No save on exit - can I recover changes from 5 minute periodic save?

[wnb]

Oh yeah, I'm sorry, I'm not knocking the project file method I know it's a good thing and I should be using it. I'm just saying as I'm learning the program I've just been concentrating more on the particular items I'm (relatively) more desperate for. As I continue to learn new stuff, I will move project file up the list and I promise I'll get to it.

[Bob_Schor]

Oops, looks like wildcatherder's post has been "morphed" into a discussion about Nate_Burns's reluctance to listen to good advice on improving his LabVIEW skills.

Here's a silly analogy from the world of Text Languages.  I'm going to use Pascal instead of C, as "that's what I know".

Suppose I'm a beginning Pascal Programmer.  I write:

Program HelloWorld(input,output);CONST text="Hello World";Begin Println("Hello World") end.

Now, my Instructor says "Don't write everything in a single line -- use line breaks and indentation to make your code readable".  Should I just blow this off because "I've just been concentrating more on the particular items I'm (relatively) more desperate for"?

When I started with LabVIEW, after considerable experience in other languages (yes, including Pascal), the book that I valued the most was "The LabVIEW Style Book", by Peter Blume.  "Style" (which includes a lot of things in LabVIEW) can (and, in my option, should) be taught, as without it, LabVIEW code is just a mess (to have true "spaghetti code", it is most helpful to have a lot of colored "wires" criss-crossing all over a 20-screen Block Diagram).

Bob Schor

[wnb]

Dude, seriously?

[Hooovahh]

I haven't seen it yet, but one thing built into Windows 7 and newer is the semi-automatic file backup of the shadow copy that Windows will maintain.

If you right click a file in explorer you can choose Restore Previous Version of File.  Now in practice this highly depends on the size of the file, how often it changes, and importantly where it is saved.  If you get lucky, you can sometimes restore previous versions of your lost file.

But I highly agree with others.  Source Code Control has saved my butt way too many times, and not just in regards to LabVIEW development.  I use TortoiseSVN, and the free VisualSVN Server that can run on the same computer, or on a computer on your network.  You just got to remember to commit periodically and then you can roll back to any one of those commit points.

[wildcatherder]

I agree that a revision control system is a lifesaver.  You can access, not only the previous version of your code, but all previous versions with the appropriate sub VI revisions, i.e. the old versions will actually run.  I use TortoiseHg in conjunction with the free Bitbucket.org online server.  They have also provided good support when my branches got tangled.  

In the past, I, too, have been desperate to complete a "one-off" VI without any frills, like project structure or revision control.  However, the loss of several hours' work is a lesson you don't soon forget.  A little time up front to learn these techniques can pay off "big time", as quickly as on your second VI development.  I have been urging National Instruments to run an online Revision Control seminar in association with a third-party developer, like they did with the JKI toolkits.