NI enhances Labwindows/CVI software

National Instruments has announced Labwindows/CVI 9.0, the latest version of the ANSI C development environment for building reliable test and measurement solutions.

It includes an improved compiler and debugger, which speed test development and throughput, and introduces features for real-time systems to deliver application reliability.

For more than a decade, Labwindows/CVI has provided automatic array bounds to identify memory errors that can cause unexpected behaviour.

Building on the history of delivering advanced user-protection features not standard in C, Labwindows/CVI now includes an integrated tool, the Resource Tracking Window, to locate potential resource leaks that can decrease system performance over time.

Engineers can expect to see between 20 per cent and 50 per cent improvement in large application compile times and could see more than an 80 per cent improvement based on project characteristics with new support for pre-compiled headers in Labwindows/CVI 9.0.

After debugging, engineers can further speed the execution and increase test application throughput by using the latest Intel, Microsoft and Borland optimised compilers to compile code within the Labwindows/CVI environment.

Specifically, engineers can use configuration templates for the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 optimised compiler to produce faster running code, increasing the throughput of automated test applications.

With the Labwindows/CVI real-time module, support for watchdog timers and the Datalight Reliance file system, engineers can also design applications that deterministically respond to failures and preserve valuable test data.

In addition, Labwindows/CVI 9.0 enables developers to stay up to date with the latest C technologies with more comprehensive support for the ANSI C99 language standard, including support for variable length arrays.

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