LabWindows/CVI for Windows 2019 Readme
May 2019
This file contains important information about LabWindows™/CVI™, including installation instructions, programming considerations, new features, a partial list of bugs fixed for LabWindows/CVI 2019, and known issues.
Caution Installing LabWindows/CVI 2019 replaces any previous version of the LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime with the LabWindows/CVI 2019 Shared Runtime. To restore the previous runtime, uninstall LabWindows/CVI 2019 and any previous versions of LabWindows/CVI on the computer. Then reinstall the LabWindows/CVI version you want to use.
If you have a beta version of LabWindows/CVI, you must uninstall the beta version before you install a non-beta version of LabWindows/CVI.
Contents
System Requirements
Installation Instructions
New Features
After Installation
Product Security and Critical Updates
Behavior Changes in LabWindows/CVI
Known Issues
Bug Fixes
Accessing the Help
Finding Examples
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1
LabWindows/CVI Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021
Legal Information
System Requirements
LabWindows/CVI 2019 has the following requirements:
- Personal computer using a Pentium 4/M or equivalent microprocessor
- Microsoft operating systems:
- Windows 10/8.11/7 SP12
- Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP12
- Windows Server 2012 R21
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP12
- 1024 × 768 resolution (or higher) video adapter
- Minimum of 1 GB of RAM, 2 GB recommended
- 7 GB free hard disk space for full installation, which includes the Windows SDK 8.1 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2; additional space needed for National Instruments drivers
- Microsoft-compatible mouse
Note National Instruments recommends that you install Microsoft Hotfix 2588507 for 64-bit Windows operating systems. Refer to the National Instruments support article, Why Does National Instruments Software List Microsoft Hotfix 2588507 as a System Requirement?, located on the National Instruments website, for more information about this issue.
1 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.
2 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 for more information about how to install this security update.
Installation Instructions
National Instruments recommends that you install the complete LabWindows/CVI program to take full advantage of all LabWindows/CVI 2019 functionality. If you choose to install with options, select the options you want and follow the on-screen directions. If necessary, you can use NI Package Manager to install or remove additional files.
LabWindows/CVI and Drivers includes LabWindows/CVI and the following modules and toolkits, in addition to driver support for LabWindows/CVI.
Modules
- LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module
- NI Vision Development Module
Toolkits
- LabWindows/CVI Database Connectivity (SQL) Toolkit
- LabWindows/CVI PID Control Toolkit
- LabWindows/CVI Execution Profiler Toolkit
Depending on the package of LabWindows/CVI you purchase, you can activate various toolkits:
- Activating the LabWindows/CVI Base Package also activates the LabWindows/CVI PID Control Toolkit and the Execution Profiler Toolkit
- Activating the LabWindows/CVI Full Development System also activates the LabWindows/CVI Database Connectivity (SQL) Toolkit
If you want to evaluate other modules or toolkits before purchasing them, you can install these add-ons and try them for 45 days. After an initial 7 day period, you can register on ni.com for access to the remainder of the evaluation period.
Installation Considerations
- The LabWindows/CVI installation includes the LabWindows/CVI 2019 Shared Runtime. This version replaces any previous version of the LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime. After you install LabWindows/CVI 2019, executables and DLLs created with previous versions of LabWindows/CVI automatically use the new LabWindows/CVI 2019 Shared Runtime.
To restore the previous shared runtime, uninstall LabWindows/CVI 2019 and any previous versions of LabWindows/CVI on the computer. Then reinstall the LabWindows/CVI version you want to use. - If you install LabWindows/CVI onto a network drive, you might encounter an error during installation that prevents files that the IVI Instrument Driver Wizard requires from being installed. This issue does not affect other functionality in LabWindows/CVI.
- If you have installed Microsoft Security Update 896358, you might not be able to view topics within the LabWindows/CVI Help if the file is on a network drive. To solve this issue, copy the .chm files that LabWindows/CVI installs to your local hard drive and launch them as normal.
- IVI Tools for LabWindows/CVI can be installed only if the IVI Compliance Package product is selected or if the IVI Compliance Package is already installed.
- If your software is part of a Volume License Agreement (VLA), contact your VLA administrator for installation instructions.
Running the Installation
Note You must have administrator privileges to install LabWindows/CVI.
NI automates software installation using Package Manager. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code NIPMDownload to download NI Package Manager. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.
