Remote front panel window control (Remote Panel Methods)

[smarlow]

With almost no browser choices that still support the LabVIEW plugin for remote front panels, my colleagues and I have opted to just use the LabVIEW RTE to view remote panels.  This is especially important for the RT targets we are running (RIO and Pharlap machines).   We have a solution that works: using the App class "RP.Open Connection To Server" mehtod.  This little function makes it possible to create a launcher applet that launches a remote front panel in a LabVIEW RTE window, no browser needed.  However, the problem we have is that we have no control over how the new RP window is launched.  For example, we'd like the window to come up maximized, but can't seem to find the tools (LabVIEW, Win API, or otherwise) that would allow us to control this new RP window that gets created.  The LabVIEW RTE just seems to throw the window up on the screen in a random location.  If anyone has done this, gained control of the new window launched by the App class "RP.Open Connection To Server" method, we would be eternally grateful if you gave us a clue.  Thanks in advance.  

 

[Zou]

Windows API should be able to handle this.

Can you post a screenshot the window?

[donk]

Hi Smarlow,

Thanks a lot for sharing this method! I was not aware of it.

I just started to use remote panels on a real time target (PXI) and halfway development I just found out that not all browsers support the required "NPAPI" plugin.

Very good that I have an alternative now to access the remote panel without much effort in case all browsers stop supporting the "NPAPI" plugin.

Edited September 21, 2016 by donk

[Blokk]

Hi smarlow,

We are in similar shoes now (remote front panel view of a PXI app is just not reliable via browsers) after upgrading a PXI unit from LV2015 to LV2017 (issue explained here: Lv forum post ). Could you share your experiences using this "browser-less" method? We only want to monitor and interact with the top level VI running as a PXI startup application, from a LabVIEW 2017 IDE under Windows.

Thanks for any info!

Regards,

[smithd]

the thread just below this would be a possible option (its not browserless, just doesn't need a plugin).

[hooovahh]

11 hours ago, smithd said:

the thread just below this would be a possible option (its not browserless, just doesn't need a plugin).

Yeah I'm currently working on improving that some more.  On targets without a UI things like arrays aren't even supported.  They could be but man my knowledge of web technologies is limited.  I just added cluster support, and multi pane support.  The real goal for me though is supporting reentrant VIs on an RT target.  Also as far as I know that solution will require you to generate the HTML and JavaScript on a Windows host first, then transfer it to the target, which to be fair is what you have to do with the Web Publishing Tool. 

I'm just still a bit amazed that NI doesn't have a good first party solution for this.  I have a reentrant VI on an RT target, and I want to see it in a browser and I can't.  Even if you have a non-reentrant VI support for NPAPI has been deprecated for years.  It seems NI's newest suggestion is to develop the web front end in NXG, then use tags or other communication methods to view it.  That's fine and unfortunately might be the way I go but having to re-create my UIs in multiple IDEs, then writing code to communicate between the two, is a major pain.  EDIT:  Oh and lets not forget the fact that the Web Module for NXG currently isn't free.

[Blokk]

Actually we figured out the problem with the non-movable remote FRont Panel, and now it works as we need it, no browser required just LabVIEW at the client side!

https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/PXIe-1071-PXIe-8101-embedded-controller-updated-to-LabVIEW-2017/m-p/3807913/highlight/true#M1075147