How to create a cluster, whose elements are all scattered across the front panel?

[severin]

Hi everyone!
I've been designing a front panel, which (I think :-)) feels pretty well when the override switches are scattered all over the screen. Anyway I'd like to process their states in a cluster. I tried pulling them in a cluster in the block diagram, which didn't do anything (actually they hid underneath the cluster). I tried bundling them, but the only way I could do so was after creating a hidden cluster on the front panel and filling it with the same number of boolean controls as I've got override switches.

Anybody got any suggestions?

Kindest regards,
Severin

[johnsold]

Severin,

You should be able to bundle the elements without creating a dummy cluster. You cannot use Bundle by Name without a control (or indicator), however.

One possibility, if you need a cluster, is to make a cluster which is bigger than your front panel. Make the background transparent or the same color as the panel. The problem with this is how you handle other controls or indicators which are not part of the cluster. You could put them behnid the transparent cluster, but then you cannot operate the controls and panel updates are slowed considerably by overlapping front panel objects. You may be able to slide them in front of the cluster without embedding them into the cluster by placing them on the panel outside the cluster and using the keyboard arrows to move them. This works for some things; I have not tried it with clusters. You still have overlapping objects.

Lynn

[severin]

"You should be able to bundle the elements without creating a dummy cluster."

But how? I've tried wiring my bundle's output to
* a cluster constant - "You have connected an output of Bundle to a constant. Change the output to an input"
* a cluster constant, changed to an indicator - "You have connected two clusters with different contents. Cluster (unnamed), a cluster of 7 elements, conflicts with cluster Cluster, a cluster of 0 elements"
* a cluster constant, changed to a control - "You have connected an output of Bundle to a control. Change the control to an indicator"

It's too weird I can create cluster constants and drag in constants, but when I create a cluster control, I can't drag in controls.

[pincpanter]

Normally, to create a cluster control you paste it directly from the control palette (you get an empty cluster), then you (definitely) can drag any other control into its area.
You don't need to play with cluster constants.

Paolo

[shoneill]

If you want to put the controls in a cluster, you need to create an empty cluster control on the front panel and then drag the controls into it while staying on the front panel.  You cannot drag a control into a cluster on the block diagram.  It must be done on the front panel.

Shane.

[severin]

I'm afraid you're missing my point. Unfortunately I do *not* want to group the questioned controls visually, but only functionally (i.e. not in the front panel, but only in the block diagram). Check the screenshot - I'm talking about the override switches.

[Sima]

Hi Severin, is this what you're looking for?

[rpursley8]

The only options I can think of is reorganize the front panel so all override buttons are aligned horizontally or vertically so they can be put in a cluster.

Or you can put all of the controls associated with override buttons in the cluster with the override buttons.

I don't know what you have in your block diagram, but you can trigger on events from elements of the control if you have an event frame.  If you are just running in a while loop you can then have a dummy cluster with just elements for the override buttons and copy the values of the override buttons from the larger cluster to the smaller one.

[pincpanter]

I don't think we missed your point. You asked about clusters and we answered your question. In fact, one way to group sparse controls (i.e. not arranged in arrays) is to make them part of a cluster. As johnsold  wrote, you may make the cluster very big and put the other FP controls on top of (not within) this cluster. But this is very uncomfortable.
Another possibility is to create references for each override switch and create an array with these references. You can interact with the controls using property nodes.

Paolo

[severin]

@Sima: this is as far as I got. But what if I don't want to process the cluster immediately but store it for later reference? As far as my knowledge goes, in your example the cluster wouldn't get updated when one of the booleans changed its value; I'd prefer having one definite reference I can read the status of all the booleans from.