Note You must install Windows SDK 8.1 components, available with the LabWindows/CVI installer. If you do not install these components, LabWindows/CVI will not function properly.
Install hardware after you finish installing LabWindows/CVI. Refer to your device documentation, such as printed manuals or PDFs, for information about installing your NI hardware.
If you install software using LabWindows/CVI media, insert the media and follow the on-screen instructions to install LabWindows/CVI, modules, toolkits, and drivers. When prompted, log in to your NI User Account to activate your NI products. If you are managing your license with a volume license server, you should receive your volume license file by email.
New Features
- The LabWindows/CVI Source window includes the following improvements:
- Enhanced code snippets
- Zooming
- Show completions improvements (as-you-type completions, filtering buttons)
- Ability to edit multiple lines at the same time
- Collapsed region improvements (preview tooltip, highlighting)
- Show white spaces
- Remove trailing whitespaces
- Word wrap
- Build diagnostics indicator
- Indentation guidelines
- Line modification marks
- Current line highlighting
- New editor shortcuts (such as move selected lines up/down, duplicate line)
- Create installers compatible with Package Manager.
- The following TDMS Library functions and attributes are new:
- TDMS_CreateInMemoryFile
- TDMS_OpenInMemoryFileFromData
- TDMS_OpenInMemoryFileFromDisk
- TDMS_SaveInMemoryFileToDisk
- TDMS_GetInMemoryFileSize
- TDMS_ReadInMemoryFileBytes
- NI_InMemoryWriteBlockSize
- Configure compiler warnings as errors.
- The LabWindows/CVI Execution Profiler Toolkit is now part of the LabWindows/CVI Base Package.
After Installation
- Using Example Programs—You can find example programs in the following location: Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\CVI2019\samples.
- Working with Project and File Templates—Save user-defined project and file templates in the LabWindows/CVI public documents directory (Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\CVI. LabWindows/CVI 8.5 and later does not search previous locations, Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\CVI and Documents and Settings\<User ID>\Application Data\CVI, for project and file templates.
- Making Backup .uir Files—Make backup copies of your .uir files if you have been using previous versions of LabWindows/CVI. Once you save .uir files in LabWindows/CVI 2019, the .uir files are no longer compatible with versions 8.1.1 or earlier. You cannot load .uir files that you have saved in LabWindows/CVI 2019 in LabWindows/CVI 8.1.1 or earlier.
You can save .uir files you create or load in LabWindows/CVI 2019 in earlier formats. Select File»Save .uir As and specify the format in the Save as type option. If you save a user interface with features that were added in later versions of LabWindows/CVI, those features are removed when you save the file in earlier formats.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.
Behavior Changes in LabWindows/CVI
Refer to the following sections for behavior changes specific to different versions of LabWindows/CVI. Refer to the LabWindows/CVI Release Information web page on ni.com for an up-to-date list of behavior changes in LabWindows/CVI.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2019
- When you build a Windows installer in LabWindows/CVI, the default name of the executable is changed from setup.exe to install.exe. This behavior change may have potential impact to post-build processes that rely on the setup.exe name. To specify a different name for the executable, use the Installer Executable Name option on the Advanced tab of the Edit Installer dialog box.
- LabWindows/CVI no longer ships executables with sample projects. You must build the project to create an executable.
- iconedit.exe - Icon Editor - Previous LabWindows/CVI releases included it in two locations: LabWindows/CVI Samples and LabWindows/CVI installation folder. Now it will be found only in LabWindows/CVI installation folder: <Program Files>\National Instruments\CVI2019\bin\iconedit.exe
- build.exe - Command line build tool - You will need to build it before using it.
- SelectColor.dll
- cviLibCust.dll
- The following files are removed:
- NIReports
- Merge modules installed in the system merge module directory C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules
- 8.1 Network Variable library support from the system Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
- LabWindows/CVI sample application GetInfoByZip
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2017
- The following components and features were deprecated in LabWindows/CVI 2017:
- NIReports
- Merge Modules installed by LabWindows/CVI in system's merge module directory (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules).
- Support for LabWindows/CVI Library with .NET 1.1 and 2.0
- LabWindows/CVI versions of the Clang 2.6 and 2.9 compilers shipped with LabWindows/CVI
Note Deprecated components can still be used, but they are less visible than fully supported components and are likely to be removed in a future version of LabWindows/CVI. National Instruments recommends that you do not use deprecated components in new applications and that you update existing applications to remove dependencies on deprecated components.
