The SAS Workshops Blog (Page 17)

Gitting Started With Git

What do you use for source code control? While I was asking everyone I met at NI Week about what frameworks they were using, I also started asking about source code control as well. Almost everyone I talked to universally said they were using some kind of source code control.

Frameworks

The case for using a standard framework

Why should I use a standard framework instead of my homebrew QSM, producer-consumer, etc architecture? I spent May 21-24 in Austin for NI Week (see my review here). If you have been following any of my recent posts and presentations, you will know that I have done a lot of

Conferences

NI Week 2018 Recap

NI Week 2018 is now over. I had a really great time. I saw a lot of great presentations and was able to meet and reconnect with lots of great people. We really do have a great community! I posted a quote on Linkedin recently that got a lot of

Book Reviews

Good Introduction to UML

UML Distilled by Martin Fowler Unified Modelling Language (UML) is a standard way of graphically describing and designing software. If you are like a lot of LabVIEW programmers (myself included) and are a physicist, scientist or engineer by training and not a computer scientist, you may not have been exposed

Conferences

One month to NI Week

This year NI week is May 21 through 24. This year I was lucky enough to get a presentation accepted. I will be presenting at 11:00am on Wednesday in room 15. Below is the title and abstract. SW Test: Test Strategies for Project Success: From DQMH to AF and

Frameworks , How to , Coding Philosophy

Simple DQMH Do's and Don'ts

Today’s post consists of some simple do’s and don’ts in order to get the most out of using the DQMH. The DQMH is a great tool, but like any tool, if you misuse it, you can create a mess. In a previous post, I mentioned Developer Dan

Conferences , Software tools

Actor Tester

Here is the video from my recent presentation in Madrid. Enjoy. Thanks to Jeffery Habbet for the recording.

Frameworks , Coding Philosophy

Build Your Framework On a Good Foundation

If you have been following any of my presentations at various NI events lately, you’ll know that one of my big focuses lately has been on the development process and frameworks. I just recently inherited a project from someone, let’s call him Developer Dan. Dan taught me a

Software tools , How to

Finding LabVIEW Version of a File

Since I do consulting, I often end up inheriting code. Often I get called in because someone had hired a LabVIEW developer to write some code for them and then the LabVIEW developer had disappeared, either retired or moved, or got another job or something similar. Luckily they usually leave

Frameworks , Webinars

Developer Series Presentation

Recently I was very lucky, in that National Instruments decided to use a presentation I put together for one of their Developer Series presentations. It’s a series of presentations on best practices for developing code in LabVIEW. Here is the video and below is the chat log. This is

Book Reviews

3 Marketing Books Worth Reading

We are all in Marketing. I know this blog is supposed to be about LabVIEW and automation, but if we’re honest, we are all in marketing. Whether you work for yourself as a consultant or if you work for an Alliance Partner or some large industrial company, you constantly

Conferences

eCLA Summit 2018 Quick Highlights

European CLA Summit in Madrid I had the pleasure of being able to attend the European CLA Summit last week in Madrid. It was my first time at the European Summit. Just like the Americas summit, it was kind of like drinking from a fire hose. The quantity and quality

Conferences

2018 European CLA Summit in 2 weeks

The European CLA summit will be taking place in 2 weeks in Madrid. I was luckily enough to be selected to be a speaker. Here is a brief teaser of what I am going to talk about.

Book Reviews

The software engineering book I should have read 10 years ago

I recently just finished reading “A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW” by Jon Conway and Steve Watts. The whole time I was reading it, I couldn’t help but think: “I wish I would have read this 10 years ago. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.” Background

OOP

NI Classes on Object Oriented Programming and Actor Framework

For those of you who want to take your programming to the next level, there are 2 classes coming ot Denver (actually the NI training facility in Louisville.) One is an introduction to LVOOP – LabVIEW Object Oriented Programming. It talks about how to apply Object-Oriented techniques to LabVIEW applications using

Conferences

National Instruments is coming to Denver.

National Instruments is coming to Denver next week. They are hositng 2 events at the Renaissance Boulder Flatiron Hotel in BroomField CO. On Tuesday October 31st they are hosting the Denver CLD Summit and on Wednesday November 1st they are hosting NI Developer Days. CLD Summit The CLD summit is

Software tools

Introducing Automatic Version Manager (AVM) for LabVIEW

Automatic Version Manager (AVM) for LabVIEW This video is a demo of some software I wrote called Automatic Version Manager for LabVIEW. AVM is a solution for dealing with multiple versions of LabVIEW installed on the same computer. If you have ever used multiple versions of LabVIEW on the same

How to

Graphics Design for LabVIEW: Tips and Tricks

Graphic design should be important to anyone who designs and sells software. The look and appearance of your final product makes an impact on what your users think of your software. You want it to look professional. Unfortunately, especially if you are an engineer turned LabVIEW programmer like me, you

How to , Software tools

Creating CHM Help Files

Help Files If you are not creating help files for your applications, you should seriously consider it. How many times have you written an application and then one of the users comes to ask you how to do perform some task in the software? When I was writing software for

How to , Software tools

Alternative to LabVIEW's Installer Builder

Most people who develop software in LabVIEW are familiar with the installer build process from within LabVIEW. If you haven’t built an installer from within LabVIEW, it is similar to building an executable. The first step is to build your executable. Next you right click on Build Specifications in

Conferences

Denver CLD Summit

CLD Summit 2016 I recently had the privilege of presenting at the Denver Certified LabVIEW Developer Summit or CLD Summit for short. It’s sort of a “meeting of the minds” of some of the highly skilled LabVIEW developers in Denver. It is one of the perks of being a

How to

Easy VPN

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. Why would you need one? Well, let’s backtrack to my previous post. My previous post was about how to setup a development server. It works great when I connect to it over my home LAN. Your home LAN, or local area network consists

How to , Linux , Software tools

Development Server Setup

Software Developers often use a development server which runs version control and bug tracking software. Version control systems, such as Subversion, keep copies of each iteration of the source code. This allows developers to roll back changes if need be to fix bugs or broken code. Bug tracking software, such

Software tools

Hidden Gems in LabVIEW

January ALARM Meeting Summary I recently made apresentation on Wednesday the 20th at the ALARM meeting. ALARM stands for Advandced LabVIEW Architects of the Rocky Mountains. This is a NI sponsored LabVIEW users group. We meet every other month alternating between Loiusville and Golden, Colorado. There is free food. Lots

Community

Plug for ALARM group

ALARM – "Advanced LabVIEW Architects of the Rocky Mountains" We have a very active LabVIEW usersgroup here on the Frontrange of Colorado, based in the Golden/Boulder area called ALARM, which stands for "Advance LabVIEW Architects of the Rocky Mountains". Don't let the name scare