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EngrStudent

tab container for the block diagram

Status: Declined

Any idea that has not received any kudos within a year after posting will be automatically declined. 

The idea of a tab control is to neatly and accessibly package stuff that doesn't always fit onto one screen.

 

There are plenty of folks who have problems doing that on bioth the front panel and the block diagram.

 

I would like to be able to have a tab control in the block diagram.  It is almost what a stacked sequence is, except it doesn't have to operate in sequence, and it has slightly different usability.

 

I would like to be able to show sub-vi's on a different tab, so I can easily switch.   I'm doing it in a different window, so that isn't a huge change, but it is a cleaner change.  It would be nice for use with structured programming.  It would allow a different tabs to have the different structural components, and even good annotations, so readability is enhanced, and performance is not degraded.  It might be nice to be able to have a textbox windown that attaches to an edge, like the "content with caption" powerpoint slide.

 

A VI like this could be exported to PowerPoint, with one slide per page, and allow presentations.  At work, I have to present to my peers.  I get peer review.  In college I had to present to class or professors.  Putting something like that into the DNA can substantially improve readability.

7 Comments
AristosQueue (NI)
NI Employee (retired)

Not sure I follow. You have a block diagram for VI A... you put this tab structure on it. Each of the tabs is... a different VI used as a subVI? Do I have that right? Would these subVIs be referenced elsewhere on the diagram? Or do these subVIs still have their own files?

EngrStudent
Active Participant

@AristosQueue

 

There could be several use cases.  One is like a viewport (think AutoCAD/Vdrafter) where you can specify a camera view onto the block diagram.  This would allow a very large block diagram to be seen without scrolling with zero boundary assumptions.  Another case could be that it has one per file.  So the "main" is on one tab, then a selected sub-vi or sub-vi's could be shown on other tabs.  I really don't see this as interacting with the compiler as much as enabling faster development, and easier communication.  Each pane of the tab could be set as its own page to print.

AristosQueue (NI)
NI Employee (retired)

I understand what you're saying now.

 

Personal opinion: Too weird for my blood, and violates my prime rule ("things on the diagram have meaning"). Tools for navigation belong in the IDE, but not embedded in the diagrams. Certainly not windowing into other VIs like that. BUT...

 

NI opinion: various people have advocated for things like this over the years. I can imagine this gaining traction someday as the new IDE develops.

X.
Trusted Enthusiast
Trusted Enthusiast

You may want to sign up for the Next Gen Preview (which is eerily similar to the former LabVIEW Web UI Builder). It has something that get close enough to what you are describing: a single window IDE, diagram OR panel view (OR split view, with the limitation you can imagine). The subVIs of course can be found on the project explorer pane.

EngrStudent
Active Participant

@X, how do I sign up for "Next Gen Preview"?

X.
Trusted Enthusiast
Trusted Enthusiast
Darren
Proven Zealot
Status changed to: Declined

Any idea that has not received any kudos within a year after posting will be automatically declined.