Wrap It Up

Wrap It Up!

In this chapter, we looked at the role of the Internet and networks, and the different connectivity features LabVIEW offers: web-enabled VIs, network variables, XML, TCP/IP, UDP, ActiveX, AppleEvents, pipes, databases, and report generation.

We saw how LabVIEW's built-in web server allows you to easily monitor or publish your VIs on the Web. With the LabVIEW web server, you can simply type a URL in the web browser and instantly see an image or control a VI.

The new shared variables (on Windows) and the older DataSockets are protocols for effective network variables that easily share data between NI-based applications. With network variables, you can easily hook any front panel control or indicator into the shared variable, so other VIs or applications can publish or subscribe to that control. You can also use the DataSocket block diagram functions to share data.

Lower-level protocols, like TCP/IP and UDP, as well as .NET and ActiveX on Windows, are supported in LabVIEW. If you know about these protocols, you can use them for writing network or inter-application communication VIs.

We saw the importance of databases in the enterprise. Often you'll want to use a database to write and retrieve your LabVIEW data. You can use tools like LabSQL or the Database Connectivity Toolset to accomplish this.

And finally, we took a look at the report generation VIs for creating, saving, and printing reports in either HTML or RTF format.