8.7. Launching XILab via the Terminal

XILab supports launching with command-line arguments via the WindowsLinuxmacOS terminal, allowing the required controllers to be opened immediately without selecting them in the startup window. The input arguments must specify device URI in the same format as used in the URI column of the XILab startup window.

XILab.exe device_uri # Windows
./xilab-2.0.16-x86_64.AppImage device_uri # Linux
/Applications/XILab.app/Contents/MacOS/XILab device_uri # macOS

Using the terminal, XILab can be launched in both single-axis and multi-axis modes.

Single-Axis Mode
When launching via the terminal with a single device URI, XILab will start in single-axis mode and automatically connect to the specified device. Example:

C:\"Program Files"\XILab\xilab.exe xi-com:\\.\COM6 # Windows
./xilab-2.0.16-x86_64.AppImage xi-com:///dev/ximc/00001F45 # Linux
/Applications/XILab.app/Contents/MacOS/XILab com:///dev/tty.usbmodem000001234 # macOS

If you need to open multiple single-axis XILab windows with a single click, create a simple .bat script in which the COM ports of the controllers are called sequentially. Example:

@echo off

start "" "C:\Program Files\XILab\xilab.exe" "xi-com:\\.\COM14"
start "" "C:\Program Files\XILab\xilab.exe" "xi-tcp://172.16.132.153:1820"
start "" "C:\Program Files\XILab\xilab.exe" "xi-net://192.168.0.1/00001234"
start "" "C:\Program Files\XILab\xilab.exe" "xi-emu:///C:\Users\<user name>\AppDsata\Roaming\XILab.conf/V_1?serial=1\"

exit

Note that in this example, the 4th controller is virtual.

Multi-Axis Mode
When multiple device URI are specified at launch, XILab will start in multi-axis mode with simultaneous connection to all specified devices. Example:

C:\"Program Files"\XILab\xilab.exe xi-com:\\.\COM6 xi-tcp://172.16.132.153:1820 # Windows
./xilab-2.0.16-x86_64.AppImage xi-com:///dev/ximc/00001F45 xi-tcp://172.16.132.152:1820 # Linux
/Applications/XILab.app/Contents/MacOS/XILab com:///dev/tty.usbmodem000001234 xi-tcp://172.16.132.155:1820 # macOS