Callable VEE with LabView? / Accessing HP Lan gateways?

Question

Hello,
We have several years worth of HP VEE code written and are now exploring
LabView as a new development tool. HP VEE provides something called
"Callable VEE" which loads a server and allows any program which can
"access C routines" to call HP VEE's userfunctions. Has anyone had
experience implementing such a hybrid? Can examples be found anywhere?
While this is probably not the best solution it would give immediate
access to a lot of proven code. Are there any better solutions to
accessing the HP VEE code base?
Also, there are currently several Lan <--> GPIB gateways installed. Is
there any way LabView can access these lan-drops to access the test
equipment installed there?
Alternatively,
is it possible to set up a computer with LabView as a
test site and have others log on to it over the lan and access all local
resources (serial ports & GPIB devices) remotely (without having to use
Timbuktu) ? Any examples or ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any help,
joel

Answer 1

> We have several years worth of HP VEE code written and are now exploring
> LabView as a new development tool. HP VEE provides something called
> "Callable VEE" which loads a server and allows any program which can
> "access C routines" to call HP VEE's userfunctions. Has anyone had
> experience implementing such a hybrid? Can examples be found anywhere?
>
LV has a node called the Call Library Function Node that can call
functions within a DLL. If the VEE object looks like a DLL, then
it should work. I'm not aware of any examples laying around, but
I do know of organizations that use both; so they might be good
places to start. I know that JPL uses both.
> While this is probably not the best solution it would give immediate
> access to a lot of proven code. Are there any better solutions to
> accessing the HP VEE code base?
>
> Also, there are currently several Lan <--> GPIB gateways installed. Is
> there any way LabView can access these lan-drops to access the test
> equipment installed there?
NI sells an Ethernet-GPIB device that I think is similar. The device
comes with drivers that make it look just like any other GPIB device
hooked to the computer. If the LAN/GPIB device has drivers, then it
should be possible to hook it into LV. It is probably access normally
through HP-VISA drivers. You might want to search the Knowledge Base
on the NI web site to see if there are any guiding instructions there
on whether to use the NI-VISA drivers instead.
> Alternatively, is it possible to set up a computer with LabView as a
> test site and have others log on to it over the lan and access all local
> resources (serial ports & GPIB devices) remotely (without having to use
> Timbuktu) ? Any examples or ideas would be appreciated.
>
It is currently possible to write smallish LV client programs that
talk to a LV server program to carry out the I/O. The programming
to do the client server stuff is quite easy using the VI Server.
It is also possible to write the client in most other tools and
communicate to LV over DCOM using the VI Server's ActiveX interface.
The interface publishes a class to the EXE to load VIs and make lots
of other changes, and another class to a VI that allows for Running,
printing, and lots of other changes. Remote interaction without
doing the client/server stuff isn't currently possible, but it was
demonstrated at NIWeek working in web browsers.
Greg McKaskle