Sometimes, you might want to keep the resize window handle, such as cases where you use panes to create a status bar at the bottom of the window, as we do with VIPM (shown below).

While there’s no obvious way to do this in LabVIEW, you can use an image decoration (an image of the resize window handle) to achieve the effect.

To see an example, download this VI (LabVIEW 8.2 or greater): Show Resize Window.vi (zipped)

Having the world’s largest VI Package repository means that we can identify scaling problems before they start to affect our customers.  That’s why we identified some key bottlenecks when using VIPM to manage large repositories, and fixed them in VIPM 3.0.  The result is that VIPM 3.0 is faster than VIPM 2.0, especially when dealing with large numbers of packages.  Here are a few of the benefits you’ll see as a VIPM user:

Faster initial setup time for new VIPM users

In VIPM 2.0, you might have noticed that it could take several minutes for VIPM to download information from the VI Package Network about all the packages available.  Now, in VIPM 3.0, we’ve implemented lazy downloading of package information (see the lazy acquisition design pattern [PDF] for more info), which means that VIPM downloads only the information it needs, right when it needs it.

Faster “Check Network for Package Updates”

Another effect of the lazy downloading of packages (described above) is a faster check for package updates.

Faster Installation and use of VI Packages and VI Package Configurations

We’ve optimized the zipping and unzipping of VI Packages and VI Package Configurations.  We found some areas where we were using high-level OpenG Zip Tools functions, but there were more optimal ways to use some of the lower-level functions.  This means that saving and loading of VI Packages & VI Package Configurations is now a lot faster.  You’ll notice a big difference especially when working with large VIPC files.

Faster Package Search and Column Sorting

We noticed that when there were a lot of packages in VIPM’s package list, the search and column sorting got a little slow.  So, we took a close look and found some ways to optimize this.  This wasn’t rocket science; VIPM mostly just caches certain data now, rather than recalculating it every time the search/sort operation is performed.  The result is that searching your package list for the package you want will be more responsive with larger numbers of packages in your library.

We hope you find VIPM 3.0’s performance to be better than ever.  If you haven’t downloaded it already, what are you waiting for?  Get it now!

And, stay tuned for more articles about “What’s new in VIPM 3.0?“

One of the most important new features in VIPM 3.0 is the ability to create and manage your own VI Package Repository using VIPM Enterprise.  Now you can find, download, and install VI Packages of your team’s reusable code from a VI Package Repository located on your corporate network or the Internet.  Your developers will be able to install and use your VI Packages just as easily as they install and use packages from OpenG or JKI Software!

How Does It Work?

Sharing VI Packages with VIPM Enterprise is easy.  VIPM provides a Repository Manager window that lets you create a VI Package Repository on any standard file or web server.  Using the Repository Manager window, you can see what’s in your repository, add or remove packages from the repository, and manage users’ access to the repository.  To publish a package, just drag & drop a package file from Windows Explorer into the Repository Manager window.

Once the VI Package has been published to your VI Package Repository, VIPM users on your team will get a message from VIPM, telling them that the new package is available for download and installation into LabVIEW.

VIPM is so “Web 2.0″

As an added bonus, VIPM allows you to publish an RSS feed of your package releases, so your team can also receive notifications of package releases in any RSS reader (Outlook, Google Reader, Thunderbird, etc.).  Now go tweet your coworkers, telling them that your LabVIEW code reuse system is Web 2.0 compatible!

But that’s not all!  VIPM 3.0 includes other cool features, like:

• User Management — VIPM lets you control which users are authorized to access your VI Package Repository.
• VI Package Deprecation — VIPM lets you hide outdated packages from your users to discourage their use.
• VI Package Validation — VIPM calculates a cryptographic hash for every package, which allows users to verify that they have the official released version of a package for traceability purposes.
• much more…

I’ll be going over these features (and other VIPM 3.0 features) in future articles, so stay tuned.

If you haven’t downloaded VIPM 3.0 already, what are you waiting for?  Get it now!

VI Package Manager™ allows you to get your reusable LabVIEW VIs into the palettes, organized the way you want, in just minutes. It has powerful, easy-to-use features that make sure you’re always in control of your reusable VIs, without the worry of missing subVIs in your LabVIEW projects.  And, it allows you to share your reusable VIs with your entire team, over the network.

Want to hear what others are saying about VI Package Manager? See our Customer Quotes.

VIPM Community

• Install VI Packages
• Download free OpenG VIs
• Keyword search for VIs

VIPM Professional - In addition to all the features available in VIPM Community, VIPM Professional offers the following additional features:

• Create VI Packages
• Configuration Management of Projects
• Source Code Control  Integration

VIPM Enterprise – In addition to all the features available in VIPM Professional, VIPM Enterprise offers the following additional features:

• Network Package Sharing
• Team-based code reuse
• User Management

You can learn more about VIPM 3.0, as well as download it on the Web at: jkisoft.com/vipm

We’re very proud of this release and hope you find that it’s full of great new features that help you in your LabVIEW projects. Thank you for all your feedback and support.

The engineers at Endevo have put together a great video that shows how to use their UML Modeller with the JKI State Machine:

Click here to watch it.

And don’t forget, the JKI State Machine is a free tool from JKI Software.  You can always learn more about it at jkisoft.com, or install it in just a few clicks using VI Package Manager™.

