03-26-2011 06:43 AM
Hi guys,
been farting about with various photshop layers in an attempt to create sexier looking indicator panels.
feedback appreciatted,.
Many thanks
03-26-2011 09:22 AM
I've always found that a neat User-interface was very important. I always put way to much work in that
This UI looks very sweet. Keep it up 😉
03-26-2011 11:12 AM
Well, I never judge a VI by it's front panel alone. 😄
Looks nice. One problem with the artificial glare is the fact that the upper portion has significantly less contrast than the lower parts, and in a situation where there is additional natural glare, readability might be imparied. Typically you want the highest contrast possible, because everything else (reflections, room lighting, etc) tends to lower contrast.
03-26-2011 11:24 AM
Its a fair point....
played about with the layout slighlty. uploaded the vi in case anyone else would like to make use of this. oh i also used the NI 7seg font
03-26-2011 06:41 PM
Maybe it is just a quirk I have, but I think you should ALWAYS include a stop button. Even if it is just a demo.
LCD looks nice.
Alan
03-26-2011 07:06 PM
I agree with Alan. For VIs posted to the Forum the etiquette is that they should never have infinite loops and they should not be set to autorun.
Lynn
03-26-2011 07:21 PM
@ajmartin wrote:
Maybe it is just a quirk I have, but I think you should ALWAYS include a stop button. Even if it is just a demo.
Well, my more advanced applications make a point NOT to have a stop button, because it makes little sense once the application is buillt into an executable.
Stopping an executable is useless, because it should run when openend and close when done. Having a stopped executable only confuses the operator. 😉
The standard way to close an application is the [X] button in the upper right, and that's all that's needed. We can use a filtering event for "panel close?" (etc.) if certain shutdown code needs to run before the code should terminate. Why would we need an additional, non-standard, stop button somewhere else on the front panel? It takes valuable panel real-estate and clutters the view.
This leaves us with the scenario of running the program in the development environment. Again, if the code is designed as a proper state machine, pressing stop on the tool bar is typically all that's needed. Only if the program is poorly designed, e.g. with save operations after the main loop, having (and actually remember using!) a stop button on the front panel is important.
A simple program such as this which does not interact with hardware or requires specific shutdown procedures does not really need a stop button when run in the development system.
I typically use a filtering panel close event (that triggers the shutdown code if needed) and then stops the main loop and closes the panel if run as executable. Or it simply stops the VI without closing when run in the development system. Best of both worlds. 😄
03-26-2011 07:30 PM
@johnsold wrote:
... and they should not be set to autorun.
I agree with that, but fortunately that's not the case here. 😉
I usually hate it even more if the panel and/or diagram is maximised to the screen. So we have a small front panel with a few tiny objects and open it on our super high resolution widescreen monitor and the panel fills the entire screen with huge empty grey areas, covering up everything else I am doing at the same time. That's not polite! 😄
03-26-2011 07:36 PM
Altenbach,
Like I said, Maybe it is just a quirk with me. I know you are WAY more advanced than I. In preparation for my CLAD I was taught to never leave a VI in the state you had to hit the stop button on the tool bar. (like in this example). The point was also made in Jim Kring and Jeffrey Travis book "LabVIEW for Everyone". I never got to use LabVIEW professionally since my CLAD cert, but I just started a new job and hope to work it into the test processes there. I have been designing test fixtures for 30 years though and ALWAYS have a "stop this thing now" button or switch near by.
Alan
03-26-2011 07:53 PM
I know, I know! 😄