Many of our customers require password-protection on certain parts of their programs. Below is an example of a log-in screen from a recent program. There can be any number of “security levels” (although it is common to have “operator”, “engineer” and “administrator”) and passwords may be assigned for each user or for each level. If left in a high level inadvertently, the software can be made to drop down to the lowest level after a period of inactivity. Continue reading
The On-Screen Keyboard supplied with Windows is often too small for comfortable operation. A LabVIEW-based alternative is shown below. Of course, this can be modified in a large number of ways. Here is an example from one of our programs. Continue reading
Making a program configurable enables it to be used in many ways (e.g. with many different products). The example below comes from a program that has over 60 configurable parameters! Continue reading
It is often helpful to be able to run a process either automatically or in “manual mode”. If the system is displayed as a mimic in the program, manual mode becomes much more intuitive and there is less chance of making a mistake. Continue reading
LabVIEW code running on a real time processor or on an FPGA (for example, in a CompactRIO system) can run with extremely precise timing that is unaffected by delays caused by Windows. Actions can be timed to less than a tenth of a microsecond! Continue reading
A process often needs to be configured as a series of steps. A collection of steps for a complete process is sometimes called a “recipe”. The example below shows: Continue reading
A simple chart cannot be used to display a pressure of 1E-5 mbar and a temperature of 200°C because the temperature will just be a flat line at the bottom of the chart. In recent years, we have used 4 different ways of getting round this problem. One such solution is shown below, where we have: Continue reading
For a number of years, our LabVIEW programmers have written LabVIEW programs that can be configured to run in “simulation” mode or in “hardware” or “real” mode. “Simulation” mode means that the software generates dummy data rather than accessing any hardware, although otherwise it functions in the same way as hardware mode. It can be useful for our own debugging and diagnostic purposes. However, recently we have found that several of our customers are keen on using simulation mode for training and marketing purposes. Continue reading