LabVIEW 2017 Readme for Windows

March 2017


This file contains important information about LabVIEW 2017 for Windows, including system requirements, installation instructions, a partial list of bugs fixed for LabVIEW 2017 for Windows, and known issues.


Refer to the NI website for the latest information about LabVIEW.


Refer to the labview\readme directory for readme files about LabVIEW add-ons, such as modules and toolkits.


System Requirements

Installation Instructions

Product Security and Critical Updates

LabVIEW 2017 (64-bit)

Known Issues

Bug Fixes

Accessing the Help

Additions to the LabVIEW Help

Finding Examples

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

Legal Information


System Requirements

LabVIEW 2017 has the following requirements:


Windows Run-Time Engine Development Environment
Processor1 Pentium 4M/Celeron 866 MHz (or equivalent) or later (32-bit)
Pentium 4 G1 (or equivalent) or later (64-bit)
Pentium 4M (or equivalent) or later (32-bit)
Pentium 4 G1 (or equivalent) or later (64-bit)
RAM 256 MB 1 GB
Screen Resolution 1024 x 768 pixels 1024 x 768 pixels
Operating System Windows 10/8.12/7 SP13
Windows Server 2012 R22
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP13
Windows 10/8.12/7 SP13
Windows Server 2012 R22
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP13
Disk Space 620 MB 5 GB (includes default drivers)
Color Palette N/A LabVIEW and the LabVIEW Help contain 16-bit color graphics. LabVIEW requires a minimum color palette setting of 16-bit color.
Temporary Files Directory N/A LabVIEW uses a directory for storing temporary files. NI recommends that you have several megabytes of disk space available for this temporary directory.
Adobe Reader N/A You must have Adobe Reader installed to search PDF versions of all LabVIEW manuals.
1 LabVIEW and LabVIEW Run-Time Engine require processors of the Pentium 4M/G1 generation or later, which are capable of executing SSE2 instructions.

2 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.

3 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 for more information about how to install this security update.


Note
  • You cannot access LabVIEW using a Guest account on Windows.
  • In 2016 LabVIEW dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. LabVIEW 2017 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use LabVIEW 2017 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing LabVIEW 2017, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI™, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS. For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2016, refer to KB 79UC78LS, Why Does my LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, or TestStand Built Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Server 2003?.
  • Support for Windows 32-bit operating systems may require disabling physical address extension (PAE). To learn how this might affect your system and what actions you might need to take, visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code PAESupport.

Installation Instructions

Complete the following steps to install and activate LabVIEW for Windows.


Are you installing LabVIEW for the first time? Insert the LabVIEW Platform media and follow the onscreen instructions to install LabVIEW, modules, toolkits, and drivers. When prompted, enter the serial number for each product you want to activate. Your serial number can be found at ni.com/myproducts. If you are managing your license with a volume license server, you should receive your volume license file by email.


Are you upgrading from a previous version of LabVIEW? Refer to the LabVIEW Upgrade Notes for information about protecting existing VIs and projects before installing a new version of LabVIEW, as well as upgrade and compatibility issues and a complete list of new features in LabVIEW 2017.


Note  If you purchased this product with an NI Software Suite or NI Product Bundle, use the installation media that shipped with your purchase to install this product.


Product Security and Critical Updates

Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.


LabVIEW 2017 (64-bit)

Use the LabVIEW Platform media to install modules and toolkits supported by LabVIEW 2017 (32-bit) and LabVIEW 2017 (64-bit). When run on Windows (64-bit), LabVIEW (64-bit) provides access to more memory than a 32-bit operating system or a 32-bit application can provide. LabVIEW (64-bit) is available in English only.


Supported Hardware

Refer to the NI website for information about drivers compatible with LabVIEW 2017 (64-bit). For GPIB devices, you must use at least NI-488.2 2.6 for Windows. Refer to the specific hardware documentation for more information about compatibility with LabVIEW (64-bit).


Supported Modules and Toolkits

LabVIEW 2017 (64-bit) supports a limited number of modules and toolkits. The following lists compares the modules and toolkits supported by LabVIEW (32-bit) and LabVIEW (64-bit).


Product LabVIEW 2017 (32-bit) LabVIEW 2017 (64-bit)
Advanced Signal Processing Toolkit
Control Design and Simulation Module
1
Database Connectivity Toolkit
DataFinder Toolkit
Datalogging and Supervisory Control Module
Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit for Windows
Digital Filter Design Toolkit
FPGA Module
MathScript RT Module
2
Report Generation Toolkit for Microsoft Office
Real-Time Module
Robotics Module
SoftMotion Module
Statechart Module
Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite
Unit Test Framework Toolkit
VI Analyzer Toolkit
Vision Development Module
1 The Control Design and Simulation Module (64-bit) does not support the System Identification VIs, System Identification Assistant, Control Design Assistant, and real-time targets.

2 The MathScript RT Module (64-bit) does not support the libraries class of MathScript RT Module functions.

Refer to the readme of each product for more information about 32-bit and 64-bit support, system requirements, installation instructions, and activation. For information about products not listed in the previous table, refer to the user documentation of those products.


Known Issues

You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the NI website for an up-to-date list of known issues in LabVIEW 2017.


Bug Fixes

The following items are the IDs and titles of a subset of issues fixed in LabVIEW 2017. This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in the current version of LabVIEW. If you have a CAR ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.


