New Release of LabSocket (The Easy Way to Extend LabVIEW to the Web)

[Mechatroner]

LabSocket enables LabVIEW applications to be easily accessed using a web browser, without the need for browser plug-ins or run-time engine on the client.

 

The latest release of LabSocket includes support for Waveform Graphs and Charts, XY Graphs and MultiColumn ListBoxes.  An option to integrate LabSocket with the Moodle CMS is available as well.  A detailed User Guide and downloadable demo of this release are at: http://labsocket.com/userguide_demo.html.  Below is a screenshot of a test VI (left) and its representation in a browser (right).

 

LabSocket-RT, a special version of LabSocket for the LabVIEW Real-Time environment (eg. cRIO), is also available: http://labsocket.com/RT.html.  A live demo of LabSocket-RT operating on a cRIO-9025 can be accessed at http://labsocket.com/Demo2.php, until approximately Oct 4.

 

Other links of possible interest:

• Documentation on a "Remote Cascade Lab" developed by KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden that uses an earlier version of LabSocket: http://www.energy.kth.se/proj/projects/Remote_labs/RL/RL_website/RCL/RCL.html
• Screenshots of support for MultiColumn ListBoxes: http://labsocket.com/MCLB.html
• Presentation to Orange County (CA) LabVIEW User Group Meeting titled "LabSocket System - Plotting Capability and Sample Applications": https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-30313
  

 

Any questions or feedback about the system are welcome.

 

-John Bergmans

[hooovahh]

...well this is quite interesting.   I haven't tried it yet but I have some concerns.  I notice that not all UI elements are the same size between the VI and the web page.  So is it often that you will have UI objects on top of each other?  What about subpanels does it work with them?  How about splitters and panes?  Which brings me to the question about window resizing, and how it handles that.  Don't get me wrong very neat, and I like having options, I just see several updates to NI products having similar functionality.

[Michael Aivaliotis]

Check out the VI Shots interview I did with John here:

 

Extending LabVIEW to the Web with LabSockets

[Mechatroner]

Hi hooovahh.

 

Thanks for taking a look at LabSocket.

 

It's true that there are some minor cosmetic differences in the appearance of elements in the Front Panel and their representation in the browser.  My sense is that the current replication fidelity is sufficient for most applications.  (I could well be wrong on this point and would be interested to hear about use cases requiring exact replication.)

 

If there is overlap of elements in the browser, you can try shifting the front panel elements in LabVIEW and regenerating the browser representation until the overlap is eliminated.

 

LabSocket does not currently support subpanels, splitters or panes.  Also, resizing the front panel does not affect the browser page size.

 

If there is a need for more exact replication in the browser or support for currently unsupported elements,  I'd be pleased to tweak the system to meet anyone's specific requirements.

 

-John

jbergmans /at/ bergmans dot com

[Mechatroner]

A quick update - I gave a presentation about the LabSocket system to the Bay Area LabVIEW User Group (BALUG) last week.  The slides are available at: https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-33131.  My impression was that the presentation was well-received by the group.

 

To the BALUG members here that attended my presentation - thanks for coming out to the talk.  I found the group was welcoming and quite enthusiastic.  NI also did a good job of supplying food and beverages and providing a great space for the meeting.  I look forward to coming back to Santa Clara to attend future meetings.

 

-John

[ned]

Hi John - I was at the BALUG presentation and was awed by what you've accomplished with this code. Also, the presentation itself was well-organized. Thank you for sharing.

[Mechatroner]

I'll be presenting a one-day workshop about the LabSocket system at the NI Offices in Santa Clara (Silicon Valley), CA on Feb 10.  An overview of the agenda is shown below.  The workshop will include several labs to provide attendees with hands-on experience with the system.

 

For more information or to register, please visit: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/labsocket-workshop-tickets-10111462657.

 

Workshop Agenda Overview

1. Theory of Operation

2. LabSocket Basic

3. LabSocket-MultiClient: One Target VI Instance per Browser Client

4. LabSocket-RT: LabSocket for LabVIEW Real-Time Environments

5. LabSocket Server Virtual Machine

6. Integration with Moodle Course Management System

7. User Authentication

[Mechatroner]

I've unfortunately had to cancel the one-day LabSocket Workshop on Feb 10.  If anyone is interested in attending such a Workshop or having a private version of the Workshop at your organization, please contact me.  Here's a brochure about the event: http://labsocket.com/LabSocket_Workshop.pdf

 

Also, here's a brochure with some information about the LabSocket System, including the new MultiClient version, the proposed MultiTarget version and the new LDAP user-authentication capability: http://labsocket.com/LabSocket_Brochure.pdf

 

-John

Edited February 7, 2014 by Mechatroner

[Mechatroner]

I'm pleased to announce that the LabSocket system is now listed in the LabVIEW Tools Network: http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/212532

 

To go along with LVTN listing, the LabSocket website (http://labsocket.com) has received an update and includes a much-improved "Technical Details" section and the latest downloadable evaluation version of LabSocket-Basic.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

 

-John

 

Edited May 22, 2014 by Mechatroner

[Mechatroner]

LabSocket Application Example

Engineering students at the British University in Egypt recently used LabVIEW and LabSocket for a Smart Home Hazards Monitoring project.  In this application, the high-level LabVIEW home monitoring software was accessed remotely from a number of devices, including an iPad.

 

A YouTube video, a Prezi presentation and the student's well-written final report are all available on the LinkedIn LabSocket User Group page: http://lnkd.in/bnHxWzi.

 

This work is a great example of how LabSocket enables LabVIEW applications to be easily accessed over the web.

 

-John

[hooovahh]

Hey John we met on the expo floor and we were talking a bit about taking an image front panel controls being able to use it else where.  You mentioned that the solution you found was to save the image data to a PNG file, then you could load it somewhere else.  I don't remember the full context but I remember what I suggested as a better solution.  

 

This VI can take a PNG file as an array of bytes (or rather a string) and convert it to the LabVIEW Image cluster.

 

<LabVIEW Folder>\vi.lib\wsapi\VIs\PNG Data to LV Image.vi

 

More importantly you can take a LabVIEW Image cluster and turn it into an array of bytes as a string using this VI.

 

<LabVIEW Folder>\vi.lib\wsapi\VIs\LV Image to PNG Data.vi

 

A demonstration I've often linked to is the GDI resize function posted here.  It can take Image Data in as a cluster, convert it to a PNG, scale it using .Net, then save it as a stream, then convert it back to Image Data.  That VI also works in a similar way with a image file instead of Image Data.