LabVIEW Project Items

The LabVIEW Project Explorer window includes the following items:

• Project root—Contains all other items in the Project Explorer window.
• Real-Time target—A supported real-time controller can contain the following EtherCAT items:
  • EtherCAT master—One real-time controller usually has one master using the special Ethernet adapter for the EtherCAT network.
  • EtherCAT slave device—An EtherCAT slave device from NI or a third-party vendor.
  • EtherCAT module—A flexible EtherCAT slave device can have several modules.
  • I/O Variable—The physical channels of the slave device and module are mapped to the I/O variables. A slave device or module can have several I/O variables.
  • FPGA Target—You need an FPGA target to program the FPGA of the NI 9145. Drag and drop the modules between the NI 9145 item and the FPGA target item to switch between Scan Mode and FPGA Mode.
  • User-Defined Variable—User-defined variables transfer custom FPGA-processed data between an FPGA VI and an RT VI.

Note   All items except Project root do not exist in the default empty project. You must add the following items to the project.

• A real-Time controller
• An EtherCAT master device
• EtherCAT slave devices
• An EtherCAT module