LabVIEW 8.2 Application Builder Readme for Mac OS

August 2006

This file contains important last-minute information about the LabVIEW 8.2 Application Builder. Refer to the LabVIEW Upgrade Notes for more information about upgrade and compatibility issues, and a complete list of new features in the LabVIEW 8.2 Application Builder. You can access the LabVIEW Upgrade Notes document by selecting Help»Search the LabVIEW Help in LabVIEW and navigating to the Technical Support and Professional Services»LabVIEW Documentation Resources topic on the Contents tab of the LabVIEW Help. The LabVIEW Help also includes step-by-step instructions for creating and completing builds and caveats and recommendations to consider before you use the Application Builder.

The LabVIEW Application Builder is a LabVIEW add-on package you can use to create source distributions, stand-alone applications (EXEs), shared libraries (DLLs), and zip files. You can distribute the builds without the LabVIEW development system. Refer to the National Instruments Software License Agreement located on the LabVIEW Professional Development System and Application Builder distribution CDs for the licensing requirements for distributing builds you create with Application Builder.

You must use Application Builder 8.2 with LabVIEW 8.2.

Refer to the National Instruments Web site for the latest information about the LabVIEW 8.2 Application Builder.

Supported Platforms
Installing Application Builder
Known Issues

Supported Platforms

Applications and shared libraries you create with the Application Builder have the same approximate requirements as the LabVIEW development system. Refer to the LabVIEW Release Notes for more information about the requirements for the LabVIEW development system. Memory requirements depend on the size of the application or shared library. Typically, applications and shared libraries require about the same amount of memory required to run VIs in the LabVIEW development system.

Installing Application Builder

The installation of the LabVIEW Professional Development System includes the installation of the Application Builder. Complete the following steps to install the Application Builder for the LabVIEW Full Development System.

Insert the LabVIEW Application Builder installation CD.
Open LabVIEW82AppBuilder.mpkg.

The Install LabVIEW 8.2 Application Builder window appears.
Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Known Issues

To build an application, source distribution, or shared library that uses type definitions in the private data control of a LabVIEW class, select either Remove unreferenced project library members or Do not disconnect type definitions or remove unreferenced members on the Additional Exclusions page of the Application Properties dialog box. If you use the default setting, Remove as much as possible, and use a type definition in the private data control of a LabVIEW class, the Application Builder disconnects the type definition and the build fails.
LabVIEW automatically writes configuration tokens to the preferences file of a built application or shared library. If you open the built application on the same computer you developed it on, the preferences file of the built application might contain the same port and service name as the LabVIEW development system. Because ports and service names must be unique, either the application or LabVIEW might not have the VI Server on when you expect it to. To avoid this issue, create a custom preferences file for the built applcation or library.
If you enable debugging in a stand-alone application or shared library and configure the build specification to use a custom file in the LabVIEW project as the LabVIEW configuration file (preferences), the resulting configuration settings file does not include the tokens needed to enable debugging. You must add the following tokens to the custom configuration settings file:

DebugServerEnabled: True
DebugServerWaitOnLaunch: True
If you select Do not disconnect type definitions or remove unreferenced members on the Additional Exclusions page of the Application Properties dialog box, LabVIEW might return the following error when you build an application, shared library, or source distribution that includes a library:

An included VI or one of its dependencies does not exist.

The library might contain broken or missing components. To try to determine the problem, mass compile the VIs in the library.
The Single Destination - Preserve Hierarchy option in the Packaging Option section of the Distribution Settings page of the Source Distribution dialog box does not preserve the hierarchy of system VIs. If you want to preserve the hierarchies of the VIs, move the system VIs out of the Dependencies list in the Project Explorer window. You can create a folder under My Computer in the Project Explorer window to which you can move the system VIs.
LabVIEW does not prompt you to check out a source-controlled project when you create a build specification and you choose to use a custom icon file. LabVIEW also does not prompt you to add the custom icon file to source control.
If you build a VI that returns a 64-bit integer into a shared library, LabVIEW returns an error. To correct this problem, set the return value for the 64-bit integer to void.