Connecting LabVIEW with Scilab Consortium (Digiteo) Scilab Software
Overview
LabVIEW is an open platform that allows you to easily integrate 3rd-party (external) software such as Scilab from the Scilab Consortium (Digiteo). This document discusses the LabVIEW - Scilab Gateway Software, a tool that allows you to easily invoke scripts from Scilab from your LabVIEW graphical programming.
Table of Contents
- What is Scilab?
- Connecting NI LabVIEW with Scilab
- Setup and Installation of the NI LabVIEW Scilab Gateway Software
Downloads
What is Scilab?
Scilab is free software for numerical computation available from the Scilab Consortium (DIGITEO). Freely downloadable from http://www.scilab.org, Scilab offers a text-based language with built-in functions and syntax that simplify numerical computation involving vectors and matrices.
Connecting NI LabVIEW with Scilab
With the software that provides a link between LabVIEW and Scilab, you can easily invoke your Scilab Scripts from LabVIEW Virtual Instruments (VIs).

Figure 1, The Gateway software installs into LabVIEW as a script node, a text-editor region that you can drag-and-drop onto your LabVIEW block diagrams.
Figure 2, You can wire into and out of the Gateway script node by defining input / output variables on the edge of a node. You can do so by right-clicking the edge of the Gateway script node and making a selection from the pop-up menu (1). Next, type the name of the variable that you wish to associate with the new input (or output) (2). You can then wire into (or out of) (3) the new input (or output).
Setup and Installation of the NI LabVIEW Scilab Gateway Software
- Visit NI LabVIEW Scilab Gateway to download the gateway software. The download is a compressed zip file -- unzip the file that you download to a new folder.
- If you have not already done so, install Scilab 5.3.0 (or later) - Consortium Scilab (DIGITEO), If you upgrade Scilab, make sure to remove the old version before installing the latest version.
- If you have not already done so, install National Instruments LabVIEW.
The Zip file that you downloaded in step 1 contains separate installers for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Gateway. Run the installer EXE that matches the revision of Scilab and LabVIEW noting the following: - The 32-bit Gateway Software requires LabVIEW (8.0 or later) – Full, Professional, Student, or Evaluation Editions.
The 64-bit Gateway requires LabVIEW 2009 (64-bit) or later.
The LabVIEW to Scilab Gateway software will be installed for use with the most-recently installed version of LabVIEW. - Restart LabVIEW to apply the changes and complete the installation.
The installer will copy a readme.pdf file with additional instructions for working with the Gateway.
Product and company names are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Reader Comments | Submit a comment »
ver 1.1 broken
Ver 1.1 from des 2008 seems to have
broken the gateway. Runtime error and
wrong name of script node
(originally "Script Scilab", but when right-
clicking and choosing server it suddelny
say "Scilab script")
- Feb 4, 2009
The gateway works with Labview 8.0, but not
the examples, because they are made for
Labview 8.2.1. This is naturally a problem
for the Labview8.0-users.
Dr. WK
- Walter Knell, privat. felix.knell@t-online.de - Feb 29, 2008
Don't work with labwiew 8.0
- Nicolas Bruyant, Cea Grenoble . nicolas.bruyant@cea.fr - Jun 15, 2007
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