- The following components were removed in LabWindows/CVI 2017:
- LabWindows/CVI 2017 removes the Make .obj build option compatible with LabWindows/CVI 5.0.1.
- LabWindows/CVI 2017 deprecates the ni7seg.ttf and nisystem.ttf fonts. These fonts will be removed in the next release.
- After installing an NI product that upgrades the LabWindows/CVI Runtime Engine to 2017, distributions created in LabWindows/CVI 2015 or earlier can no longer target Windows XP.
- After installing an NI product that upgrades the LabWindows/CVI Runtime Engine to 2017, distributions created in LabWindows/CVI 2012 that do not have all components of the LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime Engine selected in the Drivers and Components tab page will require users to manually install Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Runtime on the target computer.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2015 SP1
- LabWindows/CVI 2015 and later displays warnings that are part of the Compiler Warnings dialog box. Pragma messages are displayed as notes.
- Minimum and maximum OS value ranges can overlap in the Edit Installer»Advanced range selections.
- The WINVER Windows SDK macro is defined to the value corresponding to Windows 7.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2015
- The LabWindows/CVI installation includes the complete Windows 8.1 SDK.
- The Instrument I/O Assistant is no longer accessible by default through the LabWindows/CVI environment. The Tools»Create Instrument I/O Task is no longer available.
- The DIAdem Connectivity Library is no longer available by default. To use this library, select Library»Customize and enable the DIAdem Connectivity option. NI recommends that you use the TDM Streaming Library for new projects.
- The NI-USI component, which is necessary for applications that use the DIAdem Connectivity Library, is no longer included in the LabWindows/CVI Runtime. To deploy applications that use DIAdem Connectivity Library functions, create an installer and select the NI USI item in the Drivers & Components tab of the Edit Installer dialog box.
- The Variables and Call Stack window lists static local variables before local variables. In previous versions of LabWindows/CVI, local variables appeared before static local variables.
- You cannot use LabWindows/CVI 2013 to debug DLLs you create with LabWindows/CVI 2015.
- Files installed with the Windows SDK are in different locations than in previous versions of LabWindows/CVI:
| Files | Previous Location | Current Location |
|---|
| Import libraries | <cvidir>\sdk\lib | <Program Files>\Windows Kits\8.1\Lib\winv6.3\um\x86 (or \x64) |
| Include files | <cvidir>\sdk\include | <Program Files>National Instruments\Shared\MSDTRedistributables\SDKHeaderFiles\8.1 |
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2013 SP2
- Activating the LabWindows/CVI Base Package also activates the LabWindows/CVI PID Control Toolkit.
- Activating the LabWindows/CVI Full Development System also activates the LabWindows/CVI PID Control Toolkit, LabWindows/CVI Database Connectivity (SQL) Toolkit, and LabWindows/CVI Execution Profiler Toolkit.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2013 SP1
- You can specify a .c file as the module to load to the LoadExternalModule and LoadExternalModuleEx functions.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2013
- The following product components no longer appear in the tree on the Driver and Components tab of the Edit Installer dialog box:
- Standard Runtime
- Instrument Driver Runtime
- Real-Time Runtime
If you select NI LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime Engine from the tree, LabWindows/CVI includes these components automatically. - The minimum installer size when including the runtime engine increased by approximately 41MB compared to previous versions of LabWindows/CVI. To decrease the size of your distribution, you can include LabWindows/CVI merge modules. For more information, refer to KB 6AHC1EQW.
- The Install LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime Engine in the application directory option on the Advanced tab of the Edit Installer dialog box is deprecated. If you need to install and preserve a specific version of the LabWindows/CVI Runtime Engine, consider installing the LabWindows/CVI Side-by-Side Runtime Engine. Refer to the Binding Executables and DLLs to Side-by-Side Runtime Engines topic in the LabWindows/CVI Help for more information about the Side-by-Side Runtime Engine.
- The Project Tree no longer displays the Status column.
- If you enable the Build with C99 extensions option, the Require function prototypes option is always implicitly enabled.
- The results of several mathematical operations performed using floating-point numbers might differ from results returned in previous versions of LabWindows/CVI. The differences are small and within acceptable error ranges for the data types.
- Function calls are no longer allowed in watch expressions or in the condition of a breakpoint.
- You must rebuild any EXEs and DLLs built in LabWindows/CVI 2012 or earlier in LabWindows/CVI 2013 before you can debug them.
- You cannot debug EXEs and DLLs built in LabWindows/CVI 2013 in LabWindows/CVI 2012 or earlier.
- Displaying extended data in the Variables and Call Stack window is available only when a program stops gracefully, for example, as a result of a breakpoint or when stepping through code. Extended data is unavailable in the following instances:
- If the program breaks as a result of an exception
- If you manually break execution, for example, by pressing the Stop button
- Expressions in the Watch window do not update continuously while a program is running.
- You can no longer choose scope in the Watch window. All variables and expressions in the Watch window are evaluated in the current context.
- Watch expressions that you save in LabWindows/CVI 2013 cannot be loaded by LabWindows/CVI 2012 or earlier.
- Some C99 features are available in C89.
- When debugging a real-time application via LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI does not stop listening when the VI is unloaded. You must either Disconnect or Abort and reboot.
- When graphs scale, they will always scale to the thickness of their line plots. In previous versions of LabWindows/CVI, only plots whose thickness was greater than 1 scaled up or down.
- LabWindows/CVI no longer links to gpibstub.obj or vxistub.obj.
- To use the ExportStyle method in 3DGraphCtrl.fp, you must specify the directories to which you want to export files. Refer to KB 67L8L0QW for more information about using the ExportStyle method.
- LabWindows/CVI 2013 includes updated bracket and indentation styles. You can continue using bracket and indent styles available in previous versions of LabWindows/CVI by selecting the Use CVI legacy formatting option in the Editor Preferences dialog box. Some of the legacy formatting options map to the updated styles except for the following combinations:
- Function brackets set to uneven, left; statement brackets set to uneven, right
- Function brackets set to uneven, left; statement brackets set to flush, left
- Function brackets set to uneven, left; statement brackets set to flush, right
- Function brackets set to uneven, right; statement brackets set to uneven, left
- Function brackets set to uneven, right; statement brackets set to flush, left
- Function brackets set to uneven, right; statement brackets set to flush, right
- Function brackets set to flush, left; statement brackets set to uneven right
- Function brackets set to flush, left; statement brackets set to flush right
- Function brackets set to flush, right; statement brackets set to uneven, left
- Function brackets set to flush, right; statement brackets set to uneven, right
- Function brackets set to flush, right; statement brackets set to flush, left
Note that if you select a legacy formatting option, batch auto indent support (selecting Edit»Format File and Edit»Format Selection), is unavailable. - The LabWindows/CVI Help no longer includes a Font button for increasing or decreasing the font size in the help file. Refer to KB 696A8AOA for more information.
- The Options»Generate Visual Basic Include menu item is no longer available.
- LabWindows/CVI 2013 now returns 2 as the size of variables of type wchar_t, which is consistent with the ANSI C specification. You must recompile existing code in LabWindows/CVI 2013 to see the change in behavior.
- LabWindows/CVI 2012 returned certain compiler errors that are now returned as warnings. Refer to KB 6A9GOOQW for more information.
- LabWindows/CVI 2012 returned certain compiler errors that are no longer errors. Refer to KB 6A9GO5QW for more information.
- Using the token-pasting operator (##) might return compiler errors that were not returned in LabWindows/CVI 2012.
- The Conservative and Aggressive levels of unitialized local variables detection are now combined into one compiler warning. You might notice more unitialized local variables warnings because LabWindows/CVI now flags all variables that may or may not have values assigned to them. This behavior more closely matches the Aggressive level for the Uninitialized local variables detection option in previous versions of LabWindows/CVI.
- You must enable the Include project files in Interactive window or Include loaded instrument drivers in Interactive window options if you run code in a function panel or in the Interactive Execution window that has dependencies on other files in the project or on a loaded instrument driver.
- You cannot view the values of #define macros when you are debugging.
- You cannot specify a .c file as the module to load to the LoadExternalModule and LoadExternalModuleEx functions.
- The Up Call Stack menu item moves toward the callee. The Down Call Stack menu item moves toward the caller. In previous versions of LabWindows/CVI, the Up Call Stack menu item moved toward the caller, while the Down Call Stack menu moved toward the callee.
