Category Archives: LabWindows/CVI

Some hidden features in LabWindows/CVI IDE

Posted by on February 6, 2009 No comments

First, to cycle between source code files in CVI IDE, just use Ctrl-Tab;

Second, if you forget what a function’s complete name, just write a few letters that you are sure of it, then press Ctrl-P. There will be a function name list dialog which includes the letters you typed, just choose the function you want from the list;

Third, right-click anything in source code and choose “Go to Definition”, or use Ctrl-I, you can see where the variables are declared;

Fourth, you can make the project and library trees to auto hide by select menu: Options > Environment > Auto hide Project and Library Trees;

Fifth, there is a “Programmers ToolBox” shipped with LabWindows/CVI which can be used to manipulate sting and filename, you can find it in <cvidir>\toolslib\toolbox\toolbox.fp.

With them, you can make your CVI-based development much easier!

A few Tips on Improving the Performance of Table Controls in LabWindows/CVI

Posted by on December 31, 2008 No comments

Here are two tips to improve the performance of table controls:

1. Try to update multiple cells at the same time with SetTableCelRangeVals function.  This reduces the overhead of updating cells greatly.

2. If you need to update a single cell at a time (as may be the case if you want to update a row with different datatypes, use the SetTableCellAttribute (…,ATTR_CTRL_VAL,…) function instead of the SetTableCellVal function.  Note: This will only make a difference if the table is not the active control on the panel.  So if it is the active control, programmatically make another control active before updating the table, and then make the table active again.  This will update the table without displaying the updates until the next call to ProcessDrawEvents or upon the exiting the current callback.  This is ideal when making repeated updates.

The New Features of LabWindows/CVI Version 9.0

Posted by on December 20, 2008 No comments

It’s about a month since NI released LabWindows/CVI version 9.0. And some of this version’s new features are very exciting. I think this is a milestone for CVI. The exciting new features include:

New Resource Tracking Window

Locate potential resource/memory leaks earlier in the development process with the Resource Tracking Window. This new tool records and tracks all resources allocated at run time including dynamic memory, file handles, panels, GPIB/TCP handles, and thread pools. With this tool, you can also easily go to source code, view memory, break on deallocation, and log tracked resources to disk for later review.

I think this feature is quite useful in the project development and verification process. Read more »