Best-Practices for Touch Panel Deployment

The LabVIEW Touch Panel module provides an extension of the LabVIEW programming environment for development of applications targeted at a variety of touch panel devices. Because these targets contain unique hardware and operating systems, as shown in Figure 1, the deployment process will differ from targets running Windows XP or Vista. Furthermore, due to the differences between the touch panel devices the deployment process may also variety between these targets.

In addition, in different applications there is often the need to deploy the same touch panel application to many identical targets. Large SCADA systems may have the need for multiple touch panels running the same application, while machine builders and other industrial control OEMs build many copies of the same machine each with the same touch panel based Human Machine Interface (HMI). Deploying an application to multiple touch panel targets can be a tedious process if the process is not automated. Utilizing the LabVIEW environment, in which the original application was developed, can dramatically reduce this deployment time and effort.

This document provides guidelines for developing and deploying the initial application as well as replicating a master touch panel application to many National Instruments’ touch panels in your SCADA system or OEM production process.

1. Development of a LabVIEW Touch Panel Application
2. Initial Deployment of a LabVIEW Touch Panel Application
3. Replication of a Touch Panel Application
4. Non-NI Touch Panels
5. Conclusion

Development of a LabVIEW Touch Panel Application

As each target is different, deployment considerations for a touch panel should occur through out the development cycle.

Figure 1: Hardware and Software configurations for NI touch panels

 

Creating the Application

Configuring a LabVIEW Touch Panel VI for deployment starts as soon as development begins on the application because the VI should be developed with the deployment target in mind. To start preparing for deployment to a touch panel target, the touch panel target should be added to the LabVIEW project, and any VI that will be running visibly on the touch panel should be created by right-clicking on the touch panel target and selecting New Touch Panel VI. If the touch panel VI has been created through this method the front panel will be the correct proportions and the controls/functions palette is limited appropriately for the touch panel target.

Other considerations that should be observed while developing for a touch panel target or libraries that may be run both on a Windows and a touch panel target are the reduced function set that is supported in the LabVIEW Touch Panel module. The supported functions are outline in the Touch Panel Help.

 

Installing Support

During development the touch panel application will need to be run on the touch panel target to test the application and individual VI logic. National Instruments touch panels are preinstalled with an operating system, but support for specific LabVIEW function libraries and hardware drivers are not installed by default. These need to be installed separately based on the needs of your application.

If the application is using the DAQmx Base driver, serial communication requiring NI-VISA, shared variables (only for the TPC-2006), or *.png pictures on the front panel then the appropriate drivers or software needs to be installed for these functions. NI touch panels ship with either Windows CE or Windows XP Embedded installed. The installation procedure for additional drivers and support will depend on which of these two operating systems is in use.

If Windows XP Embedded is installed on the touch panel then the process to install feature support is exactly the same as a Windows XP computer. For example, if the application requires serial communication and the NI-VISA driver, then the driver installation can be downloaded from ni.com, transferred to the touch panel, and installed as it would on a desktop target.

In order to install the support needed for a Windows CE target the touch panel is required to be connected to the development machine via Ethernet or USB cable. Based on the features and drivers needed for a touch panel, follow the steps in the linked documents below to complete the installation.

Installing Support for NI-VISA (PDA Module, Touch Panel Module)

Installing Support for Shared Variables (Windows CE, Touch Panel Module)
Note: Installing shared variable support is only required on the TPC-2006, the other targets have preinstalled support.

NI-DAQmx Base 3.x Getting Started Guide

 

Customizing the Touch Panel Environment

As touch panels are often used for limited access human machine interfaces, it is important once the basic application has been developed to customize the environment’s appearance for the needs of the end user. The methods to customize the National Instruments touch panels depend on the operating system that they are running.

For Windows CE NI touch panel targets (TPC-2006, TPC-2106 and TPC-2012) there are two LabVIEW APIs available on NI Developer Zone for modifying both the application window as well as the registry settings on the touch panel device. These APIs can be used as part of a LabVIEW touch panel application to customize the interface of the touch panel and the application. The VIs included in A Reference Design Library for Touch Panel Window Manipulation allow the user to programmatically control what is visible on the touch panel screen such as the taskbar and cursor. In addition, they it provide VIs with which the application’s window itself can be manipulated. The second API, the Touch Panel Registry Access Reference Library, gives the user programmatic access to the Windows registry to read, create, modify and delete registry keys. Both of these programming interfaces allows for a customized deployment of a touch panel application.

