.INI files vs .TXT files for changing default values in a .EXE?

Question

Hi,
I have a two-part question related to updating the default values of controls in an executable:
I am creating a LabVIEW executable for installation on two different production-floor computers.   I need to be able to change the default values of the front panel controls (as I would do with the “make this value default” command during development). From reading prior posts, I understand that I could use the “Write Configuration Settings File.vi” and “Read Configuration Settings File.vi” to generate a .INI file that would be read by the .EXE and would establish the desired values of the controls. However when I took a look at the block diagrams for those configuration .VIs, they don’t appear (to me) to be any easier to use than just reading values from a spreadsheet file. IE: Instead of using these configuration files and a .INI file, could I not instead just read values from a .TXT file that contains the desired values?   I’ve never used a .INI file before, or had to worry about “keys” and “sections,” so from my (perhaps naïve) perspective, the .INI method seems less easy to use. Is there any advantage to the .INI format?
Regardless of whether I use the .INI file or a .TXT file, I have this additional problem: One of the things that changes when I install my .EXE file on a new computer is the COM port numbers used by two serial devices.   (On my development computer, the two serial devices use COM5 and COM6, whereas on the two production-flood computers, the COM ports will almost certainly be different).   I suppose I could use the Device Manager on the production-floor computers to change the COM ports to be the same as those on my development computer, but I’d prefer to be able to (again) change the default value of the COM ports in my .EXE.   However, I’m not sure how to do that.   The configuration VIs, have options for reading / writing Booleans, strings, paths, and numeric, but not, (so far as I can tell) for a VISA class.
Any thoughts / suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
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Answer 1

Dan_the_Clam wrote:
Thanks for your reply, Yamaeda,
Great that I can use a string to open a VISA session - I had no idea.  I'll try that.  
And - ah - you are right about the .INI files.  I just did an experiment in which I re-ordered the sections and randomly changed which letters were capitalized in the key values, and the "read configuration settings.VI" still read the file correctly.  Thanks for that.
Unfortunately, in my existing code, the controls on the block-diagram aren't all co-located together; they are scattered throughout the block diagram - some of them in case structures and loops.   I suppose that means I'll have to move them all to the left side of the block diagram, route them to these "Write Key.VIs" and then wire them up into the cases and loops with fairly long wires.   It's just a hassle, and is going to make my block diagram more complicated.  Well, I suppose that's how one learns...
Thanks again.
dan
Assuming you have a state machine and an Init state it's a fair use of Local Variables to update controls from the ini-file. The same goes for saving the values.
/Y
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