Type Generic Graphical Programming

• US 20130031494A1
• Filed: 10/02/2012
• Published: 01/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Kodosky, Jeffrey L., Rogers, Steven W., Petersen, Newton G., Kumar, Satish V., Hudson, III, Duncan G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,943,469 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

A system and method for creating and using type generic graphical programs. The method may include storing a first graphical program on a memory medium. The first graphical program may have been created based on user input. The first graphical program may include a plurality of nodes and interconnections between the nodes, and the plurality of nodes and interconnections between the nodes may be type generic. User input may be received specifying one or more data types of at least one input and/or at least one output of the first graphical program. The data types may be associated with the first graphical program in response to said user input specifying the one or more data types.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

creating a first graphical program in response to user input, wherein the first graphical program includes a plurality of interconnected nodes, and wherein the interconnected nodes visually indicate functionality of the first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program is type generic;

wherein each of the nodes comprises at least one of an input or an output, and wherein for at least a first subset of the nodes, input(s) and/or output(s) for the first subset are not restricted to a specific data type;

wherein the first graphical program is executable to perform the functionality for a plurality of different types;

wherein the first graphical program comprises one set of graphical code that performs the functionality for the plurality of different types.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of nodes comprise at least one type generic input or output and at least one statically typed input or output.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more inputs and the one or more outputs of the plurality of nodes is type generic.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

instantiating a plurality of instances of the first graphical program in a second graphical program, wherein each instance is a type-specific graphical program, wherein nodes in at least a subset of the plurality of instances are associated with respective different data types.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user input assigning data types for one or more inputs and/or one or more outputs of one or more of the plurality of nodes in the first graphical program; and

automatically assigning types for a plurality of inputs and/or outputs of other nodes in the first graphical program, wherein said automatically assigning is performed in response to said receiving user input assigning data types.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first graphical program includes a type generic graphical user interface (GUI).

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

instantiating the first graphical program in a second graphical program a plurality of times to produce a plurality of instances of the first graphical program;

specifying data types for at least one element of each of the instances, wherein after said specifying, each of the instances is configured for the specified data types; and

generating a hardware description of the second graphical program comprising the instances; and

configuring a programmable hardware element with the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element is operable to perform functionality of the second graphical program.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing attributes of one or more inputs and/or outputs of the plurality of nodes in the first graphical program;

modifying at least a subset of the first graphical program to optimize performance of the at least a subset, wherein said modifying is performed based on said analyzing.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the attributes comprise constant information which indicates that a node output is a constant, and wherein said modifying utilizes the constant information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said creating the first graphical program comprises:

creating a type specific graphical program; and

converting the type specific graphical program to the first graphical program.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying one or more data types for one or more inputs and/or one or more outputs of one or more of the plurality of nodes in the first graphical program;

automatically determining an implementation of the first graphical program based on the specified one or more data types.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first graphical program comprises a plurality of graphical subprograms, wherein at least one of the plurality of graphical subprograms is a type generic graphical subprogram;

and

wherein said automatically determining an implementation of the first graphical program comprises selecting one of the plurality of graphical subprograms.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first graphical program comprises type checking logic, and wherein said automatically determining an implementation of the first graphical program comprises using the type checking logic.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first graphical program comprises one or more overloaded function nodes.

15. A computer readable memory medium which comprises program instructions which are executable to:

store a first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program was created based on user input, wherein the first graphical program comprises a plurality of nodes and interconnections between the nodes, and wherein at least a subset of the plurality of nodes and interconnections between the nodes are type generic;

wherein the first graphical program is executable to perform the functionality for a plurality of different types;

wherein the first graphical program comprises one set of graphical code that performs the functionality for the plurality of different types;

receive user input specifying one or more data types of at least one input and/or at least one output of one or more nodes in the first graphical program;

associate the specified one or more data types with the one or more nodes in the first graphical program in response to said user input, wherein said associating produces a new graphical program;

store the new graphical program, wherein the new graphical is executable using the specified one or more data types.

16. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein said receiving user input specifying one or more data types comprises connecting the at least one input and/or at least one output of the nodes in the first graphical program to one or more nodes in a second graphical program.

17. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein said receiving user input specifying one or more data types comprises receiving user input to one or more input controls or output indicators associated with respective inputs or outputs of the first graphical program.

18. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein said receiving user input specifying one or more data types comprises receiving user input to a menu in a graphical user interface associated with the first graphical program.

19. The memory medium of claim 15,

wherein the first graphical program comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) portion;

wherein the program instructions are further executable to;

display the GUI portion on a display, wherein the GUI portion comprises a first GUI element, wherein the first GUI element is type generic;

receive user input selecting a first data type for the first GUI element;

display a second GUI element in response to the user input selecting the first data type, wherein the second GUI element is associated with the first data type.

20. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein one or more of the nodes have associated data types before said receiving and said associating.

21. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein said associating comprises propagating each of the specified one or more data types to inputs and/or outputs of other nodes in the graphical program.

22. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein types of at least two inputs and/or outputs of the plurality of nodes are linked, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

in response to associating a first data type with one of the at least two inputs and/or outputs, associating the first data type with remaining ones of the at least two inputs and/or outputs.

23. The memory medium of claim 22, wherein the types of the at least two inputs and/or outputs are linked by a type variable, wherein each of the at least two inputs and/or outputs is associated with a same type variable value.

24. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein said associating the specified one or more data types comprises associating a first data type with an input and/or output of a node in the graphical program, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

in response to associating the first data type with the first input and/or output of the node, associating a second data type with an input and/or output of another node in the graphical program based on the first data type.

25. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

automatically modifying the first graphical program to perform first functionality based on the specified one or more data types.

26. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

generating a hardware description based on the new graphical program, wherein the hardware description is usable to configure a programmable hardware element.

27. A method comprising:

creating a first graphical program in response to user input, wherein the first graphical program includes a plurality of interconnected nodes, and wherein the interconnected nodes visually indicate functionality of the first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program is type generic;

wherein the first graphical program is executable to perform the functionality for a plurality of different types;

wherein the first graphical program comprises one set of graphical code that performs the functionality for the plurality of different types;

wherein each of the nodes comprises at least one of an input or an output, and wherein for at least a first subset of the nodes, input(s) and/or output(s) for the first subset are not restricted to a specific data type;

instantiating at least one instance of the first graphical program;

specifying data types for at least one element of the instance, wherein after said specifying, the instance is configured for the specified data type; and

generating a hardware description which comprises the instance; and

configuring a programmable hardware element with the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element is operable to perform functionality of the first graphical program.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the specified data type comprises a specified bit width, wherein the specified bit width is used in generating the hardware description.

29. A method comprising:

creating a first graphical program in response to user input, wherein the first graphical program includes a plurality of interconnected nodes, and wherein the interconnected nodes visually indicate functionality of the first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program is type generic;

wherein the first graphical program is executable to perform the functionality for a plurality of different types;

wherein the first graphical program comprises one set of graphical code that performs the functionality for the plurality of different types;

wherein each of the nodes comprises at least one of an input or an output, and wherein for at least a first subset of the nodes, input(s) and/or output(s) for the first subset are not restricted to a specific data type;

creating a plurality of instances of the first graphical program in a second graphical program;

specifying data types for at least one element of each of the instances, wherein after said specifying, each of the instances is configured for the specified data type;

wherein at least two of the instances have the same data type;

generating a hardware description of the second graphical program comprising the instances, wherein said generating comprises; and

configuring a programmable hardware element with the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element is operable to perform functionality of the second graphical program.

30. A system, comprising:

a processor;

a memory medium coupled to the processor which stores a first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program was created based on user input, wherein the first graphical program comprises a plurality of nodes and interconnections between the nodes, and wherein at least a subset of the plurality of nodes and interconnections between the nodes are type generic;

wherein the first graphical program is executable to perform the functionality for a plurality of different types;

wherein the first graphical program comprises one set of graphical code that performs the functionality for the plurality of different types;

a user input device for receiving user input specifying one or more data types of at least one input and/or at least one output of the nodes in the first graphical program;

wherein the memory medium further stores program instructions executable by the processor to;

associate the specified one or more data types with the first graphical program in response to said user input specifying the one or more data types, wherein said associating produces a new graphical program;

store the new graphical program on the memory medium, wherein the new graphical is executable using the specified one or more data types.