PowerPoint for future use

There will be lots of figures in the presentation and usually the total slides are limited in 25. The solution is in 'animation':
shrink ... customized path ... new figure appear

-- i guess this is from LabVIEW HYATT workshop.

LabVIEW workshop in Hyatt

The general new features about LabVIEW 8
1. Project concept. It is good for team work.  The 'public', 'private' features make it better to manage the vi files. Think about the former EE project and there are so many sub-vis and they are so messy to give to others.
2. Some new structures to 'disable' some components to run.
3. Custimized short-cut. (only for graphic?)
4. Remote dubugging.

modified the labview code for EE462G

the freq program cannot save .lvm file. The reason is that it generates data out of for loop, then change back to zero again. I used a shift register to the for loop to solve this problem.

Waveform chart display modes

The waveform chart has three update display modes:

* Strip chart mode- The display continues to scroll to the right like a paper strip chart. When the data reaches the right side of the display, data on the left disappears.
* Scope chart mode - When the data plot reaches the right side of the display, the display goes blank and starts over from the left side of the display.
* Sweep chart mode - Is like the scope chart, but when the data plot reaches the right side of the display, a moving vertical line that moves across the display marks the beginning of new data.
http://attila.sdsu.edu/me295/modules/labview/charts/connect.html

Stay on top

Window Appearance: model mode. The window will stay on top. That is what I want for the LV program.
Several customized icons:

LabVIEW trivialness -6

1. Wire two arrays of different sizes to the Add function, the result size is the size of the smaller input array

Use the Add function to add a scalar value to an array, the function adds the scalar value to each element of the array.
2. You can wire an error cluster to the conditional terminal of a While Loop to stop the iteration of the While Loop. When you wire the error cluster to the conditional terminal, only the True or False value of the status parameter of the error cluster is passed to the terminal. When an error occurs, the While Loop stops.
3a. The waveform graph accepts a single array of values and interprets the data as points on the graph and increments the x index by one starting at x=0 . The graph also accepts a cluster of an initial x value, a delta x , and an array of y data

3b. A multiplot waveform graph also accepts a cluster of an x value, a delta x value, and a 2D array of y data.

3c. A multiplot waveform graph accepts a 2D array of values
3d. A multiplot waveform graph accepts a cluster of an initial x value, a delta x value, and an array that contains clusters,each cluster contains a point array that contains the y data. You also can use the Build Cluster Array, which creates arrays of clusters that contain inputs you specify

4. The single-plot XY graph accepts a cluster that contains an xx array and a yy array. The XY graph also accepts an array of points, where a point is a cluster that contains an x value and a y value
5. The multiplot XY graph accepts an array of plots, where a plot is a cluster that contains an x array and a y array. The multiplot XY graph also accepts an array of clusters of plots, where a plot is an array of points. A point is a cluster that contains an x value and a y value

Embed one LV program to another one

The embeded program: file->vi properties->window appearance->show front panel when called.
Propertiy node for a VI file?

NI GPIB-USB-B

NI GPIB-USB-B
NI-488.2 (Win32) Version 2.3 for Windows 2000/XP
NI-VISA Version 3.3

LabVIEW trivialness -5

1. You can build arrays of numeric, Boolean, path, string, waveform, and cluster data types. You cannot create an array of arrays. However, you can create an array of , where each cluster contains one or more arrays. You can create an array constant on the block diagram.
2. You can use two For Loops, one inside the other, to create a 2-D array. The outer For Loop creates the row elements, and the inner For Loop creates the column elements
3. If you enable auto-indexing on an array wired to a For Loop input terminal, LabVIEW sets the count terminal to the array size so you do not need to wire the count terminal. If you enable auto-indexing for more than one tunnel or if you wire the count terminal, the count changes to the smaller of the two. If this case happens in While loop, the loop will keep running with '0' comes in.
4. Bundling several data elements into clusters eliminates wire clutter on the block diagram and reduces the number of connector pane terminals that subVIs need. you must unbundle all cluster elements at once rather than index one element at a time
5. Typically, functions use numeric error codes, and VIs use an error cluster, usually with error inputs and outputs.

