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A "Cached" QDKS Plugin

In this thread, JG requests the ability to cache a quick drop plugin VI.  In LabVIEW 2009 (and 2010), Quick Drop, along with any launched plugin, leaves memory after each use.  So native caching of Quick Drop and/or plugin VIs is not currently possible.

That being said, I came up with an alternative approach that effectively "caches" a plugin VI.  In this approach, Quick Drop and its plugin still leave memory each time, but the first time the plugin runs, it launches a spawned VI that stays in memory.  Whenever the plugin runs, it sends a message (via queue) to the spawned VI to have it perform some action.  If that message is 'quit', the spawned VI leaves memory.  There is no auto-cleanup of the spawned VI going on, so it will stay in memory unless you send it a 'quit' message or you exit LabVIEW.  It's not the prettiest solution, but it's does allow for "caching" of a VI that one or more plugins can call into whenever Quick Drop runs.

Follow these steps to try out the cached plugin with LabVIEW 2009 or later:

  1. Copy the attached VIs below into your LabVIEW\resource\dialog\QuickDrop\plugins folder.  No LabVIEW restart is necessary.
  2. With a VI open, press Ctrl-Space.
  3. While Quick Drop is open, press Ctrl-Z.  The first time you do this, a dialog will appear with a count of '0'.
  4. Repeat steps 2-3.  You'll see the count continue to increase, which illustrates that the plugin stays in memory.
  5. Launch Quick Drop again, but type 'quit', then press Ctrl-Z.  This causes the spawned VI to leave memory.
  6. When you repeat steps 2-3 again, the count restarts at 0, illustrating that the plugin has entered memory once again.
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Any way to do something similar for the main QD window?  (Already selected "Load palettes during launch" but still catch myself typing shortcuts before the QD window is finished loading.)


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Not in 2010, but I'm investigating some options in 2011.

-D

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