Creating FlexLogger Plug-in using LabVIEW Project Template

The FlexLogger Plug-in Development Kit is a FlexLogger add-on designed for test engineers. You can use this add-on in LabVIEW to create plug-ins that perform custom in-line calculations and acquire data from third-party hardware devices.

This document introduces how to create plug-ins, directly accessible and usabble in FlexLogger, from LabVIEW projects templates.

 

1. To access FlexLogger Plug-in template in LabVIEW, you need to install FlexLogger Plugin Development Kit .Launch NI Package Manager and search for FlexLogger Plugin Development Kit.

 

2. Select and INSTALL the FlexLogger Plugin Development Kit version that is compatible with your FlexLogger and LabVIEW version.

 (Click here to check compatibility for LabVIEW, FlexLogger, and FlexLogger Plugin Development Kit.)

 

3. Follow the pop-up windows instructions to complete the installation.
4. Launch LabVIEW.
5. In LabVIEW, click File >> create project .

6. From the Create Project window, select FlexLogger IO Plug-in and click Finish.

7.  In the Create FlexLogger IO Plug-in window, update the IO Plug-in Name and select a Plug-in Template based on your goal.
8. (Optional)Update the Description and Destination Directory (Source) for the plug-in. By default, the wizard saves new plug-ins in

 My Documents\LabVIEW Projects\FlexLogger IO Plug-ins\ directory

7. CLick Create

Table 1 : FlexLogger Plug-in Templates

Goal	Pug-in Template	Data Flow
Create a plug-in that sends a setpoint value you enter in FlexLogger to a plug-in channel. A setpoint can have one value at a time. Control a third-party instrument with FlexLogger. For more information, refer to Read Setpoint Channels from FlexLogger. section	Consume setpoint data	User input → plug-in
Create a plug-in that consumes one or more waveforms from FlexLogger channels, performs a custom calculation, and produces a waveform of resulting data that can be logged in FlexLogger. In the template plugin, Calculates the minimum or maximum value of multiple input channels and produces a resulting waveform channel.	Perform calculation	(a) FlexLogger →plug-in and (b) plug-in → FlexLogger
Create a plug-in that generates waveform data and sends it to FlexLogger. The template plugin generates data for two channels with a constant value of 0.	Produce data for FlexLogger	plug-in → FlexLogger

                                         

10.  (Optional) Customize your plug-in using the methods described in the Plug-in Development section here .
11.  Expand Build specifications , click Build .  

12. Once the build is complete, click Done .

13. In the Project explorer window, select  File>>Save All to save your project.

After the build, a folder containing the plugin's packed library and XML files will be generated in the "Destination path" specified above. Flexlogger loads plugins from this folder on startup.


 

The created Plugin can be checked in FlexLogger Channel Specifications tab from Add Channel >> Plug-in . If the newly created Plugin is not displayed, restart FlexLogger.

Next Steps

• Add the plugin to your FlexLogger project - FlexLogger User Manual
• Using Plug-ins in FlexLogger - FlexLogger Plug-in Development Kit Help