LV 8.2 mouse behaviour oddities and annoyances ...

[Jaegen]

I'm seeing some strange behaviour in LV 8.2 when using the mouse: (Windows 2000 and XP).

Try this:

1. Switch to a block diagram (any one will do)
2. Spin the scroll wheel a few times
3. Click and drag to draw a selection box

When I do this, the mouse cursor is not lined up with the box:

It appears to be offset vertically by the same distance which I scrolled.  Interestingly though, the selection actually behaves normally - the visible box is not the box used for the actual selection:

This also happens horizontally if I hold the mouse over the horizontal scroll bar and spin the wheel (hope everyone already knew this trick )

Does this happen on other platforms?  It doesn't appear to happen on the front panel.

I must admit to being rather frustrated with the changes made to the mouse behaviour with every new release.  It's usually subtle, but it's very frustrating when you work with LV every day and get totally used to its quirks (and even appreciate them in some cases), only to have it all change with the next release.  For instance, in 8.2 it seems any time you click on a resize handle, the object shrinks - even if you don't move the mouse (I use a track ball, so this is easy to do for me).  I use this technique to check the size of things all the time, and it's very annoying to have to undo something I never actually did.

Also (and this is probably related), there is actually what I would call a bug when you do resize things.  Try this:

1. Drop a rectangular decoration on a front panel (or anything resizable)
2. Click on one of the resize handles, but don't move the mouse at all - note the size in the pop up tip strip
3. Move the mouse 1 pixel in a direction that would enlarge the decoration.  The object actually gets smaller!

Perhaps there is some good reason for this, but given that it's a totally different behaviour than in older versions, was it really a compelling enough reason to change it???

Sorry, just a little morning venting ...

... looking forward to 8.2.1 so I can get back to enjoying LabVIEW,

Jaegen

Message Edited by Jaegen on 09-28-2006 10:10 AM

[Will.D]

I have actually noticed that selection 'bug' as well, but wasn't sure what caused it, so I hadn't posted it.  It seems to make sense now about being offset by the scroll amount.  It's somewhat disorienting, even if the selection ends up as what you wanted anyways.

I hadn't noticed the other glitch you spoke about - at least on the surface.  When I did notice funny behaviour I always attributed to a shaky hand or something of the like

I agree that as someone who uses LV every day it can be frustrating to find all these bugs/changes from previous versions, but there are some perks to the newer versions.  Some old bothersome things fixed and replaced with new, somewhat less bothersome things.

It is however, unfortunate that you seem to be the one who finds a lot of these things

[Jaegen]

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Day wrote:

...

I agree that as someone who uses LV every day it can be frustrating to find all these bugs/changes from previous versions, but there are some perks to the newer versions.  Some old bothersome things fixed and replaced with new, somewhat less bothersome things.

It is however, unfortunate that you seem to be the one who finds a lot of these things

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Of course.  In fact I'm only using 8.2 because we are really keen to use Projects, XControls, LVOOP classes, etc., along with some bug fixes (most notably this one).  You're right though, I have been very "lucky" since starting with 8.2.  I can't take much credit though - all I've done so far is port our big (~2500 VIs) project to 8.2 and work out the kinks, along with checking out XControls.

Hopefully I haven't given the impression I'm seriously angry or upset  .  I'm still a big LabVIEW fan, and NI is definitely one of the best companies out there in terms of support ... (I'll be expecting my cheque in the mail shortly )

Jaegen

Message Edited by Jaegen on 09-28-2006 10:31 AM

[NathanT]

Jaegen,
      Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  I will let R&D know about this weird behavior.

Thanks,

Nathan

[chrisger]

see same things too on XPSP2 with LV 8.20 PDS.

and even more: occasionally the mouse pointer looses the "corner and edge detection" of a dedicated array, cluster or structure on the FP or BD, so i can't resize it any more until i restart LV.

[Jaegen]

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@chrisger wrote:

see same things too on XPSP2 with LV 8.20 PDS.

and even more: occasionally the mouse pointer looses the "corner and edge detection" of a dedicated array, cluster or structure on the FP or BD, so i can't resize it any more until i restart LV.

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Ahh yes - I've seen this since LV 7.0.  It's very annoying.  I did manage to track it down to the fact that the mouse resize action sometimes "locks" to a certain resizable object and doesn't release properly (i.e. the resize handles show up for an object, and don't go away when you move the mouse away or switch to another VI).  In order to unlock it without just restarting LV, you need to go find the object that still has it's handles visible and click on it or just move the mouse in and out of it (I can't remember which).  This usually means traversing back through the VIs and objects I've recently been working on until I find it.  Of course if you can't find it you still might have to reboot - though I seem to remember something else working, like dropping a decoration and resizing it or something.  I've never been able to deliberately reproduce this one though, and it doesn't happen very often for me.

Jaegen

[JeffBoettcher]

Your report of the case structure and decoration resizing without moving the mouse is a known issue and this was reported to R&D (41LCLDP2) for further investigation.

I was not aware of the drawn selection being off after using the mouse scroll wheel, but it was also a known issue and this was reported to R&D (3ZRG20QW) for further investigation.

What was it you were saying on a previous thread about getting into the beta program???  Sounds like a good idea to me.  😉

P.S.  You can "fix" your diagram's coordinate system after scrolling by double-clicking to start typing in a label, and then clicking off the text label.

Message Edited by Jeff B on 09-29-2006 12:33 PM

[Jaegen]

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@Jeff B wrote:

Your report of the case structure and decoration resizing without moving the mouse is a known issue and this was reported to R&D (41LCLDP2) for further investigation.

I was not aware of the drawn selection being off after using the mouse scroll wheel, but it was also a known issue and this was reported to R&D (3ZRG20QW) for further investigation.

What was it you were saying on a previous thread about getting into the beta program???  Sounds like a good idea to me.  😉

P.S.  You can "fix" your diagram's coordinate system after scrolling by double-clicking to start typing in a label, and then clicking off the text label.

Message Edited by Jeff B on 09-29-2006 12:33 PM

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Actually, it seems like doing just about anything with the mouse (other than continuing to drag selection boxes) "fixes" the coordinate system - just right clicking once works for me.

And yes, I have applied to join the beta program

Jaegen

[Darren]

Someone upthread mentioned the problem of losing your grab handles, i.e. having them get "locked" to a particular object.  I have seen this behavior off and on since LabVIEW 7.0, although I haven't seen it in 8.20...yet.  Anyway, instead of searching through your VIs for the "locked" object, there's an easier (albeit very strange) way to fix it...just drop a "Format Into String" function from the String palette, then delete it.  You'll get your grab handles back.  Works every time.

-D

[Jaegen]

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@Darren wrote:

Someone upthread mentioned the problem of losing your grab handles, i.e. having them get "locked" to a particular object.  I have seen this behavior off and on since LabVIEW 7.0, although I haven't seen it in 8.20...yet.  Anyway, instead of searching through your VIs for the "locked" object, there's an easier (albeit very strange) way to fix it...just drop a "Format Into String" function from the String palette, then delete it.  You'll get your grab handles back.  Works every time.

-D

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Excellent! - much better than hunting around.  It's this kind of creative problem solving that sets LV and NI apart

Jaegen