FIELD NOTES
Get better at hardware test.
Guides, tutorials, and best practices to help you build better hardware tests.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
LabVIEW Community Edition: Download & Rules
How to download LabVIEW Community Edition, what its free license actually allows, and where it breaks down for commercial or production test use.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
LabVIEW Pricing: What It Actually Costs
LabVIEW pricing broken down by license tier, module add-ons, and NI TestStand costs, plus what a Python-based test stack costs by comparison.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Trace a Test Change to the Units It Shipped
Learn how to stamp the test version on every run so a limit change traces to the exact serial numbers it shipped, on LabVIEW today and Python by default.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Separate Compiled Code in LabVIEW, Explained
Learn what separate compiled code changes inside a VI, which Git noise it removes and which it doesn't, and how to turn it on for a project in one clean commit.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Code Review for LabVIEW Tests: Why It Fails
Learn why a VI change can't be reviewed like text, what teams do instead and what each misses, and a checklist that gets most of a review on LabVIEW anyway.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Which LabVIEW Version Runs on Each Station?
Learn how to record the LabVIEW version, bitness and Run-Time Engine on every station, catch a stranded build before release, and keep the list true.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Upgrade a Station from LabVIEW 2019 to 2024
Learn the order to upgrade a LabVIEW 2019 station to 2024, from mass compile and Git tags to the RTE and driver install on each station, and when to skip it.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Fix LabVIEW Merge Conflicts on Binary VIs
Learn how to resolve a Git merge conflict on a binary VI by hand or with LVMerge, and the four habits that stop the same conflict coming back.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
LVCompare and LVMerge: What They Cannot Do
Learn what LVCompare and LVMerge do, how to wire them into Git, the failure modes you'll hit, and the four things neither tool can do for a review.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Why LabVIEW Version Control Is So Painful
Learn why Git can store a LabVIEW VI but not diff, merge or blame it, what NI's tooling fixes and where it stops, and what a text station changes.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Is a LabVIEW Certification Still Worth It?
Learn what CLAD, CLD, CLA and TestStand certifications signal in 2026, when they still pay off, and the portable Python path that replaces each topic.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Run a Mixed LabVIEW and Python Test Team
Learn how to run LabVIEW and Python stations on one TofuPilot procedure during a migration, with comparable FPY, clear ownership and a two-week switch test.
