For more details, see https://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361R-01/lvconcepts/building_standaloneapps/
The LabVIEW Application Builder Module provides tools for exporting LabVIEW code in various forms. The most common ones are stand-alone, end-use applications and source code exports.
Builds are configured via build specifications. A build specification contains all the settings for a LabVIEW build, such as files to include, directories to create, and settings for VIs. The following items can be built:
The builder will not create an empty directory, it only counts files as contents and ignores folders. You can add a dummy file as 'always included' in a hierarchy level you want to be existent in the build.
Source:
source/someFilesNotIncludedInBuildSpec.txt source/ParentFolder/ChildFolder/file1.ext source/ParentFolder/ChildFolder/file2.ext source/neededDir/dummyFile.txt source/neededDir/nextLevel/someIncluded.vi
Build Result:
builds/ParentFolder/file1.ext builds/ParentFolder/file2.ext builds/neededDir/dummyFile.txt builds/neededDir/someIncluded.vi
The destination directory of a build specification can only be defined by the user as an absolute path. However, internally it can be handled as a relative path in the project file. Under certain circumstances the property <Property Name=“Bld_localDestDirType” Type=“Str”>relativeToCommon</Property>
is added to the .lvproj file. In that case, when building the build specification, the directory will be created at the same relative position to the project file.
In general, it is recommended to use relative paths, to ensure, that e.g. on a build server or on other developers machines, the build results will be created at the correct place.
When defining your destination directory, keep it max. one level above the .lvproj file in your folder structure!