System and method for converting a graphical program including a structure node into a hardware implementation

A. memory medium comprising program instructions for generating a hardware implementation of graphical code, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement:

• creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program includes a plurality of nodes, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of nodes are connected to indicate data flow among the at least a subset of the plurality of nodes, wherein the plurality of nodes includes a structure node, wherein the structure node represents control flow of data among one or more of the plurality of nodes;
• generating a hardware description based on the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the graphical program, wherein said generating includes generating a hardware description based on the structure node;
• configuring a programmable hardware element utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the graphical program.

A memory medium comprising program instructions for generating a hardware implementation of graphical code, wherein the memory medium stores:

• a graphical program, wherein the graphical program includes a plurality of nodes, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of nodes are connected to indicate data flow among the at least a subset of the plurality of nodes, wherein the plurality of nodes includes a structure node, wherein the structure node represents control flow of data among one or more of the plurality of nodes;
• a software program for generating a hardware description based on the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the graphical program, wherein the software program generates the hardware description based on the structure node;
• wherein the software program is executable to configure a programmable hardware element utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the graphical program.