Alphabetize Cluster Elements (ACE): A LabVIEW add-on for automatically alphabetizing cluster elements
ACE is a Quick Drop Keyboard Shortcut (QDKS) and a Shortcut Menu Plugin (SMP) for the LabVIEW development environment published by National Instruments (NI)
- LabVIEW 2015 or newer
- Caraya
- HTML Help Workshop (for compiling the help documentation)
- JKI State Machine
- LabVIEW 2018 or newer
- LabVIEW 2015 (for building)
- Labricator (only for automated builds, private package available upon request)
- OpenG Array Library
- OpenG File Library
- VIPM Pro (only for automated builds)
- VIPM API (only for automated builds)
The Caraya, JKI State Machine, OpenG Array Library, OpenG File Library, and VIPM API dependencies must be installed for all versions of LabVIEW (2015 and 2018) to avoid errors during automated builds.
A VI Package (VIP) is available on the National Instruments (NI) NI Tools Network. It is recommended to use the VI Package Manager published by JKI to install and update the library. Alternatively, the library can be installed by: (i) downloading the source code and building the VIP, (ii) downloading a VIP from the releases section of this project, (iii) manually copying the VIs from the source code into a project, or (iv) requesting a VIP from the authors.
Each component in the ACE project has a Source Distribution build specification. The destination of each source distribution build is the builds folder relative to the project root, i.e. same folder as the Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvproj file. Additionally, the output for the compiled help documentation is also the builds folder. The builds folder should not be included in the version control repository. A Build.vi script is available in the Scripts.lvlib project library that will build all of the components and the help documentation automatically (VIPM Pro is not needed, but the HTML Help Workshop is needed).
The VI Package Build (.vipb) specification, located in the configs folder relative to the project root, is configured for the package source to be the builds folder. Thus, the Source Distribution for each component must be built before opening the Alphabetize Cluster Elments.vipb file in the VIPM; otherwise, the package configuration will be lost.
Important, if creating a package for LabVIEW 2015 from LabVIEW 2018, the VI Server TCP/IP ports must be different for each version of LabVIEW and verified with the VIPM application before proceeding. An error will occur when the VIPM is started if both LabVIEW 2015 and 2018 are running at the same time. Basically, VIPM will not know which VI server to use if both versions of LabVIEW are using the same TCP/IP port.
If VIPM Pro is available, then open the Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvproj file in any version of LabVIEW newer than 2015 and run the Package.vi located in the Scripts.lvlib project library of the Project Explorer window. Ensure all dependencies are installed before running the Package.vi script.
Note, the version number for the package is set in the configs\Alphabetize Cluster Elements.vipb file. The version number in the VIP build specification file should be modified and saved before running the Package.vi script.
If VIPM Pro is not available, then the following steps can be executed to do essentially the same thing as the Package.vi script. Ensure all dependencies, except VIPM Pro and the VIPM API, are installed before completing these steps.
- Start LabVIEW 2018 or newer and open the
Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvprojfile. - From the Project Explorer window, File>>Save for Previous Version..., a new dialog will appear.
- Select 15.0 from the drop down menu.
- Click Save.... A new dialog will open.
- Create the
target\15.0folder hierarchy in the project root, i.e. the same folder as theAlphabetize Cluster Elements.lvprojfile, if it does not already exists. - Click Save.
- Close LabVIEW 2018 or newer and the
Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvprojfile. - Navigate to
<project root>\src. - Copy the
Helpfolder to<project root>\target\15.0\src. - Start LabVIEW 2015.
- Open the
<project root>\target\15.0\Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvprojfile. Do NOT open the project in any other version of LabVIEW. - Run the
Build.viin theScriptsproject library to build each Source Distribution under the "Build Specifications" tree item and the compiled help documentation file (Alphabetize Clsuter Elements.chm). The output of each build will be available in<project root>\target\15.0\builds. - Open the
<project root>\target\15.0\configs\Alphabetize Cluster Elements.vipbfile in VIPM. - Build the VI package with VIPM. The output will be available at
<project root>\target\15.0\packages. Do NOT modify anything in the package build specification, but ensure the "2015" version of LabVIEW is selected in the upper, right-hand corner of the VIPM application window. - Close VIPM.
- Close LabVIEW 2015 and the
<project root>\target\15.0\Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvprojfile.
See the in-app LabVIEW Help system for more information and documentation about using the QDKS, SMP, and API after it has been installed, or visit the web-based documentation. Examples are also available within the LabVIEW development environment using the "Help->Find Examples..." menu item.
Tests are written in LabVIEW using the Caraya unit testing framework and included in the project via the various Tests.lvlib project libraries and the tests on-disk folder. To run the tests, open the Alphabetize Cluster Elements.lvproj file found in the project root in the LabVIEW Development Environment and run the Test.vi script located in the Scripts.lvlib project library. This will run all of the tests defined in all of the various Tests.lvlib project libraries located in the project.
The Alphabetize Cluster Elements project is licensed under either the BSD-3-Clause or the Apache-2.0 license. See the docs folder for more information about licensing and copyright.