IF statement in Formula Node

I have the following statement in a Formula Node in LabVEW 7.1:
if (x=1) y = 3; else y = 1;
When running the VI, whatever the value of X is, I obtain Y = 3 !!!!
Why ???
Tom

Try x == 1 (instead of x = 1).
Using LV8.0
Don't be afraid to rate a good answer...

Similar Messages

If-then statement in formula node

**Note - The attached file shows the current block diagram.
I have a formula node inside a for loop. Inside the formula node I am trying to program the if-then statement:
If T1<2.0E-5 OR T1>5.5E-4 THEN GOTO 3
U7=U7+V
I have 4 items I need help with:
(1) Is 'II' the correct operator for 'OR'?
(2) Is 'goto' an acceptable operator within LabVIEW?
(3) 'U7' is building a 1D array. How do I need to define it? Is it simply 'int U7'? Also, I will add an output value named 'U7' on the formula node wall with an indicator wired to it from outside the for loop.
(4) Is my use of the equal sign appropriate or do I need to use '=='?
Thanks for the help.
Philip
Attachments:
if-then_in_FN.jpg ‏18 KB

Thanks for the help. I went ahead and rewrote the program so I could omit the 'goto's. Another problem that I am having is that I want 2 statements for 1 assignment:
if (T1>=.002004 && T1<=.002584)
B1=U
A1=V;
I want to assign both B1 and A1 values when the above condition is true. I tried a comma between the U and A1 but it doesn't work as well. Should I define A1 and B1 separately? Or would this create problems?
if (T1>=.002004 && T1<=.002584)
B1=U;
if (T1>=.002004 && T1<=.002584)
A1=V;
Thanks,
Philip

Formula Node - Embedded If statements

Greetings,
I would like to "embed" an if statement within an if statement using a formula node. The structure is as follows:
if(x == y/2)
y = 0;
if(a < c && a > d)
a = a - 1;
For some reason when I run my code and both of the criteria for my if statments are true the formula node does not execute the a = a - 1.
For example:
a = -0.5
c = 0
d = -1
Then 'a' should decrement to -1.5. However, when I run my code 'y' will reset to zero but 'a' will not decrement.
Am I allowed to embed if statements within if statement using a formula node.
Also, I am aware that I can accomplish this using other means but I would really prefer to use the formula node.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Threre is no problem with the formula as posted, you get -1.5 at the "a output" as expected.
Of course if you want the original "a input" control to be modified with the new value, you would need to write the "a output" to it via a local variable.
Still, I agree with GerdW that you are opening a can of worms here comparing DBLs for equality. This can very easily lead to unexpected results!
Message Edited by altenbach on 03-16-2008 05:03 PM
LabVIEW Champion . Do more with less code and in less time .
Attachments:
embeddedIF.vi ‏11 KB
embeddedIF.png ‏11 KB

Can I use a formula node to start the execution of a case structure?

Hi,
I am working on editing a VI to make it much easier to understand (for colleagues and non LV users). For one reason or another, the VI's creators did not fully make use of the power of case structures and other structure types. In the application we need it for, the instrument cycles and repeats measurements on several objects. We are interested in measuring the motor currents for several motors in the system. As it stands now, for each sample object's run, there is a separate sub-vi diagram which displays its waveform trace and several indicators such as max current, time at max, etc. That code was contained within a T/F case structure and copied and pasted 20 plus times.... Obviously the vi became extrememly cluttered and needed a huge screen to see. The trigger for the current case structures is an EQUALS comparison between one input (which is the sample object counter; and this part I will likely leave unchanged since it makes a lot of sense already) and a constant which was defined 1 through 20+ for case.
I have since made one case structure and 20+ instances of that case and have labeled them (at the top selection box near the detent arrows) "1", "2", 3, etc. I am wondering if I can use a formula node to act as the "trigger" which sets each case structure running? I believe that a simple IF statement should work. Please see a snippet of my attempt at making this in C below.
For the node, I defined X as the input and Y as the output. The input to the node, X, is connected to the sample object counter. The output, Y, is connected to the case selector of the case structure. My attempt at the code is below:
int32 y
For(x == 1)
y = "1";
For(x == 2)
y = "2";
etc, etc.
Is that above code snippet correct? Do i need something like "ENDIF" or "end if" at the end? Does "y" have to be defined as "int32" or can it be something else?
Thanks for the help!

Is your formula node doing anything else besides what is shown?
Why don't you just wire the value that is going into it at X directly into the selector of the case structure?
Attachments:
Example_VI_BD.png ‏2 KB

How do I get an array output on a Formula Node?

