LabWindows/CVI - the First Complete, Multiplatform C Development
Environment for Instrumentation 

Windows and Sun Solaris Software Evolves from Popular LabWindows for DOS
for Developing Integrated Data Acquisition, Analysis, and Presentation
Programs

September 1, 1993 -- Austin, TX - National Instruments announced today its
new LabWindows/CVI (C for Virtual Instrumentation) scientific and
engineering software for developing instrumentation applications using the
ANSI C programming language under both Microsoft Windows for PCs and
Solaris for SPARCstations from Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation
(SMCC). The new software expands on the development philosophy introduced
in National Instruments LabWindows for DOS software, which continues to be
the leading DOS-based software package for developing C and BASIC
instrumentation programs.

The software is an automatic code-generation package designed for engineers
and scientists who want to use traditional programming tools for
developing instrumentation systems. LabWindows/CVI is a 32-bit,
multiplatform development environment that includes all of the tools
required to build C-compatible test, measurement, and control applications
using Windows on a PC, or X Window System on a UNIX-based SPARCstation.
With LabWindows/CVI, any C programmer - from novice to advanced - can
quickly and easily build instrumentation applications on these platforms.
The LabWindows/CVI C development environment includes a built-in ANSI C
compiler, linker, debugger, variable trace display, and memory checking
capabilities.

The LabWindows/CVI development environment also includes built-in libraries
for performing data acquisition, analysis, and presentation. Programmers
can quickly and easily design graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with the
LabWindows/CVI User Interface Editor. Setting up and controlling GPIB,
VXI, and RS-232 instruments using more than 300 ready-to-use instrument
drivers is also simplified, thanks to the ease of porting programs between
LabWindows for DOS and LabWindows/CVI. The Windows version of
LabWindows/CVI also controls the National Instruments plug-in data
acquisition (DAQ) and SCXI signal conditioning hardware. The analysis
library includes over 200 functions for signal processing, filtering,
windowing, statistics, curve fitting, interpolation, and matrix algebra.
Interprocess communication is possible with TCP/IP on the PC and the Sun,
and with dynamic data exchange (DDE) capabilities under Microsoft Windows
on the PC.

Programs developed with LabWindows/CVI are completely portable between
Windows and Solaris. And, existing users of DOS-based LabWindows can run
their C programs in LabWindows/CVI under Microsoft Windows or Sun Solaris
with little or no modification.

In LabWindows/CVI, users create applications, or projects, that consist of
several source components or files. Because LabWindows/CVI has an open
system architecture, users are free to choose from existing C source
files, object modules, and dynamic link libraries (DLLs) to build their
projects. The Windows version of LabWindows/CVI is compatible with object
modules compiled with the WATCOM C compiler. The Sun version is compatible
with modules compiled with the Sun ANSI C compiler (acc) or the public
domain GNU C compiler (gcc).

Target Users and Applications 

LabWindows/CVI is targeted at end-users familiar with C programming;
existing LabWindows customers who want to move from DOS to Windows on the
PC or to the SPARCstation; system integrators requiring an open,
extensible development environment; and suppliers developing automated
test equipment and process control systems. Developers can combine
LabWindows/CVI, the company's instrumentation hardware, and a Windows PC
or UNIX SPARCstation to create a custom instrumentation system for
laboratory automation, automated testing, research and development,
factory automation, calibration, mechanical engineering, and process
monitoring and control. Target industries include electronics, automotive,
aerospace, foods, textiles, petrochemical, pulp and paper, metal,
pharmaceutical, medical, and environmental monitoring.

LabWindows/CVI Compatibility with National Instruments Hardware 

The Windows version of LabWindows/CVI controls National Instruments
instrumentation hardware for PC/XT/AT/EISA and PS/2 computers. Instrument
control interfaces include products for GPIB and VXI instrument control.
Plug-in DAQ boards for real-world signal acquisition include models that
perform analog-to-digital conversion, digital-to-analog conversion,
digital input/output, and timing input/output. LabWindows/CVI also works
with the company's SCXI signal conditioning hardware for amplifying,
multiplexing, and isolating signals.

National Instruments instrumentation hardware for the SPARCstation will
also work with LabWindows/CVI. Instrument control products include an SBus
GPIB interface board, an external GPIB-to-SCSI interface, a MXIbus
interface for controlling MXI-equipped VXI and VME systems, and the
GPIB-ENET/Sun for communicating with and controlling IEEE 488 devices from
anywhere on an Ethernet-based TCP/IP network. The company is currently
developing Sbus DAQ hardware for the SPARCstation, and expects the first
products to be available by the end of the year.

Configuration Requirements 

The minimum configuration for LabWindows/CVI running on Windows is a 386/33
with 387 coprocessor, 8 MB RAM, 20 MB hard disk space, DOS 5.0, and
Windows 3.1. For most applications, National Instruments recommends using
a 486/33 with Super VGA display.

The minimum Sun configuration is a SPARCstation with 24 MB main memory, 32
MB disk swap space, 20 MB disk space for the application and associated
files, Solaris 1.x or 2.x, and MIT's X Window System Version 11 Release 5.
LabWindows/CVI will run under Motif or Open Look.

Price, Availability, and Upgrading from LabWindows 

The LabWindows/CVI Full Development System for Windows will be available in
November for $1,995. It includes the DAQ Library, GPIB Library, Instrument
Library, Analysis libraries, User Interface Library, Utility libraries,
and the standard ANSI C libraries. A base package, priced at $995,
includes all of the above libraries except the Advanced Analysis Library.
A special LabWindows/CVI VXI Development System for Windows, which
includes all of the LabWindows/CVI VXI and GPIB instrument drivers and VXI
controller library, will sell separately for $3,995. A Windows NT version
of LabWindows/CVI will be available in the first quarter of 1994.

LabWindows/CVI for the Sun will be available in December for $3,995 for a
single-user, floating license. It includes the GPIB Library, Instrument
Library, Analysis libraries, User Interface Library, Utility libraries,
and the standard ANSI C libraries. The LabWindows/CVI VXI Development
System for the Sun, which includes all of the LabWindows/CVI VXI and GPIB
instrument drivers and VXI controller libraries, will be available
separately in December for $4,995. Multi-user site licensing will also be
available.

Existing LabWindows users can upgrade to the Windows version of
LabWindows/CVI for $495 and to LabWindows/CVI for the Sun for $2,495.

National Instruments
6504 Bridge Point Parkway, Austin, TX 78730-5039
(512) 794-0100,  (800) 433-3488,   Fax: (512) 794-8411

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