- You can separate multiple compiler defines using a comma and a space.
- The keyword __FUNCTION__ behaves as a compiler intrinsic variable. LabWindows/CVI does not convert __FUNCTION__ during preprocessing.
- LabWindows/CVI displays rounded values instead of actual values for floating point numbers in data tooltips and Watch, Variables and Call Stack, Graphical Array View, and Array Display windows.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2012
- The Physical Memory Access functions, located in the Utility Library, are deprecated. Refer to KB 5QCCQSQW for more information.
- If your program includes any Port IO functions, located in the Utility Library, the program will require administrator privileges to run. Refer to KB 5Q5FO1QW for more information.
- The LabWindows/CVI low-level support driver can be loaded only by applications running with administrator privileges on 32-bit systems. Refer to KB 5Q5FJ4QW for more information.
- You can no longer create a reduced-size distribution that includes the low-level support driver. If your application uses the low-level support driver, you must include the full LabWindows/CVI Runtime Engine in your installer. To include the full runtime engine in your installer, complete the following:
- Select the NI LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime Engine item in the Drivers & Components tab of the Edit Installer dialog box.
- Ensure that you deselect the Install the LabWindows/CVI Shared Runtime Engine in the application directory option in the Advanced tab of the Edit Installer dialog box.
Refer to KB 5R6A4SQW for more information. - The GetFontTypefaceName function, when used on VAL_DIALOG_FONT or VAL_DIALOG_META_FONT, now returns the actual typeface of the dialog font on your system, rather than the substitute for that font that Windows uses.
- LabWindows/CVI 2013 supports the Perforce SCC Plug-in (P4SCC) 2006.1 and later.
- For projects you save in LabWindows/CVI 2013, LabWindows/CVI attempts to resolve paths that were previously saved as absolute paths to be relative to the project. You can override this behavior by specifying the following options in the .prj file:
For a target file, specify the following in the [Create Executable] section of the .prj file:
Executable File_Configuration Force Path Absolute = True
where _Configuration is the configuration of your target, such as Debug, Release, or Debug64.
For a file in the project list, specify the following in the [File nnnn] section of the .prj file, where nnnn is the index of the file in the project list:
Path Force Path Absolute = True - You can call .NET Library functions from multiple threads simultaneously without getting blocked.
- Previous versions of LabWindows/CVI did not recognize numbers entered in scientific notation for numeric controls of type int64 or unsigned int64. Starting with LabWindows/CVI 2010 SP1, you can enter numbers in scientific notation. When you enter a number in scientific notation into numeric controls of type int64 or unsigned int64, LabWindows/CVI converts the number to a double and then to a 64-bit integer. This conversion may cause a loss of precision after 15 decimal digits.
- LabWindows/CVI 2010 SP1 includes the GaussHypergeometric function, which you should use instead of the GaussHG function.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2010
- To specify multiple compiler defines, separate each compiler define using only a space. If you separate each one with a comma and a space, LabWindows/CVI displays an error.
- Build Options and Target Settings dialog box options apply per configuration. The options on these dialog boxes are no longer global as in previous releases.
- National Instruments no longer supports Windows 2000.
- The minimum operating system version for distributions is Windows XP. If you open an existing distribution that specifies Windows 2000 as the minimum operating system, LabWindows/CVI updates the minimum operating system to Windows XP.
- If you install the Full Development System, the Interface to Win32 Application Programmatic Interface (API) is installed by default.
- The glaux.lib import library is deprecated and is no longer included with LabWindows/CVI. The glaux.prj sample program is no longer installed.
- The Save changes before debugging option in the Environment dialog box is now a global option. In previous releases, this option was workspace-specific.
- The Save changes before compiling option in the Environment dialog box is enabled by default. This global option allows LabWindows/CVI to save all modified files before compiling and debugging.
- LabWindows/CVI no longer installs the Documentation from MSDN Library. National Instruments recommends that you view the latest version of this documentation at www.msdn.com. For more information, visit ni.com.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 2009
- Borland is no longer supported as a compatible compiler or as a third-party compiler in LabWindows/CVI.
- Starting with the 2009 version of LabWindows/CVI, major versions align with the year in which they release. For example, this version of LabWindows/CVI is called LabWindows/CVI 2015. You can find installed files in the CVI2015 folder in the various locations where LabWindows/CVI installs files. The registry keys corresponding to this version of LabWindows/CVI are located in CVI\15.0 in the registry.
