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Ray.R

Allow user-defined default icon

Status: New

I started a discussion here

 

Although the suggestion about using a template is quite nice, I would still like to be able to create a new VI (or sub-VI) from within a project.  I never use the default icon provided by NI.  -- N-E-V-E-R --   That's a personal choice. 

 

So since I never use that icon, the fact that creating a new VI which auto-generates an icon that is never used, renders that feature useless.  Let's see how many users of LabVIEW also find the default icon useless....  (Kudos would be a way to take a poll).

 

A nice feature would be to allow the developer to create her / her own default icon.  The default icon is probably somewhere in the ini file (I have not checked).  One of the Options could be to select if the user wants to use their own default, and if so, browse to the icon or have an editor create one.

 

In my case, when creating a new VI, it ends up with a icon like this:

 

 

 

I would be happy to have a default icon that looks like this:

 

 

 

The idea I am proposing is that developers should be able to have the icon of their choice as a default icon.

 

And may plenty of kudos adorn this thread..  🙂

 

Spoiler
 

 

20 Comments
fabric
Active Participant

I don't really need an arbitrary default icon, but I'd like an option to force the default icon to be a blank square rather then the current "let's add the inputs of a scope together" icon... or is it a power supply??

Ray.R
Knight of NI

It looks like a scope because of the sine wave, probing the input of an op-amp.  THe + & - make it seem like a voltage source... so it could be a function generator set to output a TTL sine wave to an op amp..  Regardless of what it is... it is useless for me.. 😉

 

Thanks for the kudos!  🙂

JB
Trusted Enthusiast
Trusted Enthusiast

I kudo your idea because it would allow to set the default icon to something so ugly that it would encourage to generate a nice and comprehensive icon for every VI !

 

Spoiler
You won't find even one VI with the default icon (excepted those from third party libraries) in my projects. My libraries of templates and glyphs (completed as the projects go along) lead to "normalized" icons and makes their generation quite fast.
tst
Knight of NI Knight of NI
Knight of NI

Personally, I think I actually prefer the current option. I wouldn't use either of them in actual code, but in temporary code the current one is easier to see and in real code the current one is also easier to see in case someone did fail to change it for some reason. I seem to remember having "blank" icons more than once in the past and I don't remember them being helpful.

 

Also, I did provide a link in the original discussion Ray linked to in the idea to a tool which does allow you to do this in existing LV versions, although I'm not sure I would say that means the idea is completed - it means it's possible, but it doesn't mean that it was actually implemented by default.


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SteenSchmidt
Trusted Enthusiast

Hmm, I think I saw a LabVIEW.ini token for default new VI icon, but I can't seem to find it now. Is that all in my imagination?

 

/Steen

CLA, CTA, CLED & LabVIEW Champion
Yamaeda
Proven Zealot

Since you can have icon templates, you should really be able to select one as default icon.

/Y

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Qestit Systems
Certified-LabVIEW-Developer
Ray.R
Knight of NI

I'm on the same page as JB...

 

Steen,  I thought I had seen that too.... I just cannot remember where 😞

 

 

tst is correct, there is code available to do this, although it may not have been tested within a Project environment (I may try it).  However, it does not dismiss this idea, and actually supports it.  If someone went through all the trouble to implement this workaround, it means that others are looking for a basic behavior that LabVIEW Development environment should support.   Another reason for having this feature as part of the development platform is to avoid having to update / adjust the solution Felix provided in the future. 

 

Furthermore, many of us work on contract basis at customer sites on customer equipment (PC's) and customer licenses for LabVIEW.  In certain situations, we are not allowed to install 3rd party solutions due to IT requirements.  That means solutions such as the one provided by Felix could not be installed. 

 

Something as basic as a user being able to define his / her environment must always be part of the development environment and should not be the subject of debates.

 

 

 

 

AristosQueue (NI)
NI Employee (retired)
AristosQueue (NI)
NI Employee (retired)

Workaround for now: if you just do as I do and always develop *every* VI inside a library or class, you never see the default VI -- they start off with an icon that is blank except for the library/class banner, which is itself blank until you fill something in. Do make sure you use the configuration setting in Tools >> Options to turn off the numbers in the corner.

Ray.R
Knight of NI

The other idea is not the same as this one.  I don't care about this connector pane in this idea.  I just want to be able to select a default icon.

 

I do like your proposed workaround, and do use it already in some projects (that use classes).