Problem Building an installer in LV 8

[Louis Manfredi]

Hi Folks:

Got an error message when trying to build an application and create an installer in LV 8.0.

Translated from a .bld file which worked well in LV 7.1 Looks like LV 8.0 did well on building the .exe file, but got a problem with the installer.

Attached png file shows both the error message box which came up, as well as a

.txt file showing full message hidden by scroll bar in upper part of message box.

Came up just like it shows, with nothing following the sentence "Use the following information as a reference:" Glad I kept a separate copy of my project in LV 7.1, but would like to make the transition to 8 as soon as practical.

I've sent this in to NI support, but meanwhile curious to see how others have fared making installers in LV8.0 :question:

Thanks, & Best Regards, Louis

[Louis Manfredi]

Hi Folks:

Seems odd to reply to my own post, but wanted to give a little update on this.

I haven't got time now for my usual long-winded discourse-- but the "Reader's Digest" version of the story is that we (Myself and NI Support) are still working on the problem and making a good deal of progress, though I'm not fully out of the woods yet.

The new Project Manager seems powerful, but the transition from the old .bld file to the new .lvproj was far from automatic for me, and might be for you too.

My advice would be to not translate any critical applications for which you might need to provide executable files or application builders until you've got a good few days to focus on the task in case things get ugly. I ended up printing out all 38 pages of the "Organizing and Managing a Project" topic from the help file, and reading most of it, before I got a successful build. If you work often with similar projects in other programming languages, you might pick it up quicker than I did, but even so, I'd suggest some caution in making the transition :!:

I will say, I think I'm going to end up liking the new system a lot, but right now I wish I had waited till I was in a dead spot between gigs to make the transition...

Still curious to hear how others are faring with the transition...

Best Regards, Louis

[Jim Kring]

Still curious to hear how others are faring with the transition...

I'm taking it slow. So far, I have only converted one project to LabVIEW 8. However, I use OpenG Builder to build this application, and it uses a custom installer also written in LabVIEW.

[Louis Manfredi]

I'm taking it slow.

....A good plan, I think.

Best, L

[Louis Manfredi]

I will say, I think I'm going to end up liking the new system a lot, but right now I wish I had waited till I was in a dead spot between gigs to make the transition...

Hi Folks-

A final note on this topic. (Unless others have something to add)

I am very happy with the new project system in LV8. It seems like a much more professional tool than the old .bld file based system. To me it now seems easier to use, and more versatile too. Nice to be able to have variety of build specifications, E.G. one to make only the .exe file, and another to make the installer-- all within a single project. Also, I haven't make any careful comparisons, but it seems to build build the .exe faster than the old version.

I never did go back and figure out what the problem was with translating from the .bld file to the .lvproj file. Seems unnecessary now that I understand how to work with the new system.

I'll stand by my statements from before:

Don't try to make the transition till you have some time to spare.

Do plan on printing out all 38 pages of the "Organizing and Managing a Project" help topic, and reading most of it before you accomplish anything very useful. This might not be necessary for users up to date with other modern software development environments, but it certainly was true for me.

Also, It seems to me (again, I haven't made careful comparisons) that the first installation of a LV8 based application --especially one that uses DAQmx-- on a virgin target machine takes much longer "Now installing part 1 of 54" than a similar installation of LV7.x. I think there may have been references to that issue on another thread in the forum.

Summary: :thumbup: LV8 project builder, but takes some time and effort to get up to speed.

Best Regards, Louis

[Bob Reed]

Hi Folks:

Got an error message when trying to build an application and create an installer in LV 8.0.

Translated from a .bld file which worked well in LV 7.1 Looks like LV 8.0 did well on building the .exe file, but got a problem with the installer.

Attached png file shows both the error message box which came up, as well as a

.txt file showing full message hidden by scroll bar in upper part of message box.

Came up just like it shows, with nothing following the sentence "Use the following information as a reference:" Glad I kept a separate copy of my project in LV 7.1, but would like to make the transition to 8 as soon as practical.

I've sent this in to NI support, but meanwhile curious to see how others have fared making installers in LV8.0 :question:

Thanks, & Best Regards, Louis

[Bob Reed]

Sorry about the previous reply. Am new and had not figured out where to type reply.

I have had problems with the application builder and installer builder as well. Had no difficulties with previous versions. Read the instructions (not easy for me to understand) and followed NI examples for both builds. My first attempts to build my own application led to error messages I could not easily understand. Finally compiled my main vi to eliminate one problem. Did not need to do this in version 7.0 when vi was previoulsy run successfully in development mode. THen was forced to fix links to help files for a fair number of Measurement Computing VI's for one of their USB devices. Don't understand why help files for sub vis are necessary for built applications where user can not see or alter the block diagrams. I think this is unnecessary waste of time.

Can not get the installer to target my selected installation directory. Can select this directory when using the finished installel but it is not the default directory. It insists on putting the application in the Program Directory. My software can not work in that directory because directory must contain ceratin ini and calibration files. Most of our customers do not understand how to select install directories other than the default directory for their software updates. A fair fraction will ignore instructions and use the wrong default directory. I can get the practice example installer build to do the appropriate thing. But my pre build folder is not on the available list of directories when I configure the installer build instructions. Generating or selecting a target folder is not an option in the drop down list in the installer configuration set up.