New LabVIEW 2019 Feature: Create Constant, Create Control, and Create Indicator

[pauldavey]

Quoted from the 2019 Help (which does not seem to be available online?):

LabVIEW 2019 includes the following new shortcut menu items.

Create Constant, Create Control, and Create Indicator

Creates a constant, control, or indicator from a terminal. These shortcut menu items have long been available and are now duplicated at the top of the shortcut menu.

I really don't like this change. I am happy to have those items in the shortcut menu of course, but not at the top.  Now it is much less convenient to toggle the visible items (such as labels) which I do all the time.

What do you think?

[MichaelBalzer · Accepted solution]

Found in Darren's NIWeek 2019 presentation:

• Create options at the top of all terminal and wire right-clicks in LabVIEW 2019
  • Instant access to constant/control/indicator for any data type on your diagram
  • Might take some getting used to
  • Give it some time (like you did with Auto Tool, Quick Drop, etc.)
  • Give it more time
  • Escape hatch for curmudgeons: PopupMenus.ElevateCreation=FALSE

[cbutcher]

Darren Nattinger gave some thoughts on this at NI Week, but one thing you might like to know is that you can disable this change (if you really want to) by adding the following to your LabVIEW.ini file.

PopupMenus.ElevateCreation=FALSE

There's a full presentation available here:

https://forums.ni.com/t5/NIWeek-Session-Content/Software-Engineering-Processes-Architecture-and-Desi...

[pauldavey]

Thanks for this information.  I will leave it as it is (to give it a chance) for a while but good to know there is an option (even if it isn't well documented).

[Darren]

Thank you for giving it some time. But if you end up using that INI token, this is how I will forever see you:

[Ben]

---

@Darren wrote:

Thank you for giving it some time. But if you end up using that INI token, this is how I will forever see you:

---

If I ever get to LV 2019 before I retire I will most likely be invoking the "curmudgeon=True" token. Feel free to view me as you wish since I do sport suspenders when I am not wearing bib overalls but for the sake of the record, here is a recent image.

Ben

[Hooovahh]

I haven't resorted to using this INI key yet but I still find the feature more annoying than useful.  I understand that in some cases the most commonly used command is Create which is why NI wanted to promote it.  But in cases like clicking a terminal going out of a FOR loop I'd argue that changing the tunnel options like indexing, conditional, or concatenating is used much more often than the Create is.  Same with right clicking a boolean going into a Case Structure.  I want Replace With Case Selector to be the top item, it is the most commonly needed function in this case and moving it down makes me less efficient.  Or an array going into a FOR loop, do want to index it or not?  That is a question more often asked than do I want to make an indicator in this loop? 

I made these concerns in the beta, and NI assured me that Create was always the most commonly used function, of which I disagreed but don't have the data to back it up like NI likely does.

[cbutcher]

---

@Hooovahh wrote:

Same with right clicking a boolean going into a Case Structure.  I want Replace With Case Selector to be the top item

---

Wow. Never knew this feature...

Edit: Works with error wires too. That's fantastic.

[Darren]

---

@Hooovahh wrote:

But in cases like clicking a terminal going out of a FOR loop I'd argue that changing the tunnel options like indexing, conditional, or concatenating is used much more often than the Create is.  Same with right clicking a boolean going into a Case Structure.  I want Replace With Case Selector to be the top item, it is the most commonly needed function in this case and moving it down makes me less efficient.  Or an array going into a FOR loop, do want to index it or not?  That is a question more often asked than do I want to make an indicator in this loop? 

---

I agree that there are operations we do on some terminals more than the 'Create' options. In asking you to give it some time, my goal is that you will get used to the *consistency* of having the 'Create' options always available in the exact same place. And in getting used to this, you'll also get used to the different position of those other commonly-used options, like convert to case selector, indexing options, etc.

[pauldavey]

Hi Darren

Consistency is certainly a valuable, time-saving thing, but distance matters too (which is why it is very important to put the tv remote back in the same place every time).