Creating an LabVIEW installer with LV_Link Library

[Blaze Tech]

Is there any documentation that steps through adding the LV_Link library to a LabVIEW installer?

[Jeffrey]

Go to the LabVIEW Block Diagram, Front panel, or the LabVIEW main page (shown here), and click on Help >> ULx for NI LabVIEW Help...

and then, go to the "Distributing a ULx for NI LabVIEW applications" topics for step by step instructions:

[Blaze Tech]

Thank you Jeffrey, but ULx is different from LV-Link. 
I have worked with ULx for a while and understand that process fairly well. LV_Link looks to be different.

[Jeffrey]

My mistake.

All I have.

[Blaze Tech]

Well isn't that interesting... You have a specific help item under your help tab. I don't have that. I will look in the LV-Link folder where it is installed. Maybe it is there.

Thanks for showing...

 

[Jeffrey]

Unlike ULx for NI LabVIEW, LV-Link only installs in one version of LabVIEW no matter how many versions of LV you have installed.

For me I have LV 2016 to 2022.  LV-Link only installed in LV 2020 (at the time that was the latest version NI had released).

[Blaze Tech]

I have it installed in the LabVIEW version I am using. What I am saying is that the help file you are pointing to isn't listed under the help tab.

 

[Jeffrey]

According to my system, the help file is located C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW xxxx\help\DT-LV_Link3.chm

where 'xxxx' is the version of LabVIEW.

This is the contents of that help topic (there are no links on that page)...

Building and Distributing an Executable

If you want to create a stand-alone executable of a VI that you have created, you need LabVIEW's Application Builder. The Application Builder is included as part of the LabVIEW Professional Development System and is also available as a separate option that you can purchase from National Instruments.

The Application Builder creates executables from user-specified files (such as VIs, libraries, documentation, data files, and so on) and saves individual build settings as part of the project file.

Note: If you are running a version of LabVIEW that is newer than 8.5.1 (32-bit) or 2009 (64-bit), you may get a warning message about "unsaved changes." In most cases, you will want to save the VI to run in the version of LabVIEW that you are using. However, once saved, the VI cannot be read in older versions of LabVIEW. If you decide to save the VIs, it is recommended that you do a mass compile, removing the read-only attribute of the VIs. Refer to your LabVIEW documentation for details.


To create an executable, perform the following steps:

Open the VI that you want to build into an executable.

From the Tools menu, click Build Application (Exe) from VI....
The default project name is displayed. If desired, you can change the default project name.

Click Continue.

Specify the application information, including the name of the build specification, the name of the executable you want to create, the destination directory of your executable, version information, and a description of your executable.
 

Note: If desired, you can customize settings, preview the file organization, and specify the languages that the application will support by clicking OK, and modifying the Build Specifications Properties dialog. See the documentation for the Application Builder for more information.

In LabVIEW 2009 and greater, ensure that you change the destination folder so that the executable is not located in the user.lib folder of LabVIEW; otherwise, errors will occur.

Click Build.
The Application Builder creates an executable of your project based on the specified build specifications.

After successfully building an executable, run your executable to verify that it works as designed. If desired, you can also create an installer for the executable using the Application Builder. See the documentation for the Application Builder for more information.

[Blaze Tech]

It's not there. I just had to download it from MCC DAQ.

Anybody reading this post from now on... just know that if you download the help file from MCC DAQ (https://www.mccdaq.com/Manuals), which is in CHM format, make sure you open the properties up and select "Unlock" near the bottom of the General tab. Otherwise the contents will show blank.

Jeffery, thank you for your help! More importantly, thank you for being so quick to respond!