A Windows XP Embedded touch panel can be customized for the application through a similar process as Windows XP. These customizations include what application is started when the operating system boots up as well as disabling access to standard features such as task manager by editing registry keys. More detailed information on this customization process is included in the Reference Design for Restricting User Access to Windows while running a LabVIEW Application.

 

Initial Deployment of a LabVIEW Touch Panel Application

After the application has been created on the development machine, it needs to be deployed to the touch panel device itself. This step-by-step process for both the Windows CE and Windows XP Embedded targets is outlined in the Deploying and Replicating Systems chapter of the CompactRIO Developers Guide.

Related Links

Which Target Do I Select for NI TPC-2006, NI TPC-2012, NI TPC-2106/TPC-2106T, NI TPC-2512, and Third-Party TPCs?

 

Replication of a Touch Panel Application

After the initial application has been deployed to a touch panel target, it is often necessary to duplicate the application and target configuration to multiple other touch panels as part of building a larger system or building additional systems/machines. The replication process will vary with the different hardware and operating systems used in the different NI touch panel models. The main difference in hardware in the 6” and 12” touch panels is the fact that the latter of the two has a removal flash hard drive which can be easily imaged while the smaller touch panel targets only have built in flash memory. As a result the replication steps for these two platforms vary from one another. In both cases the general process of replication is to copy the application image from a gold master target to other targets of the same type. The application image is the contents of the non-volatile memory (hard drive) of the system which control the operation of the target hardware when it is booted.

6” Touch Panel Replication

The 6” family of NI touch panels do not have a removable hard disk; therefore, National Instruments has developed a replication process and utility for imaging the internal drives of these targets. This utility consists of an export and import executable that enables the user to transfer the files from one touch panel to another using a USB disk drive. This utility can be used to replicate an application from a touch panel target to other targets of the same type. The export function identifies and copies all of the files and registry keys except for the /WINDOWS/ folder from the gold master target to the USB drive. This master image application files can be used with the import function to replicate the application on other touch panel targets.

Please see the Touch Panel Replication Reference Example for 6" Touch Panels for the step-by-step instructions as well as the API required to complete this process. Also as noted in the NI Developer Zone document the Touch Panel Registry Access Reference Library is required to be installed for the replication API to work properly.

12” Touch Panel Replication

For the 12” touch panels, the TPC-2012 and the TPC-2512, the replication process is the same due to their removable flash memory. To replicate a gold master target application image to another identical target, you need to copy the contents of the target compact flash memory card to another card using a standard compact flash card reader. Using the reader, the contents can be copied on to a computer and then copied to the compact flash card of another touch panel target. As with the 6” touch panels, application replication can only be performed between touch panels of the same type. In addition, the compact flash cards used in the replication process must be from a National Instruments supplied touch panel. A generic compact flash card is not configured to be a bootable drive and therefore will not function as a startup drive in a touch panel.

 

Non-NI Touch Panels

The deployment procedures discussed previously for NI touch panels are not guaranteed to work for third party touch panels. If the use of a third-party touch panel is desired it must met certain requirements in order for the LabVIEW touch panel module to properly work with it. 

The LabVIEW Touch Panel module only officially supports the two operating systems and two processors that the NI touch panel devices are based on. The operating systems supported are Windows CE 4.2/5.0 and Windows XP Embedded, while the supported processors include the StrongARM, XScale, and x86.

Another consideration when using a third-party touch panel is that a LabVIEW Touch Panel Deployment License must be purchased for each deployment of an application developed with the LabVIEW Touch Panel module.

In addition, specific Microsoft tools must be installed on the touch panel target in order for the LabVIEW Touch Panel application to function as expected. The following Microsoft eMbedded Visual Tools need to be installed:

• • Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0
  • Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ SP 4 or later
  • SDK for Windows Mobile 2003-based Pocket PCs

Reference the Where Can I Find the Microsoft Tools I Need for the LabVIEW Touch Panel Module? knowledge base article to find links to the current Microsoft download sites.

 

Conclusion

The LabVIEW programming environment provides for seamless development and integration on different application targets including desktop PCs, real-time controllers and touch panel computers. As National Instruments touch panels are based on multiple hardware and software platforms to meet different users’ needs, there are different deployment and replication considerations for these devices. The unique platform both in size and in functionality of different touch panel targets should be considered early on in the development process of an application.

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