LabVIEW large project development tools to improve quality

LabVIEW Large scale projects develop tools to improve quality

stay LabVIEW In related large-scale projects , Can cooperate with LabVIEW Some kits , To improve the quality of the project , Reduce the risk , Save time . Here is a general introduction .

Software engineering has many different forms and structures , Like the waterfall model , Spiral model , Extreme programming (xp) （XP） And agile processes （AgileProcesses）. chart 1 Medium V Models are probably the most common , The easiest to understand .

It can be seen from the figure that the development and verification processes in software engineering are closely related , This is because the development process of software engineering is composed of these organized development steps . Each of these steps requires strict methods and specifications , Before proceeding to the next step, it needs to be evaluated and implemented . and LabIVEW The development process of the project also follows this framework , So every step needs to be done professionally .

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have .

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chart 2

1 Requirements management software （RequirementsGateway）

Take a closer look at the picture above , We will find that it begins with the analysis of product requirements . This is a LabVIEW The first step in application design , It's also the most important part . In order to be consistent with customers in terms of product functions , Gathering requirements is essential . Only comprehensive 、 Fully understand the real needs of users , To ensure that designers can do what they should “ How to do it ”. Otherwise, it is likely that the project will go on to the later stage , Discover that the requirements are wrong , Need to redevelop , This will seriously affect the progress of the project . For large or critical systems , It is more important to define the requirements of each independent code module , Even how to test these code modules . Part of this process is to reach an agreement on how to be safe or do acceptable operations even if the hardware fails .

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Requirements management software （RequirementsGateway） It is a bridge between requirements document and application software , Used to provide requirements tracking and impact analysis .NI RequirementsGateway You can read the requirements in different documents . meanwhile NI Requirements Gateway Be able to capture information from executing applications , Determine which requirements have been implemented .

Requirements management software （RequirementsGateway） Link development and validation documents to formal requirements stored in documents and databases , It is a solution to meet requirements tracking . With this software , You can specify applications related to documentation requirements 、 Test and simulation module . In distinguishing this correlation , Requirements management software (Requirements Gateway) Capture tracking information , And cover for inspection and analysis 、 Conflict information provides an interface .NI Requirements management software can be used with NI LabVIEW、 be used for ANSI C Developed NI LabWindows/CVI、NI TestStand Test management software 、MATRIXx Design and development tools and some common requirements management and archiving tools work together , for example ,Telelogic DOORS、IBM Rational RequisitePro and Microsoft Word etc. .

2． Testing and debugging

Testing and debugging software is often an important part of the development process , When developing large projects , Checking code manually is obviously time-consuming and labor-intensive . So static code analysis tools , for example ：LabVIEW VI Analyzer Toolkit Is a typical example used to check the source code , It can help find out some possible problems in advance . It mainly involves code style , organization , Skills, etc . Dynamic code analysis tools , for example ：LabVIEW Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit It can help to obtain the low-level execution details during code execution , Help developers locate the cause of the problem .

And automated tools such as ：LabVIEWUnit Test Framework It can be used to test complex software . Automating this process reduces the time developers spend on testing and enables exhaustive testing . This not only ensures high-quality software generation , meanwhile , Save money and reduce the time developers spend performing tests by finding problems early .

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LabVIEW VI Analysis Kit （LabVIEW VI Analyzer Toolkit）

LabVIEW VI The analysis toolkit can help us realize the static analysis of code , Commonly used in Code Review before , The programmer passes LabVIEW VI The analysis toolkit checks whether there are some programming specification errors in its own program , These errors may lead to more serious errors .

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The way to start this toolkit is very simple , stay LabVIEW Find... Under the tools menu VI Analyzer Can start , You can also right-click a... Directly in the project browser VI, choice Analyze VIs. Then check the items to be checked , You can run the tool .

