LabVIEW User Group

University of Bristol

Ben Lavasani
Academic Field Sales Engineer
NI UK
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Agenda
• LabVIEW Design Patterns Overview
• Coffee break :)
• LabVIEW for Multi-Touch Applications - David Carberry
• LabVIEW in Teaching
• LabVIEW Tips and Tricks

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LabVIEW Design Patterns Overview
What Is a Design Pattern?
• A template or framework for LabVIEW code
• Widely accepted and well-known
• Easily recognizable

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 Benefits of Using Design Patterns
Simplify the development process
 Developers can easily understand code
 Don’t have to “re-invent the wheel”
 Pre-existing solutions to common problems

Reliability
 Many have been used for years - they are “tried and true”
 Large development community and resources online

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 Getting Started: How Do I Pick?
• Identify most important aspect of your application:
 Processes that require de-coupling
 Clean, easy to read code
 Mission critical components
• Select a template based upon potential to improve

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Caution
You can needlessly complicate your
life if you use an unnecessarily
complex design pattern

Don’t forget the most common

design pattern of all… dataflow!

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Basic Tools
• Loops
• Shift Registers
• Case Structures
• Enumerated Constants
• Event Structures

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Today’s Discussion
• As we look at each design pattern, we’ll discuss
 A problem we are trying to solve
 Background
 How it works
 Technical implementation
 Demonstration
 Use cases / considerations

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Design Patterns
• Functional Global Variable
• State Machine / Statecharts
• Producer / Consumer

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 Functional Global Variables

How do I share data across a application

without using Global or Local Variables?
Background: Global and Local Variables
• Can cause race conditions
• Create copies of data in memory
• Cannot perform actions on data
• Cannot handle error wires

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Breaking Down the Design Pattern
• While loop
• Uninitialized shift
registers have memory
• Case structure
• Enumerated control

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Uninitialized Shift Registers

DEMO

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How It Works: Basic Actions
• Set the value of the shift register

INITIALIZE

INITIALIZE

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How It Works: Basic Actions
• Get the value currently stored in the shift register

GET

GET

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How It Works: Action Engine
• Perform an operation upon stored value and
save result
• You can also output the new value

ACTION

ACTION

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Technical Implementation
1. Functional Global Variable is a Non-Reentrant SubVI
2. Actions can be performed upon data
3. Enumerator selects action
4. Stores result in uninitialized shift register
5. Loop only executes once

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 Uninitialized shift register has memory

Loop only executes once

Only used in Initialize case

Action determines which case is executed

Examples of other ‘actions’

Functional Global Variables

DEMO

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Benefits: Comparison
Functional Global Variables Global and Local Variables
• Prevent race conditions • Can cause race conditions
• No copies of data • Create copies of data in memory
• Can behave like action engines • Cannot perform actions on data
• Can handle error wires • Cannot handle error wires
• Take time to make • Drag and drop

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Recommendations
Use Cases
• Communicate data between code without connecting wires
• Perform custom actions upon data while in storage

Considerations
• All owning VIs must stay in memory
• Use clusters to reduce connector pane
• Using stacked shift registers will track multiple iterations

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 State Machine

I need to execute a sequence of events, but the

order is determined programmatically
 Background

Static Sequence

Dynamic Sequence: Allows distinct states to operate in a

programmatically determined sequence

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 Soda Machine
Initialize No input

Wait
Nickel Deposited
Change Quarter Deposited
Requested Dime Deposited
Total < 50
Total < 50 Total < 50
Change Quarter
Nickel
Dime
Total >= 50 Total >= 50
Total >= 50
Total > 50
Vend
Total = 50
Exit
Soda costs $0.50

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Breaking Down the Design Pattern
• Case Structure inside of a While Loop
• Each case is a state
• Current state has decision making code that
determines next state
• Use enumerators to pass value of next state to
shift registers

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 How It Works
Case structure has a case for every state Transition code determines next state
based upon results of step execution

FIRST STATE

Step Execution

Shift registers used to carry state

Transition Code
NEXT STATE
FIRST STATE

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Transition Code Options

Step
Execution

Step Execution

Step
Execution

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State Machine

DEMO

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Recommendations
Use Cases
• User interfaces
• Data determines next routine
Considerations
• Creating an effective State Machine requires the
designer to make a table of possible states.
• Use LabVIEW Statechart to abstract this process for
more sophisticated applications

