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Front Panel in CLD Exam

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In the CLD Success Package, we are given VIs with the front panel pre-built.  Will this be the case in the CLD exam, or will I need to build the UI from scratch?

 

Thanks!

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Lapsed CLAD, LV 5 - LV 2022 (Yeah, I'm that old...)
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The GUI will be given to you.  You will need to add the tip strips though.


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Accepted by topic author diarmaede

Yes, you actually have to use the provided front panel. I think it's helpful to create a Project and pop in the included front panel VI first thing, but besides that it is basically your starting point.

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I have an example of somebody who passed the CLD and did not put tip strips anywhere (I have asked him explicitly about tip strips). I asked him, because I have found a post in another forum where the tip strips where referred as "tool tips".

 

Unfortunately I do not know what kind of UI he got (the sample exams usually contain some clustered buttons, some clustered LEDs, some timing element,  a stop button and a slider or a knob), but I would edit the icon, add a documentation and thats it.

 

For sub VIs I would do the same and take care that I have a good caption for every front panel element with the default value in paranthesis.

 

For a tip strip you have to edit the documentation of the FP element. I find this to time consuming for the CLD exam although I think that for customer development this should be done. If I would loose 3 points I would do this rather than to add functionality.

 

Do you know if it is obligatory to use tip strips?

 

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mthimm1 wrote:

Do you know if it is obligatory to use tip strips?


The last time I read the prep guide, Tip Strips are part of the Documentation points.  And I am sure you will lose points if you do not have the tip strips on GUI panels.


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I passed it!

 

I am not sure if we were talking about same things:

 

I have got 100% of documentation points and 100% of the style points in my CLD exam without using any tip strips on frontpanel elements!

 

I only changed the captions of frontpanel elements and I tried to find good names. In my opinion "tip strips" refers to documentation texts (right mouse - Properties - Documentation). I have left these empty. Did you mean captions because they have this "mouse over tip strip effect"?

 

I am curious to know if I passed the exam due to compassion of the guy in charge ( because my coding was too poor) or if it is sufficient to find a good name for the caption texts. Probably I was very lucky because I was only 9 points over the minimum!

 

I did not read the prep guide very careful, but P. Blumes LabVIEW Style Book, Prentice Hall 2007 gave me a lot of hints how to write clean code in LabVIEW. This was a big help. I organized everything in a project with autofill folders and created an alternative template for the simple vi with errorcase. I even used the queued state machine depicted on the cover for my solution (with some minor changes).

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@mthimm1 wrote:

I passed it!

 

I am not sure if we were talking about same things:

 

I have got 100% of documentation points and 100% of the style points in my CLD exam without using any tip strips on frontpanel elements!

 

I only changed the captions of frontpanel elements and I tried to find good names. In my opinion "tip strips" refers to documentation texts (right mouse - Properties - Documentation). I have left these empty. Did you mean captions because they have this "mouse over tip strip effect"?

 

 


It would seem you got away with a style point you should not have.

 

Still, with a 37/40 you demonstrated your CLD level qualities well!  The lack of tip strips would not have made a difference on the Pass / Fail criteria had the reviewer not overlooked them.  Perhaps they were generous with the point because you at least did something to document the FP objects (but you could derate yourself to A 36/40 and improve your practices)


"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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Thanks for the clarification.

 

So I was lucky (or not, because there was no difference). Nevertheless it is important to know exactly what is taken in account for the certification. I appreciate that LabViEW provides many ways to create well documented code.

 

In real world there are usually coding guidelines, either of the customer or the employer. I am using tip strips in real world applications.

 

For the certification itself it is important to know what is required and what ist optional.

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@mthimm1 wrote:

 

In real world there are usually coding guidelines, either of the customer or the employer. I am using tip strips in real world applications.

 


I've actually never had anyone tell me how the code is supposed to look, just what is has to do.

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@Gregory wrote:

@mthimm1 wrote:

 

In real world there are usually coding guidelines, either of the customer or the employer. I am using tip strips in real world applications.

 


I've actually never had anyone tell me how the code is supposed to look, just what is has to do.


With larger teams a consistent style (and Style Guide) is a huge boost for the team.  Code reviews are easier.  Code Maintenance is easier, Debugging, integration and IQ/OQ are a lot easier.  

 

Even in the case where you are a "Lone Wolf" developer. you get a lot of plusses from a consistent style.  You might want to bring that up to your team Gregory.  The fights you all are going to have about style preferences will actually benefit the whole team by getting them to think about best practices.  Trust me on that!  

<Sea Story>

While I was learning how many mistakes the team was making using LabVIEW, I shared a cube wall with "a Guy" who also had opinions on how to do LabVIEW "Best."   We disagreed often (wow, that is somewhat understated)  The discussions were passionate and legendary.  

 

Today, I consider him a good friend and both of us are LabVIEW Champions today, in no small part because of those well reasoned discussion points from different points of view.

</Sea Story> 

 

@mithimm1.  Yes, I know some things about the CLD grading process that I cannot mention.  Do use tip strips on User Facing FP Objects in real life, Please!  You Know the user will never RTFM so, those Tip Strips have to explain what is happening there.


"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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