Patent ID: 8117588

Claim:
A method for creating a distributed application that uses a first graphical program and a second graphical program, the method comprising: displaying a first plurality of interconnected nodes in the first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program is stored on a first computer system, wherein the first plurality of interconnected nodes visually indicate functionality of the first graphical program, wherein the first plurality of interconnected nodes includes a first node; configuring the first node with information selecting a plurality of computer systems to which to deploy the second graphical program, wherein the plurality of computer systems are coupled to the first computer system; automatically deploying the second graphical program to the plurality of computer systems; displaying the second graphical program within the first node, wherein the second graphical program comprises a second plurality of interconnected program nodes that indicate the functionality of the second graphical program and are visible within the first node in the first graphical program, wherein the first node is configured to automatically invoke execution of a different respective instance of the second graphical program on each respective computer system of the plurality of computer systems coupled to the first computer system, wherein the second plurality of interconnected nodes does not include any nodes representing the plurality of computer systems coupled to the first computer system; and executing the first graphical program on the first computer system, wherein executing the first graphical program comprises executing the first node, wherein the first node executes to invoke execution of the respective deployed instances of the second graphical program, wherein each instance of the second graphical program is invoked on one of the plurality of computer systems coupled to the first computer system, wherein during execution each instance of the second graphical program provides data to the first node in the first graphical program.