Hello all,
I'm looking for some ideas to a problem....
I'm creating an instruction .vi that has a text box, a picture box, and a continue button. The Text Box will instruct users to make several connections. The Picture Box will show a picture of the product the user will interact with, and the continue button is an acknowledgement that the user did what they were supposed to and the software can progress.
I want to create arrows to display on the picture box to point out Switches, LEDs, Test Points....whatever the user actually needs interact with.
Because I can have multiple arrows on a test point, I want to be able to place the arrows, and turn them on or off as needed. I also need the arrows to be labeled.
So I was thinking I have a few options....
1) I edit the picture in paint and create multiple versions that only show the arrows needed when they are needed. I then call the specific picture for each instruction.
2) I create some code that draws arrows each time the .vi is ran. There would be a setup phase where I select locations within the picture box, the code figures out the "best" direction for the arrow, and I set the Arrow Name. Then there would be a run time phase where my instruction .vi says I need Arrow_1, and the Instruction .vi references the data from the setup phase and re-draws Arrow_1 on the picture.
3) Some kind of custom control (or something else) that is boolean (ON = display, OFF = invisible) that will show the Arrow, Text, and has a Background Color for the text. where all these pieces appear and disappear?
Pros and Cons:
#1 That'll work, but that's a lot of pictures, doesn't seem like a good programmer's solution, is not very re-usable.
#2 I like it, but I think it'll take me a decent amount of up front work that I don't have time for right now on this project. I'll probably take a crack at it for the next project though. I want something simpler for right now. I see a lot of trial and error determining the "best" location for arrow direction.
#3 I can create a custom control where the off state hides the indicator and all parts of the control, and the on state shows all parts of the control.
If I use the Boolean Text, I can't provide a background color for the text
If I use the Label, I can't hide or show it as the control activates or de-activates
If I just use a different image where the background color block already exists as a part of the image, it doesn't look right because it doesn't re-size based on the text
I'd like to use the label text as the visible text because then when I copy and paste I wouldn't have to change the label text and the boolean text.
It sounds like an XControl might be my best bet for this where I hide/show all properties and set the background color through a property node?
Are there any simpler ideas that I'm over looking? I haven't used XControls before and I'm not sure if that's practical either.
Thanks for the help and direction.
