Next Revision improvements

[RichElswick]

I understand NIweek is coming up and all, which I cannot attend, but I have a question for those, who are involved with the developers here on the boards.

What improvements are expected in the next version? 

I suppose, this forum could be somewhat of a feature request for you as well, so the next version can be drastically improved.  Such as:

1. Allowing the REPORT graphs to display different formats of the axis numbers, as well as allow adjustment of their orientation relative to the graph (i.e. axis value numbers are vertical instead of only horizontal, no engineering designation selection for large #s)

2. Background infromation in REPORT to be edited once and copied across multiple sheets. This would also allow the format to always be the same.

I suppose I could go on, but those were a couple right off the top of my head.  I have sent several other feature request to my local NI salesman, Chris Washington, who I believe has sent many of them on to the Developers.

Thanks,
Rich Elswick

[Brad_Turpin]

Hi Rick,

What version of DIAdem are you using?  Let me answer your points individually:

1. REPORT graphs display different axis number formats
2. REPORT graphs display different axis number orientations (angles)
3. REPORT graphs no longer require engineering designation selection for large #s
4. REPORT layout with background information to be used as starting point for multi-page report

Items 1. and 2. are available in DIAdem 8.x by double-clicking on the axis number
Item 4. is available in DIAdem 9.1 by using PicAppend() or the "File>>Append layout..." menu

I'm not sure what you mean by Item 3.

I'd be happy to explain further,
Brad Turpin
DIAdem Product Support Engineer
National Instruments

[RichElswick]

Version 9.10.2345 TDM Service Pack 2b

1 and 2. I found the way to adjust the angle of the numbers and the Format, thank you! 
3. This is the same as 1, since it was autoscaling the large number to the exponent format and I just had to set the Format to 'd' to eliminate the exponent format and show larger numbers.

for 1 and 3, could you add a drop down box or something to allow one to select the format they want?

4. I am not familiar with the PicAppend(), but I see the Append Layout inserts your current TDR file into another TDR file.  Yes, I suppose those things could be done that way. 

Thanks.

5. Report Graphs - when exporting to HTML, is there a way to add custom HTML or adjust the HTML format, which is generated?

Rich

[RichElswick]

6. DIAdem in general - I opened a .tdm file yesterday and I selected File->Save from the menu and kept doing that throughout the day and it appeared to have lost the data I had been saving all day.  Because I opened the same file I had originally opened (after having exited DIAdem) and all my updates were gone.  It had appeared that I hadn't actually saved my data.  I started looking around in some of the other data folders in my project working directory and low and behold, there was my saved data.. in another location.  Why the data didn't save over the original data I have no idea.  This also begs another question I have, which is why is there no 'Save' toolbar button in DIAdem?  The current button is a 'Save As...' button.

7. Would it be possible to allow users to 'Customize' toolbars, ala other Windows programs, or is this not a reality, since DIAdem was written with Labview?

Thanks!

Rich

[Santiago D]

Rich,

Although I don't know if certain features will be available in future version of DIAdem I can comment on some of your suggestions.

5. It is not possible to manipulate the output of an HTML report directly from DIAdem.  On the other hand, an HTML file is nothing more than a text file.  Therefore, you could manipulate it programatically through a VB Script to meet your requirements.

6. a) Were you able to reproduce the behavior of the Save functionality with different TDM files?  I tried to reproduce the behavior you described by creating a TDM file, editing it, saving it, closing DIAdem and opening the file again.  The TDM file had been saved in the correct directory and contained the correct data.

b) The "Save As..." functionality might have been selected for the 'Save' toolbar button instead of the "Save" functionality to implement a safeguard against replacing data inadvertently.  If you are asked where you want to save your data, it will be harder for you to loose previous versions of your data due to saving.

7. The best way to make sure that your product suggestions are considered in future version of DIAdem is to submit them to the National Instruments Product Suggestion Center.  All these suggestions are read by National Instruments developers to determine which features will be included in future versions.  You can find the product suggestion center at the following URL (http://digital.ni.com/applications/psc.nsf/default?openform).

Regards,

Santiago D.

[cs42]

6. This happens for me sometimes, if I browse for some different data. Sometimes Diadem seems just to use the last path accessed in the data explorer to save a TDM. I remember it being even worse, when I still had these default paths set. Then Diadem really often saved to the example directory...

[RichElswick]

Thanks for the link Santiago, but posting it here gets discussion going and lets me know if I am the only one having these issues or not.

5. I could also edit the HTML directly aftwards, but I would prefer not to.

6.a. I will reproduce this when I get back from vacation after next week.
6.b. Yes, that is a  distinct possiblity.

 

[Santiago D]

The directory where the TDM file will be saved is determined by the Desktop configuration.  In particular, you can specify where you want your TDM file to saved by clicking on Settings >> Desktop parameters >> General...  In the General Properties window, click the "Path selection..." button.  The "NAVIGATOR user path:" will specify where the TDM file will be saved.

The directory where the TDM file is saved might not be set to the "expected" directory for a number of reasons.  The two most predominant are that a TDM file is loaded programatically or that it is dragged and dropped from Windows Explorer.

Then again, if you have found a set of steps that you can follow to load and save a file that does not follow the expected behavior, it might be a bug.  Make sure to post the sequence in the forum se we can try to reproduce the unexpected behavior.

Santiago D.