Common behaviors among LabVIEW Developers

[spaceman_spif]

My biggest problem is when I am debugging code, sometimes I'll put in extra indicators and such to help debug the exe version, and I plop them wherever because I'm in a rush to debug and I figure I can clean it up later.  Only to find that "later" I don't have the time to clean it up, because I'm being rushed into my next crisis project!

[joaopam]

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RavensFan escreveu:

Just to clarify.  I don't think you need to put an excessive amount of work struggling to make all wires straight.  (Although I myself try to knudge different nodes and tunnels around if a wire seems to have a slight kink in it.)

I think having a few bends is okay.  When you see diagrams that have dozens of bends unnecessarily because the person just clicked away all over the diagram in drawing a line from point A to point B, that is when there is a problem

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I got your point, buddy. There are some bends that are "unavoidable". I always try to keep the number of bends less than the default (3) in the VI analyzer. So now I control myself about it, because I know I have a boundrary.

I totally agree with you.

[joaopam]

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spaceman_spif escreveu:

My biggest problem is when I am debugging code, sometimes I'll put in extra indicators and such to help debug the exe version, and I plop them wherever because I'm in a rush to debug and I figure I can clean it up later.  Only to find that "later" I don't have the time to clean it up, because I'm being rushed into my next crisis project!

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That's a problem. I always try to test specific situations before compiling, by using probes. But during a build execution, things tend to got harder.

[spaceman_spif]

Sometimes I'll select the "Clean up wire" option and the end result looks like someone threw up a plate of spaghetti.

[crossrulz]

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@spaceman_spif wrote:

Sometimes I'll select the "Clean up wire" option and the end result looks like someone threw up a plate of spaghetti.

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If you are getting that, then you need a little more space between your nodes.  I actualy have a system of spacing nodes that I use in order to make the Clean Up Wire work well.  That's another plugin I need to make one of these days...

I would also like the second the LabVIEW Style Guide book by Peter Blume.  That book helped me in so many ways, even after many years of experience.

[joaopam]

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crossrulz escreveu:

If you are getting that, then you need a little more space between your nodes.  I actualy have a system of spacing nodes that I use in order to make the Clean Up Wire work well.  That's another plugin I need to make one of these days...

I would also like the second the LabVIEW Style Guide book by Peter Blume.  That book helped me in so many ways, even after many years of experience.

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Is this a solution to improve Diagram Cleanup tool usability?

Because when I have a "solid" diagram, the tool tends to spread the code all around.

[LesPeters]

This a great thread you started Joao and I have enjoyed taking in all the different viewpoints.  First congratulations on reaching the one year mark in LabView.  I have been programming in LabView since version 3.3.  Some of the newer programmers here think I am a little fanatical about the neatness of my block diagrams but no one seems to complain about not being able to follow my code.  I find that developing neat block diagrams (and front panels) from the start helps to organize how I want to lay things out and helps make it scalable / expandable from the start.

At least one person mentioned "The labVIEW Style book" by Peter Blume, a little on the expensive side but a good place to find logical guidelines.  There is also a lot of good free info ("Best Practices") on the NI website as well.  I find peer code reviews to be helpful in providing useful feedback about readability.  LabView is an evolution, you never stop learning new things.  Make each successive program better than the last and don't worry about being to neat!

[crossrulz]

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@joaopam wrote:

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crossrulz escreveu:

If you are getting that, then you need a little more space between your nodes.  I actualy have a system of spacing nodes that I use in order to make the Clean Up Wire work well.  That's another plugin I need to make one of these days...

I would also like the second the LabVIEW Style Guide book by Peter Blume.  That book helped me in so many ways, even after many years of experience.

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Is this a solution to improve Diagram Cleanup tool usability?

Because when I have a "solid" diagram, the tool tends to spread the code all around.

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No.  It is a trick to help the "Cleanup Wire".  If you right-click on a wire, you will see an option to cleanup the wire.  A little bit of space helps that.  The full Diagram Cleanup tool messes everything up.

[Akiel]

I very rarely get good results with the cleanup tool, cleanup wire sometimes works well (ctrl-z is invaluable when using it tho) I find thinking about the layout as I program gives good layout instead of throwing it down getting it working then wondering where to start on the tidy up. Also good comments are the way forward so in six months time you (or someone else) knows what is supposed to be happening

[joaopam]

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LesPeters escreveu:

This a great thread you started Joao and I have enjoyed taking in all the different viewpoints.  First congratulations on reaching the one year mark in LabView.  I have been programming in LabView since version 3.3.  Some of the newer programmers here think I am a little fanatical about the neatness of my block diagrams but no one seems to complain about not being able to follow my code.  I find that developing neat block diagrams (and front panels) from the start helps to organize how I want to lay things out and helps make it scalable / expandable from the start.

At least one person mentioned "The labVIEW Style book" by Peter Blume, a little on the expensive side but a good place to find logical guidelines.  There is also a lot of good free info ("Best Practices") on the NI website as well.  I find peer code reviews to be helpful in providing useful feedback about readability.  LabView is an evolution, you never stop learning new things.  Make each successive program better than the last and don't worry about being to neat!

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First of all thanks for the feedback and congratulations.

It's nice to have contact with so different people in this forum, because I can see that I'm surrounded by experienced and newbies as well. This contrast is very interesting and makes learning possible. Neatness doesn't necessarily means readability, as discussed previously in this thread. But it helps, and helps A LOT.

I'll be looking forward to "Best Practices" session. And I totally agree with you: LabVIEW is a constant evolution! 🙂