure quite how I found myself in that position as I am not used to doing that kind of thing, a little worried but looking forward to it as well

Dannyt

I just got my CLA results back today and I PASSED!!!!!!!!

Everything seems new.

New Certification

New LAVA

New LabVIEW in a month

And I can’t wait till the NEW RCF (Right Click Framework) Comes out.

I've been using LV regularly (with recycled code) for about 4 years.

I recently took the CLAD and passed - and now I'm contemplating working toward the CLD. I've attached an .llb of the Car Wash sample, and would love to have expert commentary on what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing ugly (and don't you dare say my wife!)

I'll hopefully be able to apply your thoughts and comments toward the other two CLD test examples.

I did the implementation using a QSM in LV 8.6.

Thank you!

-David

Carwash.llb

I Passed the CLD Exam and I happy to be a LabVIEW Developer.

There will be some:beer_mug::beer_mug::beer_mug: lots of them today if anyone want to join me Just PM me for more info.:lol:

CLD

Ohiofudu.

I forget the specific scores, but I know that the original CLD and two subsequent CLD-R's were all scored in the high 90s (I think one recert was a 100%). So I waited until today (Sunday afternoon, quiet around the house) to work through the practice exam. Ouch! Not a very pleasant experience, and when I scored it, not surprisingly, I barely scraped a pass.

Random thoughts:

I expect that with each passing recert, there will be a few questions added in that will demonstrate that I haven't adopted a new feature in my own development. And I know this has been discussed elsewhere on the forums. I'm OK with not knowing every new feature intimately. (Network Shared Variables; just haven't needed 'em, though I remember when they were DataSockets, before they grew up. Feedback nodes still confuse me with their syntax, I so prefer shift registers. And sorry Stephen, but I just haven't found a programming challenge yet that whispers "LVOOP, LVOOP" in my ear. Someday I'm sure I will make the leap.)

Some of the example code snippets seem SO convoluted in their purpose, I can't help but wonder - am I being evaluated on how well I can troubleshoot some newbie-LV-minion's code? (I don't have any newbie-LV-minions at my command at my place of work, for better or worse.)

Guess I'll read some of the dustier corners of the online LV help on Monday, if I can spare the time. Wish me luck, never thought I'd need it.

Dave

Mea culpa.

Anyway, I've now implemented the security system code entirely from my own head. I haven't seen any example code for this one, though I'll probably look at the proposed solution after there are some comments here. Please comment if you can.

Known weaknesses:

I'd also welcome other study ideas, though I don't have much in the way of funding for the training courses.

Thanks!

-David

Security System.llb

==============================

I just got my CLD certificate today so I think I need to write something about it.

I have been using LabVIEW since 1997. I still remember the pain to accidentally did something but was unable to "UNDO" it in LabVIEW. I don't know from where I got that idea that you can just prove your skills by your work, not by those "stupid" certificates...

I went to the LabVIEW seminar (I forgot the formal name of it) this March and somebody told me a quota from the mighty JK: A serious labVIEW programmer shoud be a CLA or on his/her way to achieve the CLA certificate --- may not the exact quota, but you get the idea. So I asked myself: besides having fun with it, am I serious to LabVIEW as well? The raffle winning for a free CLAD exam eliminated my last excuse.

I took the CLAD on late April. The reason it took that long is because I think the passing grade is 80% I got 90, which below my expectation.

Then I started writing the practice exams of CLD and I was shocked. Not the difficult level, but the way you SHOULD write the LabVIEW program. The state machine structure is so much better than the stacked sequence, which I was always using.

After “Car Wash”, “Traffic Light” and “Security System”, I’m using the same style to write new tests in my real works. It really helps.

I drove a full hour to NI’s Mountain View office, 30 minutes before the exam started. I found out the early arrival is a good thing. NI allows you to set up you programming environment before the exam! Another important thing is to learn the new version LabVIEW. My company is using LabVIEW 8.6 but in exam you have to use NI’s version, apparently they are using the latest LabVIEW 2009.

I made a big mistake in exam. I used multiple event structures, totally forgot the pain I encountered in my works before. Different event structures targeting the same control activity was still, as always, a trouble maker in LabVIEW! After tedious debugging, I finally accepted the harsh reality and deleted all but one event structure. That caused me at least an hour.