- The NI Distributed System Manager replaces the NI Variable Manager. Use the System Manager to create and monitor network variables, processes, and I/O servers. For more information about the System Manager, refer to the NI Distributed System Manager Help, which you can access from the System Manager.
- The Translate LW DOS Program option is no longer available.
- The LabWindows/CVI compiler now defines the NDEBUG macro for release configuration builds.
- LabWindows/CVI no longer adds _dbg suffix to the base name of the debug target of a project.
- The data type of the targetThreadId parameter of the PostDeferredCallToThread and PostDeferredCallToThreadAndWait functions has been changed from unsigned long to unsigned int.
Behavior Changes Introduced in LabWindows/CVI 9.0 and Earlier
- toolbox.h now includes some LabWindows/CVI headers that must be included after including windows.h. Therefore, if your code includes toolbox.h before including windows.h, reverse the order of these includes.
- Network variable processes that begin with NI_ are disallowed. The CNVNewProcess function returns an error if the process name you specify begins with NI_.
- The following macros have been renamed:
| Library | Previous Macro Name | New Macro Name |
| WordReport.fp Instrument Driver | NONE | WR_NONE |
| Analysis Library | SORT_ASCENDING | ANALYSIS_SORT_ASCENDING |
| Analysis Library | SORT_DESCENDING | ANALYSIS_SORT_DESCENDING |
- Upgrading to LabWindows/CVI 8.5 and later may cause the Advanced Analysis or Analysis Library to produce numerical differences in floating point results and different results for exceptional inputs, such as positive or negative infinity and NaN. These differences may occur because the underlying C Analysis library has been recompiled in LabWindows/CVI 8.5 to take advantage of new processors and operating systems.
- The enum value CVIConst_CVI_FPVERSION_90 has been changed to CVIConst_CVI_FPVERSION_85 for the fpVersion parameter of the FPGenCreateFunctionTree function of the LabWindows/CVI ActiveX Server Interface Library.
- The modini utility and related source code as well as the modreg source code are deprecated and no longer installed with LabWindows/CVI.
- The LabWindows/CVI Quick Reference card is no longer published and is not installed with LabWindows/CVI.
- The option to create Microsoft Windows WinHelp files (.hlp) from LabWindows/CVI, Generate»Documentation»Windows Help, is no longer available.
- The Network Variable Library flushes all internal buffers in a write operation, which improves network variable performance.
Flushing on write may cause lower throughput in some high bandwidth conditions, in which case you can set CNVFlushOnWriteAttribute to 0 (FALSE). In high bandwidth conditions, National Instruments recommends using the CNVBufferedWriter connection. - During a read operation, the Network Variable Library flushes all network variable connections in your program, including data in writer connections, for better performance.
- Registering ActiveX Servers—When you build ActiveX servers in LabWindows/CVI 8.1.1 and later on Windows XP and later, the ActiveX servers are registered in your user profile. This registration is not visible to other users on your system. On versions of Windows prior to Windows XP, ActiveX servers are registered for all users. When you register these servers outside the LabWindows/CVI environment, they are always registered for all users; this option requires administrator privileges on Windows Vista and later.
- Analysis Function Behavior Changes—The following function behavior has changed from LabWindows/CVI 7.1 to LabWindows/CVI 8.x:
- SVD and CxSVD—The following formula defines the SVD factorization of an n-by-m matrix A: A = USVT.
In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, U is an orthogonal matrix of dimensions n-by-m. In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, U is an orthogonal matrix of dimensions n-by-min(n, m).
In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, V is an orthogonal matrix of dimensions m-by-m. In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, V is an orthogonal matrix of dimensions m-by-min(n, m).
In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, S is a diagonal matrix of dimensions m-by-m. In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, S is a diagonal matrix of dimensions min(n, m)-by-min(n, m).
In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, CxSVD has the following requirement: If numberOfRows (n) < numberOfColumns (m), you must allocate m*m*sizeof(ComplexNum) bytes of memory to the input matrix and the U orthogonal matrix. LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later no longer has this requirement. - Lu and CxLU—In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, if the input matrix is singular, the functions stop the decomposition and return SingularMatrixErr. In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, if the input matrix is singular, the functions complete the decomposition and return SingularMatrixWarn. In this case, there are one or more zero elements along the diagonal of U.
