Developing a visual component library for a graphical programming platform using object orientation

The development of virtual instruments (VIs) is bringing a great revolution to the fields of automated testing and measurement. It is accelerating the integration of measurement systems and is promoting instrument standardization, modularization and generalization. A graphical programming platform for automated testing is one of the most important applications of VI technology, and it provides users with an intuitive and friendly programming environment. The visual component library (VCL) is the key part of such graphical programming platforms. The research reported in this paper makes full use of the advantages of the object-oriented methodology to develop the visual VI components for a graphical programming platform. By setting up two base classes for all the VI components, various VIs can be efficiently developed.