I found some freetime recently, so I added a few features to Approval Testing. I thought I'd just point them out here. Date Scrubber The best way to illustrate using the Date Scrubber is with an example. Let's start with something simple. Here is a test for some simple code that logs a few values (using the HSE Logger) and then checks the output file. When I run this VI, Beyond Compare pops up with the following: Notice that each entry includes a timestamp. The problem with timestamps is that often they vary depending on when the code is run. That is problematic. If you want proof, just app ..read more

Last year I gave a "Beyond NI Training" Webinar. I'll be giving an updated version of that presentation on May 13th . It's basically an overview of all the LabVIEW training opportunities and resources out there. We'll talk about NI training, what it is good for, and what it's limitations are. Then we'll talk about all the other skills you'll need to be a successful LabVIEW Developer and where to get those. This will be very similar to my previous presentation. A few things have been updated. I have a lot more information on CI/CD. I have also been dabbling with some Samman Coaching lately, so ..read more

Two years ago I attended an online conference. Like a lot of conferences they had a series of workshops. I was looking through the abstracts and saw "Leadership for the Reluctant Leader." The title caught my eye, so I thought I'd check it out. It was very much worth it. I learned a lot about some really important topics that really hadn't hit my radar before and I also had a great time doing it. It really did have a huge impact on how I view leadership in general and more specifically how I do presentations and run meetings. Lots of good advice that I could apply immediately. It was also very ..read more

I am a big fan of Gerry Weinberg. His Secrets of Consulting is a great book. It is witty and insightful. This book is also very witty and insightful. It doesn't quite rise to the level of Secret's of Consulting yet it is still worth reading. One of the biggest challenges of consulting and software engineering in general, is clearly defining the problem you are trying to solve and who exactly you are trying to solve it for. The answers to those questions are not always obvious. Daklu (Dave Snyder) on the Lava forums used to have a tagline: ? If the solution seems simple, that just means I don ..read more

I had a recent issue come up and I'm curious to get others' opinions. The issue revolves around folder hierarchies on disk with lvlib and lvclass files. I had always been taught to use a flat folder structure and organize my VIs in the project window using virtual folders. On disk I would just have a flat folder structure on disk for the class or library file and all its VIs without any other disk folders. The only exception was if a library contained a class, then that class would have its own folder on disk inside the library folder. Until recently I never really thought much about why, I j ..read more

The GLA Summit is taking place virtually this year at 25-26 March 2024, 12:00 UTC - 12:00 UTC. Similar to previous years there will 24 hours filled with a variety of virtual presentations related to LabVIEW Development. This year I'll be presenting on the practicing refactoring using Approval Tests and the Gilded Rose Kata. If you look through the list of presenters, you'll see a lot of other familiar names and a few new ones. You can still get tickets and see a list of presenters on the website: https://www.glasummit.org Come join us ..read more

Work has been a little slow lately, so I've had lots of time to work on side projects. One project that I have been working on a lot lately is Approval Testing for LabVIEW. Approval Testing is an established thing created by Llewellyn Falco. You can find out more about approval testing at https://approvaltests.com/. You'll see that LabVIEW is now an officially supported language! I encourage to you to visit that site and read up on approval testing in general. You can also check out my Software Engineering Radio conversation with Llewellyn about Approval Testing. Version 1.0 of Approval Testi ..read more

Over the past several months, I have working hard to make CI/CD more accessible in LabVIEW. I wrote a little bit about it here. As part of that I released a series of G CLI tools on VIPM. I recently updated the existing ones and added a few more. Updates The big feature update I made was hiding the front panels when the tools run. Originally I liked seeing the windows pop up. It helped reassure me that the tools were running correctly. Lately I've found I don't need that reassurance and leaving the front panels open can occasionally cause some problems, so I decided it was better run them hid ..read more

Business has slowed down lately and so I've had a lot of time to think about sales and marketing. I had an interesting experience when I went to the ophthalmologist the other day. Colorado law requires that to renew your driver's license you have to visit an eye doctor. I went into the appointment just wanting to satisfy the state and partially my own curiosity - just to make sure everything was ok. I had no intention of buying glasses and yet I walked out with a pair of glasses. It was an easy sell for the ophthalmologist. I started to ask myself why and what can I learn from this. Be an est ..read more

I've read several books on Legacy Code over the years and each has its own unique take: Working Effectively With Legacy Code - This book is really about getting Legacy Code under test so that you can make changes without fear of breaking things. Technical Debt in Practice - This book is very academic. What it attempts to do is categorize the different types of technical debt. It's not just about poorly written code, you can have documentation debt, testing debt, requirements debt, etc. It talks a little about how to pay off the debt and the advice isn't very practical. Refactoring - This boo ..read more