Overview

This chapter introduces some of the powerful things you can do with strings. LabVIEW has many built-in string functions, similar to its array functions, which let you manipulate string data for screen display, for sending and receiving commands and data from instruments, or any number of reasons. You will also learn how to save data to and retrieve data from a disk file, including how to use the configuration file VIs to read and write to INI files. You will learn what the term "spreadsheet file" really means and what you need to know to allow users to open them in their external spreadsheet applications. You will also learn how regular expressions can help you easily find any pattern, such as email addresses, within a string.

Goals

• Learn more about options for string controls and indicators

• Understand how to use LabVIEW's string functions

• Convert numeric data to string data, and vice versa

• Use the file input and output (I/O) VIs to save data to a disk file and then read it back into LabVIEW

• Use the configuration file VIs to save and recall key-value pairs to and from configuration (INI) files