LV 2015 When making a packed library, icons loses their transparency.

[billko]

Has anyone else seen this?

[yamadj]

Hey billko,

It sounds like you may have entered that "Dangerous" category of your quote.

Unfortunately looking internally and through the document below hasn't yielded any documentation of that behavior.

LabVIEW 2015 and 2015 SP1 Known Issues - http://www.ni.com/product-documentation/52698/en/

Is this affecting your ability to develop?

[Yamaeda]

http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/321393d.pdf

"The icon represents the VI on a palette and a block diagram. When subVIs have well-designed icons, developers can have a better understanding of the subVI without the need for excessive documentation. Use the following suggestions when creating icons: • Create a meaningful icon for every VI. The LabVIEW libraries are full of well-designed icons that try to show the functionality of the underlying program; use them as prototypes where applicable."

"Is this affecting your ability to develop?"

Yes, it prevents some well designed icons and what's the use of a graphical programming language with icons if you can't make pretty icons?

/Y

[natasftw]

Alright, I'll bite.

What part of that quote documents the behavior being discussed?
Without seeing the icon in question, how are you able to claim it's unquestionably impeding someone else's development?

I'd almost be willing to argue spending time focusing on "pretty icons" already hinders development.  Something quick and to the point satisfies "well-designed" as well as moves the time you're spending towards development rather than icon artist.

Do we have a quick example we can take a look at so we can see how this is working?  Or, is it something that works with all transparency in icons?

[Yamaeda]

If a function, or lack thereof, hinders the usage of the guidelines, i'd say it impedes development.

From the same document it also mentions that you should use icons as first choice, and text as secondary (which also leads to the question why a text icon isn't automatic but you get that default one). Yes, making an icon takes a little time (less so with G#) but if you uses and adds to the glyph library you can drop a couple of those for a decent approximation.

As to your preferrences or "enough designed" isn't applicable to all companies guidelines.

/Y

[billko]

---

@yamadj wrote:

Hey @billko,

It sounds like you may have entered that "Dangerous" category of your quote.

Unfortunately looking internally and through the document below hasn't yielded any documentation of that behavior.

LabVIEW 2015 and 2015 SP1 Known Issues - http://www.ni.com/product-documentation/52698/en/

Is this affecting your ability to develop?

---

Actually, yes it does.  Consider a small icon that is one connector high.  You cannot stack them now because they will cover each other.  And wires going into the VI will look as if they are floating if they are going into a transparent part.

[yamadj]

Thank you all who have helped me understand the problem better.

billko, would it be possible for you to let me know if you can attach a small reproducing case and some screenshot in order to show this behavior better? 

I want to try to validate the behavior your are seeing.

[billko]

All I did was make a packed library and all the VIs with transparencies went to icons with white filling in where all the transparencies were.

But it's interesting that it did not do it with LV2014 on my personal computer at home.  i tried it just now.

[Jacobson-ni]

Happens to me in LabVIEW 2016 and I attached the ppl and project that I used. If someone else could try with LabVIEW 2014, that would be great.

Edit: in terms of bad behavior drag the "transparent" VI that is part of the ppl into another VI

[billko]

---

@Jacobson-ni wrote:

Happens to me in LabVIEW 2016 and I attached the ppl and project that I used. If someone else could try with LabVIEW 2014, that would be great.

Edit: in terms of bad behavior drag the "transparent" VI that is part of the ppl into another VI

---

Wow!  Sorry, yes - that is how you recreate the issue.  I'm very sorry that I forgot to mention that.  I've found that I'm very good at asking people to provide all the information that they can, but I'm not so good at doing that myself.  😞