My problem is simply that I cannot figure out how to get an output on a Formula Node to be an array. Documentation states that "you must declare local arrays and output arrays in the Formula Node" but doesn't say anything more than than. Attempts to put something like "float32 out[100];" for an array output called "out" fail.
If anybody knows how you can do this or even knows if it is possible I would appriciate your help.
Thanks,
Naveen

I found a typo in the formula node I was doing that was making the output not be an array. I don't think I was getting the error before but I was going to put together an example VI to attach here and I found it. So, thanks for your help even tho it was a stupid little mistake on my part.

"Eval Parsed Formula Node VI" does not return outputs in predefined order

I make a data analysis program, where the data consists of some million events and each event has e.g. 4 channels and 1-5 hits on each channel.
I would like the user to select different expressions of these channels to give coordinates to plot in a 2D histogram (increment a bin in Intensity Graph), e.g. for some experiment you want to show x=ch1-ch2; y=ch1+ch2+ch3+ch4; while in another experiment you want x=ch1-123; y=123-ch2;
There are other VIs that use static LabView-code for the normal things, but now after a few years of adding to this program I find that it would be quite good with a general plotter and let the user specify simple expressions like this. Also with the "normal" static plots, there is a need to filter out bad data and then it would be much simpler both to program and use if you could write text expressions with boolean logic to combine multiple filters. Making a LabView code and GUI that allows AND/OR/parenthesis combinations of expressions will be quite an effort and not very reusable.
So, with the above motivation, I hope you see that it would make sense to have a useable string formula evaluator in LabView. I find some info about MathScript's user-defineable functions, but haven't managed to get MathScript working in LV2010 yet (maybe some licensing or installation issues, I think I had it in 8.6). But I think it would be possible to do most of what I want for the display-part (not the filtering) with the simpler Eval/Parse Formula Node VIs and suitable use of the limited variable name space. So I started testing, and found a quite annoying issue with how the evaulator works.
To the parser, you are expected to send an array of output variable names. But then it ignores this array, and returns one output per assignment/semicolon in the formula, in the order of the formula text. Since the static parts of my program need to know what the output values mean (which of them is x and which is y), I would have to rely on the user not using any intermediate variable and defining x before y. The attached screenshot demonstrates the problem, and also that it has been solved by NI statff in the "Eval Formula Node VI" which does the appropriate array-searching to extract only the pre-defined outputs, in their expected order. But using that VI is about 100 times as slow, I need to pre-compile the formula and then only use the evaulator in the loop that runs over a million events.
I don't know if I'll take the time to make my own tweks to the parsing stage (e.g. preparation of array-mapping to not have to repeat the search or maybe hacking the output list generated by the parser) or if I'll have to make it in a static Formula Node in the block-diagram (which supports more functions), so that the user has to run with development environment and stop the program to change the plotting function. But I wanted to share this trouble with you, in hope of improvments in future LabView versions or ideas from other people on how I could accomplish my aim. I have MATLAB-formula node possibility too, but is far as I have seen the only place the user could update the formula would then be in a separate .m file, which is re-read only when typing "clear functions" in the Matlab console window. (Having this window is also an annoyance, and perhaps the performance of calling Matlab in every iteration is not great.)
Besides this issue, it also seems very strange there is virtually no support for conditional expressions or operators in Formula Node evaulated formulas (called Mathematics VIs in the documentation). Maybe using (1+sign(a-b))/2 you can build something that is 0 when a<b and 1 when a>b, but it is not user friendly! Would it really be diffcult to add a function like iif(condition, return_value_if_true, return_value_if_false) to replace the unsupported "condition ? if_true : if_false" operator? Would it really be difficult to add support for the < <= >= > == || && operators? Although compiled to an assemply language, this can't exactly be difficult for a CPU.
Attachments:
LV script test.png ‏62 KB
LV script test.vi ‏18 KB

(1) You can put any kind of code inside an event structure with the limitation that it should be able to complete quickly and without user interaction. For example a while loop for a newton-raphson method is fine, but an interactive while loop where the stop condition depends on user iteraction is not recommended. By default, event structures lock the front panel until the event completes, so you would not even be able to stop it.
(2) Yes, you can do all that. LabVIEW has no limitation as a programming language. Use shift registers to hold data and state information, the manipulate the contents as needed.
(3) I would recommend to use plain LabVIEW primitives instead of formula nodes. Show us your code so we can better see what it's all about. Obviously you have a mismatch betweeen scalars and arrays. It is impossible from the given information where the problem is.
(4) Yes, look inside the nonlinear curve fit VI (you can open it an inspect the code!). One of the subVIs does exactly that. Just supply your model VI.
LabVIEW Champion . Do more with less code and in less time .

