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

The development of Virtual Instruments (VIs) brings a great revolution to the fields´ of automated test and measurement. It accelerates the integration of measurement systems and promotes instruments´ standardization, modularization, and generalization. Graphical programming platform is the kernel of virtual instrument technology, and it provides users with an intuitive and friendly programming environment. 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 Object-Orientation methodology to develop the visual VI components for a graphical programming platform. By building up two base classes for all the VI components, various VIs can be efficiently implemented