reentrant VI indicator

[GregFreeman]

I searched reentrant in this idea exchange and didn't see anything on it so here goes. I would like some sort of indicator showing that a VI is reentrant. Right now, as far as I know, you have to go into the properties and check. It would be nice if there could be either something on the icon, or a small label that would show if the VI was reentrant. Or maybe a slight "halo" around the VI, something to that effect. Any other ideas on how to do this are welcome.

Message Edited by for(imstuck) on 02-24-2010 10:00 AM

[smercurio_fc]

I thought about this for a bit and then I asked myself, why would I want to, or need to know this? As a programmer I could, instead, state that it's reentrant in the description for the VI. Then I can see it by simply having the context help window open. Can you provide a little more information as to a use case for needing to have a special icon?

[Darin.K]

When I am being good, I use the border color of the icon to indicate some of the properties I have changed.  For example a modal dialog subVI will have a red border so it gets my attention and I don't plop it into a VI I intend to operate unattended.  Reenetrant VIs get a green border.  Works well for my needs, and is useful now and then, so perhaps a more universal method would be desirable.  I wouldn't mind a Profile tool like 'Show Buffers' that gives a little indication of the reentrant VIs on a BD.  When you need the info it is easy to see on the BD, but you aren't getting hit over the head with it.

[GregFreeman]

smercurio. You're right. The context help would be a great solution. I just know there have been times where people have had an example on a projection screen, or at a code review and it would just be nice to know exactly what is happening. It may not be necessary when you are coding, but there are times where I could see it being beneficial.

[JackDunaway]

I thought the exact thing as smercurio_fc. It would be nice to know if a VI was re-entrant at at glance, but it would also be nice to know if a subVI was Subroutine priority, if the Preferred Execution System was UI or Same As Caller, if the VI is Modal or Normal.... All of a sudden at a glance our subVI's are going to have all types of jewelry indicating their special types.

Basically, I like the idea, but I dislike decorating the subVI on the BD even more.

On the other hand, seeing these fundamental types of settings shown in the Context Help (that you didn't have to manually enter into the description) would be welcome... if someone makes an Idea I'd vote for it.

[GregFreeman]

Jack, I think thats a great idea, AUTOMATICALLY adding these settings to the context help. That's a very efficient solution that builds on smercurios idea.

[JackDunaway]

Make an idea with a good illustration, and you've got my vote.

[GregFreeman]

Rather than make a new idea Jack, I think it will just leave this here and hopefully if they decide to implement it, they will look at the comments and see that we have discussed better ways to handle this.

[JackDunaway]

I think the idea is different enough to warrant a new idea. It would encompass more that just reentrantcy (e.g., Execution System, Priority...) Plus, there may be two parties: one who want a halo on the SubVI, and one who wants to see richer information about a VI in the Context Help (I'm in the second party). This is a good example of where a good idea sparks good discussion, and a truly useful and popular yet seemingly easy to implement feature (read "low-hanging fruit") pops out.

[Manzolli]

Like the idea, but the idicator will be better in Context Help.

[TCPlomp]

Context help is a good idea. Several other things can be automagically shown in the context help.

It would be like the help for property nodes, which show what the exact possibilites are (available in runtime, etc.)

Ton