LabVIEW trivialness -4

1. A coercion dot indicates that LabVIEW coerced the numeric representation to match the numeric representation of another number. The functions coerce the smaller representations to the widest representation before execution, and LabVIEW places a coercion dot on the terminal where the conversion takes place.
2. Error cluster contains the following information:
Boolean to report whether error occurred, reports True if an error occurred.
Integerto report a specific error code. A non-zero error code coupled with a status of False signals a warning rather than a fatal error.
Stringto give information about the error
3. Do not wire through structures if the data in the wire is not used in the structure. Link
4. Avoiding coercion dots can reduce unnecessary memory usage and speed. Coercion dots indicate that LabVIEW converted the value wired to the node to a different representation, which means that LabVIEW made a copy of the data. The effects of coercion dots become more dramatic when you have large arrays of data of inconsistent data types.
5. SubVI Advantages:
– Modular
– Easier to debug
– Don’t have to recreate code
– Require less memory
6. Cluster: Bundling several data elements into clusters eliminates wire clutter on the block diagram and reduces the number of connector pane terminals that subVIs need
7. For loop: 'enable indexing' is default
While loop: 'disable indexing' is default
8. Express VIs, VIs, and functions' color on the block diagram: By default, icons for Express VIs appear on the block diagram as expandable nodes with icons surrounded by a blue field. Icons for VIs have white backgrounds, and icons for functions have pale yellow backgrounds. By default, subVIs appear as icons on the block diagram, and Express VIs appear as expandable nodes.
9. Convert a section of a VI into a subVI by using the Positioning tool to select the section of the block diagram you want to reuse and selecting Edit>>Create SubVI
10. While Loop always executes at least once.
11. Use the Feedback Node to avoid unnecessarily long wires

SPICE

SPICE(Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) is a computer program developed by the University of California at Berkeley(Nagel, 1975). SPICE enables the designer to predit how a given circuit will function. By itself, it is not a design(synthesis) program, since it does not create a circuit to produce desired performance parameters; it is an analysis tool that predicts the behavior of a circuit that is fed into it.

LabVIEW and Windows API

1. Develeper Zone Example: Windows API Function Utilities (32-bit) for LabVIEW (search)
2. Where Can I Get Help Calling Windows API Functions from LabVIEW?

LabVIEW trivialness -3

1. A strip chart shows running data continuously scrolling from left to right across the chart. A scope chart shows one item of data, such as a pulse or wave, scrolling partway across the chart from left to the right. A sweep chart is similar to an EKG display. A sweep chart works similarly to a scope except it shows the older data on the right and the newer data on the left separated by a vertical line.

2. Array index is in the range 0 to n-1, where n is the number of elements in the array.
3. virtual channels: A collection of property settings that include a physical channel, the type of measurement or generation specified in the channel name, and scaling information
4. Waveform chart: get one data and show one data, can be used inside loop.
Waveform graph: get all data to an array, jump out of the loop to graph

LabVIEW trivialness -2

1. Print: You can print to printer, HTML, Plain Text and RTF file.
2. Delay in while loop will free up the CPU
3. Cluster constant: either drag from front panel to block diagram or right-click ->create constant in block diagram
4. connector pane defines the inputs and outputs you can wire to the VI so you can use it as a subVI. The assignments of terminal happen at front panel.
5. Tunnels feed data into and out of structures
6. Each time you click the Step Over button, the current node executes and pauses at the next node. When a blinking border surrounds the entire block diagram, click the Step Out button
7. Express VIs: interactive VIs with configurable dialog page, Standard VIs: modularized VIs customized by wiring, Functions: fundamental operating elements of LabVIEW; no front panel or block diagram
8. SubVI can be viewed as cion, expandable node or expanded node

LabVIEW trivialness - 1

1. For and While loop, the default is 'enable indexing'. The index number 'i' is same as C, means from 0 to N-1.

2. The index of array is from zero too.
3. The maximum number of terminals available for a subVI is 28.
4. Like an array, a cluster is either a control or an indicator. A cluster cannot contain a mixture of controls and indicators. It gets rid of the limit of 28 of subvi terminals.
5. Cluster elements have a logical order unrelated to their position in the shell. The first object you place in the cluster is element 0, the second is element 1, and so on. If you delete an element, the order adjusts automatically.
6. Subvi and Help window: In the Context Help window, required terminals appear bold text, recommended terminals appear as plain text, and optional terminals appear dimmed.

LabVIEW: Oscilloscope (Tektronix TDS3012B) waveform scale

1. For input CH1, the amplitude of the signal which is generated from function generator (Tektronix AFG310) ranges from 1 to 10 (20 for dual sides)and the value is an interger. Just check if the amplitude is greater than 5 and use CH1:SCA xxx to scale it (e.g if xxx=3, the waveform will reduce 3 tims. If xxx=0.2, the waveform will enlarge).
2. For output CH2, the amplitude could be any values

TDS3012B Driver

Tektronix TDS3012B Driver for LabVIEW7

TDS3k(300?) User
Developing Remote Front Panel LabVIEW Applications

VISA

Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) is the lower layer of functions in the LabVIEW instrument driver VIs that communicates with the driver software

TDS3012B Driver

Tektronix TDS3012B Driver for LabVIEW7
TDS3k(300?) User
Developing Remote Front Panel LabVIEW Applications

NI-DAQ 7.4

Simulate NI-DAQ

Download NI-DAQ 7.4