Scripting Online-Help

[didierj]

With the mouse, when I go over a "hidden" scripting property, the context help tells me (among other informations):

Select the LabVIEW Scripting Properties and Methods Help menu item from the Help pull-down menu for more information.

Does anyone know anything about this help? :ninja:

Or, did NI already do the job for a future LV version, when the scripting features will be released? :thumbup:

Didier

[Michael Aivaliotis]

Ya, the scripting help for the methods and properties is already written however it requires some actual files that need to be installed on your computer (*.chm files etc.). The help of course is not embedded in the executable.

[didierj]

The help of course is not embedded in the executable.

2811[/snapback]

Do you mean the files are not included in LV7.1, only (I suppose) somewhere on a NI-server?

[Michael Aivaliotis]

Do you mean the files are not included in LV7.1, only (I suppose) somewhere on a NI-server?

2837[/snapback]

Well I guess it exists on some computer somewhere. Assuming the file exists, then I would suppose that NI would have access to it. If this all sounds very vague then it was intended to be that way.

[Mike Ashe]

Does anyone know what the status of the beta test of the scripting toolkit is? Hmm, perhaps those who know cannot say, directly, and hence things must be "vague", but it would be nice to know which Christmas we are looking at for having this in our stockings.

[Jim Kring]

Does anyone know what the status of the beta test of the scripting toolkit is?  Hmm, perhaps those who know cannot say, directly, and hence things must be "vague", but it would be nice to know which Christmas we are looking at for having this in our stockings. 

3190[/snapback]

Mike,

Don't hold your breath waiting for a public release of scripting. There are several reasons that I think it will not be "productized" anytime soon. Here are a few...

It is not a feature that will be useful for beginning LabVIEW users (thus increasing the number of LabVIEW copies sold to NI's target audience). There aren't many advanced LabVIEW users that will be willing to pay NI, what NI thinks it is worth (and costs to support). And finally, it opens a whole can of worms with respect to the fact that LabVIEW is a closed/proprietary environment -- scripting means that people can build import/export/translator tools for moving G (source code) outside of LabVIEW and therefore NI's control. As we've seen with the developments in NI's licensing policy, the lock-down is getting tighter.

Now, that doesn't mean that NI won't continue to evolve scripting and use it as an in-house tool for making LabVIEW more powerful...

:2cents:

[Mike Ashe]

Now, that doesn't mean that NI won't continue to evolve scripting and use it as an in-house tool for making LabVIEW more powerful...

3221[/snapback]

Or that some of us can't or won't make some tools with it. But it would be nice if we had a little easier time with it. Ah, so many things to code, so little :clock:

[didierj]

And finally, it opens a whole can of worms with respect to the fact that LabVIEW is a closed/proprietary environment -- scripting means that people can build import/export/translator tools for moving G (source code) outside of LabVIEW and therefore NI's control.  As we've seen with the developments in NI's licensing policy, the lock-down is getting tighter.

3221[/snapback]

Is the current EULA with the passus LabVIEW Software License Agreement not something that should protect NI from such developments?

[Jim Kring]

Is the current EULA with the passus LabVIEW Software License Agreement not something that should protect NI from such developments?

3333[/snapback]

Since NI can (technically speaking, per the NISLA) tell you that any software is unauthorized, then perhaps the EULA does protect them. But a translator/importer/exporter does not directly compete against any existing NI product. However, it does opens the door for competitive products that are not written in LabVIEW. For example, if there exists an XML schema for storing VIs, along with an importer/exporter, then anyone can build an editor for files of that schema. This means that you don't need LabVIEW to edit G. You only need it as a compiler.

[Mike Ashe]

Since NI can (technically speaking, per the NISLA) tell you that any software is unauthorized, then perhaps the EULA does protect them.  But a translator/importer/exporter does not directly compete against any existing NI product.  ...snip...

3344[/snapback]

And we should remember that this NISLA clause is only in LV 7.0 and 7.1, not 6.1 which is another reason to do more and more of our development back in version 6.1