Automatically Display Value in Tip Strip for String and Path Constants

[wevanarsdale]

I like to collapse long string and path constants to consolidate diagrams.  Showing the string or path value in the tip strip is useful but tedious to update.

I suggest an appearance property that would automatically display the current value in a tip strip for string and path constants.

This property would be most useful if the Block Diagram Options page was also modified to allow a global setting.

[fabric]

Kudos.

A possible alternative would be to display the value in the context help window, which would bypass the tip strip show/hide limitations (there when you don't need it, not there when you do!) and avoid the tip strip length limit.

[wevanarsdale]

Thanks for the kudos.  Both approaches would work.  The context help window certainly handles larger strings and allows you to lock the display.  I suggested tip strips because my focus is on the diagram.  I'd rather not look up at another window, but either approach would help.

[Manzolli]

The context help window can be hidden, forcing the user to press <Ctrl> + <H>. Can be implemented as an option: none, one, other and both. 

[X.]

Similar to this for numbers:

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Add-Ellipsis-and-or-Tip-Strip-for-Numbers-to-show-all-...

triggered by this (for strings):

http://forums.ni.com/t5/ideas/v2/ideapage/blog-id/labviewideas/article-id/2441

[AristosQueue (NI)]

The idea in general is good, but I can pretty much guarantee that there wouldn't be an Options setting for it. As LV has matured as a piece of software, we've learned what a bad idea Options settings generally are.

a) They create code paths that aren't always well tested -- even if our testing is good, the gold standard is the hammering of beta users, and multiple studies have shown that 95% of software settings are never changed from factory defaults. So things have to be really important to be a setting. In the words of one UI designer I heard: "You have to design it the right way because that's the only way your users are generally going to see it."

b) They create situations where users panic when moving to a new computer -- the software doesn't look right or doesn't behave as expected. You'd be surprised how often this is filed as a CAR, sometimes very angry CARs about how NI changed/removed features. Options earn us very little good will and a surprisingly high amount of ill will. An easy example that comes to my desk: frustration over the "terminals default to Required" option... there are developers who get used to having that on and then do some work on someone else's machine and forget to turn it on, do work, and then spend hours fixing up their VIs when they realize the Required setting is missing from every terminal.

Given that, please keep the discussion going, but steer it toward what behavior you want to see. Something this small, if addressed, would almost certainly be done in one way and one way only.

[JimChretz]

The fox jumps otherwise there's a missing letter in your sentence.

[wevanarsdale]

Thanks for the correction.  It's been awhile since my typing class in high school...  I'm amazed at the support for this idea.  I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to support it.

[X.]

Think twice before asking for features like that.

Anyone who has used tip strips for "Tip and Description" knows that a major problem is formatting, which you can only set in the Properties box of a control (or programmatically, inserting CR in the string you pass as tip strip).

What I want to point out is that such a tip strip for constant would be useful for SHORT strings (or strings artificially formatted with CR), but would be an absolute mess for a 2 page string without any formatting:

Not withstanding the fact that their length appear to be limited to 255 characters:

If NI were to choose a different (larger) limit, this could become interesting.

Read the thread I refered to. There as some good ideas in it.

[sridar.m]

This would also help in debugging code easier

[Tepig]

Kudos : ) I strongly want this idea.