Application Builder for LabVIEW 5.1 (or Higher) - Creating Distribution Disks Primary Software: LabVIEW Development SystemsPrimary Software Version: N/A Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A Secondary Software: N/A
Problem: How do I create distribution disks with Application Builder in LabVIEW 5.1 (or higher) ? Solution: This is a step-by-step procedure for creating distribution disks with the LabVIEW 5.1 Application Builder. For example purposes, let us assume that you are creating an application called MyApplication.exe. The Application Builder window has five tabs: Target, Source Files, VI Settings, Application Settings, and Installer Settings. Source Files With earlier versions of the Application Builder, you had to create a library file that contained all your VIs and subVIs using the File » Save with Options » Application Distribution method. Application Builder allows you to include all your source files (text files, PDF files, DLLs, external code, etc.) in the Source Files tab of the Application Builder. The classification is as follows:
Dynamic VI - If you are loading VIs dynamically (e.g., using the VI Server), then you must add them to your application by using this option. The dynamically loaded VIs will be incorporated as part of the executable file (.exe), but only if you add them here. Support File - This is for any extra files that you want to either ship with your application (such as a PDF file), or for files that your application might need, such as an .ini file, or a data file. This is the place to add the "altered" LabVIEW.ini file for your application; i.e., change the first line in the LabVIEW.ini file from [ LabVIEW ] to [ MyApplication ], and save this file with the name MyApplication.ini (instead of LabVIEW.ini). Note: You can set destination properties and update options by using the Custom Destinations button. VI Settings Here you can change some of the settings, if you wish. Usually LabVIEW will take care of removing diagrams, etc. by checking the settings the VI itself has. Here you can edit these settings on a per file basis. Application Settings This tab allows you to select the icon for your application. Notice that now you can change the icon that appears in the application's title bar, as well. Installer Settings If you want to create distribution disks for your application, then this is the place to do it. Select the Create Installer option, and choose the proper settings:
Start Menu Program Group - The name of the program group that will be created in the Windows Start menu Default Installation Directory - When you run your setup from the hard disk or floppies, this is the default directory where your application will be created. Note 1: If you check the option to Create Installer (i.e., create distribution disks), then the Application Builder will create a "set of disks" on your hard disk, in addition to creating the built application. This will create a set of disk image files in a folder called disks, which will be located in the same directory as your built application/executable (see below). Note 2: If you need to run a certain executable after setup, then you can add it to the installer on the Advanced option here (very straightforward). Target When you are ready to generate your executable and distribution disks (if any), you can finally come to this tab, and specify where you want to place the results of the application building process. Here the options are:
Destination Directory - The root place where your built application (the .exe file) and the disk files will be placed. So basically in this directory you will have a working version of your application that does not need LabVIEW (but it does need the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine!), the daqdrv and serpdrv files. For the rest of the document I will call this the ROOT. Under the ROOT you can potentially have three directories, namely:
(b) a disks directory, which will exist only if you selected the option to Create Installer (create distribution disks) (c) a library file (LLB) for subVIs, which will exist only if you choose to keep the subVIs of your application in an external LLB (which could potentially be edited later, without needing to fix the top level vi, or rebuild the application). Support File Directory - This is the place where all the files that were added to your project as support files (see Source Files, above) will be kept. Basically, if you added PDFs, data files, etc., then they will all be here. Build Options Single Application Containing all VIs - All subVIs will be built into the executable, resulting in a single .exe file that will contain all the top level VI and all its subVIs, as well as the dynamically loaded VIs (and their subVIs) that you specified. Small Application with External File for subVIs - This option will put all the subVIs of the top level VI and the dynamically loaded VIs (and their subVIs), in a single library file (LLB) in the specified location. Note: All folders should be in a place where there is enough free disk space for them, or LabVIEW will return an error. Now you are ready to build your application and create your distribution disks. Make sure that all the VIs that will be used in your application are closed before you press the Build button, otherwise you will get an error. After building you will find the following directory structure:
Your distribution disk image files are all under the disks directory. You can copy them to floppy disks (1.4 MB at least) by copying the Setup.exe file and the Data.001 file to the first disk, and then each Data.00x to a different disk, resulting in N setup disks for your application (where N is the number of data files generated during the build process). After that, you will need to get two more disks, to which you will copy the files from the RunTime folder (these are the LVRTE installation files). Copy all the files in this folder except data2.cab to the first disk. Then copy data2.cab to the second disk. Note: You must install the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine to the target computer for your application, if you want your application to actually run when you install it. If you are using a CD-ROM or ZIP Disk to hold your setup files, then simply copy the contents of the disks directory (including the RunTime directory) to that storage media. To run the setup program for your application, insert the first distribution disk (the one containing setup.exe and data.001) and run setup.exe. You will be prompted to insert each additional distribution disk, as it is needed. After the setup for the application is finished it will ask for the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine (LVRTE) disks. Insert the first of the two LVRTE disks, and proceed with the second disk when prompted for it. Finally, you can save all the build options for your application for future reference, so that you do not need to go through this whole process again. Press the Save button to save your current settings. You can reload these settings, to build your application again later. Related Links: LabVIEW Support: Application Builder Troubleshooting Wizard KnowledgeBase 3P7G6HNQ: Where Is the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine Installer? Attachments:
Report Date: 03/23/1999 Last Updated: 09/13/2005 Document ID: 1JMAJEFP |
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