Let's improve the LabVIEW Community!!!

[altenbach]

I think the overall quality of the examples posted in the LabVIEW community is horrible, and it is up to us to:

1. Comment on existing posts and suggest improvements
2. Post excellent examples ourselves to raise the bar.

For example, take the following recently posted example.

This thing is ugly, 90% too complicated, incorrect, and buggier than an ant farm. 🙂 Attached are two images (that I post here, so I can link in my comment to the example) that show the original code (above) and some alternatives (below).

People (myself included), often post relatively clean examples here in the forum. I think we should encourage everybody to pick some of their "gems" and post them in the community so they have a more permanent place and are easier to find. They can also be more formally documented and even updated later (which is not possible in the forum here). A lot of stuff currently posted there is pretty bad and might even turn away new LabVIEW users or encourage bad coding habits.

So guys, get on it. Go over there, create a nice profile and start adding useful content. I will try to do the same. It has many great features (some similar ot other social networking sites) but it seems it needs a bit of a push to get the ball really rolling.

Whenever a discussion here is solved with a good example, it should be written up and posted in the community. Then we can add a link to the document in the last post to alert the forum readers to it.

Thanks!

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Message Edited by altenbach on 01-10-2009 11:53 AM

[smercurio_fc]

Hmmm... I have to admit that I've never perused the LabVIEW Community, so kudos (figuratively and literally) for bringing it up. I wonder: is the code screened by NI? Apparently not, since you posted this.

[smercurio_fc]

Side-note: I think the examples should indicate what LabVIEW versions are required to view the example.

[altenbach]

I guess the documentation is up to the poster, but I agree we should formulate some general guidelines.

Maybe we can come up with some consensus on posting guidelines. Let's start collecting ideas and I will write a document in my community account that can be referenced by all.

• Indicate the LabVIEW version.
• Indicate any required toolkits.
• Indicate the Language. (For some, it might be hard to understand a VI that has everything labeled and commented in Japanese or Portuguese).
• Document the date of last update of the example and what changed compared to the previous version.
• Give the VI a nice and unique name that hints at the function. "Untitled 1.vi" is not good. Don't use a name similar to an existing LabVIEW primitive.
• VIs should not be password protected, else we cannot learn from them. (Yes, currently some posts contain passworded toplevel VIs! :()
• There can be rare exceptions to the password rule. For example coding challenge entries should be passworded, especially before the deadline. 🙂
• If really needed, lowlevel subVIs can also be passworded. (e.g. if they contain proprietary or undocumented code). It still should be documented what the subVI does.
• Controls should have reasonable default values so the VI can produce a nice example output without the need to first enter or change any inputs.
• If the VI requires a datafile, include a file with typical data.
• Functionality should be original and unique. Don't just post a mutilated version of something in the example finder (or openG, etc.) unless the new code is significantly better and the reasons for the new code are explained.
• Provide some instructions on how to use the VI.
• Use diagram comments for any code sections that could be confusing to others.
• Authorship: Don't post VIs that you did not write yourself. If you come across an example in the forum and you would like to see a formal community writeup, encourage the original author.
• Code must be benign. Don't intentionally post anything that can cause damage or loss. (e.g. erase the HD,  crash LabVIEW or the computer, etc.)
• ...

Any other ideas?

[altenbach]

• ... 
• Add a FP or diagram comment with:
  • a link to the web location of the example. This way the code can be traced to the source. It also allows to easily find the documentation and possible code fixes and updates.
  • Your name and e-mail contact (if desired).
•  ...

[altenbach]

OK, I spent a few minutes to write up the "2D array transformation" demo that was discussed here a while ago.

Posted here.

First impressions: the posting mechanics are a bit tedious. There are a lot of questions to answer and forms to fill out.

Clearly, that's just a draft and I can edit it later for clarity. I will try a few more during the next days to get the posting mechanics down.

[Ben]

Hi Christian,

I am on-borad with you to help get the Community up the standard we have established in the forums (in my normal non-commiting sort of way).

But that problem is bigger than the two of us put together! And i don't want you burned-out try to get it fixed. So here is an idea JUST FOR YOU!

Concider this:

1) You (nobody else can) commit to drawing up more LabTOONs but don't post them willy-nilly.

2) Announce that you will release one LabTOON a week and dedicate it to whoever submitted the best example or re-write of an example.

3) Let people post new examples and then link the new examples to this thread.

4) Once a week look over the examples and pick a winner. OR

4a) Once a month Laura sets-up a poll for us to vote.

Now back to the Community....

I was planning on working on the community in a different manner. I was concidering leeving everything that is there alone and start a new branch that was under my control or under the control of the "frequent Flyers" or just the LV Champions (I'd prefer the frequent flyers since there is mor talent in that group than just the LV Champions). Toward this end I was going to start with all of the Nuggets I previously posted (with edits) and linking them into a single index page since they were all written to fit together and dpend on previous Nuggets. To avoid making this just a re-post, I am writting up another Nugget for release soon.

So...

I'm with you brother!

Ben

PS E-mail me off-line if you want to try and coordinate.

[RobCole]

Okay. I've been looking at the community and thinking: What's the point?

I mean, it looks like another version of the forums here. People ask questions and people answer questions. It looks like a duplication of effort.

Sure, there are things like: What you are doing... But I don't have that much time to spend updating something that looks like an NI analogue of Facebook (which I use once every few months if a friend says they posted a picture I might want to see).

So, the question is: What does the community give me that I don't get from the forums or knowledgebase?

[altenbach]

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Robert Cole wrote:

Okay. I've been looking at the community and thinking: What's the point?

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The community is quite different and has some significant advantages (and possibly disadvantages).

Examples you post in the community are static and can be edited and improved at any later time. You also can add more bells and whistles, such as tutorials, blogs and videos.

One problem with posting an example in the forum is the fact that you cannot go back and edit it. So, longer threads will become quite disorganized. There might be an early and buggy example at the beginning and a better version on the third page. Users will not spend hours weeding through a long thread and thus will not get the benefit of the correct solution.

I think the forum and the community can work in parallel. When a thread is finished, and it is of general intererst, it could be made in a more formal solution that later can be referenced if a similar question pops up again.

I have not really played with all the community features and things are a bit overwhelming at first. By default, everybody can edit a contribution so there is a lot of potential for collaborative efforts. There are a lot of configuration options for each page.

Over the next weeks, I will try to write up a few more examples (e.g. my 2D levenberg Marquardt fitting) to see how things work. There is certainly a lot of potential that should be explored.