NI LabWindows™/CVI 2010 Improves ANSI C Developer Productivity and Simplifies FPGA Communication

12/20/2010

National Instruments announced NI LabWindows/CVI 2010, which includes features that build on the proven ANSI C test and measurement software platform to offer increased developer productivity and simplified field-programmable gate array (FPGA) communication. Additional announcements include the LabWindows/CVI 2010 Linux Run-Time Module and the LabWindows/CVI 2010 Real-Time Module that provide functionality to extend the development environment for deploying to Linux and real-time operating systems.

For added flexibility when building source code, ANSI C developers can use LabWindows/CVI 2010 to customize project build options beyond debug/release and 32-bit/64-bit predefined configurations. The software provides increased debugging efficiency by making it possible for developers to attach the LabWindows/CVI debugger to a running process, without having to restart the program. This gives developers additional insight into application failures and crashes. In addition, configuring multiple user interface controls is easier with a new feature for interactively and programmatically creating arrays of controls and performing iterative or batch operations. Developers also can increase test system longevity with smaller and more convenient distributions by creating patches for deployed installations.

LabWindows/CVI developers now can create host applications to communicate with FPGA technologies using the FPGA-Interface C API, a new integrated tool for generating C source files that can be used to interact with compiled LabVIEW FPGA VIs. This version of the software also delivers an improved source code editing experience with custom function panels for the FPGA-Interface C API. The LabWindows/CVI and LabVIEW FPGA Bundle provides developers with all the necessary software and hardware components for programming FPGAs on NI PXI reconfigurable I/O devices. This helps developers create sophisticated ANSI C host applications and perform unique timing and triggering routines, high-speed control, interfacing to digital protocols, digital signal processing, RF and communications.

The LabWindows/CVI 2010 Real-Time Module extends the LabWindows/CVI development environment to create reliable and deterministic applications that target dedicated real-time hardware. New features include USB thumb drive backup, restoration and replication, as well as a Web-based interface for configuration and monitoring of PXI real-time targets. The LabWindows/CVI 2010 Linux Run-Time Module includes up-to-date library support for compiling and running LabWindows/CVI applications on Linux operating systems. This module also offers support for the FPGA-Interface C API, making it possible for developers to take advantage of NI FPGA-based hardware on the Linux platform.

You can learn more about LabWindows/CVI 2010 by visiting www.ni.com/lwcvi/whats_new.htm.

National Instruments, www.ni.com