lvpath

Convert LabVIEW path values to and from Python pathlib paths, in all three forms LabVIEW uses: the portable text it writes into configuration and project files (/C/DIR1/DIR2), the native text of Path To String, and the flattened PTH0 bytes of Flatten To String. Typed, no dependencies, Python 3.10 to 3.14.

Install

pip install lvpath

Quick start

Read a path value stored in an .ini or .lvproj file, and write one back:

>>> from lvpath import from_portable_path, to_portable_path
>>> from_portable_path("/C/Program Files (x86)/Arduino", platform="windows")
PureWindowsPath('C:/Program Files (x86)/Arduino')
>>> from_portable_path("../builds/Main Application", platform="windows")
PureWindowsPath('../builds/Main Application')
>>> to_portable_path("C:/DIR1/DIR2", platform="windows")
'/C/DIR1/DIR2'
>>> to_portable_path(None)
''

Decode the flattened bytes of a LabVIEW path, such as NI's C:\File example:

>>> from lvpath import from_flat_path, parse_flat_path, to_flat_path
>>> golden = bytes.fromhex("505448300000000b0000000201430466696c65")
>>> parse_flat_path(golden)
FlatPath(path_type=0, components=('C', 'file'))
>>> from_flat_path(golden, platform="windows")
PureWindowsPath('C:/file')
>>> to_flat_path("C:/file", platform="windows") == golden
True
>>> from_flat_path(to_flat_path("../lib/x.vi", platform="posix"), platform="posix")
PurePosixPath('../lib/x.vi')

Work with the native text form and LabVIEW's <Not A Path> (the empty string):

>>> from lvpath import path_kind, to_lv_path, to_os_path
>>> to_os_path("C:\\Users\\test\\data.txt", platform="windows")
PureWindowsPath('C:/Users/test/data.txt')
>>> to_lv_path("logs/run.txt", platform="windows")
'logs\\run.txt'
>>> path_kind("", platform="posix")
<PathKind.NOT_A_PATH: 'not_a_path'>

Every platform argument takes "windows", "posix", a Platform member, or None for the system running the code. Values with no faithful counterpart raise a typed error (PortablePathError, FlatPathError, NotAPathError) instead of being turned into a different path.

Command line

$ lvpath to-native --platform windows '/C/Program Files (x86)/Arduino'
C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino
$ lvpath to-labview --platform windows 'C:\DIR1\DIR2'
/C/DIR1/DIR2
$ lvpath decode --platform windows 505448300000000b0000000201430466696c65
C:\file
$ lvpath encode --platform posix ../lib/x.vi
505448300000000e0001000300036c696204782e7669

python -m lvpath runs the same command. Refused values exit with status 1, usage mistakes with status 2. Run lvpath --help for every option.

Why

LabVIEW writes one path in different forms depending on where it goes, and none of them reads correctly with plain string handling: /C/DIR1/DIR2 names the wrong file on Windows, a native string means something only with the platform it was written on, and the flattened form needs the PTH0 layout. pathlib's PureWindowsPath and PurePosixPath already handle foreign-platform paths with no file access, so lvpath is a thin layer on top of them that adds only the LabVIEW part: the portable drive and UNC form, <Not A Path>, and the flattened container, including the rule that an empty flattened component means one level up.

The conversions are checked against path values in files shipped with LabVIEW 2026, against flattened paths LabVIEW 2026 stored in its own installed files, and against the example on NI's public flattened-data page.

Documentation

• Guide: every rule, the errors, the command line and upgrading from 0.3.
• Changelog

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Links

• Website: https://lianes8studio.com
• GitHub: https://github.com/JaviLianes8
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlianes/