Update Switch Configuration from Switch Executive 2.1 to 3.5

Question

Hi everybody,
I tried to update from Switch Executive 2.1 to 3.5 and had to find out, that my configurations have stoppped working. To me, it looks like 3.5 doesn't like my IVI configuration for the switching modules.
The Verify function in MAX tells me that the PXI cards are not accessible. The frontpage of the switch configuration shows no configurations / terminal blocks.
Since the configuration consists of nine matrix cards with a lot of hardwires, I'd really appreciate a way to properly import the old configurations (xml files are available)
Any ideas?
Cheers
Oli
Programming languages don't create bad code, programmers create bad code....
Solved!
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Answer 1

Hey Oli,
Background:
By default, NISE 3.5 and later use the DAQmx API (instead of IVI) to directly control switch modules.  This is different from previous versions, which required setting up an IVI session for each NI Switch module.  You can still use IVI with NI Switch modules in NISE 3.5 and later, but this is not the default behavior.
The KB Sebastian referenced lists three different upgrade paths to use exported IVI Virtual devices in NISE 3.5 and later.  As you've discovered, NISE 2.1 has fewer export formats, so we'll need to take the following steps:
Assumptions:
You have virtual devices created in NISE 2.1 (file format doesn't matter).
IVI Sessions and Logical names haven't been setup on your NISE 3.5 machine:
Action items:
Create IVI sessions and logical names.  You could manually create the IVI sessions (as mentioned in the KB), but there's a MUCH easier method:
Right click on the NISE Virtual Devices tab and select 'Create New':
Click the 'auto create IVI devices' button.  A dialogue will pop up... just click yes:
The NISE Create Virtual device window should now look like this:
Notice that we now have IVI devices.  Sweet!  So now just click cancel (yes, cancel)... we only used this dummy virtual device to simplify the IVI creation process.
If you look in MAX, it'll appear as if there still aren't any IVI devices:
Fear not, all we need to do is refresh.  To do this, hit F5, and voila!:
So now all you need to do is change the IVI Logical name to whatever your old IVI Logical name was and then import as normal. 
At this point, you should be operational using IVI devices in NISE 3.5 (if not, post up).  If you'd like to go one step further and upgrade to purely DAQmx calls, just follow the steps in the 'Upgrading from IVI to NI-DAQmx' section.  Note that once you've upgraded to DAQmx, you'll only be able to use exported Virtual devices with NISE 3.5 and later.
Have a great day!
-John Sullivan
Analog Engineer