National Instruments Corporation

Christophe Caltagirone

Kevin L Schultz

Nicolas F Vazquez

Jeffrey L Kodosky

Dinesh R Nair

Ram Kudukoli

Chris Cifra

Jeff Correll

Jeff Kellam

A system and method for automatically generating a graphical program from a prototyping environment application. By utilizing an application specialized for developing solutions to problems in a particular domain, i.e., a prototyping environment, a user may develop a solution to a problem, i.e., a prototype. The prototype may comprise a series of functions that form an algorithm or process. Once the user has developed the desired prototype, the user may request the prototyping environment to automatically, i.e., programmatically, generate a graphical program implementing the prototype, e.g., in order to run the program independently of the prototyping environment. In various embodiments, the prototyping environment may be operable to generate any of various types of graphical programs. Once the graphical program has been generated, the program may be modified as desired, e.g., in order to include features not available from the prototyping environment that generated the program.

System and method for automatically generating a graphical program to implement a prototype

A system and method for automatically (i.e., programmatically) generating a computer program based on program information, such as a prototype, wherein the program includes a graphical user interface (GUI) for specifying input values to or viewing output values from the program. The prototype may comprise a series of functional operations. One or more input and/or output parameters may be associated with each functional operation. In response to a user's request for a program implementing the prototype to be automatically generated, a list of parameters associated with the operations included in the prototype may be displayed. The user may select from the displayed list the input parameters which are desired to be interactively changeable. In response, the program may be generated such that the program has a graphical user interface including a user interface control associated with each selected input parameter.

Automatic generation of programs with GUI controls for interactively setting or viewing values

System and method for automatically generating a graphical program to perform an image processing algorithm. A user may develop an image processing algorithm in an image prototyping environment. The image prototyping environment enables the user to easily apply various image processing functions to an image and immediately see the results, in order to develop the desired algorithm. As the user applies each image processing function to an image, the function may be recorded as a step in a script. Once the user has developed an algorithm, the user may request the image prototyping environment to automatically generate a program implementing the image processing algorithm. In various embodiments, the prototyping environment may be operable to generate different types of programs, including text-based and graphical programs. For example, a text-based program may include function calls corresponding to each step in the script recorded while developing the image processing algorithm, while a graphical program may include nodes corresponding to the steps of the script. The generated program may be operable to display a user interface comprising controls for interactively changing various parameters used by the image processing functions. An application programming interface (API) provided by a graphical programming environment that supports the dynamic creation/editing of a graphical program is described. The image prototyping environment may interface with a graphical programming environment through such an API in order to generate a graphical program that implements an algorithm specified by a script.

System and method for automatically generating a graphical program to perform an image processing algorithm

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Christophe Caltagirone