NI Vision Development Module 2012 SP1 Readme

December 2012


This file contains important information about National Instruments Vision Development Module and is organized into the following sections:


General Information
New Features
Updates and Improvements
System Requirements
Installation Instructions
How to Activate the NI Vision License
Deploying Vision Applications
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Known Issues
Documentation and Examples


Refer to the Machine Vision Web site at ni.com/vision for the latest information about the NI Vision Development Module.


General Information

Installing this program may remove previous versions of the NI Vision Development Module that are currently installed.


The NI Vision Development Module 2012 SP1 supports LabVIEW 8.6, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012; Visual Studio 2005 and 2008; and LabWindows™/CVI™ 8.1 or later. The installer specifically allows side-by-side installations of NI Vision for each of the supported versions of LabVIEW, enabling you to use the NI Vision Development Module with multiple versions of LabVIEW. National Instruments recommends that you install LabVIEW, LabVIEW Real-Time, or any other supported development environment, before installing the NI Vision Development Module.


Note: The NI Vision Development Module overwrites existing NI Vision examples and NI Vision VIs. Move modified examples or VIs that you want to save to another directory before installing the NI Vision Development Module.


New Features

This release of the NI Vision Development Module includes the following new features:


  • Support for LabVIEW 2012 SP1 (32-bit) and LabVIEW 2012 SP1 (64-bit)
  • Improved AVI VIs, which now support mulitple codecs, RT targets, and 64-bit operating systems. The Vision Development Module now installs several tested codecs.
  • Improvements to the accuracy of the IMAQ Calibration Target to Points - Circular Dots 2 VI
  • New IMAQ Bayer to RGB VI for decoding Bayer-encoded images
  • The ability to specify how geometric pattern matches are scored using the IMAQ Advanced Setup Match Geometric Pattern 2 VI
  • The ability to learn all curves in a template image in the NI Vision Template Editor
  • Support for the ISO 15415-2004 and AIM DPM-1-2006 Data Matrix grading standards in C and .NET

Updates and Improvements

The following list describes issues in previous versions of the NI Vision Development Module that are fixed in this release. If you have a CAR ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed. This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in the current version of the NI Vision Development Module.


ID Fixed Issue
359948When grading 16022 data matrices, Print Growth is not calculated as per the ISO standard.
345582The "New Character Set File" button in the OCR/OCV step fails to launch the NI OCR Training Interface.
368426The stereo session crashes if the session is accessed after disposal.
360788In the Stereo Vision examples, the Invalid Disparity value is not connected to the IMAQ Get Depth Image From Stereo VI.
378248The IMAQ Stereo Corresponence (SG Block Matching) VI returns low values in a score image when the window size is greater than 7.
369215Using the Semi Global Block Matching Algorithm in the Stereo Vision Example results in an error.
364983The IMAQ Get Maximum Disparity VI returns invalid data.
364780The IMAQ Learn Binocular Stereo Calibration VI returns poor quality metrics when each camera is calibrated with a distance between points of less than 1.0.
359700The IMAQ Stereo Correspondence (SG Block Matching) VI does not throw an error when the replacement value for invalid pixels is within the valid disparity range.
36045The Vision Assistant Acquire Image step does not allow you to select a device channel.
35690When acquiring from a PXI system in Vision Assistant, boards on PXI systems have no description.
299066LabVIEW code generated from the Vision Assistant Max Clamp step fails to publish results to the results manager.
35699Remote systems are not automatically detected in Vision Assistant.

System Requirements

The development computer must meet the following system requirements to run the NI Vision Development Module:


  Minimum Recommended
Processor 233 MHz Pentium or equivalent Pentium 4/M or equivalent
Memory 256 MB RAM 512 MB RAM
Display 1,024 × 768 resolution video adapter with a 16-bit display 1,024 × 768 resolution video adapter with a 24- or 32-bit display
Free Hard Disk Space 1.4 GB
Operating System Windows 8/Windows 7/Vista/XP (32-bit)/Server 2008 R2/Server 2003 R2 (32-bit)
Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Remote Target Support

NI Vision Development Module 2011 SP1 was the last version of NI Vision Development Module to provide support for the NI 1762 Smart Camera and the NI 1764 Smart Camera. New software features of NI Vision Development Module will not work on these devices. Backward compatibility for existing applications will be maintained.


