LabVIEW 8.2 Application Builder Readme for Windows

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), installers, 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 CD 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 and Activating 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 and Activating Application Builder

The LabVIEW Professional Development System includes the Application Builder, which is activated automatically when you activate LabVIEW. If you have an activated version of the LabVIEW Base Package or Full Development System, select Help»Activate Application Builder to activate and use the Application Builder. The license takes effect when you restart LabVIEW.

You also can activate the Application Builder through the NI License Manager by selecting Start»Programs»National Instruments»NI License Manager.

Note: The Application Builder installs with LabVIEW. Therefore, when you activate the Application Builder in the LabVIEW Base Package or Full Development System, you do not have to complete a separate installation.

Known Issues

To build an application, shared library, or source distribution 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.
To build a stand-alone application that includes a VI with a MathScript Node, you must first save the VI in LabVIEW 8.2. If you do not first save the VI in LabVIEW 8.2, LabVIEW does not return an error when you build the stand-alone application, but the application does not work correctly at run time.
LabVIEW automatically writes configuration tokens to the .ini file of a built application or shared library. If you open the built application on the same computer you developed it on, the .ini 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 .ini file for the built application or library.
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.