Locating Express VI Components

An Express VI consists of a configuration dialog box VI, a source VI, and subVIs. LabVIEW saves source VIs and configuration dialog box VIs in different LLBs that are stored together in the file system. If the source VI and configuration dialog box VI share subVIs, you can save the subVIs to a third LLB or place them in the most logical location.

LabVIEW saves Express VI components using the following naming conventions:

Component	Source VI Equivalent	Configuration Dialog Box VI Equivalent
File Library	ExpressVINameSource.llb	_ExpressVINameConfig.llb
VI Filename	ExpressVIName Source.vi	Configure ExpressVIName.vi
SubVI Filename	subExpressVIName.vi	genHelpExpressVIName.vi

You can find Express VIs and their components in the following directories:

labview\vi.lib\express�Contains the Express VIs that LabVIEW provides. This directory contains subdirectories of Express VIs that correspond to the subpalettes on the Functions palette.
labview\vi.lib\express\express shared�Contains the support VIs that Express VIs and configuration dialog box VIs call. Use the VIs in this directory to perform operations such as handling radio buttons and generating context help.
labview\user.lib\_express�Contains Express VIs you create and save in the default location. (macOS and Linux) The default location for Express VIs you create is the LabVIEW default data directory because not all users can write to the user.lib directory.

The source VI for an Express VI contains a link to its associated configuration dialog box VI. If you move the configuration dialog box VI to a different location relative to vi.lib or user.lib, the link breaks, and the Express VI prompts users to find the configuration dialog box VI.

When you save a VI that contains an Express VI, LabVIEW saves the Express VI inside the VI. When you open the VI, the Express VIs within it load from the same file as the VI and not from the source VI file of the Express VI. Therefore, you must place all the functionality of the Express VI in a subVI that you can update as necessary.

Deploying Express VIs to Other Computers

If you want to move Express VIs to other computers, move the two VI libraries for the Express VI and any related .mnu files. When you create Express VIs that you want to deploy to other computers, you must use the same directory structure that the target computers use. The components of an Express VI link to each other through both relative and specific paths. If the directory structure is different on each computer to which you deploy, the links break, and the Express VI prompts users to find the configuration dialog box VI.