tab control--how do I use same control/indicator on multiple pages.

[scientist]

I am using tab control. each tab has many controls and indicators. I want to use some of the EXACT SAME (that means one terminal in the diagram panel) controls or indicators on more than one page. Can anyone, please, help me?

[Tiptop]

Unfortunately, there is no way to do this in LabVIEW. The best that you can do is have multiple controls and then update the others to the same state using property nodes.

[Dennis_Knutson]

You can do this by selecting the controls/indicators and moving them on top of the tab control by using the arrow keys and not using the mouse to drag them over the tab. You can end up with some goofy little shadows but I avoid this by grouping them.

[christophe69000]

hi Dennis,

I tried to follow your instructions but i don't know how to group the tab and the command or indicator...

Thanks!

[Edit] I found another thread where u explain that tle little shadows disappear when the VI is run! So it's not a problem anymore

Message Edited by christophe69000 on 07-10-2009 02:39 AM

[Jörn]

From the point of usability I think you should change your front panel lay out in such a way that the controls and indicator which are always visible (because they float above the tab-structure) are placed outside of the tab-structure. They are valid all the time in contrast to the controls and indicators place on the pages of the tab-structure.

Regards, Jörn

[El_Penguino]

Hello,

having controls out of the tab area makes sense for controls that are needed all the time, but for example when you need a control on 2 out of 5 tabs, the controls take up space and have to be disabled and hidden.

Cheers,

Chris

[billko]

Why not just "Disable and Grayed?"  That way the user will know not to use them, yet it won't lave ugly holes in your UI.  🙂

[El_Penguino]

Yes, I suppose thats one option. Unfortunately, the software I am maintaining has duplicate sets of controls on 2 tabs, and the space is used for other things on 3 more tabs. The problem my users have is that the settings appear identical on 2 tabs ( which are read and write to serial port) but are individual. That means the user will use ,say comm port 5 to read, then swap to write and wonder why the software reverts to comm1.

I am going to try to make the 2nd set of controls read the values from the first. Then they can still be hidden on the other 3 tabs.

I am sure there's more than one way to skin this cat, but I'm just learning !

Cheers,

Chris

[billko]

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@El_Penguino wrote:

Yes, I suppose thats one option. Unfortunately, the software I am maintaining has duplicate sets of controls on 2 tabs, and the space is used for other things on 3 more tabs. The problem my users have is that the settings appear identical on 2 tabs ( which are read and write to serial port) but are individual. That means the user will use ,say comm port 5 to read, then swap to write and wonder why the software reverts to comm1.

I am going to try to make the 2nd set of controls read the values from the first. Then they can still be hidden on the other 3 tabs.

I am sure there's more than one way to skin this cat, but I'm just learning !

Cheers,

Chris

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IMHO, with the new info you've provided, your last idea seems like a pretty good one to me.  🙂

[nathand]

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@El_Penguino wrote:

Yes, I suppose thats one option. Unfortunately, the software I am maintaining has duplicate sets of controls on 2 tabs, and the space is used for other things on 3 more tabs. The problem my users have is that the settings appear identical on 2 tabs ( which are read and write to serial port) but are individual. That means the user will use ,say comm port 5 to read, then swap to write and wonder why the software reverts to comm1.

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I have a similar situation in my code.  What I've done is put the controls that need to appear on multiple tabs above the tab control instead of inside it, as described in earlier posts in this thread.  Then I use property nodes to hide those controls (set the visible property false) when the user selects a tab on which those controls should not be visible.  Other controls that are part of a specific tab page can use the same space when the "global" controls are hidden.