JohnRH

:thumbup:

I tend to be a little fanatical about optimizing the performance of Windows, and probably do some things that make little or no difference. Here is at lease a preliminary list of possible items to include in a FAQ. (I'll include everything, even the obvious) 1) check the "Programs -> Startup" menu - delete everything not needed 2) programs which automatically start from the registry can be found in: "\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" 3) virus scanning software may not be necessary if the computer is connected to a secure network, or none at all 4) Stop Windows "Automatic Updates" 5) Stop Windows "System Restore" 6) Stop Windows "Indexing Service" - This can be turned off by disabling it on the hard drive, or finding it in the list of services and disabling it, but the best way is to completely uninstall it "Add/Remove Programs --> Windows Components --> Indexing Service" 7) Stop unnecessary services - Right Click on "My Computer", select "Manage", expand "Services and Applications", select "Services": all the services that are running are listed in the panel to the right. DO NOT stop any services unless you are reasonably confident they are not needed. Chances are you'll find at least half a dozen or so that are just not needed for your application.) Information about most services can be found at: Services 411 There are other tweaks I've done, most can be found at the following web site: Tweaking XP John

Good point! It sure is frusterating the few times I do actually need to view diagrams at 1024x768. I am also using a dual monitor setup, and don't know how I'd ever go back. The 2nd monitor is just a 17" set to 1024x768, which I use to create front panels. This forces me to keep the front panel the correct size, and gives an accurate representation of what things will look like on the target. At least that was the plan, but I find that I rarely dedicate myself to programming, and ussually want to share that 2nd monitor with something else. (Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, etc.)

1280x1024: my rationalization to buy big monitors (the only reason I don't use 1600x1200 is because that resloution in flat panel displays is still very expensive)

Alan Jackson, "The Blues Man" (just to be different)

I'm not sure which is faster. I am guessing local variables would be, since property nodes probably have more overhead. Another option would be to use queues. Even though they appear in the 'Advanced' pallete, they are really not that difficult to use. (you can use them kind of like a buffer that can be accessed from anywhere in your program) John

Any ideas what we as LabVIEW developers can do to pressure NI into changing their licensing? Here are some 'brainstorm' type ideas: 1) try opening some sort of formal discussion with NI? (may require some formal organization to represent 'LabVIEW Developers') 2) apply pressure by refusing to buy/upgrade until changes are made (would require huge community support to have any effect at all) 3) continue these open discussions and hope that NI is listening and will change voluntarily? 4) ... anything else?

If you want truely reliable serial communications, VISA is the way to go! I've used it quite a bit in recent years and now I don't know how I'd ever be able to go back. You have much better lower level control of your serial port, better performance, and really not all THAT much overheard when it comes to building applications. (when compared to available resources today) However, you are going to probably encounter a problem if you can't use the application builder. This is the only way I know of that let's you build a custom installer that lets you do a minimal install of NI-VISA to let you support serial communications. I think it still won't fit on a floppy, but at least it is much less than the HUGE VISA installer that you download from NI's web site. All this in mind - I really don't mind the overhead of VISA, since all my programs go on CD's or USB disks anyway. (Althought there are probably still some cases where neither media will work) Just my $0.02.

Yes there is. One way might be to use VISA Events to notify you of the arrival of a serial character. First you have to Enable the event, and then you can wait on it. Another option is to take advantage of the timeout on the VISA read function. If you Read one character with a large time out (500ms or so), the Read function will return as soon as one character is received, then you can proceed to read the remaining characters. If it times out then you can clear the error and repeat. I'd really like to post images of some code to make this all a little more clear but I can't seem to figure out how.

OK, since I have an interest in solving this problem as well I did a little research last night and this is what I found: Method One, NETSH: use the "System Exec" function to use "netsh" as follows: netsh interface ip set address <interface name> static <ip address> <mask> <default gateway> <gateway interface metric> Examples: netsh interface ip set address "Local Area Connection 2" static 192.168.1.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 1netsh interface ip set address "Local Area Connection 5" static 10.12.1.95 255.255.255.0 Method Two, Edit Registry: Use the LabVIEW registry editing functions to query and edit the following registry settings: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards (query this to find ID numbers for all network cards) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ In this key will be a sub key for every network card. By makeing sure DHCP is disabled (value 0) and setting the IP Address for each card, you should be able to do what you want. This Registry editing method probably requires you to reboot.

What a great question Bryan! Unfortunately I don't know the answer - although I recently heard of a program written by someone at UVA which uses Microsoft Visio to dynamically configure network IP addresses. Here is a link to their site: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~mngroup/projects/routeconfig/ Actually, I just took another look and this software does routing - which doesn't ussually involve configuring local IP addresses. So maybe it isn't much help after all.

