Visual indication that a structure is hiding code beyond its boundary

[fabric]

Preamble:

Just following up on a sub-idea raised within this recent idea from tst: LabVIEW should break VIs which have hidden code.  I *almost* like tst's idea, but IMO it is a bit too heavy-handed:

• YES, I want better information when there is hidden code on my diagram, but...
• NO, I don't want my code to break!

The Idea:

If a structure hides code beyound it's boundary, then provide a visual indication. For example, the edge of the structure could be coloured red to alert the user that something unexpected is going on.

 

[Arlon]

I like the idea of scroll bars inside the structure. This: a) would be similar in behaviour to the block diagram as a whole; b) is, in itself, a visual indication; and c) makes "hidden" code hidden in the sense of "not currently visible" (like code off-screen or in a different case) instead of "can't be seen".

Regarding overlapped code or any code that "can't be seen" (even wires), I don't think LV should allow this at all - but I can imagine there are differing opinions on this. A potential solution would be to have an option similar to autogrow for structures that would either allow the overlap and decorate whatever is on top (structure or otherwise) with a red drop shadow, or cause the block diagram to grow to make room for the new code.

[Jolt]

Another idea here is more elegant and more closely aligns with how I feel about this. Specifically I like the idea of forcing code smaller to fit in a non-auto-grow-enabled structure. Sure, this could create messy code if you shrink something and start “pushing” things in other “layers” but so what? To be honest that is desired behavior for me. If it makes a mess you are the one that coded it and tried to shrink it. Go back and fix it and make it cleaner/better at the same time. 

IMHO, your code should fit and should never be hiden. Period.