Community Contributed RCF Plugins

• Build Array of References – builds an array control references on the block diagram for the selected FP controls or BD control terminals.
• Build Cluster of References – builds a typedef cluster of control references for the selected controls.
• Case Selector – allows you to view a list of frames in a Case Structure and select one outside of the native interface.  Also, reorder/copy/insert/delete frames easier than ever.
• Create Typedef From Constant – creates a typedef from a constant.
• Disabled Property – enable and disable selected FP controls.
• Explore… – Windows Explorer Plugin – Opens a explorer window with the VI or CTL selected.
• Insert Typecast – automatically inserts a typecast on selected wires if needed.
• Size Window to Contents – resizes the contents of the selected window to enclose its contents.

Hands-on Demo of the RCF at NIWeek 2009

If you’re coming to NIWeek 2009, make sure you check out JKI’s NIWeek 2009 Schedule and stop by the JKI Booth (#335) for a hands-on demo of the RCF and other JKI Software technology in action.  See you there!

Download and More Info

For more information about the JKI RCF including download, getting started, a how-to articles, please visit the JKI RCF Homepage.

We love NIWeek.  It’s a great opportunity for us to connect with the LabVIEW community and share ideas.   We’re busily finishing our preparations for NIWeek 2009 and want to call your attention to some of the can’t-miss events that excite us the most.

Note: You can also follow JKI Software on Twitter to stay up-to-date on any schedule changes or last-minute plans throughout the week (including impromptu foosball tournaments!). We look forward to seeing everyone in Austin in a few days!

JKI NIWeek 2009 Schedule

All Week

JKI Booth, (#335) by the Robotics Pavilion (see expo floor plan).  We’ll be there all week showing off our commercial products, like VI Package Manager, the JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW, EasyXML, and the JKI State Machine, as well as JKI Labs tools like VI Tester and the new JKI Right Click Framework. Drop by for a demo, or to get answers to your questions, or just to chat about whatever is going on at JKI and in the LabVIEW world!

Sunday

Evening/Night: Pre-conference warmup at The Ginger Man. If you’re in town Sunday night, drop by and grab a few beers before things get hectic! Note that The Ginger Man has moved since last year — it’s only a half-block away, but check their website for the new address.

Tuesday

12:00 PM (Tech Theater): LabVIEW Experts Panel – Jim Kring will be answering LabVIEW questions, with other LabVIEW experts.

8:00 PM: LAVA/OpenG NIWeek BBQ 2009 at Stubb’s BAR-B-Q. The yearly tradition. Come enjoy great BBQ with dozens of LAVA, OpenG, and NI personalities. (Special note from LAVA: Please pay via PayPal ASAP; see the linked LAVA thread for details.)

Wednesday

8:30 AM (Ballroom G): NIWeek Keynote – you definitely want to see this one!  And, make sure to keep your eye out for a world-premier demo of some amazing new tools from JKI Software.

10:30 AM-11:30 AM (Room 16B): TS1238-SW – LabVIEW Code Reuse for Teams and Large Projects, presented by Jim Kring. Abstract >> LabVIEW code reuse is a key component of team-based development, large project work, and knowledge sharing within an organization. Learn how to create a shared repository of reusable VIs and use analytics tools to report your organization’s software reuse metrics.

To download and install the demo version, purchase the toolkit, or for more information please visit http://jkisoft.com/tortoisesvn-tool/

That’s why we’re excited to announce the new JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW.

The JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW is a new JKI product that puts the power of TortoiseSVN into your LabVIEW Tools menu.

The JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW in use

TortoiseSVN, Without the Shell

The JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW adds a new TortoiseSVN submenu to the Tools menu in LabVIEW.  To invoke a given TortoiseSVN operation on the current VI, just select the command you want from the menu.

“But,” you may be saying to yourself, “it’s already easy to use TortoiseSVN from the Windows Explorer!  Why do I need to integrate it with LabVIEW?”  That’s a good question.  The JKI TSVN Tool solves a few significant problems that you may be so used to working around, you don’t notice them anymore!

• No more searching for a VI’s location on disk. To use TSVN in the Windows Explorer, you have to know where a given VI in LabVIEW’s memory lives on disk.  This requires you to stop thinking about your code, switch to Windows Explorer, find the window your VI lives in (or worse, open a new window & navigate to the right folder), and locate your VI.  With the JKI TSVN Tool, all you have to do is go to the Tools menu in the VI window you’ve already got open, select Commit… and then get back to work.
• No more manually syncing VIs after TSVN modifies them. Some TSVN operations can affect VIs that LabVIEW already has in memory.  For example, if you perform an SVN Update or Revert on a file on disk, you have to remember to also revert the file in LabVIEW.  At the very least, this is an annoying distraction.  But it can be downright painful if you forget to do it and discover an SVN Conflict (or worse, a corrupted VI) when you commit your code later!  The JKI TSVN Tool takes care of this for you.  When you do an SVN operation on a VI from the TSVN Tool menu, it automatically makes sure that your VI in memory is synchronized to the VI file on disk.
• It’s just easier. Mental context-switching is a productivity killer.  The JKI TSVN Tool for LabVIEW eliminates a lot of mini-context switches and helps you stay focused on solving the problems at hand.

There are other benefits to using the JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW, as well.  For example, if you want to see a VI’s SVN Log, simply go to Tools–>TortoiseSVN–>Show Log … This will allow you to see the commit history of your VI, in just a couple clicks, whenever you need it.  We’ve identified the SVN functions we use most often, and made them accessible from within your LabVIEW environment.

You can try the JKI TortoiseSVN Tool for LabVIEW for free.  So feel free to try it out and improve your LabVIEW and TortoiseSVN workflows today!

Watch a quick video: