Extending Compatibility Between LabVIEW and NI Drivers with Addon Support
Overview
Starting with LabVIEW 2022Q3 release, select NI drivers and toolkits will become version-independent from LabVIEW release. This will allow users to upgrade their LabVIEW version without having to also update their NI addons. This document outlines the change made and which NI drivers and toolkits are affected with this change.
Contents
- Introducing Extended LabVIEW and Driver Compatibility
- Driver and Toolkit Addon Support
- Drivers/Add-Ons Maintaining Traditional Compatibility
Introducing Extended LabVIEW and Driver Compatibility
Prior to the release of LabVIEW 2022 Q3, new driver versions were required with every major release of LabVIEW. If a user wanted to upgrade their LabVIEW version while continuing to update their application, they were also required to upgrade their drivers.
Starting in 2022 Q3, NI released select drivers and toolkits that function with a minimum LabVIEW version (e.g. LabVIEW 2022Q3) and all future versions of LabVIEW. This allows newer versions of LabVIEW (e.g. LabVIEW 2023Qx), to be installed without upgrading to new versions of these drivers.
This new form of support for drivers and toolkits is referred to as a LabVIEW Addon. A LabVIEW Addon differs from previous support in two ways:
- The VIs are installed as source-only (meaning they are not compiled for a specific version of LabVIEW)
- The support is installed to a version-independent LabVIEW directory, the LVAddons directory.
Upgrade Process Prior to LabVIEW 2022 Q3 Release | Upgrade Process for Select Drivers from 2022 Q3 Release Onward |
|---|---|
Note: Not all drivers and toolkits will be available with this extended compatibility immediately with the LabVIEW 2022 Q3 release. See the following section for a list of drivers and the associated LabVIEW version which include Addon support.
Driver and Toolkit Addon Support
See the table below for compatibility information. The driver version shown in the table is the first driver version to include Addon support for the indicated LabVIEW version. LabVIEW compatibility information can also be found in individual driver and toolkit readmes.
There are no current plans to make LabVIEW Real Time, LabVIEW FPGA, and LabVIEW Data Supervisory Control Module independent of LabVIEW versions.
* The FPGA components of NI-Digital Pattern Driver 2022 Q4 did not receive Addon support. This support was added in NI-Digital Pattern Driver 2023 Q1. Using NI-Digital Pattern Driver 2022 Q4, customers with LabVIEW 2023+ will not be able to compile bitfiles for NI-Digital instruments. Customers using NI-Digital Pattern Driver 2022 Q4 without LabVIEW FPGA Module 2023+ installed will not be able to deploy bitfiles in LabVIEW 2023+.
Drivers/Add-Ons Maintaining Traditional Compatibility
Not all NI drivers will be updated to include Addon support. These drivers will continue with the traditional driver compatibility requirements outlines above.
Examples of drivers that do not have planned support for Addons include:
- NI-Motion
- LabVIEW SoftMotion Module
- LabVIEW Model Interface Toolkit
- VirtualBench
- NI-WSN
- NI-PXImc
| LabVIEW Module or Toolkit | LabVIEW Support for LabVIEW Addons |
|---|
| FlexRIO | 2023 Q1 and later |
| Industrial Controller Device Drivers | 2023 Q1 and later |
| IVI Compliance Package | 2022 Q3 and later |
| LabVIEW Advanced Signal Processing Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW Automotive Diagnostic Command Set Toolkit | 2022 Q4 and later |
| LabVIEW DataFinder Connectivity VIs | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW Database Connectivity Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW Digital Filter Design Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW ECU Measurement and Calibration Toolkit | 2022 Q4 and later |
| LabVIEW Electrical Power Toolkit | 2023 Q3 and later |
| LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for High-Speed Serial Instruments | 2023 Q3 and later |
| LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for IF Digitizers | 2023 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for Reconfigurable Oscilloscopes | 2023 Q2 and later |
| LabVIEW Modulation Toolkit | 2023 Q3 and later |
| LabVIEW OPC UA Toolkit | 2022 Q4 and later |
| LabVIEW Report Generation Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW Sound and Vibration Toolkit | 2023 Q3 and later |
| LabVIEW Unit Test Framework Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| LabVIEW VI Analyzer Toolkit | 2024 Q1 and later |
| NI CompactRIO | 2023 Q1 and later |
| NI R Series Multifunction RIO | 2023 Q1 and later |
| NI-568x Driver Software | 2023 Q1 and later |
| NI-5690 Driver Software | 2023 Q2 and later |
| NI-845x Driver Software | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-DAQmx | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-DCPower | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-Digital Pattern Driver* | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-DMM | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-Embedded CAN for sbRIO | 2023 Q2 and later |
| NI-FGEN | 21.8 and later |
| NI-HSDIO | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-Industrial Communications for CANOpen | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-Industrial Communications for DeviceNet | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT | 2023 Q1 and later |
