Software recommendation

Question

I need to create a user interface software on a PC running Windows XP or Windows 7. The software needs to send and receive short data strings on a single RS232 port for controlling a custom RS232 instrument. The data strings are less than 10 bytes of ASCII and are not packetized with checksums. The user interface needs just a few soft buttons to send commands and a few windows to display voltage and current readings from the RS232 port. Click a button, see a reading.
I do not have software to write this application, still need to buy it. The software should be easy to learn and use so I spend less time trying to learn the software and get the job done quickly. I have no prior PC software writing experience but >30yrs in firmware. Might be crazy asking this question in a LabView forum but is LabView a good software to use for this? Any specific versions to look for?
Alex
Los Angeles

Answer 1

Alex7210 wrote:
Might be crazy asking this question in a LabView forum but is LabView a good software to use for this? Any specific versions to look for?
That kind of depends on your definition of crazy...
Obviously, asking this in a LabVIEW forum will provide more positives than negatives. Since you have a background in firmware I'm guessing your background is with eihter C or assembly language. Given that, the programming paradigm in LabVIEW is not the same. LabVIEW is a dataflow language, not a procedural language, like text-based programming. Dataflow means a node executes when data is present - it doesn't matter whether it's to the left of another node, above it, or below it. A lot of people who start out in LabVIEW don't get this and they try to program LabVIEW as if it were C. C++ experts will tell you the same thing if you're starting in C++ and come from C: don't program C++ as if it were C.
If you were to purchase LabVIEW you'd get the most recent version, which is LabVIEW 2010. However, I think you might be asking about a specific edition, as in whether to get the Base, Full, Professional, or Developer Suite. I can tell you one thing here: don't get the Base. The Base does not include the event structure which you will almost certainly need. For RS-232 you would be using NI-VISA, which is a separate item, albeit it's free. Thus, the Full should suffice for what you're doing. NOTE: you did not indicate whether you are planning to build this into an application for distribution. If so, that requires the Application Builder. The Full edition does NOT include the Application Builder - you would need to buy that separately. The Professional Edition comes with the Application builder.
LabVIEW comes with a lot of examples (including ones for serial communication), and for what you're doing you'd best be served by using a standard programming design pattern, such as the state machine or the producer-consumer. For what you're doing a simple producer-consumer would be quite effective.
Your best bet to see if LabVIEW is right for you is to download the demo - you can use it for 30 days. Please note that the demo is the Professional edition. There are also tutorials available in the introduction material, and other material in the NI Developer Zone's Learning Center which provides links to other materials and other tutorials. You can also take the online courses for free.
Now, with all that said I would be remiss in saying that you can also do this quite easily with another development environment, such as C, or .NET. The big advantage with this method is that Microsoft makes available Express editions of their .NET development tools for free.
Ultimately, it comes down to what your budget is, and what you feel most comfortable in.