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LabVIEW Desktop execution tracking toolkit （LabVIEWDesktop Execution Trace Toolkit）

LabVIEW The desktop execution trace toolkit is a dynamic code analyzer , Engineers can use... At runtime , Detect and locate problems in your code that may affect performance or cause unexpected behavior . It shows when the program executes , Events that occur in sequence , Queue operation , Citation leaks , Memory allocation , Unhandled errors and children VI Implementation, etc . Highlight individual events , Provides more information for Engineers , Such as call chain , Threads ID and CPU The number of , To help them debug and optimize their LabVIEW Code . They can also double-click various events to highlight the corresponding block diagram object .

stay LabVIEW Start in LabVIEW Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit, You can use the project browser , Right click My Computer From the menu bar choice Trace Execution . After opening this tool , It has set up a system for all VI Monitoring during execution .

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The toolkit can also optionally track programs on remote computers . besides , We have also heard of Real-time Execution Trace Toolkit, It can be seen that it should be right RT A tool for analyzing programs in a system , You can study how to use it by yourself .

LabVIEW Unit test framework toolkit （LabVIEWUnit Test Framework）

about LabVIEW For developers , stay LabVIEW Environment , There are many tools and many other software engineering tools for advanced testing and code analysis . Mention here LabVIEW Unit test framework toolkit （LabVIEW Unit Test Framework）, It can be used to automate unit tests , Requirements based validation and regression testing VI.

Use LabVIEW Unit test framework toolkit ,LabVIEW Our development engineers can enable requirements - based testing and verification VI Process automation of . Engineers can specify test cases , Define the input and compare the result after execution with the expected output , Implement software function and regression test .HTML Including reporting function , Can be generated automatically ,ATML/ XML or ASCII Format , This is a valuable record , Verification file for the normal operation of the application . LabVIEW The unit test framework toolkit also works with NI Requirements management software is integrated , To help engineers manage requirements documents for software testing , Track the coverage and understand the impact of changes .

stay LabVIEW Create a UTF test , Right click to be tested in the project browser VI, And select ‘Unit Tests’ A menu item . choice ‘New Test’ Create a new file , extension .lvtest. As shown in the figure below ：

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The next step is to set up test cases , Define the input and compare the result after execution with the expected output , Implement software function and regression test .UTF Make it possible to test without modifying the program .

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UTF in , The test case setting interface is shown in the figure 10, Define the input value , And expected output . And then run UTF The expected output value will be compared with the actual running result , And generate reports . You can also create a new , To add multiple test cases , Design different test conditions .

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In the item attribute configuration box , choice Unit Test Framework bar , You can set UTF Format of report generation , As shown in the figure below , Yes .xml,.html,.txt Three formats .

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3. Source code control （SourceCode Control）

For large projects developed by many people , Source code management is essential . The main functions of source code management include source code backup 、 version control 、 Source code merging, etc .LabVIEW Although it does not have the function of source code management , But you can easily call common source code management tools （ Such as Perforce、Virtual、SourceSafe etc. ） To achieve the above functions .

With Perforce For example ,Perforce It's a commercial software , Official homepage ：http://www.perforce.com/, They define Perforce Configure the management system for the software . General abbreviation P4, The system consists of a server , Client composition , It also includes several mediation servers (Proxy Server). The client will have GUI Interface , Command line interface ,Web Interface .

If the computer is equipped with Perforce The client of the software , It's in LabVIEW Of the options dialog box “ Source code control ” You can choose Perforce As a source code control tool .

With source code control, you can put a VI Different versions are recorded in the development process , such , Editors can reply to a previous version at any time as needed . You can also compare the differences between the current version and the previous version , Help developers determine whether recent changes are correct . If recent changes are not correct , You can discard the current version , Use a previous stable version instead .

Develop a large 、 complex LabVIEW Applications , It is usually impossible for an engineer to do it alone . Development of most large applications , There will be many engineers working together . therefore , Developing an effective workflow or work framework will be of great help to the development of large-scale projects .

In addition to the content introduced in this article , In the process of project development, we should also be good at using various tools to facilitate our development and management . Such as the well-known project browser 、 Library usage , There is also the division of modules in the process of program design , Object-oriented design ideas . Welcome to have new additions , Discuss together .

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