Creating a VI Server Application
- Updated2026-02-27
- 2 minute(s) read
Use the LabVIEW VI Server to programmatically control front panel objects, VIs, and LabVIEW, and to dynamically load, edit, and run VIs on a computer or remotely across a network. You can control browser access to the VIs and configure which VIs remote applications can control.
Complete the following steps to create a VI Server application.
- Configure the VI Server to allow the TCP/IP protocol.
- Use the Open Application Reference function to open a reference to a local or remote application instance.
Note If you have multiple
application instances
open simultaneously, such as if you are working with a
LabVIEW project
or targets of a LabVIEW project, multiple VI Servers can be listening on different ports. Open an application reference to a specific application instance by stating the machine name and the port or
service name.
- Use the Open VI Reference function to open a reference to a VI on the local or remote computer that already exists in memory for the application instance, or to dynamically load a VI from disk. However, be aware that if the input to vi path is a file path, this function waits until the user interface is idle to load the VI from disk.
- Use the
Property Node
to get or set properties or the
Invoke Node
to invoke methods.
- Property Node
- Invoke Node
- Use the Close Reference function to close any open references.
Refer to labview\examples\viserver for examples of using the VI Server.
Find related examples
Related Information
- Controlling Front Panel Objects Programmatically from a SubVI
- Allowing and Denying Web Browser Access
- Specifying Which VIs You Can Control Remotely
- Configuring the VI Server
- Working with Application Instances
- Managing a Project in LabVIEW
- Dynamically Loading and Dynamically Calling VIs
You can dynamically load VIs instead of using statically linked subVI calls.