How to change content in the formula node of the current vi

Actually I want to give formula with array index.
My formula p=a[0]-30; But i couldnot give array index in the formula expression..
Please help me in this issue.

Muthu92 wrote:
Thank you for your reply. It is very useful for me. But i can't give conditional operator in that operator. It is showing error.
My Test cases
A[0]+A[1]>150
A[31]-50 <100.
If those are your exact statements, then they don't make sense in a formula node. You have to use them in an if-statement or some other type of control logic. This mimics text-based programming languages such as C... See here for instructions on formula node syntax: http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361G-01/lvhowto/formula_node_syntax/
For instance, you COULD say something like:
**In this example, let A[0] == x, A[1] == y, A[31] == z**
if(x+y>150)
/* do something if this is true */
else if(z-50 < 100)
/* do something else */
EDIT:
It should also be noted that Variable Names MUST be lowercase!! I just discovered this
EDIT2:
I stand corrected. After trying to create an example and digging through the LabVIEW Help, I stumbled across this:
Differences between the Parser in the Mathematics VIs and the Formula Node
The parser in the Mathematics VIs supports all elements that Formula Nodes support with the following exceptions:
Variables—Only a, a0, ..., a9, ... z, z0, ..., z9, are valid.
Logical, conditional, inequality, equality—?:,, &&, !=, ==, <, >, <=, and >= are not valid.
Functions—atan2, max, min, mod, pow, rem, and sizeOfDim are not valid. You can use these functions in a Formula Node or use their corresponding LabVIEW functions.
So it DOES NOT seem like Eval Formula Node can do conditionals like you want. I would just implement them using a LabVIEW based algorithm after all. Trying to out smart the formula nodes to avoid simple LabVIEW code is just too much of a hassle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If someone helped you out, please select their post as the solution and/or give them Kudos!

Serious bug in LabView 8.5 Formula Node

Hello,
Thought I would warn my fellow LabView programmers about a serious error in the Formula Node:
The problem may be encountered by anyone running a non-us LabView installation:
I am located in Norway, and over here we use the comma (,) as the separator in floating point numbers: So, the use 3.14 is written like 3,14.
The problem is that the Formula Node accepts both formats, but only the US Notation is interpreted correctly !
Example:
float64 x1, x2;
x1 = 3.14;    // Interpreted Correctly !
x2 = 3,14;     // Interpreted as 3: One might say this leads to problems.......
Message Edited by geirove on 06-13-2008 06:23 AM
Geir Ove

geirove wrote:
JoeLabView wrote:
Hi Geir,
It is not a bug.  ............
The node does not recognize localized decimal separators."
Of course it is a Bug: **Any** code that **any** compiler does not recognize, should be flagged with an error message ! I have written my share of compilers myself, and they all flag down code that is not accepted as an error.
Failing to do so may cause serious, expensive and very hard to trace errors.
Sorry, but I would expect that the NI team in their 20. year of LabView development is capable of better than this.
Sorry to disappoint you! It's not a bug since that statement is absolutely valid albeit useless in that context.
The Formula Node since LabVIEW 7 supports C syntax except some advanced features such as pointers. In C the comma in expressions is the sequence operator meaning it separates expressions that will be executed from left to right and the last one will actually be the result of the entire sequence expression. This is often used for the initilizer expression inside the for statement, to initilize several variables to a start value.
And the NI team really is a lot better than you think. The online help may be a bit short about the reasons why the comma is not supported as decimal point but there have been many people thinking about this before it was made like that. It was either C syntax support without localized decimal point or some homegrown syntax with localized decimal point and they went for the first.
Rolf Kalbermatter
Rolf Kalbermatter
CIT Engineering Netherlands
a division of Test & Measurement Solutions