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 Producer / Consumer

I have two processes that need to execute at the same time,

and I need to make sure one can’t slow the other down
 How It Works
• One or more slave loops are told by
Master
a master loop when they can run
• Allows for a-synchronous execution
of loops
• Data-independence breaks dataflow
and allows multi-threading Slave 1
• De-couples processes

Slave 2

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Breaking Down the Design Pattern
• Data independent loops = Multithreading
• Master / slave relationship
• Communication and synchronization between
loops

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Loop Communication
• Variables
• Occurrences
• Notifier
• Queues
• Semaphores
• Rendezvous

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 Queues
Adding Elements to the Queue

Select the data-type the queue will hold

Reference to existing queue in memory

De-queueing Elements

Dequeue will wait for data or timeout (defaults to -1)

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Producer / Consumer

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 Adding Your Own Design Patterns

C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.5\templates\Frameworks\DesignPatterns

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Resources
• Example Finder
• New >> Frameworks >> Design Patterns
• ni.com/labview/power
• Expressionflow.com

• Visit ni.com/info and enter exhkqe

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40
 LabVIEW in Teaching
The NI LabVIEW Academy

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 What Is the NI LabVIEW
Academy?
The NI LabVIEW Academy program provides classroom
curriculum, instructional materials, and hands-on exercises to
high schools, community colleges, and universities for the
specific purpose of teaching LabVIEW.

LabVIEW Academy is for anyone seeking LabVIEW education

and knowledge through an academic institution.

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 What Does the NI LabVIEW Academy
Do?

Empowers institutions to teach LabVIEW

Emphasises LabVIEW professional certification

Increases the pool of qualified LabVIEW developers

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 NI LabVIEW Academy Program
Requirements

Instructor Requirements

Two instructors must be Certified LabVIEW Associate

Developers (CLADs) and teach at participating
organisations

Program Requirements
• Current teaching site license
• At least one dedicated classroom (a computer lab will suffice)
• 40 hours of classroom LabVIEW specific instruction time
• One PC per student (with LabVIEW software)
• NI DAQ equipment required for lab component (2:1 student ratio)
• Submit course syllabus to NI for approval

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 NI LabVIEW Academy Instructional
Materials

Instructor Materials

•LabVIEW Basics I & II Instructor Manual

•LabVIEW Basics I & II Lecture Slides
•LabVIEW Basics I & II Exercises and Solutions
•Instructor Version of Student Workbook
•50 LabVIEW Exam/Homework Questions

Student Materials

•LabVIEW Academy Workbook (student purchase)

• 300+ questions
•Recommended LabVIEW textbook (student purchase)

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 NI LabVIEW Academy Teaching Materials

Curriculum for both learning LabVIEW and teaching LabVIEW

NI LabVIEW Academy Teaching Materials

Recommended LabVIEW Textbooks

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NI LabVIEW Academy CLAD Opportunity

The NI LabVIEW Academy gives students the opportunity to take

the CLAD exam as part of the program

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 The NI LabVIEW Academy Bridging the Gap

Academic Industry

“LabVIEW is getting more popular in academia “In our exhaustive search for qualified
and industry and many researchers and LabVIEW developers to fill key roles in our
companies are on the lookout for competent organization, we greatly anticipate the new pool
LabVIEW programmers. This program will of qualified candidates coming out of the
help bridge the gap between the two.” National Instruments LabVIEW Academy
– Khanjan Mehta, Professor, schools.“
Penn State University – Marvin Landrum, Section
Manager, Texas Instruments

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ni.com/academy

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Tips and Tricks to Speed NI LabVIEW Development
Useful Nuggets to Save You Time
 Agenda

• 20 Tips and Tricks for LabVIEW Development

 Beginner: Simple tricks to save time
 Intermediate: LabVIEW tips you probably did not know about
 Advanced: Useful nuggets to put you ahead of the game

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/
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20 Automatically Select the Right Tool

