expandable vi

[WillD]

Is there a way to make a VI icon such that I can drag the actual icon to create discrete inputs similar to the Index Array VI?

Or am I stuck cluster building and passing that in?

[smercurio_fc]

No.
Yes.
Sorry.

If you wish you can suggest it in the Product Suggestion Center.


Message Edited by smercurio_fc on 01-29-2008 03:27 PM

[CarlaU]

WillD,

I am afraid that smercurio is correct. They only way to do it would be to build a cluster and passing the inputs in. Unfortunately, there is no way to drag a VI out and add additional inputs. However, it is definitely an idea worth considering for future versions of LabVIEW. I would suggest you give your feedback to the product feedback center under ni.com so that it can be looked into. Thanks for the idea!

Carla

[Ben]

As a contributor to LAVA* I am not allowed to use them but you could build your own Express VI (which would be more work than you are tring to save  ) which do allow you to re-size their inputs.

Ben

* I drive a car with a bumper sticker that reads "LAVA No Express VIs required."

Message Edited by Ben on 01-30-2008 02:27 PM

[RavensFan]

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Ben wrote:

* I drive a car with a bumper sticker that reads "LAVA No Express VIs required."

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Do you really?  If so, I'd like to see a picture of that!  That would be one where 99.99% of the people following you would say "Huh?  What?"

[altenbach]

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WillD wrote:

Is there a way to make a VI icon such that I can drag the actual icon to create discrete inputs similar to the Index Array VI?

Or am I stuck cluster building and passing that in?

---

You are talking about clusters and arrays, but there is a significant difference. You definitely don't want to pass in a cluster, because whenever you resize the node where you built the cluster in the main VI, you would need to edit the subVI and adapt the connector. Clusters have a fixed size.

What you should do is have arrays as inputs and outputs. Now your subVI can handle any size, and the number of elements in the inputs and output arrays can vary between calls.

[TCPlomp]

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@WillD wrote:

Is there a way to make a VI icon such that I can drag the actual icon to create discrete inputs similar to the Index Array VI?

Or am I stuck cluster building and passing that in?

---

No you can do it:

1. Express VIs (I have heard it's not that hard)
2. Right click on the VI, deselect 'View as Icon':

Ton

Message Edited by TonP on 01-31-2008 10:01 AM

[smercurio_fc]

Suggestion 1: I believe is the same thing that Ben said in reply #4. Also, my understanding is that you need the LabVIEW Express VI Development Toolkit in order to create your own Express VIs.

As for the second suggestion, I don't think this accomplishes what the OP is trying to do, which is to make something that works like Index Array, which allows you to have additional input terminals for which indices you want to extract. Deselecting "View As Icon" allows you to "expand" the subVI, but it's still limited to the terminals that were setup for the VI in the first place.

[CarlaU]

WillD,

smercurio_fc is correct. You need to purchase the NI LabVIEW Express VI Development Toolkit separately, unless you have the NI Developer Suite. You would definitely need this toolkit in order to create your own Express VIs.

Carla