Executing a VI before or after a Build

You can execute a VI before or after a build for a stand-alone application, .NET interop assembly, shared library, source distribution, or Web service.

(DSC Module or Touch Panel Module) You can execute a VI before or after a build for a DSC or Touch Panel stand-alone application.

(RT Module) You can execute a VI before or after a build for a stand-alone real-time application.

The following examples demonstrate use cases for executing a pre-build VI, which is a VI that runs before a build:

• Deleting a specific file or all files in the destination directory.
• Copying the latest versions of the VIs in a LabVIEW project from the source control to the local directory.

  Note  Changes you make when VIs are open do not save. If you copy VIs from source control, make sure you close the VIs before you make a copy before a build.

The following examples demonstrate use cases for running a post-build VI, which is a VI that runs after a build:

• Copying build files to a different location, such as an export directory, from where you save the build.
• Running tests on the build files with a subset of inputs to test that the build returns the appropriate outputs.
• Running the build files with operations for command line parameters to test the build.

If the VIs you want to execute before or after a build do not already exist in the project, click the appropriate Generate VI button on the Pre/Post Build Actions page to create these VIs.

Refer to the Pre Build Action VI or the Post Build Action VI in the labview\examples\project\pre and post build\sample pre and post build.lvproj for examples of VIs that execute before or after the build.