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After you build and run the application example, build an installer for the application. The following example uses existing VIs to step through the tasks for building an installer with the Application Builder. Complete the following steps in each task to configure the installer build specification and build and run the installer.

Note  The LabVIEW Professional Development System includes the Application Builder. If you use the LabVIEW Base Package or Full Development System, you can purchase the Application Builder separately by visiting the National Instruments Web site.

Configuring the Build Specification

1. Open the TutorialProject.lvproj file that you created as part of the application example.
2. From the Project Explorer window, right-click Build Specifications and select New»Installer from the shortcut menu to display the Installer Properties dialog box. If you previously hid Build Specifications in the Project Explorer window, you must display the item again to access it.
3. Complete the following steps on the Product Information page of the dialog box.
   1. Enter Tutorial-Installer in the Build specification name text box. The text box contains the name of the installer build specification that appears under Build Specifications in the Project Explorer window.
   2. Enter AB Tutorial in the Product name text box. The text box contains the name that displays when the installer runs.
   3. Click the Browse button next to the Installer destination text box and navigate to the AB Tutorial directory. Create a subdirectory named Installer. Double-click the Installer directory and click the Current Folder button to select the directory. When you build the installer, the files appear in this directory.
4. From the Category list on the left, click Source Files to display the Source Files page, which contains settings you can use to specify which files are included and how they are included in the installer.
5. From the Project View tree, click the Tutorial-EXE build specification to select it. From the Destination View tree, click the TutorialProject folder to select it. Click the Add Item arrow button next to the Destination View tree to add the application build specification files to the installer.
6. From the Category list, click Shortcuts to display the Shortcuts page, which you can use to create shortcuts to the files that the installer installs and to determine the location of the shortcuts. Complete the following steps on the Shortcuts page to create a shortcut on the desktop.
   1. Click the Add Shortcut button to display the Select Target File dialog box. Double-click the Tutorial.exe file to select it.
   2. From the Shortcuts page, change the setting in the Directory ring to [DesktopFolder] so the shortcut appears on the desktop.
   3. Change the text in the Name text box to Tutorial Application.
   4. Delete the text in the Subdirectory text box so the shortcut appears directly on the desktop and not within a subdirectory.
7. From the Category list, click Additional Installers to display the Additional Installers page, which you can use to include National Instruments product installers that you need in the installer build. The National Instruments Installers to Include listbox contains a list of the installers available on the computer.
8. Place a checkmark in the NI LabVIEW Run-Time Engine checkbox, if a checkmark is not already present, to include the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine in the installer. Users who want to run the application must have the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine installed.
9. From the Category list, click Source File Settings, Registry, and Advanced to explore the settings you can configure in an installer build specification. For this exercise, do not change the settings on these dialog box pages.
10. Click the OK button to close the dialog box and update the project with the build specification settings. The Tutorial-Installer build specification appears under Build Specifications in the Project Explorer window.

Building and Running the Installer

1. Save the project. LabVIEW does not save build specifications settings on disk until you save the project.
2. Right-click the Tutorial-Installer build specification and select Build from the shortcut menu to build the installer. A dialog box displays the progress of the build. When the dialog box displays the Installer build complete message, click the Done button.
3. Navigate to the AB Tutorial\Installer\volume directory. The directory should contain subdirectories named bin, license, and supportfiles, and the files nidist.id, Setup.exe, and ad.
4. If you want to run the installer to test the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine installation, copy the files to a computer that does not include LabVIEW and run Setup.exe.