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Quick Drop Keyboard Shortcut - Replace or Insert

This Quick Drop Keyboard Shortcut combines the functionality of the Insert and Replace shortcuts into a single shortcut.  If your selection contains any wires, it will perform a Quick Drop Insert.  Otherwise, it will perform a Quick Drop Replace.  Follow these steps to use this shortcut:

  1. Save the attached VI in your <LabVIEW>\resource\dialog\QuickDrop\plugins folder.  No LabVIEW restart is required.
  2. Select either wires or nodes.
  3. Press Ctrl-Space-[type an object name]-Ctrl-W.
  4. If you had selected wires, the [object name] will be inserted on those wires.  If you had selected nodes, the [object name] will replace those nodes.

This shortcut works in LabVIEW 2011 and later.  It was inspired by this discussion on the LabVIEW Idea Exchange.

Message 1 of 11
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First, thanks - this will be helpful when it's debugged.  QD is a double-edged sword:  Keyboard access makes QD really accessible, but means that I have to choose which commands I want to remember (which would be easier if I were coding every day).  Combining Insert and Replace puts Ctrl-W near the top of my list (second to Remove and Rewire).

That said, there appears to be a bug:  if multiple wires are selected, Ctrl-W wires the specified node into each one.  And, the nodes are overlapped so you can't tell that's what happened.

1) Drop nodes and wire them up:

Open & Close File Reference.png

2) Highlight wires, Ctrl-Space, type "Read from Binary File", Ctrl-W:

Read from Binary File - Overlapped.png

3) Move the inserted node down to reveal second inserted node:

Read from Binary File - Overlapped 2.png

-Jason


Certified LabVIEW Architect
TestScript: Free Python/LabVIEW Connector

One global to rule them all,
One double-click to find them,
One interface to bring them all
and in the panel bind them.
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Message 2 of 11
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That's how Quick Drop Insert normally works.  To insert a single item on multiple selected wires, you would press Ctrl-Shift-I (or in the case of this new shortcut, Ctrl-Shift-W).

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Ah - that's nice.  (Did I mention that I don't code every day these days?)


Certified LabVIEW Architect
TestScript: Free Python/LabVIEW Connector

One global to rule them all,
One double-click to find them,
One interface to bring them all
and in the panel bind them.
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Message 4 of 11
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Darren, it would be nice if you tiled the nodes after inserting on each wire so the operator can see the effect of their (possibly incorrect) keystroke. Here's an example with the second item bumped 5 px down and to the right from the first item's location.

Capture.PNG

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Message 5 of 11
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DavidStaab wrote:

               

Darren, it would be nice if you tiled the nodes after inserting on each wire so the operator can see the effect of their (possibly incorrect) keystroke.

That's not a bad idea.  If a regular Quick Drop Insert created multiple objects, and their positions are exactly the same, tile them.  I'll see what I can do. 

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Message 6 of 11
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Uh....how do I install this?

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Message 7 of 11
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Did my instructions in the original post not work for you?  Saving the VI in your plugins folder should be all you need to do.  If it's not working, maybe you have the default shortcut key (W) already assigned to another shortcut?  You can click the "Shortcuts" button in Quick Drop, then go to the "Ctrl-Key Shortcuts" page, to see what your current key assignments are.

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Message 8 of 11
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Oh jeez. My brain somehow completely glossed over step 1. Sorry!

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Darren wrote:


                       

That's not a bad idea.  If a regular Quick Drop Insert created multiple objects, and their positions are exactly the same, tile them.  I'll see what I can do. 


                   

Barring any unforeseen catastrophes, this improved tiling of multiple inserted objects (with Quick Drop) will be in LabVIEW 2012.

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