Array index problem in formula node

dear friend
I'm trying to use formula node to solve a problem because I make this program using c at the begining.
It runs perfectly in turbo c, but somehow it doesn't work in the formula node.
I try to debug my source code, and I find that the formula node seems can't read the true value in
the array.
Here is the code in the formula node.
int32 i,j,k;
for ( i = 0 ; i < sopa; i++ )
j = 1;
ep[i][0] = pa[i];
ep[i][1] = np[ep[i][0]][0];
while ( ep[i][j-1] != exit )
  for ( k = 0 ; k < sonp ; k++ )
    if ( np[ep[i][j-1]][k] != -1 && (pc[ep[i][j-1]][ep[i][j]] + pc[ep[i][j]][exit] >= pc[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] + pc[np[ep[i][j-1]][k]][exit] ) && (pc[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] == org[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] ))
      ep[i][j] = np[ep[i][j-1]][k];
  j++;
This is the part that I think the problem might be.
if ( np[ep[i][j-1]][k] != -1 && (pc[ep[i][j-1]][ep[i][j]] + pc[ep[i][j]][exit] >= pc[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] + pc[np[ep[i][j-1]][k]][exit] ) && (pc[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] == org[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] ))
ep[i][j] = np[ep[i][j-1]][k];
I state that "np[ep[i][j-1]][k] != -1" but I do get the value -1 in the array "ep".
Could someone tell me why I get -1 in the array?
I hope I can finally do it all by labview not using formula node,but array like "pc[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] "
seems very hard to wire in labview. Could someone give me some good advices of doing this?
Thanks for your help

altenbach 已寫:
normanshi wrote:
ep[i][0] = pa[i];                                          (A)
ep[i][1] = np[ep[i][0]][0];                            (B)
...    if ( np[ep[i][j-1]][k] != -1 && ... )          (C)
      ep[i][j] = np[ep[i][j-1]][k];                       (D)
I state that "np[ep[i][j-1]][k] != -1" but I do get the value -1 in the array "ep".
Could someone tell me why I get -1 in the array?
I hope I can finally do it all by labview not using formula node,but array like "pc[ep[i][j-1]][np[ep[i][j-1]][k]] "
seems very hard to wire in labview. Could someone give me some good advices of doing this?
There are many possible scenarios to get a -1 in the ep output. For example if the -1 gets already written in step (A) or (B) at a certain index, and that index does not get overwritten in step (D). You are indexing all over the place! Is there some bounds checking on the array contents? What are typical inputs and array sizes?
I'm sure about that the -1 doesn't get already written in step (A) or (B) because ep[i][0] and ep[i][1] is fine. What really makes me confuse is that sometimes ep array has the value like this.
That means it does overwritten some value in step (D). The -1 should never be written into it because I have already state that np[ep[i][j-1]][k] != -1. Somehow I still get -1,and this is really strange! I'm indexing all over the place becuase I can't figure out a better way to achieve my requirement.
I think I should briefly tell you what I'm trying to do. In this program,I input some values which means the distance from one point to another. Then I use floyd's all pairs shortest-path algorithm to find all the shortest distance. Finally I want to find out the "shortest path". I mean like from point 4 to point 0,the shortest path might be like 4 -> 2 -> 1 -> 0, and what the formula node part do is trying to find out this "shortest path". Maybe you can give me some better advice of doing this, I have been thinking a better way to do it for about two months. I think I'm really not good at this.
I try to do it all by labview ,but again I get a strange problem. This time the ep[i][j-1] doesn't get the correct value. In the first time i=0 j-1=0 ep[i][j-1] = 1,but the second time i = 0 j-1 = 1 ep[i][j-1] = 0. This makes the "ep[i][j-1]!=exit" get the incorrect boolean value. The ep[i][j-1] should be 2,not 0. I try to use highlight to find if I make any mistake, but I can't one.This is the input and I put the labview program in attached file (temp4.vi).
Could you help me find out why this happened?
Thanks for your help altenbach!
由 normanshi 在 08-19-2006 10:06 PM 上編輯的訊息
Attachments:
temp4.vi ‏191 KB
ep.jpg ‏10 KB
input.jpg ‏9 KB

Defining constants in formula node

I apologize for the seemingly elementary level of this question, but nonetheless it continues to puzzle me. I am trying to enter several constants in a formula node and continually get the error message 'undefined variable' for the first defined. An example is shown below for the statement: 'CO = 192600;'
Error on line 1 is marked by a '#' character: "CO# = 192600;
I feel there is a problem with the way i am trying to define the constant (CO). Am I missing something? Since there are so many constants, I prefer to define the constants within the node instead of inputing on the border. Thanks in advance.
Philip

Alternatively, it is sufficient if you create an output terminal named CO in this case. No need to connect it, of course.
LabVIEW Champion . Do more with less code and in less time .
Attachments:
FormulaNode.gif ‏3 KB

Dead loop in formula node

Hi,
I have encountered the following problem in a formula node. Everything seems simple and right. But there is no output and the loop goes on forever. The sizes of both input arrays are the same. Need your advice. Thanks.
Rut
Attachments:
Algorithm.vi ‏11 KB

