Enabling Windows CE Devices with the LabVIEW PDA Module 7.0f1

November 2003

This document describes the requirements and installation instructions for enabling Windows CE devices for use with the LabVIEW PDA Module version 7.0f1. This document also contains information about building PDA VIs for Windows CE devices.

Device Requirements

Windows CE devices must meet the following requirements to work with the LabVIEW PDA Module 7.0f1.

Windows CE version 4.2 or higher
The Windows CE platform build for the device must have been built with the Standard SDK option enabled.
The device must use a StrongARM or XScale CPU.

Verified Devices

Windows CE devices that meet the above requirements should work with the LabVIEW PDA Module version 7.0f1, but National Instruments has only tested the following devices:

EVC Devices NP-600S
ADS BitsyX

Installation Instructions

Complete the following steps to enable Windows CE devices with the LabVIEW PDA Module 7.0f1.

Copy platmaninfo.exe, located in the same directory as this readme.html file, to a new directory on the host computer. platmaninfo.exe queries the Platform Manager for connected devices.
Open a DOS command prompt.
In the DOS command prompt, navigate to the new directory you created, and enter platmaninfo.exe > out.txt. This command runs platmaninfo.exe and saves its output to a new file, out.txt, in the same directory.
In Windows, open the out.txt file in the directory you created for platmaninfo.exe. This file enumerates every platform, device, and property associated with the platform manager. The following example shows a portion of an out.txt file.

Found HMI_MT606 (B1556EAA-A4FB-4F9D-9BA6-7DBFC777F163)

Found 1 devices:

Found Default Device (...)
The italicized text is the GUID, which uniquely identifies the device.
Locate the section for the Windows CE device you want to enable and copy the GUID to the clipboard.
Create a new text file in the LabVIEW 7.0\PDA directory and name it uuid.txt.
Open the uuid.txt file and add the GUID(s) to enable LabVIEW to recognize them. Make sure that the GUID is exactly as it appears in out.txt. If you are adding multiple devices, add one GUID per line.
Close uuid.txt file. If it is already open, restart LabVIEW to enable the LabVIEW PDA Module to access the device(s).

Building PDA VIs for Windows CE Devices

The LabVIEW PDA Module 7.0f1 patch includes a template VI, FlatPanel.vit you can use to create VIs for use with Windows CE devices. FlatPanel.vit has a 640 x 480 pixel front panel size and uses the 2x palette set for controls and indicators. You can replace the 2x controls and indicators with their equivalent standard LabVIEW controls and indicators if the objects on the front panel of the flat panel device are too large.

Refer to the National Instruments Web site for the latest information about the LabVIEW PDA Module.