> I am a newbie to LabVIEW and I would like to use a "non-supported" > framegrabber (http://www.silicon-software.com) under LabVIEW. > > How much time and effort would it cost to develop a LabVIEW driver to > fully operate this framegrabber ? > > The framegrabber manufacturer deliver an SDK which allow you through a > Dll to developp your own C/C++ application... would it help ? >
The DLL will definitely help. For DLL functions that take pretty straightforward datatypes, you should look to build a simple subVI wrapper containing an Call Library Function configured for the DLL function. The inputs to the DLL can be constants or can be connected to the VI connector pane to allow for programmatic access. Build an icon and put in a description and save it into a SiliconVision folder in the user.lib folder. This last part will just give easier access to the functions as they are written. For complicated DLL functions that take complicated datatypes, you may need to write a wrapper function in your own DLL to map between the complex types and simple types. These do occur, but LV handles many types, especially if you read the External Code manual and ask for help on this forum. As for the time involved, some functions will take ten minutes, and some may take half a day or more, depending on if you manage to shoot yourself in the foot with C pointers and types. But seriously, the first thing to do is to read through the documentation for the DLL and figure out how many functions you will need and how many times you see the word struct or other more complicated C datatype stuff. If you haven't got the time or skills, but do have the money, you might want to look for an alliance member in your area. Greg McKaskle
