It is possible to import an EPICS .db file into LabVIEW in order to use the Process Variables (PVs) within LabVIEW.
(see http://www.ni.com/white-paper/14144/en/ )
But, all records are imported as seperate LabVIEW items.
Each PV has to be seperately added as a 'bound shared variable' for inclusion into a VI.
Then each PV will need to be seperately connected up to a control or indicator, unless some means of iterating over the collection is implemented.
This is all fine if there are 3 or 4 PVs (as is the case for the example app).
My current application is quite modest in scope - there are 15 PVs for each of 6 devices, so 90 PVs altogether. It is barely feasible to follow this manual process for each of these - it would take hours and be very finger-trouble prone.
Many EPICS IOCs can use thousands, or even millions, of PVs.
I would suggest that the .db file import wizard process the PVs from each file into a cluster.
Or - possibly better - process PVs into an array of clusters.
IMO, the current implementation just isn't scalable to 'real world' control system IOC use.
If NI wish to provide LV integration with large-scale EPICS projects, I beleieve a better way of doing needs to be found.
(Re-posted from https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Enhanced-EPICS-Support/idc-p/3203 )
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