Installation Instructions

Installing from the LabVIEW Platform DVDs

If you purchased LabVIEW, you can install all of your LabVIEW products—including the NI Vision Development Module—using the LabVIEW Platform DVDs.


To request additional LabVIEW Platform DVDs, refer to the National Instruments Web site.


Installing from the NI Vision Development Module Installation Media

Complete the following steps to install the NI Vision Development Module from the NI Vision Development Module installation media.


  1. Log on as an administrator or as a user with administrator privileges.
  2. Insert the NI Vision Development Module installation media.
  3. If you do not have autorun enabled, double-click autorun.exe. If you have autorun enabled, autorun.exe runs automatically.
  4. Follow the onscreen instructions.
  5. (Optional) Activate NI Vision Development Module when prompted by the installer, or activate at a later time using the NI License Manager.

Installing from an NI Software Suite or NI Product Bundle

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.


How to Activate the NI Vision License

When you run an NI Vision application for the first time, it prompts you to activate a license for the product. If you do not activate a valid license, the NI Vision application will run in Evaluation Mode and continue to prompt you to activate a license on each subsequent launch.


Complete the following steps to activate the NI Vision license through an Internet connection.


  1. Run the product you want to license.
  2. Click Yes when prompted to interactively activate your product.
  3. Ensure that Automatically activate through a secure Internet connection is selected, and click Next.
  4. Enter the product serial number, and click Next.
  5. Enter your registration information, and click Next.

Tip: Enter your email address to receive a copy of your activation code for your records.


Deploying Vision Applications

Deployment refers to developing an application so that it can be distributed, or deployed, on a different computer than the one on which the application was developed. The NI Vision Development Module provides everything you need to deploy custom NI Vision applications to target computers. The NI Vision Development Module provides the following options:


  • The ability to create NI Vision Run-Time Engine installers, which integrate with the LabVIEW Application Builder, applications built in LabWindows/CVI, or a custom installer.
  • The ability to install the NI Vision Run-Time Engine directly from the Vision Development Module CD.
  • One NI Vision Run-Time License, which allows you to install a custom application on a single machine.

The NI Vision Development Module installer contains the run-time engine installer for NI Vision. The run-time engine installer is installed at <Vision>\Run-Time Engine, where <Vision> is the location to which the NI Vision Development Module is installed. Visit the Drivers and Updates section of ni.com to download software upgrades for NI Vision and the NI Vision Run-Time installers.


Purchasing NI Vision Deployment Licenses

You must purchase an NI Vision Run-Time License (part number 778044-03) for each target machine onto which you want to install your custom NI Vision application, even if you install the NI Vision Run-Time Engine directly from the NI Vision Development Module CD. The NI Vision Development Module CD ships with one run-time license. Contact a National Instruments sales representative or visit ni.com to purchase additional run-time licenses.


Note: Additional NI Vision Run-Time Licenses do not include a CD. To install additional licenses, use the original NI Vision Development Module CD and the serial number provided by National Instruments.


Using the NI Vision Run-Time Engine

You can call the NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer from the application installer. If you create the application installer with the LabVIEW Application Builder or with LabWindows/CVI, you can direct the installer to call the NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer.


Refer to the LabVIEW Help for more information about the LabVIEW Application Builder. Refer to the NI LabWindows/CVI Help for more information about building and distributing LabWindows/CVI applications.


You can also direct a custom application installer to call the NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer. Refer to the documentation that came with the installer software to learn how to call executables from the custom installer. If you are using a custom installer, call the NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer at the end of the installation procedure because the installer may require the system to be restarted.


To use the NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer, you must add /qn as a command line argument to the run-time engine installer. For example, enter <Vision>\Run-Time Engine\vision2012rte.exe /qn to run the NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer, where <Vision> is the location to which NI Vision is installed.


