stacked tabControls

[nyc_(is_out_of_here)]

I have a program where the previous programmer has stacked five tab controls (all the same size) on top of each other. The tab controls are visible.

I want to change one of the indicators on one of the tab controls, but I cannot figure out how to access the tab control that is below the others.

I hope that makes sense.

I know how I can drag each tab control to the side but the re-stacking of them afterwards isn't so easy.

Also, one of the tab controls must have it's label and caption set to transparent because I don't see them even when I select them to be visible.

.

[Bob_Schor]

One of the first NIWeeks I attended, I heard a talk by an experienced LabVIEW Developer who told us some things to avoid, one of which was the Tab Control.  What are you trying to do in the various tabs?  In most cases, you stay on one Tab (the first one) except when you need to (a) change something, (b) temporarily see something, or (c) hide what you are doing from the Boss.  One way to do these other "occasional" things is to pop up a Modal Dialog that "covers" the screen and forces you to interact with it, returning you to the caller when you dismiss it.  Another thing to do is to use a sub-Panel and put whatever you need to see at the time in the sub-Panel.

Bob Schor  

[Ben]

The only thought I can offer is to double-click the terminal for that tab control you are after.

Ben

[nyc_(is_out_of_here)]

This program is a mess.

Double-clicking on the tab control takes me to the front panel, but because the tab control is below the 3rd one from the top, I cannot actually access any of the controls on it.

[nyc_(is_out_of_here)]

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@Bob_Schor wrote:

One of the first NIWeeks I attended, I heard a talk by an experienced LabVIEW Developer who told us some things to avoid, one of which was the Tab Control.  What are you trying to do in the various tabs?  In most cases, you stay on one Tab (the first one) except when you need to (a) change something, (b) temporarily see something, or (c) hide what you are doing from the Boss.  One way to do these other "occasional" things is to pop up a Modal Dialog that "covers" the screen and forces you to interact with it, returning you to the caller when you dismiss it.  Another thing to do is to use a sub-Panel and put whatever you need to see at the time in the sub-Panel.

Bob Schor  

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I am not the original programmer.

I was hired to complete this program.

He is no longer with the company.

One of these tab controls looks to have an embedded GIF(?).

I cannot delete the tab control.

I cannot even select the tab control on the front panel.

NIGHTMARE !

.

[Bob_Schor]

Well, you seem to want to work on it by yourself, so good luck.  You'll probably do best by really studying the code, figuring out what it does, and breaking it apart into sub-VIs that handle the work of each Tab, coding the sub-VI with its Front Panel being the "View from the Tab", and having a new TopLevel VI that has only a sub-Panel and a "Tab" control, an Enum saying "Tab 1", "Tab 2" (or whatever name you want to choose) that when selected, runs the named sub-VI in the sub-Panel.  All the Functionality of a Tab Control, with none of the headaches (and the benefits of using sub-VIs to cut down on messy Block Diagrams).

Bob Schor

[BertMcMahan]

You should be able to reorder things on the front panel by clicking one of the things, then use the button on your menu bar with the arrows going in a circle (not the Run Continuously button, it's to the far right)- you can select Move Forward or Move Back to change the stacking order.

You can also rearrange them to the side, then when you want to restack them, select them all and then, using the button just to the right of the Font selector, align their left sides then align the bottom. That'll stack them up for you. You could then Group them together so you move them all as a big batch.

(At least, that's what I *think* you're trying to do, right? I'm not quite following why you'd need to stack tab controls in the first place; the whole point of a tab control is to have multiple things stacked up on top of each other, right?)

[nyc_(is_out_of_here)]

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@BertMcMahan wrote:

You should be able to reorder things on the front panel by clicking one of the things, then use the button on your menu bar with the arrows going in a circle (not the Run Continuously button, it's to the far right)- you can select Move Forward or Move Back to change the stacking order.

I tried you suggestion, but it does not work. It may be because the control is grouped.

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@BertMcMahan wrote:

You can also rearrange them to the side, then when you want to restack them, select them all and then, using the button just to the right of the Font selector, align their left sides then align the bottom. That'll stack them up for you. You could then Group them together so you move them all as a big batch.

(At least, that's what I *think* you're trying to do, right? I'm not quite following why you'd need to stack tab controls in the first place; the whole point of a tab control is to have multiple things stacked up on top of each other, right?)

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ha ha ha

This isn't my code.

Stacking the five tab controls is insane in my opinion.

I am considering very strongly, merging all the controls into one.

[nyc_(is_out_of_here)]

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@Bob_Schor wrote:

Well, you seem to want to work on it by yourself, so good luck.  You'll probably do best by really studying the code, figuring out what it does, and breaking it apart into sub-VIs that handle the work of each Tab, coding the sub-VI with its Front Panel being the "View from the Tab", and having a new TopLevel VI that has only a sub-Panel and a "Tab" control, an Enum saying "Tab 1", "Tab 2" (or whatever name you want to choose) that when selected, runs the named sub-VI in the sub-Panel.  All the Functionality of a Tab Control, with none of the headaches (and the benefits of using sub-VIs to cut down on messy Block Diagrams).

Bob Schor

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I am under extreme time crunch as is.

The original programmer left with 4 days notice.

The person who hired me is starting to think that I am "incompetent".

Sigh.

It is what it is.

The entire  program is 100+ VIs.

.

[BertMcMahan]

You can ungroup them using the same menu as above, then edit them, then align, then regroup.

Can you post that particular VI to show us what you're trying to do?