| NI-Industrial Communications for Ethernet/IP | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-RDMA | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-RFSA | 2023 Q1 and later |
| NI-RFSG | 2023 Q1 and later |
| NI-SCOPE | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-SLSC | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-SWITCH | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-Sync | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-USRP | 2023 Q3 and later |
| NI-VISA (excluding macOS) | 2022 Q3 and later |
| NI-VISA for macOS | 2022 Q4 and later |
| NI-VRTS | 2023 Q2 and later |
| NI-XNET | 2023 Q1 and later |
| PXI Platform Services | 2022 Q3 and later |
| PXIe-7899 API and Design Files | 2023 Q2 and later |
| RFmx | 2024 Q1 and later |
| RMX-400x Electronic Load Driver | 2022 Q4 and later |
| RMX-410x Power Supply Driver | 2022 Q3 and later |
| RMX-412x Power Supply Driver | 2022 Q4 and later |
| Switch Executive | 2023 Q1 and later |
| System Configuration | 2022 Q3 and later |
| Vision Acquisition Software | 2023 Q1 and later |
| Vision Builder for Automated Inspection | 2023 Q3 and later |
| Vision Development Module | 2024 Q1 and later |
| Driver/Toolkit | LabVIEW 2022 Q3 Addon Support | LabVIEW 2023 Q1 Addon Support | LabVIEW 2024 Q1 Addon Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive Diagnostic Command Set Toolkit | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| ECU Measurement and Calibration Toolkit | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| FlexRIO | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| Industrial Controller Device Drivers | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| IVI Compliance Package | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| LabVIEW Electrical Power Toolkit | Not available | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 |
| LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for High-Speed Serial Instruments | Not available | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 |
| LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for IF Digitizers | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for Reconfigurable Oscilloscopes | Not available | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q2 |
| LabVIEW Modulation Toolkit | Not available | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 |
| LabVIEW OPC UA Toolkit | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| LabVIEW Sound and Vibration Toolkit | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 |
| NI CompactRIO | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| NI R Series Multifunction RIO | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| NI-568x Driver Software | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| NI-5690 Driver Software | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q2 |
| NI-845x Driver Software | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-DAQmx | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-DCPower | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-Digital Pattern Driver* | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-DMM | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-Embedded CAN for sbRIO | Not available | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q2 |
| NI-FGEN | 21.8 | 21.8 | 21.8 |
| NI-HSDIO | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-Industrial Communications for CANOpen | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-Industrial Communications for DeviceNet | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| NI-Industrial Communications for Ethernet/IP | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-RDMA | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-RFSA | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| NI-RFSG | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| NI-SCOPE | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-SLSC | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-SWITCH | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-Sync | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-USRP | Not available | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 |
| NI-VISA (excluding macOS) | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| NI-VISA for macOS | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| NI-VRTS | Not available | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q2 |
| NI-XNET | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| PXI Platform Services | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| PXIe-7899 API and Design Files | Not available | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q2 |
| RFmx | Not available | Not available | 2024 Q1 |
| RMX-400x Electronic Load Driver | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| RMX-410x Power Supply Driver | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| RMX-412x Power Supply Driver | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 | 2022 Q4 |
| Switch Executive | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| System Configuration | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q3 |
| Vision Acquisition Software | Not available | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q1 |
| Vision Builder for Automated Inspection | Not available | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q3 |
| Vision Development Module | Not available | Not available | 2024 Q1 |