Great idea! Especially considering the fact that other text based languages have this ability!

Sorry to answer your question with more questions, but how accurate do your current readings have to be, and what is the range? (are we talking milli-amps or tens of amps?) Also, are you willing to custom design and calibrate something, or does it need to be an 'off the shelf' solution? I am assuming you are talking about DC current? I am also assuming the analog inputs are voltage, and they are a fixed range such as +/-10V, and something cheap like 12bit? The reason I ask all this is because there are a LOT of options here. It would help to narrow it down a little. John

This is straying a little off topic. But yes - our office in Hamburg was formerly C-Plath (I think they still use the name). They make some great commercial equipment for marine navigation. Unfortunately not many of us get to travel out there very often. (or to any of our many other world wide offices)

Oops! I forgot that North Atlantic and Apex Signal are the same company. So I already got quotes from these guys. It's interesting. We work on Navy Ships, and I aften wondered if anyone else used synchro. I guess they must use it on helicopters as well?

This is just another question. I didn't know that Apex made synchro cards. I am pricing them out right now and can't find very many sources. Is there a web page or something you could point me to for Apex? Thanks!

Yep - try the "Device Drivers ..." CD(s). (I think they take up two entire CDs now.)

I've often wondered the same thing. You'd think there must be some purpose (like maybe setting some runtime environment settings?), but I'm not sure. I wondering if the app. builder documentation mentions this.

Some people find the classes useful, some don't. I found them useful because they helped 'solidfy' my own self taught efforts, and I got to learn about all the 'short cuts'. Also, I found that once I learned about the state machine and started using it extensivly, then everything was much simpler after that.

Likely not. It seems like MCC and Mathworks would be willing to listen to such a group. I'm not sure NI would be quite as co-operative, although you never know. We really need some type of 'mediation' here or something along those lines. Any ideas? I would be willing to help. We already have the atttention of Mr. Bailey at MCC. I know that some individuals at NI have been observing this thread with interest as well. Wether or not we could get the right people at NI to listen is what would determine the ultimate success or failure of such a group. I wonder if we could get NI/MathWorks and MCC to all agree to face to face reasonable talks, mediated by people from industry? A little far out - but thought I'd present the idea out anyway. John

Not only that - SoftWire isn't REALLY free since you must have Visual Studio to use it (~$1000). Then on top of this you are stuck with the Windows platform. (vs. Windows, Mac, Linux, Pharlap, RTX, ...). Mr. Bailey, what is your definition of 'open' here anyway? Who is looking out for the customer in all this mess!? You can get upset at NI all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that LabVIEW is a superior product. I will NOT be forced into using something inferior as a result of all this! Alright, I'm going to stop writing now before I really get worked up.

I am looking for suggestions on what would be the simplest way of generating multiple (16) waveform outputs (~60Hz Sine, < 10V amplitude), for which I can change frequency and amplitude 'on the fly'. (without pausing the output to re-program it) NI has a lot of analog output boards, but I'm not sure how to tell if they can be controlled in this way. (all my LabVIEW experience until now has been serial IO and other communications type stuff) I am guessing that one of the 'static' output cards will not be adequate. The rest of the cards claim 'waveform' output capability which I am fairly certain I will need. I think I need 16bit resolution, so this seems to limit me to the "NI PCI-6733 High-Speed Analog Output - 1 MS/s, 16-Bit, 8 Channels" card. If I use this card, then I'll need at least two of them, and I am somewhat concerned that this will make it more difficult to accurately control the phase relationships between all the channels. In the end I plan to amplify the outputs to 120VAC (using HV op amps and isolation transformers) so that I'll have a low current (<3mA) 3 phase power simulation. (since I need such low current the option of using multiple programmable 3 phase power supplies proves to be expensive overkill). Related to this - I have NEVER written a LabVIEW program to do analog output. Is there anything I need to watch out for to make sure that changes to the output are glitch free? Is DAQmx the way to go? So - to summarize. I am looking for hardware and software recommendations that will ensure I am able to maintain continuous (but 'adjustable') waveform outputs. Thanks!

I just right clicked on a VI and noticed this option "Enable Database Access". After some investigation I found out a whole new set of data logging options I never knew existed before! (I wonder how long have I been writing data logging software uneccessarily!?) This seems very useful, but thought I'd check if anyone has had any experience using this builtin capability, and wether or not there are things to 'watch out for' when using it. Would this be any more efficient or inefficient when compared to writing your own datalogging software? (memory/performance etc.) Thanks! John Howard

The bug shows up here on Lv7.1, Win2k, P4