how: Using the same control panel for multiple vi and propogating changes to the control panel.

[crewx]

I have created a labview project that contains about 40 vi.  Each vi has a control panel in common that is a group of ip address, or port address, and settings that are passed from high level vi to low level vi for the purposes of controlling and accessing our daq cards.  As this control panel exist in all vi's and is required to be identical there is a problem when needing make a change or update the controls during development.  The problem is how much time it takes to go and change every single vi's control panel.  I wish to have a way of propogating a change in the control panel across all vi simultaneously.

All control in the control panel are in a bundle, so all values are passed in 1 wire. 

I tried turning the control panel into a sub vi, and this way I can just "create control" and have outputs of the vi maniuplate settings, however if I update the vi, I still have to go back and create a new control for each vi as the control has changed.

I have tried using the subpanel and creating the control panel in a sub vi that is displayed in the subpanel, but this gives the unwanted consequence of not being able to view or change settings on the control panel if the program is not running, as subpanels blank out when the program is not running.

Is there another way to dispaly a subvi's front panel beside using a sub panel?  Is there a better way to propogate changes in a bundle throughout a series of vi? 

[smercurio_fc]

You need to use a typdef. Look in the LabVIEW Help, as this concept is explained. Use the typedef on all your subVIs. Whenever you change the typedef all instances get updated.

[Ben · Accepted solution]

Yes a type def would help you out and I'd take the next step to make it a strict type def if you want the appearence to be the same across all of its instances. You can also review this Nugget on Type definitions for more idea on this topic.

Have fun,

Ben