How do i open and control other programs using labview?

Question

I'm presently trying to use labview to try to open and operate another program,but having much difficulty.The external program i'm using is called the Foundation program.
This Foundation program will use VHDL programming to create a virtual chip and then synthesising it.This program will then simulate the output of this VHDL program to verify that it is working as desired.Then the last stage is to download the whole VHDL program into a FPGA chip using a xilinx cable.
All this need to be done using a labview program - to open the Foundation program and then extract the saved file and then to execute the download command to cause the VHDL program to be downloaded onto the FPGA chip.How do i go
about doing all this?What is the first step i must do.Also all this have to be done thru networking..looks like its too difficult..I really need help.
grays

Answer 1

I haven't done VHDL so pardon my ignorance.
LabVIEW can call external DLL via "Call Library Function" or C programs via "Code Interface Node", both located in "Advanced" function.
If your program is a DOS program, use "System Exec.vi" found in "Communication" function. If you need to format your DOS command prior to sending it, use the "Format Into String" function in "String" function palette.
Lastly, if you're trying to extract data, assuming it is text, use "File I/O" functions. If the data is binary, use "File I/O -> Binary File VIs".
Hope that answers most of your questions.
Shan Pin Koh