Use the Project Explorer window to manage the components of an FPGA application, including the FPGA VI and host VI, the FPGA target, and target-specific options, such as FPGA I/O, FPGA FIFOs, and FPGA target clocks. The illustration below shows the Project Explorer window with an FPGA target, an FPGA base clock and derived clock, an FPGA VI, an FPGA I/O item, a FIFO, and a host VI.

You must create projects for FPGA VIs and host VIs. You can create a project using the FPGA Project wizard. You also can create a project by clicking the Empty Project link in the Getting Started window or by selecting File»New in LabVIEW and Project»Empty Project in the New dialog box. You now can add FPGA targets, FPGA target clocks, FPGA I/O, and FPGA FIFOs to the project. You can select an FPGA target you previously configured in the NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) or you can add a new FPGA target. You can add, configure, and manage VIs, folders, and FPGA project items below FPGA targets in the Project Explorer window.

To add items to an FPGA target, right-click the target in the Project Explorer window and select New»x from the shortcut menu, where x is the type of item you want to add, such as a VI, FPGA I/O item, or FIFO. The item appears in the Project Explorer window under the FPGA target.

Using Target-Specific Functionality

You create FPGA VIs in the same way you create VIs that run on Windows. However, programming an FPGA effectively requires some knowledge of the target capabilities and basic FPGA hardware concepts.

Each item below an FPGA target in the Project Explorer window contains FPGA target-specific information and functionality. When you select an item below an FPGA target in the Project Explorer window, LabVIEW displays only the options that the FPGA target supports. For example, if you select an FPGA VI below an FPGA target in the Project Explorer window and view the block diagram, LabVIEW displays only the subpalettes, VIs, and functions on the Functions palette that the FPGA target supports.

Note If the FPGA target has an exclamation icon in the Project Explorer window, the target support is not installed on the computer. You can view and copy items in the project, but you cannot compile or run the project until you install the target support. Refer to the specific hardware documentation for information about the appropriate drivers and for information about installing and configuring the FPGA target.

Managing Multiple FPGA Targets

You can reuse items among different FPGA targets in a Project Explorer window. However, the new FPGA target might not support the same functionality as the previous FPGA target, so you must update the item properties to match the functionality and resources of the new FPGA target. For example, if you copy an FPGA I/O item between two different FPGA targets, you must verify the FPGA target to which you copied the FPGA I/O item supports the same I/O resource to which the FPGA I/O item was assigned in the first FPGA target.