The following scenario illustrates how the Simulator could be used to investigate an issue with a plug-in under development.
  1. After loading and configuring the DMM plug-in, the plug-in channel does not produce any data. The Error and Warning pane in FlexLogger, displays an error message that references a problem in the Configure Session VI.
  2. To investigate further, open the LabVIEW project for the DMM plug-in %ProgramFiles%\National Instruments\LabVIEW <version>\examples\FlexLogger\IO Plugins\IVI Meter – DC Voltage\IVI Meter – DC Voltage.lvproj.
  3. Open and run Plug-in Environment Simulator VI and then select the LabVIEW class of the DMM plug-in (IVI Meter – DC Voltage.lvclass).
  4. After updating the plug-in parameter that defines the IVI Logical Name to test channel, the simulator stops running and the Runtime Information error terminal displays and error:

  5. To investigate further, navigate to the plug-in LabVIEW project and open Configure Session VI.
  6. With Configure Session VI open, add a breakpoint to see what part of the logic is generating the error:
  7. With the breakpoint in place, run the simulator again and load the DMM plug-in. That action will hit the newly placed breakpoint. Using LabVIEW’s debugging tools, step through the block diagram to see exactly which VI is having problems:
  8. After this debugging session, you will see that the plug-in has been using the wrong IVI Logical Name parameter, resulting in an error from the IVI driver VIs. The plug-in runs as expected when using the correct name.