New and Improved LabVIEW Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit Now in BETA

[reidl]

We updated the version that shipped with the LabVIEW 2013 beta 1 platform DVD.  This feature was added so column visibility is retained.  I'll request an update to the DETT beta download link so that you don't have to download the entire 5 GB (x2) platform DVD.  I'll keep you posted and also write up which beta requests have been implemented

[David_Staab]

I think I found a bug in the Beta:

If I load a DETT_filter.ini file in the Capture Settings dialog, delete some of the entries in the "VIs" section, and save back to the same file on disk, those entries are still present when I reload the file later.

[reidl]

An updated DETT beta has been posted (go to your ni.com/beta page, click on LabVIEW Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit, then Download again).  This is faster than downloading the LV 2013 beta platform dvd.  Here are some requests that were addressed:

• Minimizing ribbon
• Removing "Integer" from user-defined traces
• Environment settings saved between runs (column visibility, and others)
• Call chain visual in description
• Right-click to filter VI (you can also add VI to Capture Settings easily, but trace must be "stopped" first before this option is enabled).

The request for regular expression searching has been since added, but did not make it into this beta build.

David, I was not able to reproduce the filter loading/changing/saving/loading bug mentioned above using the updated beta.  Please update and let us know.  The capture settings last used for that application instance should be retained so hopefully you will be doing less saving/loading of the filter.ini file (see bullet 3, above)

[Robert_Hoffman]

I just downloaded the latest beta today, and it doesn't appear that the auto scroll is working.  I have a trace setup to run with a maximum of 1,000,000 entries.  While tracing, I can change the Auto Scroll to on or off with no change in the behavior.  Is this a known issue?

Edit - I think it works, just very slow update when you have that many elements.  Still, it gives the impression that it isn't working, since it seems like it takes a long time to take effect.

[Jifan]

You can change the maximum number if your machine hard to catch the speed of DETT. Its default value 100,000 fit into most case. If the messges coming too fast, you can set the capture setting to discard events that you think useless.

BTW, it will take 3 seconds to update the view of 1,000,000 table in my machine.

[David_Staab]

It's almost certainly too late to request a new feature for the 2013 release, but maybe this can be added in 2014: I'd like th ability to add a flag or comment to a line in the trace report. I'm staring at a 189-line debug trace, and the user clicked a button that started an error condition on line 142. I need the previous 141 lines in the report to see what state the application was in when the situation occurred, but I'd like to leave myself a note that the button was clicked between events 141 and 142. Think of comments in an Excel spreadsheet.

[reidl]

How would the comment be viewable?  Would it be:

1. An additional column in the table (might not be a good idea because comments might be long and there's only so much space width-wise)
2. Viewable in the "details" section below the table when the row is clicked on.  If this is the case, we'd want a way to mark a row that a comment is there (via icon, or color, or typeface).
3. Viewable as a tooltip on a row (again, same as #2, we need a visual to know that a comment exists for a row).

Also, would we need a "Find next comment" for navigation, just like finding text?

Alternatively, I've also been in favor of adding some "bookmark" (or tag) to any line in the trace for quick navigation to important parts of a trace.  If that is done, then adding a comment to a bookmark would serve your use case as well.

[David_Staab]

No fresh ideas, but my opinions on yours are:

1. Yuck. Agreed.
2. Agreed on the visual marker. Excel puts a colored triangle in the corner a cell.
3. I like 2 more.

Tag/Bookmark: I agree this would be a good way to implement it. Go for this first if you can. You still have the same concerns as #2 above, though, don't you?

[reidl]

Yes, bookmarks/tags would still need visuals to indicate their presence.  We currently have the idea of auto-generated bookmarks anytime you start a new trace (those green marks that show up in the scrollbar area).

Thanks for the feedback!

[David_Staab]

I filed a bug report back in January through the NI.com/Beta interface, and it looks like it still hasn't been addressed. Are y'all reading the bug reports posted there? I would provide a reference to it, but there's no CAR number or anything else I can give you.