LabVIEW 2017 C Generator Known Issues

Overview

This document contains the known issues that were discovered before and since the release of LabVIEW 2017 C Generator. Not every issue known to NI will appear on this list; it is intended to only show the severe and more common issues that can be encountered.

Contacting NI

You can contact us by phone, email, or the discussion forums. Visit the NI Website to contact us. If you are contacting NI in regards to a specific issue, be sure to reference the ID number given in this document.

Known Issues by Category

The following items are known issues in LabVIEW 2017 C Generator sorted by Category.

Building and Distributing LabVIEW Applications
214201LabVIEW datatype definitions can conflict with those in external C code
228110LabVIEW generated Makefile compiles all object (.obj) files when creating a DLL
231443LabVIEW does not check Entry/Exit action VIs for syntax when using the Statechart Module
231779Control References and Property Nodes do not report a warning when used in an exported VI
242492"clean" rule in generated Makefile does not clean all old object (.obj) files
Compatibility
231444C Code Generation might fail is unsupported VIs are added to Entry and Exit actions in a Statechart
External Code
214201LabVIEW datatype definitions can conflict with those in external C code
Functions, VIs, and Express VIs
231444C Code Generation might fail is unsupported VIs are added to Entry and Exit actions in a Statechart
231443LabVIEW does not check Entry/Exit action VIs for syntax when using the Statechart Module
231779Control References and Property Nodes do not report a warning when used in an exported VI



IDKnown Issue
Building and Distributing LabVIEW Applications
214201

Return
LabVIEW datatype definitions can conflict with those in external C code
LabVIEW defines certain basic datatypes in the generated C code, viz. Boolean, float32, float64. When integrating the LabVIEW generated C code in a larger C application/code base, you should take precautions to avoid datatype definition conflicts. For eg, if the external code base also defines a 32-bit float as "float32", you will get a compiler error.

Workaround: There are multiple ways of avoiding type name conflicts: 1. You can use LabVIEW generated datatypes in your top-level C application. These types are defined in LVDefs_plat.h. This file can be found in labview\CCodeGen\inlcude\os, under the directory for your specific operating system. 2. You can redefine your datatypes with names that are different from those used in the LabVIEW generated C code.

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/27/2010
228110

Return
LabVIEW generated Makefile compiles all object (.obj) files when creating a DLL
The LabVIEW generated Makefile compiles all object files present in the obj directory. If this directory contains object files for VIs that have been removed from your VI hierarchy, they might cause a linker error.

Workaround: You can manually delete the obj directory to ensure that all old object files are deleted. Running the make command after this will regenerate the obj directory and all necessary object files.

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/28/2010
231443

Return
LabVIEW does not check Entry/Exit action VIs for syntax when using the Statechart Module
Statechart module lets you configure Entry and Exit actions for each state. LabVIEW does not check the VIs used in these actions for syntax. If you use unsupported VIs in the Entry/Exit actions, C generation might fail.

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/28/2010
231779

Return
Control References and Property Nodes do not report a warning when used in an exported VI
When a top level VI is configured for export by adding it to a C Generator Build Specification, LabVIEW performs syntax checking on it to warn the user if unsupported VIs are used on the Block Diagram. However, Control References and Property Nodes do not report a warning. While the C generation step may succeed, using the generated code in an application will cause compilation errors.

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/28/2010
242492

Return
"clean" rule in generated Makefile does not clean all old object (.obj) files
You can use the "make clean" on the command line to delete existing object (.obj) files before a new build. However, the clean rule in the LabVIEW generated Makefile only deletes object files created in the last build. If there are older files remaining from one of the previous builds, they will stay in the obj directory. These old object files might cause a linker error.

Workaround: You can manually delete the obj directory to ensure that all old object files are deleted. Running the make command after this will regenerate the obj directory and all necessary object files. Alternatively, you can modify the clean rule in the Makefile to do this for you. Replace clean: dummy @del /f/s/q $(OBJS) @del /f/s/q $(LIBSRCOBJS) with clean: dummy @del /f/s/q $(OBJDIR)\*.obj @del /f/s/q $(LIBSRCOBJS)

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/28/2010
Compatibility
231444

Return
C Code Generation might fail is unsupported VIs are added to Entry and Exit actions in a Statechart
The Statechart Module lets you configure Entry and Exit actions for every state by adding LabVIEW VIs in an editor. LabVIEW does not warn you if unsupported functions are added to the editor. C Code generation might fail is such functions/VIs are present. For a list of all functions and VIs not supported by the LabVIEW C Generator, refer to Unsupported VIs and Functions (C Generator) in the LabVIEW Help

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 06/02/2010
External Code
214201

Return
LabVIEW datatype definitions can conflict with those in external C code
LabVIEW defines certain basic datatypes in the generated C code, viz. Boolean, float32, float64. When integrating the LabVIEW generated C code in a larger C application/code base, you should take precautions to avoid datatype definition conflicts. For eg, if the external code base also defines a 32-bit float as "float32", you will get a compiler error.

Workaround: There are multiple ways of avoiding type name conflicts: 1. You can use LabVIEW generated datatypes in your top-level C application. These types are defined in LVDefs_plat.h. This file can be found in labview\CCodeGen\inlcude\os, under the directory for your specific operating system. 2. You can redefine your datatypes with names that are different from those used in the LabVIEW generated C code.

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/27/2010
Functions, VIs, and Express VIs
231444

Return
C Code Generation might fail is unsupported VIs are added to Entry and Exit actions in a Statechart
The Statechart Module lets you configure Entry and Exit actions for every state by adding LabVIEW VIs in an editor. LabVIEW does not warn you if unsupported functions are added to the editor. C Code generation might fail is such functions/VIs are present. For a list of all functions and VIs not supported by the LabVIEW C Generator, refer to Unsupported VIs and Functions (C Generator) in the LabVIEW Help

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 06/02/2010
231443

Return
LabVIEW does not check Entry/Exit action VIs for syntax when using the Statechart Module
Statechart module lets you configure Entry and Exit actions for each state. LabVIEW does not check the VIs used in these actions for syntax. If you use unsupported VIs in the Entry/Exit actions, C generation might fail.

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/28/2010
231779

Return
Control References and Property Nodes do not report a warning when used in an exported VI
When a top level VI is configured for export by adding it to a C Generator Build Specification, LabVIEW performs syntax checking on it to warn the user if unsupported VIs are used on the Block Diagram. However, Control References and Property Nodes do not report a warning. While the C generation step may succeed, using the generated code in an application will cause compilation errors.

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 2010  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/28/2010

Document last updated on 5/19/2017

Glossary of Terms

 

  • Bug ID - When an issue is reported to NI, you may be given this ID or find it on ni.com.  You may also find IDs posted by NI on the discussion forums or in KnowledgeBase articles.
  • Legacy ID – An older issue ID that refers to the same issue.  You may instead find this issue ID in older known issues documents.
  • Description - A few sentences which describe the problem. The brief description given does not necessarily describe the problem in full detail.
  • Workaround - Possible ways to work around the problem.
  • Reported Version - The earliest version in which the issue was reported.
  • Resolved Version - Version in which the issue was resolved or was no longer applicable. "N/A" indicates that the issue has not been resolved.
  • Date Added - The date the issue was added to the document (not the reported date).