Introducing Super Network Streams: Robust Connectivity for Your Data
Years ago I presented on Network Streams at an Advanced Usergroup Meeting in Denmark (I remember it very well as it was the day after an epic CLA Summit at CERN in Geneva!). During research for that presentation I came to the conclusion that Network Streams could certainly benefit from a simpler interface to promote its usage. And there was also an important thing missing to make it a no-brainer for usage in distributed systems (in our case often a PC with one or more CompactRIOs).
I'm super excited that we are finally introducing Super Network Streams to the general public! As said, it found its inception years ago, but in the mean time was used and improved considerably at VI Technologies.
Super Network Streams builds upon the foundation of traditional Network Streams built into LabVIEW by providing a simpler interface and an automated connection management feature. This enhancement addresses one of the most significant challenges in network communication: maintaining data integrity in the event of endpoint disruptions.
Imagine a scenario where one end of a connection hangs or resets — a common issue in distributed systems, particularly in industrial environments with devices like CompactRIO systems. Traditional network streams would struggle to recognize and recover from such disruptions. Super Network Streams elegantly solve this problem by integrating a connection watchdog that automatically detects and reestablishes lost connections, ensuring continuous, reliable data flow.
In short: Super Network Streams is a class (with a background process / active object) that encapsulates LabVIEW Network Stream functionality to:
- Send/Receive LabVIEW Objects
- Autorecovery if the remote endpoint gets destroyed or has a connection timeout
- Background stream reading and publish the received data via user events
- Allows communication between two applications on the same machine (localhost)
The class has a read or write mode, so the same class can be used on both endpoints.
Designed with a focus on simplicity and efficiency, Super Network Streams are perfect for developers who need dependable inter-process communication without the hassle of manual reconnection logic.
You can get it now through VIPM or check out our Github repository if you'd like to contribute!
