What is the purpose of the 'File I/O' functions in LabVIEW?

The purpose of the 'File I/O' functions in LabVIEW is to read from and write to files on the disk. These functions facilitate interactions with file systems, allowing developers to manage data efficiently by storing it in files, retrieving it for processing, or modifying existing content. This capability is crucial for applications that require data persistence, logging, or sharing data between different sessions or systems.

By using 'File I/O' functions, developers can work with various file formats, including plain text files, binary files, and other structured formats. For instance, they can write measurement results to a log file for later analysis or read configuration data from a file at the start of a program. This functionality is essential for creating robust applications that need to maintain state or handle dynamic datasets over time.