Look, I am far out on a limb here, because I am not a C programmer. Whatever you're doing would make more sense from a FORTRAN point of view.
The LabVIEW formula node uses BNF notation (check the help), which is in many ways C like. So the syntax for a FOR loop is:
for ( InitExpression ; CondExpression ; LoopExpression ) Statement
This means the loop iterates until "CondExpression" is true.
Do a google search on "C For loop" and you might find for example pages like:
http://www.hitmill.com/programming/cpp/forLoop.htm
http://www.geocities.com/learnprogramming123/Clesson8Beginner.htm
Your condExpression is "n1-1", which, during the execution of the node is a constant. For example if you array size is 50, n1-1=49, FOREVER! The condition is never true so the loop will never stop.
I hope somebody more knowledgable will chip in at one point.
LabVIEW Champion . Do more with less code and in less time .

Formula Node variable assignment problems

I have a formula node with the follwing:
Inputs:E,X,T,PD,I
OutputsK,PD
The statement inside the formula node is:
if (Eelse if (PD=1) if (E else if (E<=X) ;
else PK=I, PD=1;
The logic seems to be working the way I want, the problem is in the last else statement. PK is never assigned the value of I. however, PD is assigned the value of 1. There are no errors indicated.
The source of the I input is the iteration # of the For loop where this formula node is located.
Anyone see what I am missing??
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,
In comparisons, == should be used instead of =. This is a very common mistake, and a reason that forumla nodes should be avoided if possible (except of course for very long formulae that would require a lot of nodes.
It looks like your code would be better represented with LabVIEW nodes instead of in a formula node (for readability - there is no performance difference.)
Also, you may wish to reconsider using an Input variable that has the same name as an output variable. Try using PDi and PDo, or PD1 and PD2 instead.
Good luck.

Formula node error: missing left parenthesis

Hi guys
I am new on labview and i am strugling to right a bit of code.
I am using formula node and i keep getting the error as above on the title moreover it displays: Error on line 5 is marked by a '#' character: " for {# H = 00.00.00 to H = 06.00".
I am attaching my file so that if you can give me a hand you could have a brief look.
Thank you
Solved!
Go to Solution.
Attachments:
time_look up test.vi ‏14 KB

Hi inaslab,
still your formula node doesn't make sense: You still overwrite the value for H in the first FOR statement...
What you want is either an IF-THEN-ELSE or a SWITCH/CASE construct like "IF (H>=0 AND H<6) THEN...". Right-click the formula node, select help, select formula node syntax !
And I'm even more convinced a standard LV case structure will be much more reasonable here: just wire H to the selector input...
Message Edited by GerdW on 10-29-2009 11:29 AM
Best regards,
GerdW
CLAD, using 2009SP1 + LV2011SP1 + LV2014SP1 on WinXP+Win7+cRIO
Kudos are welcome

Formula node- using C

Hi there,
I need to create a vector and for that I am using the formula node. I am doing that in C ( in which I really am a beginner) whereas in MATLAB the program some time runs some time it does not.
Attached is the program, the error list says:
Error on line 3 is marked by a '#' character: " int32 j; double# Rv[14]; Iv[14]; for "
Can anyone help?
thank you in advance
Solved!
Go to Solution.
Attachments:
sum.vi ‏8 KB

You have 2 syntax errors on that line. The proper term is not double but float64. And separate the two arrays with a comma and not the end of statement semicolon.
Make it look like this and the broken run arrow goes away.
float64 Rv[14], Iv[14];

Formula node, condition

I want to use conditional expressions such as
if () then
statement
else
end if
in the formula node, but there were error messages "unassigned output".
I followed Ankita's suggestion to use
if (x<5)
y=4;
z=8;
else
y=8;
z=4;
but there were same error messages(I tried "end if;" also.).
Thanks.

Which version of LabVIEW are you using? Any chance it is earlier than 6.0?
If so, then Ankita's suggestions probably won't work, because there were major changes in Formula Node behavior. I recall that every variable introduced in pre-6.0 formula nodes had to be explicitly added as either an input terminal or an output terminal on the formula node. Furthermore, those older formula nodes used a different style for conditional syntax. It's all documented in the manuals or help documentation that shipped with your LabVIEW version, whatever that may be.
More to the point, I suggest that you abandon the formula node for simple conditionals like this and just use a case statement. You can wire your x variable into a less-than node, then wire the output of that into a case statement selector. You can very often avoid formula nodes by using case statements or even the "Select" node on the Comparison palette.
My two cents,
John

IF statement in Formula Node

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