LabVIEW software architecture: where did it come from

[seilo]

Its obvious that LabVIEW as development environment is rather unusual, compared to common C/C++ and newer Java / .NET systems. However, similar architecture principles can be found in older software projects, such as Oberon and Component Pascal (look http://www.oberon.ch/blackbox.html)

It doesn

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

Its obvious that LabVIEW as development environment is rather unusual, compared to common C/C++ and newer Java / .NET systems. However, similar architecture principles can be found in older software projects, such as Oberon and Component Pascal (look http://www.oberon.ch/blackbox.html)

It doesn

[JasonKing]

If my memory is correct, Paul Austin holds the patent for the "Picture Control" in LabVIEW.

Ben

Paul has contributed many great things to LabVIEW and other NI products. I hope that his legacy is not his work on the Picture Control (I'm not even sure if he worked on it - that was well before my time, but I'll assume your recollection is correct). He most recently played a key role in the development of the compiler used for the new LEGO Mindstorms product, so hopefully he carries more credibility than "that picture control guy"

J

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

... so hopefully he carries more credibility than "that picture control guy"

J

Hi Jason!

Even if he did not do anything more than the Picture Control, that would still make him a giant in my book!

The piture Control is one of the most powerful FP objects that LV has. It has opened many doors for me that would not have been possible without it.

I used it to do a number of projects that required extremely flexible displays as well as allowing for dynamic instantiation of "Virtual Control"s on the FP. Beyond those esoteric uses, there was once a very heated debate on the NI Dev-Exchange were a user was attempting to good performance out of a FP that had been customized to look exactly like an automobiles dashboard. Since it was constructed of customzed guages there was a lot of overlapping of the guages. By rendering the dashboard as a background image in a picture control, we were able to get stellar performance out of it because we only had to re-paint the needle of the guages.

I once had the opertunity to meet Paul and I started to thank him for his Picture Control and started talling him the crazy things I had done with it. I think his reply was something along the lines of "I've created a monster."

Please pass on my thanks to Paul once again!

Ben

[JasonKing]

Hi, Ben. I misunderstood you - I thought you were negatively associating him with the picture control!! I agree, the flexibility it provides, specifically creating custom controls (I actually used it to create a custom tab control implementation for the Mindstorms NXT software), is great. I will certainly pass on your praise. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't getting pigeon-holed due to a single feature he worked on a long time ago.

J