Another nightmare happens. No matter what I did, one control’s value just won’t change accordingly! I used stepping, I used breakpoint, I used probe. I just can not fix it or even find why? After about 30 minutes, I suddenly remembered that control was used to be monitored by a deleted even structure. Maybe there is a bug in LabVIEW? I closed LabVIEW completely and reopen it. Everything works! I may supposed to report the bug to NI, but I was here to take the exam and clock was ticking.

I wrote those comments like crazy and fix some small bugs on the way. Unfortunately there was not enough time left. I wrote to the least second. When I left the room, my hands are shaky.

I was worried about too little documentation for my program. There were still bugs in functionality. Could I get the magic 70%? I was not sure.

Today I got the email. I was still uncertain and then I was shocked by the score. I got 9.5 out of 10 in documentation and 13 of 15 in style. The bugs only cost me 1 point from 15 in functionality. My final score is 91.25%. Even higher than my CLAD.

Yeah. I’m happy now. To make my day even better, I saw a practice exam of CLA, with solution! Now I don’t need to guess what the CLA exam looks like in dark.

Cheers for my CLD certificate. Next step, CLA:rolleyes:

I would like to launch a poll here to know how many CLAD owners took their trainning courses from NI before you passed the exam.

Does a guy who works on Labview for around one and half years and is able to finish the sample exam within 40 minute with 70% correct outcomes (OK , this guy is me) need to take part in those trainning courses?

I appreciate your reply and any suggestions.

Mars

I plan to read "The LabVIEW style book"

I plan to work on all the exam exercise from ni.com

I plan to get coupon from Developer day (I call ni today, they still have not decided the developer day locations)

What else I need??

I am planning to learn LABVIEW and try to obtain a CLAD. Which book is the best to learn to prepare for CLAD exam?

I current have a LEARNING WITH LABVIEW 6i book. I don't know this book has sufficent info or not. Please give me some advices.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Q

I can pass the NI online test with ease, there are a few questions I don't totally understand yet but the rest I am fine with. My question is how much harder is the actual test and do they ask much more advanced questions? For example the test on the CD of "LabVIEW for everyone" is MUCH more difficult than the NI online test and they do not give you the correct answers to the test either. I wrote Jim Kring asking for the answers and he sent me here? (he wrote the book). Any way on an entry level test should I know Active X type questions?

Does NI ask "trick" shift regester questions or just enough to tell you know how they work? You see whre I am going, so any more information or suggestions about the CLAD would help!

Thanks!

Alan

I am so confused. How is it possible B is correct?? I think is C.

Whoever thinks B is the one, can you explain a little to me. Thanks.

I'll post the answer as the first reply so that the answer isn't visible on the main LAVA page.

1. Under which of the following settings would you not apply a gain to your signal?

A 10 V signal with 0-5 V ADC range

B 5 V signal with 0-10 V ADC range

C 10 V signal, with 0-10 V ADC range

D 1 V signal with 0-10 V ADC range

I think this question needs to be more specific. What does it mean by GAIN here? the gain can either be greater than 1 or less than 1.

for the A answer, I WOULD apply a gain > 0 and <= 0.5 in order to bring my signal into the ADC range.

for the B answer: there is no need to use gain here.

for the C answer: 10V is at the high limit of the range, I WOULD apply a gain a bit less than 1 so that the signal is easier to see.

for the D answer: 1V is within the range, i can either use gain or not here. I think NI wants the answer to be YES in here for the gain

in order to have a better view of the signal as 1V is abit small compare to the setting of the range.

The answer that NI afters would be B as there is no need to set the gain there, but alot of cases there is no need to have gain for D as well.

Should the question be: Under which of the following settings, it is unneccessary to apply a gain to your signal?

Do you have something to share?

Basic I & II and some practice =====> CLAD

Intermediate I&II and experience =====> CLD

or

Advaced course and experience =====> CLD

CLD? Maybe. But a part of me wants to hold out for a CLD exam that includes LV classes. I mean, I'd kind of be undermining the prostelytyzing I've been doing the last few years if I actually admitted that someone could be a true LabVIEW developer without classes!