- CxTrace—CxTrace accepts only a square matrix. In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, the function requires both the number of rows and the number of columns as input parameters. In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, matrixSize specifies both the number of rows and the number of columns. The numberOfColumns parameter in LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier is a reserved parameter in LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later. This parameter is not referenced in the function.
- ConditionNumber and CxConditionNumber—In LabWindows/CVI 7.1 and earlier, these functions return NaN for singular input matrices. In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, these functions return Inf for singular input matrices.
- GenLSFit—In LabWindows/CVI 8.x and later, GenLSFit calculates the mean squared error as the weighted mean square error, which differs from the prior implementation of the function.
Known Issues
This version of LabWindows/CVI has the following known issues. Refer to the LabWindows/CVI Known Issues web page on ni.com for a complete list of known issues in this version of LabWindows/CVI.
- Creating Installers for IVI Instrument Drivers—The installers you create with the IVI Installer Creator are Microsoft Installers (MSI), which are not compatible with Package Manager. If you need help creating an IVI-compliant installer for your driver, contact NI at instrument.drivers@ni.com.
- Selecting Values in IviFgen Class Driver—In the IviFgen FP file, the Attribute ID and Attribute Value controls in the Get/Set/CheckAttributeViInt64 functions display an empty field instead of a list of attributes and values. For more information, refer to KnowledgeBase 5WOA752F: Issue Setting IviFgen Attribute ID Using Get/Set/CheckAttributeViInt64 Functions.
- Uninstalling LabWindows/CVI—If you have multiple versions of LabWindows/CVI installed and you uninstall one of the versions, the remaining installation will be missing its file associations, and its automation capabilities will not function properly. To fix this problem, re-install the remaining LabWindows/CVI version.
- Error When Building a LabWindows/CVI Project in Visual Studio 2005—If you create a project in Visual Studio 2005 that uses LabWindows/CVI libraries, you will see the following error: fatal error LNK1103: debugging information corrupt; recompile module. To address this issue, install the hotfix available from Microsoft.
- Debugging Executables on Windows—On Windows Vista and later, executables that contain setup, install, or update as part of their name automatically require administrator privileges. If you run these executables as stand-alone from a user-level account, Windows will prompt you for an administrator password. However, LabWindows/CVI cannot debug these applications from a user-level account. When you try to run them, LabWindows/CVI displays a Could not run executable notification. NI recommends that you rename your executable so that it does not contain those words in its name, or that you embed a manifest into the application that marks the application as being Vista-aware. You can embed a manifest using the Target Settings dialog box.
- Viewing Help—If you open the LabWindows/CVI Help outside of LabWindows/CVI, such as launching it through the Start menu, you might not see all driver or toolkit content. Select Help»Contents to open the LabWindows/CVI Help from within LabWindows/CVI to ensure that all driver and toolkit content is available.
Bug Fixes
Refer to the LabWindows/CVI Bug Fix Information web page on ni.com for an up-to-date list of bug fixes in this version of LabWindows/CVI.
Refer to the LabWindows/CVI Help, accessible from the Help menu, for information about LabWindows/CVI.
Select Help»Find Examples from LabWindows/CVI to launch the NI Example Finder. LabWindows/CVI examples are located in the Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\CVI2019\samples directory. You can modify an example program to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a program that you create.
You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.
When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.
LabWindows/CVI will drop support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and all 32-bit Windows operating systems starting in 2021. Versions of this product that ship after May 1, 2021, will not install or run on these operating systems. For detailed information about NI operating system support, visit ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.
For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes:
LabWindows/CVI Dropped Support for Microsoft Windows 7 RTM, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
LabWindows/CVI dropped support for Microsoft Windows 7 RTM (with no service pack). LabWindows/CVI dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 in 2015. LabWindows/CVI 2015 SP1 and later will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use LabWindows/CVI 2015 SP1 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing LabWindows/CVI 2015 SP1, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS.
For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2016, refer to KB 79UC78LS, Why Does my LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, or TestStand Built Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Server 2003?.
Copyright
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End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
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- Notices are located in the <National Instruments>\_Legal Information and <National Instruments> directories.
- EULAs are located in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\Legal\license directory.
- Review <National Instruments>\_Legal Information.txt for information on including legal information in installers built with NI products.
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If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.
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The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
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Patents
For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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