Distributing LabVIEW Applications

The NI Vision Run-Time Engine installer does not install LabVIEW VIs. If you use the LabVIEW Application Builder to create an application (EXE) or dynamic link library (DLL), the Application Builder automatically includes the VIs used by the application. If you distribute a VI, you must include all subVIs that comprise the top-level VI. You must include the appropriate LabVIEW Run-Time Engine as part of the installation.


Refer to the LabVIEW Help for more information about viewing the hierarchy of VIs and for more information about using the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine.


Distributing LabWindows/CVI Applications

In addition to including the NI Vision Run-Time Engine with the installer, you must include the appropriate LabWindows/CVI Run-Time Engine. Refer to the NI LabWindows/CVI Help for more information about creating an executable, creating a dynamic link library, and distributing applications.


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. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.


If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, 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 4.0 separately before you install NI software.


For more information, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:


Known Issues

You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the National Instruments Web site for an up-to-date list of known issues in the NI Vision Development Module.


  • The Quality input in the IMAQ AVI2 Create VI is only implemented for Windows codecs. The Quality input is not implemented for codecs installed with the Vision Development Module.
  • The AVI2 VIs do not support writing extra data to AVIs.
  • The IMAQ Read QR Code VI may hang when the QR Code Cell Size has a minimum size of 2 or less. Setting the minimum size to 3 or higher will prevent this issue.
  • The IMAQ Read Data Matrix Barcode 3 VI may hang on some I16 images.
  • Zooming out on a large, 32-bit image in the Image Display in LabVIEW will cause the image to black out. Only the displayed image is affected. The image itself is not modified.
  • To store error statistics on corrected images, you must run the IMAQ Get Calibration Info2 VI before correcting the calibration template image. The Return Error Information input must be set to TRUE.
  • Vision Assistant cannot generate C code if a double-byte character exists in the path to Vision Assistant or in the destination path for the generated code.
  • Some Vision Development Module .NET examples only work if Measurement Studio 8.6 or later is installed.
  • The Visual Basic .NET Label example does not compile.
  • There is no 64-bit Vision API for C or .NET.
  • Installing the Vision Development Module on a Windows Vista 64-bit computer where Visual Studio 2005 has been recently installed causes compatibility warnings.
  • The Vision Development Module cannot open two of the installed AVI files, SideCrash1.avi and SideCrash2.avi, when running as a 64-bit application. These two AVI files are not installed on 64-bit systems.
  • Using NI Vision with LabWindows/CVI on a machine that does not support the MMX instruction set may cause an Illegal Operation exception to occur within the LabWindows/CVI environment. This error occurs when DirectX checks for the availability of the MMX instruction set on the machine.

Documentation and Examples

The NI Vision Development Module documentation set consists of the following manuals and help files:


  • NI Vision Concepts Help—Describes the basic concepts of image analysis, image processing, and machine vision. This document also contains in-depth discussions about imaging functions for advanced users.

The following sections describe the documents available for each application development environment and where to find example programs.


NI Vision for LabVIEW Documentation

  • NI Vision for LabVIEW Help—Describes how to create machine vision and image processing applications in LabVIEW using the NI Vision Development Module. It also describes how to create a real-time vision application using NI Vision and the LabVIEW Real-Time Module.

    This document also contains reference information about NI Vision VIs and details about how to use NI Vision with LabVIEW. In LabVIEW, select Help»NI Vision for LabVIEW Help.


    Note: The NI Vision for LabVIEW Help combines the NI Vision for LabVIEW User Manual and NI Vision for LabVIEW VI Reference Help from previous releases into one document.


  • NI Example Finder—Illustrates common applications you can create with NI Vision. In LabVIEW, select Help»Find Examples. Click the Help button in the NI Example Finder to display the NI Example Finder Help.

