Actor Framework has disappeared from LabVIEW 2012 SP1

[Bob_Schor]

In getting ready for NI Week and some new Actor Framework presentations, I was reviewing some older material on my home desktop PC, a Windows 7 Pro 64-bit system with LabVIEW 2012 (32-bit), with Spring updates, installed.  I recall doing some Actor Framework work on this machine in the fall (with LabVIEW 2012 Fall distribution installed), but hadn't used Actor since the Spring release.

It's missing!  If I look in C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2012\vi.lib\ActorFramework, there are a number of folders, but no files present.  I just did a reinstall from the Spring distribution, and the folders are still empty.

I checked my work PC (which is a similar system, with a similar history) and it does have the Actor Framework libraries (73 files in 12 folders).  What's wrong with my home installation?  And (more important) how do I fix it to get Actor Framework back? 

I did notice that it shows up in VIPM as Version 4.1.1.33, not installed.  I thought, however, it would be a good idea to get some feedback from the Community about this (strange) observation without trying to "fix it myself", just in case there was something awry with the NI Installation process.

Bob Schor

[Oli_Wachno]

On the old installation, did you have the original AF installed or a version from the community like the debug fork?

I upgraded my system to the main fork 4.1.1.33 and then later tried to switch to the debug fork. I failed miserably. Uninstalling 4.1.1.33 was needed first.

Best Regards

Oli

[Bob_Schor]

I basically "did nothing".  When I installed 2012 last August/September, Actor Framework 4.1 "appeared" and worked.  I had attended some Actor sessions, and tried doing some of the exercises at home.  Then, because of other projects vying for my attention, I got busy with a lot of "legacy" work.

I have three LabVIEW 2012 systems, all Windows 7 Pro (x64), all with LabVIEW 2012 (32-bit).  One is at work, one is my home Desktop (the Machine In Trouble), one is my laptop.  Sometime in the Spring, NI released the SP1 Update to LabVIEW 2012, which I installed.

In getting ready for NI Week, I was going over some presentations, including Actor Framework, and decided to revisit some code.  That is when I discovered that on my Home Desktop, while the ActorFramework folder in vi.lib is there, it has no files!  Curiously, my other two PCs (at work and laptop) do have Actor Framework content.

I have (so far) only gotten Actor Framework from the 2012 Installation process.  Indeed, when I discovered AF was missing on my home Desktop, I did a Reinstall from the 2012 SP1 disks (I didn't do an uninstall first, however), but the folders are still empty.

As I have (both at home with my laptop and at work) a working AF system, I'd like to hold off "repairing" my home desktop until someone from NI gets back to me, as this could be a bug they'd like to track down.

BS

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Patches only supply the files that changed, so it is totally correct that re-installing SP1 would not put the AF files back. You'd have to install LV 2012 and then install the SP1 patch over that to put the files back.

[Bob_Schor]

Sorry for my sloppy nomenclature.  What I installed was LabVIEW 2012 from the Spring 4 DVD Distribution Kit.  It was my understanding that this should have the "latest" version of every LabVIEW module and toolkit.  I would therefore expect that it would have whatever version of Actor Framework was "distributed" at that time.

I spoke to an NI AE this morning, who said he had a PC with a "fresh" install of LabVIEW 2012 Spring Release, and Actor Framework functions were visible.  I'm uncertain how/why they disappeared from this one PC (two others that I use did not lose AF.  If something doesn't present itself before NI Week, when I return I'll probably try the "Uninstall LabVIEW, then reinstall it" trick.

BS

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Weird. I've got no suggestions at this point.