SubVI's Front Panel as part of Parent Panel?

[Michael Vetsch]

Hi,

I am new to Labview and try to to find out if the following is possible.

I create a VI, say having a simple diagram and some Controls in the Front
Panel like a Numeric Control and a Chart Control. Then I use this VI as a
SubVI in another VI (parent). What I get in the parent VI diagram is the
icon of the SubVI and when I double-click it, I get to the SubVI Front
Panel in a seperate window. Instead of this behavior, I would like to
"embed" the SubVI's Front Panel into the parent Front Panel, as it works
for built-in Controls. Or in other words I would like define a cluster of
Controls defined in a SubVI, and reuse that Cluster (same appearance) in a
parent VI. In the parent VI the Controls cluster would
be an entity, like a
single built-in Control.

I did not find any specific chapter in the doc covering this. But anyway, is
this possible? Do I miss something about the basic archtiecture of G?

Any clarification on this is very much appreciated.

Michael

[Dennis_Knutson]

You can just copy the indicators on the subVI and paste them into the main
VI. You can also create you own custom control from a cluster. Creating custom
controls is covered in the G Programming Reference Manual.

"Michael Vetsch" wrote:
>Hi,>>I am new to Labview and try to to find out if the following is possible.>>I
create a VI, say having a simple diagram and some Controls in the Front>Panel
like a Numeric Control and a Chart Control. Then I use this VI as a>SubVI
in another VI (parent). What I get in the parent VI diagram is the>icon of
the SubVI and when I double-click it, I get to the SubVI Front>Panel in
a seperate window. Instead of this behavior, I would like to>"embed" the
SubVI's Front Panel into the parent Front Panel, as it
works>for built-in
Controls. Or in other words I would like define a cluster of>Controls defined
in a SubVI, and reuse that Cluster (same appearance) in a>parent VI. In the
parent VI the Controls cluster would be an entity, like a>single built-in
Control.>>I did not find any specific chapter in the doc covering this. But
anyway, is>this possible? Do I miss something about the basic archtiecture
of G?>>Any clarification on this is very much appreciated.>>Michael>>

[Michael Vetsch]

Thanks for the help. The copy approach sounds good. Nevertheless, it would
actually be nice if an "automatic copy" could be enabled in the VI setup. If
enabled and then used in a parent VI you would just get the frame which you
place somewhere in the parent front panel. For sure you would have to have a
tool which lets you define which controls in the SubVI get automativally
copied. Just a thought.

About the control cluster approach: I understand that all Labview controls
are either Controls or Indicators. According to the G manual a cluster of
Controls can either be of type Control or Indicator. A mix is not possible.
This restriction would not work for my example for which I need Indicators
(Graph) and Controls (ring and so forth). The copy approach seems more
flexible in this case , but still it would be nice if it could be automated;
I mean the copy procedure.

Thanks,

Michael



Dennis Knutson wrote in message <3984485a@newsgroups.ni.com>...
>
>You can just copy the indicators on the subVI and paste them into the main
>VI. You can also create you own custom control from a cluster. Creating
custom
>controls is covered in the G Programming Reference Manual.
>
>"Michael Vetsch" wrote:
>>Hi,>>I am new to Labview and try to to find out if the following is
possible.>>I
>create a VI, say having a simple diagram and some Controls in the
Front>Panel
>like a Numeric Control and a Chart Control. Then I use this VI as a>SubVI
>in another VI (parent). What I get in the parent VI diagram is the>icon of
> the SubVI and when I double-click it, I get to the SubVI Front>Panel in
>a seperate window. Instead of this behavior, I would like to>"embed" the
>SubVI's Front Panel into the parent Front Panel, as it works>for built-in
>Controls. Or in other words I would like define a cluster of>Controls
defined
>in a SubVI, and reuse that Cluster (same appearance) in a>parent VI. In the
>parent VI the Controls cluster would be an entity, like a>single built-in
>Control.>>I did not find any specific chapter in the doc covering this. But
>anyway, is>this possible? Do I miss something about the basic archtiecture
>of G?>>Any clarification on this is very much appreciated.>>Michael>>

[ej]

For a more automated approach, you can go to the diagram of the higher
level vi, right click on the connector (control or indicator) that you
want to used and goto the popup menu item "Create Control" or "Create
Indicator", respectively.

By the way, if you want to use your cluster for both output and input,
all you need to do is just pass out those variables of your ring
control to get the desired waveform; and pass the values back using
local variables. I don't really like this approach, because I try not
to use globals if another approach is possible. If you are using the
clusters so that all your controls and indicator are framed, you can
get the better effects by using the "Decoration Palette".

Hope this helps

Eric

In article <8m1mai$eaq$4@news.mathworks.com>,
"Michael Vetsch" wrote:
>
> Thanks for the help. The copy approach sounds good. Nevertheless, it
would
> actually be nice if an "automatic copy" could be enabled in the VI
setup. If
> enabled and then used in a parent VI you would just get the frame
which you
> place somewhere in the parent front panel. For sure you would have to
have a
> tool which lets you define which controls in the SubVI get
automativally
> copied. Just a thought.
>
> About the control cluster approach: I understand that all Labview
controls
> are either Controls or Indicators. According to the G manual a
cluster of
> Controls can either be of type Control or Indicator. A mix is not
possible.
> This restriction would not work for my example for which I need
Indicators
> (Graph) and Controls (ring and so forth). The copy approach seems more
> flexible in this case , but still it would be nice if it could be
automated;
> I mean the copy procedure.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Michael
>
> Dennis Knutson wrote in message <3984485a@newsgroups.ni.com>...
> >
> >You can just copy the indicators on the subVI and paste them into
the main
> >VI. You can also create you own custom control from a cluster.
Creating
> custom
> >controls is covered in the G Programming Reference Manual.
> >
> >"Michael Vetsch" wrote:
> >>Hi,>>I am new to Labview and try to to find out if the following is
> possible.>>I
> >create a VI, say having a simple diagram and some Controls in the
> Front>Panel
> >like a Numeric Control and a Chart Control. Then I use this VI as
a>SubVI
> >in another VI (parent). What I get in the parent VI diagram is
the>icon of
> > the SubVI and when I double-click it, I get to the SubVI
Front>Panel in
> >a seperate window. Instead of this behavior, I would like
to>"embed" the
> >SubVI's Front Panel into the parent Front Panel, as it works>for
built-in
> >Controls. Or in other words I would like define a cluster of>Controls
> defined
> >in a SubVI, and reuse that Cluster (same appearance) in a>parent VI.
In the
> >parent VI the Controls cluster would be an entity, like a>single
built-in
> >Control.>>I did not find any specific chapter in the doc covering
this. But
> >anyway, is>this possible? Do I miss something about the basic
archtiecture
> >of G?>>Any clarification on this is very much appreciated.>>Michael>>
>
>


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