• Avoid manually switching among many tools

Operate Value Tool

Position/Size/Select Tool
Auto Tool
Edit Text Tool

Connect Wire Tool

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20 Quickly Drop Palette Objects
Hold down Ctrl + Space to launch Quick Drop

• Ctrl + D – Create controls and indicators on

selected diagram object(s)
• Ctrl + R – Remove diagram object(s) and
reconnect wires
• Ctrl + T – Move control and indicator terminal
labels to the left and right sides

Demo

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20 Design Pattern Templates

• Access via File  New …

• Well-known designs
 Producer/Consumer
 State Machine
 Queued Message Handler

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20 Switch Terminal Wires Easily

Hold Down Ctrl

and Left-Click on Input Terminal

Note: This works only for functions with two inputs when both
inputs have already been wired

Demo

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20 Easily Scroll Through Structures
• You can use Ctrl + Mouse Scroll to scroll through:
 Case Structures
 Event Structures
 Stacked Sequence Structures
 Diagram Disable Structures

Ctrl + Mouse Scroll Wheel

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20 Quickly Find the Right Palette
• Right-click on a block diagram object for a palette shortcut
Add

Index Array

To More Specific Class

Demo

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20 Easily Navigate Arrays
• Right-click on an array and select Visible Items >> Horizontal Scrollbar
(or Visible Items >> Vertical Scrollbar)
• To view last element, select Advanced >> Show Last Element
• Both horizontal and vertical scrollbars available (depending on array
dimensions)

Demo

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20 Selective Insert Location

Right-Click Slightly Right-Click Slightly below

above Wire Wire

Wire Connected Wire Connected

to Lower Terminal to Upper Terminal

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20 Block Diagram Clean-Up
• Click Clean Up Diagram button on toolbar or press
Ctrl + U
• Highlight a portion of the diagram for partial cleanup
• Right-click and select “Exclude from Diagram
Cleanup” option
Note: Only
available in
LabVIEW 8.6 and
later.

Demo

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20 Quickly Wire Multiframe Structures
• Right-click an output tunnel and select “Linked Input Tunnel »
Create & Wire Unwired Cases”

Note: Only available in LabVIEW 8.6 and later

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20 Easily Assess 2D Array Size
• Matrix Size function replaces old method
• Assess size of 2D array regardless of data type

Note: Only available in LabVIEW

2009 and later

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20 Breakpoint Manager
• Select View » Breakpoint Manager
• Right-click and select Breakpoint » Breakpoint
Manager

Note: Only available in LabVIEW 8.6 and later

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20 Quickly Find VIs in the Project Window
• Ctrl + Shift +E from an open VI with open project

Note: Only available in LabVIEW 2009 and later

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20 Easily Add Enumeration Items

• Press Ctrl while hovering over an Enum to use the Text

Tool
• Use Shift + Enter to repeatedly add items

Shift + Enter

Demo

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20 Edit Multiple Objects Simultaneously
• Highlight all desired front panel or block diagram
objects
• Right-click and select “Properties”

Demo

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20 Automatically Create Control References

• Simply drag a control into a Control Refnum

• Automatically creates a class-specific, type-specific
reference

Note: To keep the original control, use Ctrl-Drag instead

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20 Drag and Drop to Save Time
• Drag an image into your VI icon
• Select a file and drag into a path constant
• Take a URL from Internet Explorer and drag into a string constant
• Drag items from disk or Project Explorer into a LabVIEW block diagram

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20 Quickly Browse Properties and Methods
• View >> Class Browser
• Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + B
• Drag a property or method directly into your
VI

Demo

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20 Implement a For Loop Progress Bar
• Place Progress Bar VI inside a for loop
• Opens automatically after a specified amount of time
• Download sample code from ni.com/forums (search for “For Loop Progress Bar”)

Demo

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20 Automatically Analyse Your VIs
• Tools >> VI Analyzer >> Analyze VIs
– Check performance, style, UI, documentation, and more
– Save LabVIEW VI Analyzer settings for later use

Demo

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 Other Resources
• Darren’s LabVIEW Nuggets
(decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-4002)

• LAVA: Favorite Tips and Shortcuts

(forums.lavag.org)

• LabVIEW Wiki
(labviewwiki.org)

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