2. What is "LAVA Certified"?

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What is LAVA Certified?

All LAVAcr submissions are assessed based on LAVA Certified criteria, including appropriateness for the LAVAcr environment. Although this may sound daunting, making sure your submissions are LAVA Certified is really just a matter of common sense and the standard practices we have all come to expect from competent LabVIEW developers. For code to become LAVA Certified, it must adhere to the following requirements:

1. All custom VIs must include an appropriate level of documentation, including the use of the VI Documentation, free text on the Front Panel and/or Block Diagram. You don't need to include a novel, but please consider the average level of knowledge of a LabVIEW programmer that has never seen your code before.
   
2. A verbose description is expected on the submission web page, and this will form part of the page where your code will reside.
   
3. Error handling must be appropriate. If your code has an error in cluster, then chain errors through your code to an error out cluster. If you're providing code that may be used as a subVI, then enclose all of your code in an error case structure.
   
4. Your style does not need to be perfect, but consider those who will be trying to understand and perhaps modify your code. Keep crazy wiring to a minimum, try to line subVIs up, give VIs meaningful icons, use the 4-2-2-4 connector layout when you can, etc.
   
5. All submissions must be versioned.
   
6. Code with locked diagrams, missing diagrams or password protection will not be accepted.
   
7. You must take reasonable steps to confirm that your code conforms to the functionality you submit it under.
   
8. You are the primary support vehicle for your submitted code, and you must stand behind it. If another LAVA member has questions and/or comments, you must make yourself available within a reasonable amount of time to help out. Each portion of code will have a dedicated support thread, and other LAVA members may try to assist too, but you own the code, so it's your responsibility.
   
9. LAVA Certified assessors will not alter your code to make it meet the requirements. If a submission does not meet the requirements when it is assessed, it will be returned to the member with a short description on the requirements it failed to address.
   
10. Submissions must state the LabVIEW version it was created with. If you would like your code to be listed under more than one version of LabVIEW, then you must provide an extra copy in the appropriate version. You must confirm that your code works appropriately under each version of LabVIEW that you submit it for.
    
11. LAVA Certified code hosted in the LAVAcr must be bound by a software license of your choosing. The complete full legal text of the license must be included in a text file with your submission zip file. You must also include your contact and ownership information. Currently, we only accept code licensed under an Open Source License. The submissions form currently supports the following licenses which you can chose from:


1. Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
   
2. The BSD License
   
3. GNU Lesser General Public License
   
4. GNU General Public License
   

[*]All published code will be altered to include a reference to its' LAVA Certification and branded with the LAVA Certified logo, as shown above.

:!: The LAVA Certified program is a living design, and whilst general discussion about the LAVA Certified requirements is certainly encouraged, it is considered poor form to single out cases for personal gain or attacks. Please be considerate of the LAVA Certified assessors - they are a very dedicated unpaid team whose sole purpose is to foster high quality code sharing, and not to discourage anyone personally.

Who are the Assessors?

LAVA Certified assessors are long term LAVA premium members and experienced LabVIEW developers and architects who have a vested interested in seeing the LabVIEW community grow through cooperation. Whilst they may not be famous, each assessor has several years experience in sharing and support in our community and are determined to see it thrive.

Can I Help?

The easiest and most important way for you to get involved is to contirbute to and expand the LAVAcr - it can only grow through comprehensive and well respected submissions from users like you. Another extremely valuable way to help the LAVA Certified cause is to either donate to LAVA or become a Premium Member. Premium membership comes with all sorts of advantages, so you'll get more out of it than just feelinng good about supporting the LAVA community

That said, we are always open to accept new LabVIEW Certified assessors into the team. If you've got a little time on your hands, are passionate about building the network, helping others share and keeping the high standards of the program alive, then there just might be a place on the team for you. If you think you've got what it takes, then contact us.

:!: We currently accept LAVA Certified Assesment Team applications from Premium Members only.