LabVIEW 7.1 vs LabVIEW Express?

[levietphong]

I am new to LabVIEW so I'm not sure if there is a difference between them

[Louis Manfredi]

Hi Levietphong:

The "express" vi's are pre-written LabView programs which help to get you started quickly if you are new to LabView. They aren't really different from LabView 7.1, they are a part of it. Depending on who you talk to, they are either a useful addition to the language, or just a marketing tool NI uses so they can pretend you don't need to be a programmer to use the language.

If you are new to LabView, and have not yet had time to learn it, and if there is an express vi that does what you need to do, exactly, and if operates efficiently enough for your needs, go a head and use it.

In the long run, to truly use the versatility of LabView you will end up learning learning the language and writing your own vi's from scratch. The express vi's only do certain things, and what versatility they do have comes from complexity inside the vi's which put unneccessary memory and exectution time demands on the system.

You can also start with an express vi, open its diagram, throw away the portions of the code you are not using, perhaps modify what is left a little to do exactly what you want. If what you want to do is only a little different from what the express vi is designed to do, this can be a good approach.

Even with 10 years experience with LabView, I find the express vi's useful. I have used them to learn how to work with hardware and LabView features that I've never used before. I simply use them as examples, copying key bits of code related to the feature I want to use into my own program.

Hope this helps-- also there's been other discussions of express vi's in the past, with comments by myself and others. Try searching past posts in the forum, there may be some helpful information there.

Good Luck and Best Regards, Louis

[levietphong]

Thanks for the response. That's helpful

[cai]

an excellent reply, I learned more from it, thank you!

[cwl]

I am new to LabVIEW so I'm not sure if there is a difference between them

same to me ! Thanks a lot!

[WMassey]

Also the splash screen that pops up when you start LV v7.0 screams "LabVIEW Express"

while the splash screen that pops up when you start LV v7.1 says "LabVIEW 7.1"

So if you are talking about what you see when you start the programs, it's just a difference in version.

As far as the differences between the versions go, the most noticable to me is that 7.0 crashes much more often than 7.1.

(at least on my machines).