Lesson 3

Troubleshooting and Debugging VIs

Fix a broken VI, debug incorrect results and behavior of a
running VI, and display errors generated by functions while
a VI is running.
A. Correcting Broken VIs
B. Debugging Techniques
C. Error Handling

1
LESSON 3 Debugging and Troubleshooting

A. Correcting Broken VIs

Recognize an unexecutable VI and restate common
problems.

2
A. Correcting Broken VIs

Common Causes of Broken VIs

3
A. Correcting Broken VIs

Identify Problems and Fix Broken VIs

4
 LESSON 3 Debugging and Troubleshooting

B. Debugging Techniques
Identify the LabVIEW tools for debugging and select the tool
appropriate to the situation.

• Debugging Tools Review

• Breakpoints
• Undefined or Unexpected Data

5
B. Debugging Techniques

Debugging Tips

Refer to the LabVIEW Core 1 Participant Guide for the Debugging Techniques job aid.
6
LESSON 3 Troubleshooting and Debugging

Activity 3-1
Review Debugging Tools

Select the LabVIEW debugging tool you would use in different scenarios.

7
B. Debugging Techniques

Breakpoints

8
B. Debugging Techniques

Retain Wire Values

• Allows you to probe wire values after a VI runs

9
B. Debugging Techniques

Undefined or Unexpected Data

10
 LESSON 3 Troubleshooting and Debugging

Exercise 3-1
Debugging

Use debugging tools and troubleshooting techniques to fix a broken VI that

returns unexpected data.

11
 LESSON 3 Troubleshooting and Debugging

Exercise 3-1
Debugging

• If you have a VI with a broken Run arrow, what should you do first?
• After you fixed your broken Run arrow, your VI results show unexpected data.
What can you do next?

12
 LESSON 3 Debugging and Troubleshooting

C. Error Handling
Describe the difference between automatic and manual error
handling.

• Error Handling Review • Error Clusters

• Automatic vs. Manual Error • Errors and Warnings
Handling
• Merge Errors Function

13
C. Error Handling

Error Handling Review

Error Handling – Anticipation, detection and resolution of
warnings and errors

Automatic Error Handling – At run time, LabVIEW suspends

execution, highlights node, and displays Error dialog box

Manual Error Handling – You control when dialog boxes

appear, propagate errors with error clusters, terminate error
chain with Simple Error Handler VI

14
LESSON 3 Troubleshooting and Debugging

Demonstration
Automatic vs. Manual Error Handling

Demonstrate the difference between automatic and manual error

handling.

15
C. Error Handling

Disable Automatic Error Handling

16
C. Error Handling

Error Clusters

17
C. Error Handling

Errors and Warnings

Error Warning

• Status = TRUE (8) • Status = FALSE (4)

• Code = Non-zero • Code = Non-zero

18
C. Error Handling

Merge Errors

19
C. Error Handling

Errors and Warnings Recommendations

20
LESSON 3 Troubleshooting and Debugging

Activity 3-2
Lesson Review

Refer to the participant guide to answer questions about what you have learned
in this lesson and then discuss the answers as a group.

21
Lesson Review

1. Which of the following will result in a

broken run arrow?
a. A subVI is broken
b. The diagram includes a divide by zero
c. A required subVI input is unwired
d. A Boolean terminal is wired to a numeric indicator

22
Lesson Review

1. Which of the following will result in a

broken run arrow?
a. A subVI is broken
b. The diagram includes a divide by zero
c. A required subVI input is unwired
d. A Boolean terminal is wired to a numeric indicator

23
Lesson Review

2. Which of the following are the

components and data types of the error
cluster?
a. Status: Boolean
b. Error: String
c. Code: 32-bit integer
d. Source: String

24
Lesson Review

2. Which of the following are the

components and data types of the error
cluster?
a. Status: Boolean
b. Error: String
c. Code: 32-bit integer
d. Source: String

25
Lesson Review

3. All errors have negative error codes and

all warnings have positive error codes.

a. True
b. False

26
Lesson Review

3. All errors have negative error codes and

all warnings have positive error codes.

a. True
b. False

27
Lesson Review

4. Merge Errors function concatenates error

information from multiple sources.

a. True
b. False

28
Lesson Review

4. Merge Errors function concatenates error

information from multiple sources.

a. True
b. False

29