building menu driven interface using LabVIEW

[ponnaboy]

hi,
There is not much place on my front panel since I'm displaying 8 graphs on it. A straight forward method to save space on the front panel would be to use Tab control. Another method would be to use menus for my interface.which is the better option ?

-shiv

[Mache]

Hi Shiv,

See If this thought Process Helps...

Assumption - Use Tab Control
1. Can you Bunch Similar Functions So that Tabs Can Be defined and will Be intuitive to the User. For Eg. "Settings" "Status" etc. If the Controls and Status Indicators are Ambiguous in their functionality, The User Does not intuitively Know this and it is not User Freindly Design.

2. Another Factor to Consider is Since you have 8 Graphs and other Controls, The Tabs Will Not Give Efficient User Interface. I for One Like My Tabs In One Line. I Avoid Nested Tabs and Tabs in two Lines Etc. They are Just Not Intuitive and Cause Users to Click and Experiment Everytime.

3. More Importantly, What is Important to the User? Tabs Will Selectively Show Only Part Information. If the User needs to See Simultneous Information Then you may Want to Stay Away from Tab Control.

4. I For One Have Found a Bug, in Tab Control Implementation When you Embed Waveform Chart Control on One of the Tab. Here Is a Link...

http://exchange.ni.com/servlet/ProcessRequest?RHIVEID=101&RPAGEID=135&HOID=506500000008000000FA4D0000&UCATEGORY_0=_49_%24_6_&UCATEGORY_S=0

4. The Biggest Advantage is if you want to Selectively Show your Front Panel Features Based on User Interaction, The Tab Control is A great Idea.

Assumption : Menu Driven Interface.
1. Menus are Not as User Friendly as Tabs. With Tabs All Functionality is Visible on Front Panel. With Menus they are Embedded within the Key Menus. The Good Part is Microsoft Menu Style has Become Popular and Most Intermediate PC Users Know How these Work.

2. Second Advantage is Some Funtions Such As About, Undo, Redo etc.. Are Allready Built For you in the Default Menu. You Can Avail these Features Easily.

3. One thing to Bear in Mind is If Menus have Excessive fuctions they are No Better than Tab Control. In Such Cases you May Want to Selectively Hide certain Functions Based on User Interaction.

My Suggestion is to Evaluate and Have One Method for your App. Dont Choose Both methods. From User Perspective It is too Much Interaction and Subconsciously it gets filed as "Cluttered"

Here Is Another Suggetion.

How About Having a Main VI which Spawns 8 Different Vis Based On What User Wants.. These are Pop Up Vis Around your Main VI. They Cannot Be Maximised or Minimised Or Moved. But Can Be Closed, The Size Of Each Vi is same. Sort Of Like a 3 x 3 Tic Tac Toe Box. You Can Put Graphs in Each of them, And Related Controls and Indicators. The Main Vi Has Your Master Controls and Indicatos etc..

Anyway you Choose, Its a Thorny Choice. Pick Your Poison as a User Would.

Good Luck!!

Mache

[Dennis_Knutson]

I usually use both methods. Items that a user might be used to seeing in a pull-down menu like Save or Exit can go there. Other items that only get used occasionally could also go there. The main thing to do is to get some feedback from the end users as to the design of the front panel. Ask them: Which of the graphs need to be visible at all times? Which controls are used all of the time? What controls/indicators need to be grouped together? How can the use of color make the front panel easier to use?

User interface design is an art by itself. It can also be terrribly frustrating. I've often spent more time discussing issues with the "aesthetics committee" than I've spent acutally writing code. The LabVIEW Style Guide (chapter 6 of the LabVIEW Development
Guide manual) covers some of the issues. There are also plenty of additional resources on effective user interface design to be found on the internet.