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Python node basics

Python , How to

Samuel Taggart

• 3 min read
Python node basics

I have been learning a bit about Python lately. I find it a nice complement to LabVIEW. Like LabVIEW it is very good for writing quick little scripts and rapidly prototyping things. Unlike LabVIEW, it is not strictly typed, which makes it rather interesting to me. A few years ago LabVIEW added a Python Node. I thought I would just throw together a few pieces of code to just demonstrate how it works.

The Railroad Tracks

The Python API in LabVIEW looks a lot like most other “railroad track” APIs in LabVIEW. You open Python session by supplying the Python version (note it only supports 2.7 and 3.6.8). That generates a refnum, which you can pass to call the Python node and then close.

NOTE: When installing Python, make sure you select the checkbox to add it to the path.

Example of how to call Python from LabVIEW
Here a little example of calling the length function inside len.py
def length(a):
    return len(a)

Python Node

The Python Node has several inputs. Of course you have to input a Python session. Then you also have to point it at the Python .py file you want to load and the specific function within that file that you want to run. That is just to set up the function call itself.

You also have to define the output datatype (which is the type of the return value). Then you have to expand it and wire up all of your inputs. Due to Python’s duck typing, the inputs (and the return type) will adapt to whatever you wire to them. If something goes wrong, Python will raise an exception which will get turned into a LabVIEW Error cluster if unhandled inside Python. You can expand the node to add more inputs.

Here is the context help

Playing around with VIMs

One of the cool things about the Python node is that since it adapts to type, if you call it inside a VIM then you can pass in virtually anything. (You may want to do some type checking here, depending on your use case.) I put together 2 examples. The first one just calls the len function to return the length of a list or string. So you can pass it a 1-D array (of any datatype) or a string and it will return the length. The next example is the plus operator. If you use the plus operator on 2 numbers, it will add them. If you pass it 2 strings it will concatenate them.

Testing a function that returns len(a)
def add(a,b):
    return a+b
By wiring input A into the return terminal we make sure that the output is the correct type.
Testing a VIM that calls function that returns a+b

Example code requires LV2020 and Python 3.6.8

Example Code

If you would like some help integrating Python code into LabVIEW, let’s talk.

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