LabVIEW 2019 includes enhancements to the LabVIEW Application Builder and build specifications that enable you to distribute your LabVIEW application through the NI Package Manager.

(Windows) Distributing Your Application as Package Installers

You can distribute your applications to clients through NI Package Manager by creating a package installer (.exe). The package installer includes all the package dependencies so that your clients can install the package without network access.

To create a package installer, right-click Build Specifications, select New » Package, and select Create a Package Installer on the Package Installer page of the Package Properties dialog box.

Publishing NI Packages to Feeds

You can publish NI packages to a feed, so that your clients can subscribe to the feed to receive update notifications and install the NI packages via network access.

A feed is a collection of package files that includes a manifest containing information on the included packages. NI recommends using feeds when distributing multiple NI packages that have dependencies on one another. With feeds, you can create a single location where you host and maintain all NI packages intended for end user access.

In LabVIEW 2019, you can use the following options on the Feed page of the Package Properties dialog box to add your NI package to a local feed or publish the NI package to a SystemLink feed.

  • Add to feed—Adds the NI package to a local feed. Your clients use NI Package Manager to subscribe to the feed to install the NI package.
  • Publish to SystemLink feed—Publishes the NI package you created in LabVIEW to a feed on the SystemLink server. Your client can find and install the NI package in SystemLink.

Miscellaneous Application Builder Enhancements

The Package Attribute page of the Package Properties dialog box is renamed to Package. The Package page includes the following new options:

  • Include the NI Certificates package—Specifies to include the NI Certificates package, ni-certificates, as a recommended dependency when clients install your application in NI Package Manager.
  • Display in the runtime deployment packages list—Specifies to display the package in the Related packages list on the Dependencies page when you select Runtime deployment packages only for Filter options.
  • Display in NI Package Manager when filtered by products—Specifies to display this package when you filter packages by selecting Products only in NI Package Manager. Enable this option if the package you create is a product that you want to include in the Browse Products section of the NI Package Manager.