LV RTE cannot open project files that have .lvlib references in Dependencies

Question

I'm writing a LabVIEW DLL to inspect LabVIEW project files, and I've noticed that if a project has a .lvlib reference in its Dependencies, then the Run-Time Engine contradicts itself about whether or not it can find the project file:
Project.Open returns error 7 (file not found)
Project.GetFileLVVersion is successful
Here are snippets from my G and C code that exercise this behavior:
int openStatus = StatusSuccess;
char* projectVersion = createStringWithLength(VersionStringLength);
printf("Analyzing %s\n", pathString);
OpenProject(pathString, &openStatus, projectVersion, VersionStringLength);
printf(" Project written in LabVIEW %s\n", projectVersion);
if (openStatus == StatusSuccess)
printf(" Opened project file.\n");
else
printf("Error: Could not find project file, or file was not a project file (error code %i).\n", openStatus);
However, when running in the development environment, both methods succeed.
Is this a bug, and if so, is it fixed in LabVIEW 2014?
Here is how you can reproduce it:
Prerequisites:
LabVIEW 2013 SP1 32-bit
ConEmu for a good console -- https://code.google.com/p/conemu-maximus5/wiki/Downloads
minGW for compiling a program to use the LabVIEW DLL -- http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files
.lvlib reference in Dependencies breaks Project.Open in LV RTE
Unzip the attachment into a temporary directory (eg c:\xtra\temp)
Open "OpenProject.lvproj" in LabVIEW.
Build "Open Project Library".
Using ConEmu with a bash prompt, navigate to the temporary directory.
Type make
$ make
patching file `builds/platdefines.h'
gcc -std=c99 -g OpenProject.c -o OpenProject.exe -lOpenProject -Lbuilds
6. Type OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj'
$ OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj'
Analyzing c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj
Project written in LabVIEW 13.0
Opened project file.
 7.  Notice that both invoke nodes execute correctly.
 8.  Type OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProjectWithLvlibDep.lvproj'
$ OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProjectWithLvlibDep.lvproj'
Analyzing c:\xtra\temp\OpenProjectWithLvlibDep.lvproj
Project written in LabVIEW 13.0
Error: Could not find project file, or file was not a project file (error code 7).
 9.   Notice that the version node succeeded while the open one failed.
 10. Type diff OpenProject.lvproj OpenProjectWithLvlibDep.lvproj
$ diff -u OpenProject.lvproj OpenProjectWithLvlibDep.lvproj
--- OpenProject.lvproj Tue Nov 4 11:28:28 2014
+++ OpenProjectWithLvlibDep.lvproj Tue Nov 4 11:32:37 2014
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@
<Property Name="server.vi.propertiesEnabled" Type="Bool">true</Property>
<Property Name="specify.custom.address" Type="Bool">false</Property>
<Item Name="OpenProject.vi" Type="VI" URL="../OpenProject.vi"/>
- <Item Name="Dependencies" Type="Dependencies"/>
+ <Item Name="Dependencies" Type="Dependencies">
+ <Item Name="vi.lib" Type="Folder">
+ <Item Name="NI_MABase.lvlib" Type="Library" URL="/&lt;vilib&gt;/measure/NI_MABase.lvlib"/>
+ </Item>
+ </Item>
<Item Name="Build Specifications" Type="Build">
<Item Name="Open Project Library" Type="DLL">
<Property Name="App_copyErrors" Type="Bool">true</Property>
Here is another way to trigger this behavior, which also shows that LabVIEW only sometimes tidies the Dependencies item:
Open "OpenProject.lvproj" in LabVIEW.
Add a new VI to the project and place the "Application Directory" file path constant its block diagram.
Select "File » Save All (this Project)" and use the default name for the new VI.
Type OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj'
Notice there is an error again, as is expected.
Remove the "Application Directory" file path constant.
Select "File » Save All (this Project)"
Type OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj'
Notice the problem is gone, as is expected.
Re-add the "Application Directory" file path constant to the block diagram.
Select "File » Save All (this Project)"
Type OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj'
Notice there is no problem, which is surprising as there should be an error since the Dependencies item hasn't been tidied.
Close the new VI and remove it from the project.
Select "File » Save All (this Project)"
Open "OpenProject.lvproj" in a text editor.
Notice the Dependencies item has been tidied.
Re-add the VI back to the project.
Select "File » Save All (this Project)"
Type OpenProject 'c:\xtra\temp\OpenProject.lvproj'
Notice there is an error again, as is expected.
Solved!
Go to Solution.
Attachments:
LVRTE_OpenProject.zip ‏10 KB

Answer 1

NInjaneer_wow wrote:
The same behavior occurs in LabVIEW RTE: a new project with an Application Directory constant in a blank vi will return error 7 - file not found, but still return the correct version of LabVIEW in which the project was created. 
I've been experimenting with workarounds for this behavior, and I found one.
When I provide the LabVIEW path for libdir in my executable's ini file, the run-time is able to load and inspect the project file.
libdir="C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2013"
While it's expected that a stand-alone executable may be placed on a system that doesn't have the LabVIEW IDE, it's still surprising to me that the Run-Time Engine cannot find LabVIEW's standard library without some explicit guidance. What other considerations contribute to that behavior?
References:
LabVIEW configuration file/Paths -- http://labviewwiki.org/LabVIEW_configuration_file/Paths