ID Fixed Issue
404983 Dynamic load of LabVIEW Class fails when built into a DLL.
522606 Error Ring does not adhere to dataflow in an executable or in a VI with debugging disabled.
524160 Updated Timed Loop Mode example VI to better display custom phase and show correct value for period in context help.
567353 When an XNode output is wired to the Loop count of a Parallel For Loop the VI breaks.
571901 Using the BD Get Image Scaled method crashes LV 2014 and 2015 if the depth of the image is 1.
572024 Built applications hang in some instances when calling Quit LabVIEW.
584378 LabVIEW has the potential to crash when simultaneously setting multiple variant attributes to empty variant constants.
588140 Insert of Compound Arithmetic node on wire can result in undesirable configuration.
590370 Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm has poor convergence in some cases.
591709 Calling Format Value on improper value can result in crash.
592088 Improper updates of library members when using Actor Framework Message Maker.
594760 Example "Extract number with match pattern" gives incorrect output.
595178 Certain examples show incorrect title bars on the Project Window.
595814 The unflatten from String primitive can take several minutes to return when given malformed input strings.
595815 DataSocket Read VI crashes LabVIEW when calling certain IP addresses.
596804 Re-registering a dynamic event can cause subscribing event frames to behave improperly.
597858 File permissions error when saving a LabVIEW file to a Windows Server from Windows 10.
598986 Scrollbar does not properly respond to clicks on string constant.
599478 LabVIEW may not update classes on Real-Time targets after changing the inplaceness of a connector pane terminal for a VI within those classes.
601256 Error message when replacing existing channel endpoint with an invalid configuration is not clear.
601764 Local variables can be created from channel wires.
601807 Resizing a "Register for Events" Node Crashes LabVIEW.
602230 Connecting conflicting channel types does not always break the wire.
602973 In some cases, using the Min/Max function on array of single precision floating point numbers can cause a VI to fail to compile.
603092 Rearranging tabs in tab control can cause a crash.
603391 Incorrect Out of Memory dialog when using "Active Plot" property node in 64-bit LabVIEW.
603562 Using dynamically dispatched VIs with unwired input terminals can, in some cases, cause crashes.
603576 Channels carrying typedefs/classes create crosslinks when users duplicate projects.
603854 QMH project template contains a potential race condition.
605231 Attempting to abort a VI may not always cause the VI to abort.
606365 Dragging a control or indicator to the edge of the block diagram can cause duplication of the front panel object.
606847 Dynamic Dispatch VIs break when the class wire is passed through a shift register in specific cases.
607685 Cast Unit Bases does not correctly remove units from output.
609835 Actor Framework debug traces do not occur on Real-Time targets.
611532 Selecting "Use Default if Unwired" on an output tunnel with a LabVIEW class data type will cause a broken VI with no errors.
611810 Saving a VI containing a "Lookup Channel Probe" node for LabVIEW version 2015 and earlier can result in failure to open the saved VI.
611838 The abort behavior of the Accumulator Tag channel wire does not match that of other implementations.
612501 Interpolate 2D Scattered VI will return an incorrect value for specific size input values.
615195 Collapsing "Variant Attribute Get / Replace" border node on In Place Element Structure causes LabVIEW to crash.
615288 Previous versions of LabVIEW are unable to open dynamic classes saved using "Save for Previous Version" in 2016.
616848 Using Quick Drop to add a Custom Control Template to a VI's Front Panel crashes LabVIEW.
617119 Pressing Abort during project creation then creating another project causes LabVIEW to crash in some cases.
617504 Dragging the front panel icon of a VI onto the block diagram of another VI will undo the last edit of the dragged VI in some cases.
617917 Possible crash when loading particular classes.
624304 Actors that return an error from Pre Launch Init also send a Last Ack containing the same error.
624957 Possible memory corruption when opening invalid file.
627716 Opening a project with "Messenger Channels" causes a search for Wrapper.lvclass.
627910 Large projects may have extended save times.

Accessing the Help

Refer to the LabVIEW Help, accessible by selecting Help»LabVIEW Help from LabVIEW, for information about LabVIEW 2017.


Additions to the LabVIEW Help

The following list contains additional changes to LabVIEW that are not included in the LabVIEW Help, the LabVIEW Upgrade Notes, or both:


  • In LabVIEW 2017, you can insert the contents of a subVI into the calling block diagram at edit time by right-clicking the subVI node and selecting Replace with SubVI Contents. In the Replace with SubVI Contents dialog box that appears, you can configure the following options:
    • Make space in calling diagram to fit subVI contents—Specifies whether to adjust the calling block diagram to accommodate the contents of the subVI.
    • Wrap subVI contents in a Sequence structure—Specifies whether to place the contents of the subVI in a Stacked Sequence structure.

Finding Examples

Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW to launch the NI Example Finder. You can modify an example VI to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a VI that you create.


Automating the Installation of NI Products

You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes.


If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.6.2, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.6.2 separately before you install NI software.


For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.



Legal Information

Copyright


© 2004–2017 National Instruments. All rights reserved.


Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.


NI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.


End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices


You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:


  • Notices are located in the <National Instruments>\_Legal Information and <National Instruments> directories.
  • EULAs are located in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\Legal\license directory.
  • Review <National Instruments>\_Legal Information.txt for information on including legal information in installers built with NI products.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights


If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.


IVI Foundation Copyright Notice


Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.


The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.


Trademarks


Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on NI trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.


Patents


For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.


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