On a tangent note:

Q: What are you if you are naked while answering a 40-question multiple choice exam about LabVIEW?

A: SkyCLAD!

Q: What are you if you swim 1 mile, bike 20 miles, run 2 miles and then take a a 40-question multiple choice exam about LabVIEW?

A: IronCLAD!

Others are welcome to try their own puns, but I should warn you... the only other word in English that uses the letters "clad" together is "clade" and making jokes off of it won't be easy. You may have more success in other languages.

Next Step -- CLD

How much time do you in preparation CLD?

I am thinking to call next week and schedule the exam a month from now

What do you think ??

I can only think of 1 to 2 mistakes that I have made in each test

I don't know what other mistakes I have made because the exam only shows the number of correct.....

One more MCQ

The main disadvantage(s) of using the VI architecture shown below is:

[2 case structures inside a while loop with a stop button connected]

A there is no way of shutting down the VI during execution.

B you cannot use wires to pass data between case structures. <=== My choice, but not sure is correct

C the block diagram can become very large and hard to read, edit, and debug. <== Make sense too

D All of the above

Did 3 times online exams, results were OK

Did the sample CLAD exam.

• I underestimated the difficulty, so I only spent 20 mins to finish the exam, and I got 26/40
  

• I found out that sometimes I misunderstand the questions, sometimes I don't understand the meaning of the questions. Because of these make at least 8 mistake. I did not review my note before do the sample exam, so other 2 questions made mistake. The last 4 mistakes were because of lack of knowledge.
  

I review the whole exam; find out and solve anything that I don't understand. I think I will read the manual again in the next 24 hrs and review my note. What else I should do?

=================================

BTW, how many MCQs have more than 1 answer?

<--That's me right now - I can't seem to wipe it off.

-Toby

I want to learn middle level labview and take the exam. I just graduate and don't have job, so I can't afford to pay $5500. Is there any book that I can buy to study myself? Can I just take the exam instead of buying the whole package? How much will it cost for the exam only? Anyone has the experience please help

While I'm sitting here biting my nails waiting for the results of my CLD test, I was very impatiently wondering...

I've heard from several posts here and in the NI forums that failing the first time was not unheard of. How many times did it take you (people that took the CLD exam and passed it eventually) to become certified? I feel that if more people knew the "track record" of the CLD (heck, even the CLAD or CLA exams!) the level of nervousnous might go down just a *wee* bit.

Joe "orko" Sines

My hope is that the blog will be a place for discussion among the already certified, a place to make suggestions on how to improve the current system. I also hope that it will be a place for all those "how do I prepare for the CLAD/CLD/CLA exam" discussions.

I currently have a poll on the blog. Is certification a good idea in general for the LabVIEW community? Stop by and vote. I plan on having a series of such polls on the blog. If any of you premium members out there would like to create LAVA polls of the same questions I would appreciate it. My ultimate goal with this blog is to compile the results and suggestions and share them with the certification people at NI.

The first poll is now closed. The question was "Is certification a good thing for the LabVIEW community?" There were 28 responses, with 89% saying "Yes" and 11% saying "No". So the majority thinks it is a good thing, but the minority negative opinion is sizable.

Woo hoo! I just thought I would share that with you all. After a couple of years more of experience and studying up, I may try for a CLA certification.

After a few months' familiarization with LabVIEW, I would like to ask some questions about how to get prepared for NI Certificated LabVIEW Developer examination. As of associate developer, some of the advanced programming topics such as synchronization and design patterns are discussed though not elaborated. At this stage, I think trying to read more VIs developed by others and practice developing by myself are of the the highest priority. My question is what is taught in NI Intermediate Course in terms of programing techniques. If I will not be able to attend the course, what should I pay most attention to when I am building up my LabVIEW experience especially in an effort to take the CLD examination?

Thanks in advance!

It depends if you're going to use LV in the near future, e.g. find a job that involves LV.

The LV-certificates have an expiry date. After 3 years you loose your certificate. To keep it you'll have to redo the exams.

Is it 3 years or 2.? I remember reading somewhere as 2 years....