block diagram organization tips?

[holomorph]

Hi, I have an application with about fifty or so controls (and about the same number of indicators) on the front panel. There are also associated display logic subvi's with most of the control/indicator pairs (I hope this is making sense so far). This is my "interface layer". All of the controls in the interface layer pass their state to a single subVi, the "logic layer". In order to do this I create clusters of eight or so controls to wire to the logic layer VI.

My concern is that I have everything in a big while loop, and would really like it if I could somehow fit everything in one screen. I don't need to see everything at once, but I need to have everything connected to my logic layer. I'm looking for a good way to keep all my wiring clear and my block diagram easy to read. Does anyone have any tips for maintaining clarity in diagrams with many objects on them?

Bjorn

[BJD1613]

Maybe adopt a state machine architecture that will allow you to place initialization into a single case and in the other case you can place your main loop. You should be able to fit your code to once screen resolution as a standard rule. If you can only go in one direction either vertical or horizontal. Also you might look into the alignment and distribution tools in the menu bar of Labview. A state machine example ships with LV check it out. Hope this helps.

[holomorph]

I found I can sometimes use a stacked case statement as well.

Bjorn

[tst]

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/devzone.nsf/webcategories/612A2407CB3879D1862567AC0058814A

This link should take you to NI's development guidelines page where you can find articles about different architectures and designs.

http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/321393d.pdf

This link should give you the development guideline PDF, which includes the style guide.