Can Labview 5.1 Run 2 programs?

Question

I inherited a Labview 5.1 and it is running on one computer doing measurement. How can I use this labview to write another program to run either on the same computer (while the old one can still run) or on a different computer?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Kevin

Answer 1

LabVIEW 5.1 has no problem running more than one VI (program) simultaneously. You can either just start the second VI by hand independently from the first, or make a new top-level VI that launches both at once, maybe using VI Server functions.
One point to watch for is if you want to re-use subVI's (other than the built-in function blocks) that are used by the first program: if both programs need to run a subVI simultaneously you will need to make the subVI re-entrant, or make a second copy of it with a new name, otherwise one program will have to wait until the subVI call has finished in the other program. Read the help on re-entrant execution for more details.
If you want to run two programs on different computers, you'll either need to buy another copy of LabVI
EW or use the Application Builder to make one program into a stand-alone executable that can run without the development system. You may or may not have Application Builder already, depending on which LabVIEW package you have. See if there is a 'Build Application' entry in the Project menu. If not, ask your NI rep about your upgrade options.