How do I get connector pane names programatically with ActiveX?

Question

I am learning how to use LabVIEW's ActiveX automation to call LabVIEW VIs from Python. 
The following code works as expected (the comments are a little too verbose, but they help):
# Example: calling LabVIEW from Python
# grab the LabVIEW ActiveX interface
# generated with the Python COM Makepy utility
import labview_pycom
# grab a handle to the LabVIEW 8 application
lv = labview_pycom.Application()
# open up a VI -- path, password, reserve handle (t/f)
vi = lv.GetVIReference(r"C:\Test VIs\Hex Adder.vi", "", True)
# call the VI with named parameters and corresponding values
# pass ALL parameters here -- input and output;
# - output parameter values are don't cares
# - will return names of all passed parameters and values
returns = vi.Call(["String", "String 2", "Sum", "hex Sum"], ["1", "2", 0, ""])
print returns
My Hex Adder.vi takes two strings "String" and "String 2", parses them into integers, and adds them.  It outputs an integer, "Sum", and the sum as a string, "hex Sum".
Output:
((u'String', u'String 2', u'Sum', u'hex Sum'), (u'1', u'2', 3, u'00000003'))
I explicitly pass names of items on the connector pane in vi.call( ... ), and that's OK in this application.  I want to know, though, what names and values I could pass, without dissecting the connector pane in LabVIEW.
Is it possible to ask LabVIEW, through a function call, the names of all the front panel controls or items on the connector pane?  The GetControlValue(...) and SetControlValue(...) take named parameters -- but I want a list of the names they can take.
Thanks!
Matthew Ploguh

Answer 1

I am not sure if the ActiveX server exposes a method to get a VI's controls.
Why don't you just write a VI that uses "Open VI Reference" and the VI server properties to enumerate the controls on the VI? You can then call this VI from python to get the parameters of the VI that you really want to call.
Pramod
Message Edited by PramodS on 02-14-2008 05:30 AM