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 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.
All drivers in the table below are expected to be available with Addon support. Support will be incrementally released through 2022 and 2023. An exception to this is RF drivers (RFmx, RFSA/G), which are not currently listed in the table. Although we expect to release these drivers with Addon support eventually, the timeline is not yet defined.
Driver/Toolkit |
LabVIEW 2022 Q3 Addon Support |
|---|---|
NI-FGEN |
21.8 |
NI-DMM |
2022 Q3 |
IVI Compliance Package |
2022 Q3 |
NI-SCOPE |
2022 Q3 |
NI-Sync |
2022 Q3 |
NI-VISA (excluding MacOS) |
2022 Q3 |
PXI Platform Services |
2022 Q3 |
NI System Configuration |
2022 Q3 |
NI-DAQmx |
2022 Q3 |
NI-DCPower |
2022 Q3 |
NI-845x |
2022 Q3 |
NI-Industrial Communications for Ethernet/IP |
2022 Q3 |
NI-SWITCH |
Not available |
RMX 4xxx |
Not available |
NI-SLSC |
Not available |
NI-RDMA |
Not available |
NI-VISA for MacOS |
Not available |
NI-HSDIO |
Not available |
NI-MXLC |
Not available |
NI-XNET |
Not available |
NI-Digital |
Not available |
NI-RIO |
Not available |
NI Embedded CAN for sbRIO |
Not available |
NI-FlexRIO |
Not available |
NI-R Series Multifunction RIO |
Not available |
NI-CompactRIO |
Not available |
Eyescan IDLs |
Not available |
Industrial Controller Device Drivers |
Not available |
IDLs for Reconfigurable Oscilloscopes |
Not available |
EtherCAT |
Not available |
NI-High Speed Serial |
Not available |
Vision Development Module |
Not available |
Vision Acquisition Software |
Not available |
NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection |
Not available |
PXIe-7899 API and Design Files |
Not available |
NI-568x |
Not available |
NI-5690 |
Not available |
NI Modulation Toolkit |
Not available |
NI-USRP |
Not available |
Automotive Diagnostic Command Set Toolkit |
Not available |
ECU Measurement and Calibration Toolkit |
Not available |
Sound and Vibration Toolkit |
Not available |
LabVIEW Electrical Power Toolkit |
Not available |
LabVIEW OPC UA Toolkit |
Not available |
NI-Industrial Communications for CANOpen |
Not available |
NI-Industrial Communications for DeviceNet |
Not available |
NI Switch Executive |
Not available |
Drivers 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, Softmotion
- Virtual Bench
- NI-WSN
- PXImc