Auto Backup

Administrator: eodickens

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This application will do automated saves of all changed vi's in memory at intervals to a specified directory. I have now released new versions for LabVIEW 6.1 and 7. Each LabVIEW version has it's own Backup version due to some changes in some of the vi.lib files between LabVIEW versions. Make sure you download the correct version from the bottom of the page. The front panels and operation of all the versions are the same.

All versions are platform independent.

LabVIEW Auto Backup

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Full size undocked window

The original concept for the application was written by Alex Le Dain. I added code to automatically delete files in the backup directory that are older than XX days and the ability to do incremental backups by adding a number to the file name so an older copy of the file can be recovered if needed. I also added a popup reminder to take a break at a set interval. You can also change the size of the window from the full size shown above (shown actual size), to the smaller window shown below to save a bit of screen space. With the Backup program always running while you develop, you always have a menu bar available.

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Small size undocked window

Installation of the Backup program is made easy by using the OpenG Package Installer. The Package installer makes it very easy to install the various packages that are available at OpenG.org. Instructions for using the OpenG Package Installer are available on the Package Installers web page. You will also need the OpenG lv_init Package. This utility will automatically launch the Backup program every time LabVIEW starts. It will also allow you to launch other development apps at LabVIEW startup.

If you do not want to use the package installer, you can open the package file with any compression program that supports the Zip archive format. (Winzip, Stuffit...) and extract the files to a directory. I suggest creating a directory under the "Project" directory named "Auto Backup" and extract the files to there. This will automatically create a sub menu under the "Tools" menu in LabVIEW named "Auto Backup". Inside here will be a selection named Auto Backup that you can start the Backup application from. The four files named PostInstall?.vi, PostUnInstall?.vi, spec and icon.bmp can be deleted as they are only used with the OpenG Package installer.

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Manual start of the Backup program when the application is manually installed.
This selection will be under the "OpenG Tools->Development Tools" menu if the
OpenG Package Installer was used

The Auto Backup.ini file holds the location for the backup folder, the time interval between saves, the age in days for the files to be deleted and the number of backup files to write. These values are read from the file when the application starts. If you change the values on the front panel controls while the application is running, they will be written to the .ini file and be used next time the application is run.

The incremental backup function works by adding a number to the file name as they are saved. If you have the Number of Backups control set to 5, then 5 backup files will be made, one at a time each time the save is done. After the largest number is written, the count will return to 1 and will over write the first file that was written. So if you're doing saves every 5 minutes, and have 5 backups, you can recover a file in a state it was in 25-30 minutes ago.

If you do not wish to use the incremental backups, just leave the backup number at 0 and only one file will be saved using the original file name.

New to version 2.0 is a window docking feature. A pulldown menu has six positions you can dock the window to, and a selection to leave it floating on the screen. When docked, the title bar is hidden so the window cannot be moved. The docking function reads the display size and calculates the positions so it will work on any resolution screen.

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Full size docked window

Another new feature is the ability to stop the Backup from automatically starting at LabVIEW launch by simply unchecking a boolean control. This is handled by the OpenG lv_init Package.

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Small size docked window

If you have the 'Show menu bar only' control checked, the window resizes itself to the image shown above to save a bit of screen space. There is also an Auto Recover function that detects when LabVIEW was not shut down properly and upon restart, asks if you want to recover any backed up files. If you select 'Yes', another window will open and display all of the files in your backup directory. You can double click on a file to open it and save-as to recover the file.

You can enable a popup dialog box to show at a set interval to remind yourself to take a break once and while to give that aching wrist a rest. This can be disabled if you have one of those new titanium wrist implants and are not affected by RSI.

When you click 'Exit', a dialog will popup and ask if you want to Exit LabVIEW. Selecting 'Yes' will exit LabVIEW. Selecting 'No' will close the Auto Backup VI and return you to the regular LabVIEW navigation menu. Selecting 'Continue' will leave the Backup and LabVIEW running.

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Exit dialog

There is now an API to remotely stop the Backup application from other applications. This API will stop and close the Backup properly so you will not get the recover dialog the next time you start it. You can also select to register or unregister the Backup application on LabVIEW startup.

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New Shutdown Auto Backup API

Download Backup ver. 2.0 for LabVIEW 6.0.x
Download Backup ver. 1.4 for LabVIEW 6.1
Download Backup ver. 1.2 for LabVIEW 7

sourceforge.net

If you are installing the Backup using the OpenG Package installer, you will need to install the lv_init Package first