Internet Toolkit Troubleshooting Wizard
Getting Started with the Internet Toolkit
Here are some things you might want to do to get started using the Toolkit:
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Start up your LabVIEW-based G Web Server, open a Web browser, and view a VI front panel from the browser.
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To start the server, choose Project >> Internet Toolkit >> Start HTTP Server from a LabVIEW front panel:
Note that your computer's TCP/IP hostname will appear on the front panel of the Server after it begins to
run. The name begins after the word "Server" and ends just before the ":80 Running...". (80 refers to
the default TCP port for HTTP servers)
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Now open up a Web browser so that you can experiment with the Server. Keep in mind that Microsoft
Internet Explorer does not support the server-side push method used in the Toolkit and will therefore not
allow you to view continuous animations using the .monitor URL. You can still view static images of VIs
with this browser, however.
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Type the following into URL field of the browser (or select File >> Open Location and type this string):
hostname/.snap?HTTP+Server
Where the word hostname is replaced by the name of your machine, as displayed on the HTTP Server
VI front panel. If there was no name displayed, or this technique does not work, substitute the word
localhost for the hostname.
Every time you retype this URL or press the Reload or Refresh button on your browser, you should see a
new image of the specified VI. Note that, by default, you will not see a new image when retyping the
.snap URL unless the current image is more than 10 seconds old. Also note that you can use this
technique with any VI, not just the HTTP Server VI, and that spaces in the VI name must be
replaced by the + sign.
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The best way to learn about the capabilities of the Server is to examine the online examples provided
with the Toolkit. To access these examples, first use your browser to view the default homepage of the
toolkit. NOTE: this step assumes that you have configured the server root as detailed in the
Configuration troubleshooting link!
To access this default server homepage, simply type your machine's hostname into the URL field of your
browser, or else type the word localhost . If your server is configured properly, you should see
a "G Web Server" graphic with a "CGI Examples" link shortly thereafter. If you see something else, then
your server root is not properly configured, and you should reread the Configuration
link.
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If you see the correct default homepage and you want to see examples of some of the things you can do
with the G Server, simply follow the "CGI Examples" link. In order to understand how the examples were
accomplished, you will need to be able to interpret HTML code. To examine the code for a given example,
select "View Source" from your browser's menu bar and look for the link, form element, etc, that you
are interested in. Many of the examples invoke CGI VIs, which will be apparent if the HREF for the link
contains the name of a VI.
