"LabVIEW Deliverable" What form should it be ?

[Edicia]

(Given) I have 5 different types test rigs . 5 LabVIEW programs (VI sets) to control 5 non-identical rigs.

RIG1

RIG2

RIG3

RIG4

RIG5

(Given) I have one "PARENT.EXE".; Blackbox- I am not supposed to worry what PARENT is built in.

When PARENT.EXE is called, it has list of 5 rigs.

Following is given requirement:

If operator clicks 'RIG1', PARENT.EXE shall launch "LabVIEW deliverable1" within a chosen area.

(Here, LabVIEW deliverable1's GUI shall control RIG1. PARENT.EXE shall control generic functions such as operator password)

If operator clicks 'RIG2', PARENT.EXE shall launch "LabVIEW deliverable2" within a chosen area.

(Here, LabVIEW deliverable2's GUI shall control RIG2. PARENT.EXE shall control generic functions such as operator password)

If 2 months later group6 adds RIG6 , then "LabVIEW deliverable6" must be written such that it does not require re-write of "PARENT.EXE".

What must be requirement on "LabVIEW deliverable" to be a plug-in part of above mechanism,

(EXE is out of picture...since it's an independent process)

Can the form be a RIG1.DLL and still be able to retain the GUI/behavior like RIG1.EXE ?

Or is there something else (some kind of assembly?)

(Given)PARENT.EXE (not labVIEW) is capable to support plug-n-play / dymnamic, but it needs to know what format LabVIEW deliverable will be.

Thank you for help.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Edicia

[Yair]

I never did anything like this, but here are some thoughts:

1. Keep in mind that whatever you do, the compiled LV code will be executed by the LV RTE and will be probably be loaded as a separate process (although I have no experience with that, so I'm not sure about the last part).
2. VIs in DLLs can keep their front panel.
3. If you want to embed the VI window inside the PARENT window, you can use the reparenting functions in the Win32 API (SetParent). If you set the window not to have a title bar, it will look as if it's "inside" the PARENT window. This might have some issues.
4. You can enable the web server in the LV app, place a browser control in PARENT and use the remote front panel feature to connect to a running app. This may also have some issues, as well as some license considerations.
5. LV 2009 can compile .NET interop assemblies. I never tried it, so I don't know what it looks like in practice.