June 2015
This file contains important information about the Control Design Assistant, including installation instructions and known issues.
Product Security and Critical Updates
Automating the Installation of NI Products
How to Use NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.x
NI Software Support for Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
Use the interactive Control Design Assistant to develop models that reflect the behavior of single-input single-output (SISO) systems. Using the Control Design Assistant, you can load your existing models or create models of plants, analyze the time or frequency response, and then synthesize a controller. The Control Design Assistant has windows in which you can see immediately the mathematical equation and graphical representation that describe the model. You also can view the response data and the configuration of the controller.
The Control Design Assistant has the following requirements:
Refer to the SignalExpress Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for SignalExpress 2015.
You can install all of your LabVIEW products—including the Control Design Assistant—using the LabVIEW 2015 Platform media. Complete the following steps to install the Control Design Assistant:
To request additional LabVIEW Platform media, refer to the National Instruments website.
Note If you purchased this product with an NI Software Suite or NI Product Bundle, use the installation media that shipped with your purchase to install this product.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about National Instruments products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from National Instruments.
You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the National Instruments website for an up-to-date list of known issues in the Control Design Assistant.
Refer to the SignalExpress Help, accessible by selecting Help»SignalExpress Help from the SignalExpress environment, for information about the Control Design Assistant. The SignalExpress Help includes reference information about Control Design steps and a tutorial that teaches you how to load and save models, perform analysis on systems, and design controllers using the Control Design Assistant.
Examples for the Control Design Assistant are located in the National Instruments\Control Design Assistant\Examples directory. You can modify an example VI to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a VI 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. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.
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:
When you install National Instruments software on Microsoft Windows 8.x, 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.
NI Launcher helps you find and launch installed NI products. It provides you with a method of finding NI products similar to the Start menu in previous versions of Microsoft Windows. To use NI Launcher, click the NI Launcher tile in the Apps view. NI Launcher launches the desktop and opens a menu containing a list of NI products. Click any NI product to launch it.
Note NI MAX does not appear as a desktop shortcut when installed on Microsoft Windows 8.x. You can launch NI MAX either from the Apps view or from within NI Launcher.
For convenience, you can pin your most-used NI applications, such as MAX, to either the Start screen or the Taskbar on the desktop, as necessary:
| Current Application | Icon Location | Pin to Action |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 8.x Desktop | Desktop Taskbar | Right-click application and select Pin to Taskbar |
| Windows 8.x Desktop | Start screen | Right-click application and select Pin to Start |
| Windows 8.x Start screen | Desktop Taskbar | Right-click application and select Pin to taskbar from the menu bar on the bottom of the screen |
If you want to find a particular application or related files, such as documentation files, from the Start screen, you can access all installed files from the Apps view. To get to the Apps view, right-click anywhere on the Start screen and select All apps (Windows 8.0) or click the down arrow on the bottom left of the screen (Windows 8.1).
For more information about NI support for Windows 8.x, visit ni.com/windows8.
National Instruments Control Design Assistant will drop support for Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 as of July 1, 2016. Versions of Control Design Assistant that ship after July 1, 2016 will not install or run on Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003. For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes:
| Product | Info Code |
|---|---|
| LabVIEW | lifecycle |
| LabWindows™/CVI™ | cvi_lifecycle |
| Measurement Studio | mstudiolifecycle |
| TestStand | tslcp |
| DIAdem | ddlcp |
| SignalExpress | selcp |
| VeriStand | nivslifecycle |
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End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
U.S. Government Restricted Rights
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For patents covering the National Instruments products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the National Instruments Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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