NI Vision for LabWindows/CVI Documentation

  • NI Vision for LabWindows/CVI User Manual—Describes how to create machine vision and image processing applications in LabWindows/CVI using the NI Vision Development Module.
  • NI Vision for LabWindows/CVI Function Reference Help—Contains reference information about NI Vision for LabWindows/CVI functions.
  • Function panel help within LabWindows/CVI—Allows you to right-click within each Vision function to access help for that function, control, function class, and function library. Function panels are installed at <CVI>\bin\NIVision.lfp, where <CVI> is the location to which LabWindows/CVI is installed.
  • Example programs for specific applications are installed at <CVI>\Samples\Vision.

NI Vision for .NET Documentation

The NI Vision .NET documentation merges into the NI Measurement Studio Help. The NI Measurement Studio Help integrates into the Visual Studio Combined Help Collection under the Measurement Studio node in the Table of Contents. In order for links from Measurement Studio help topics to .NET Framework help topics to work, you must install the product documentation for Visual Studio, which installs the MSDN Library. This requires a secondary installation during the Visual Studio installation process.


The NI Measurement Studio Help is in the Microsoft Help 2.0 format and requires a Microsoft Help 2.0 viewer to be displayed. A Microsoft Help 2.0 viewer is installed with both Microsoft Visual Studio and the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK. The SDK is freely available from MSDN at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. If you do not have either of these products, you will need a standalone Microsoft Help 2.0 viewer to display the documentation. Some Help 2.0 viewers are available for download, such as Helpware's H2Viewer.


  • NI Measurement Studio Help—Contains reference information about NI Vision for .NET objects. Describes how to create machine vision and image processing applications in Visual Basic .NET and C# using the NI Vision Development Module. You can launch the NI Measurement Studio Help in the following ways:

    If you have Measurement Studio installed:


    • From the Windows Start menu, select Start»All Programs»National Instruments»<Measurement Studio>»Measurement Studio Documentation, where <Measurement Studio> is the location to which Measurement Studio is installed. The help launches in a stand-alone help viewer.
    • From Visual Studio, select Measurement Studio»NI Measurement Studio Help.

    If you do not have Measurement Studio installed:


    • From Visual Studio, select Help»Contents to view the Visual Studio table of contents. The NI Measurement Studio Help is listed in the table of contents.
  • Example programs for specific applications are installed at <Vision>\Examples\dotNET, where <Vision> is the location to which NI Vision is installed.

NI Vision Assistant Documentation

  • NI Vision Assistant Tutorial—Describes the Vision Assistant software interface and guides you through creating example image processing and machine vision applications.
  • NI Vision Assistant Help—Contains descriptions of Vision Assistant features and functions and provides instructions for using them. In Vision Assistant, select Help»Online Help.
  • NI Classification Training Interface Help—Contains information about how to use the NI Classification Training Interface to classify binary samples. In the NI Classification Training Interface, select Help»Online Help.
  • NI Color Classification Training Interface Help—Contains information about how to use the NI Color Classification Training Interface to classify color samples. In the NI Color Classification Training Interface, select Help»Online Help.
  • NI OCR Training Interface Help—Contains information about how to use the NI OCR Training Interface to learn characters, save character sets, and verify characters by comparing them to a reference character. In the NI OCR Training Interface, select Help»Online Help.
  • NI Texture Training Help—Contains information about how to use the NI Texture Training Interface to train a texture classifier file for use in texture defect detection applications. In the NI Texture Training Interface, select Help»Online Help.
  • NI Calibration Training Help—Contains information about how to use the NI Calibration Training Interface to select and create a calibration for use in machine vision applications. In the NI Calibration Training Interface, select Help»Online Help.
  • NI Vision Template Editor Help—Contains information about how to use the NI Vision Template Editor to learn and edit template images that you can use with pattern matching, geometric matching, and golden template comparison functions. In the NI Vision Template Editor, select Help»Online Help.

Copyright

© 2012 National Instruments Corporation. 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.


National Instruments 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:


  • 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.

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National Instruments, NI, ni.com, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use section on ni.com/legal for more information about National Instruments trademarks.


Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.


Patents

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