Most elegant way to bundle front panel controls/indicators?

[AmandaBacala]

Hi all,

Tomorrow is the big day for me and for the most part I feel prepared but I just remembered something I had planned to ask/figure out before taking the CLD exam. A tip that I see frequently is to put all front panel controls and indicators into clusters as you start the exam. If I were doing this for a non-exam project, I would just add a cluster constant to the front panel and dump everything I want in it. But I'm not sure this is allowed since you aren't supposed to change the front panel.

Alternatively, I know that I can just add a bundle in the block diagram but that seems like an ugly way to do it.

Is there a better way to do this? Or does anyone know if adding clusters to the front panel counts as manipulating the front panel?

Thanks!

[crossrulz]

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@AmandaBacala wrote:

Or does anyone know if adding clusters to the front panel counts as manipulating the front panel?

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Yes, that would be altering the front panel and it would mess up the scripts that NI uses for grading.  Even then, the general rule for clusters is to bundle things into logical groups, not a massive holding structure to put everything an application might use.

[AmandaBacala]

Ok, thanks. This ended up being kind of a non-issue anyway since things were mostly bundled the way I would have wanted them.

Overall I will be surprised if I don't pass.. But the computer I was given didn't have VI analyzer installed! So frustrating. I hope I have enough of a cushion that I can afford giving up easy style points. So, tip for others, if you have a laptop with LabVIEW that you're comfortable with it might be best to bring your own (I was told this was an option).