B4J Question Anyone using an NI USB-8502 CANBus adapter with B4J through Python?

[Didier99]

The title says it all. I have been using cheap CANable adapters for a piece of B4J software that supports CAN enabled products we are making, and these work fine actually but those adapters are just bare boards and get easily damaged in a production environment so I would like to be able to use a National Instrument USB-8502 which we already use with LabView.

The NI website says they can be used with non-NI software but in the typical NI way, they certainly don't want to make it easy since they would rather sell you Yet Another Expensive License (YAEL (c)).

The NI website indicates that there is a Python API:
https://niflexlogger-automation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting_started.html
and such a thing as a "FlexLogger Automation Python module" that is used from within pyCharm.
Their examples use Visual Studio or pyCharm (Python IDE).

I have no Python experience whatsoever.

I understand pyBridge allows to call Python libraries from B4J and integrate then into the B4J executable, but I do not know if the NI product actually includes a Python library or just an API you can call from Python.

Any suggestion appreciated.

 

[Erel]

Based on the docs it relies on FlexLogger. Isn't this the licensed software?

 

[Didier9]

Based on the docs it relies on FlexLogger. Isn't this the licensed software?

There is a free version of the flex software which they say is sufficient to use the Python API. I have installed it and it works with the Windows visualization tool (shows traffic) with just the free license. I have not tried the Python part but it's coming.

 

[Erel]

Try to run the Python code with PyCharm or any other Python IDE. Once you get it working, I can help you port it to B4J.

 

[Didier9]

Thank you Erel, great offer. It may take a moment or two but (no python experience whatsoever, but I always thought I should...)

PS: don't be confused with the two Didierxx account numbers, one is from work, the other is from home.