Data Probes Should Show At All Times

[JackDunaway]

It's very frustrating to have your floating probe windows disappear when a LV modal window is presented. Frame 1 below shows probes set up, and Frame 2 shows how they disappear when a modal window appears:

Some of the most annoying modals that pop up while troubleshooting include: 

1. "Save changes before closing?"
2. "Waiting for Real Time Target to respond"
3. Error windows

#2 and #3 modals windows recently made it impossible to use probes since I was trying to diagnose a problem that constantly would throw those modal windows.

Proposed Solution: Don't ever hide probe windows, regardless of what pops up.

[Darin.K]

Not a worry in LV9.

[JackDunaway]

Yes, it is a worry in LV2009. I confirmed this behavior on both 8.6.1 and 2009 prior to posting. Of course, the Probe Watch Window is OK, but the floating probe windows are still eaten by modals.

[Darin.K]

Aha, when I tested in LV9, I tried it on an error cluster terminal which seems to be a conditional probe and not gronked by the modal dialog window.  On normal probe windows you are correct sir, and in that case, Kudos.

[JackDunaway]

Darin, you bring up a point that I should have mentioned in my original post: some probes (e.g., error probes and conditional probes) are not nuked by modals. It's just the vanilla data probes that go away. I don't know if custom probes stay or get hidden, and I don't have LV here to check.

[JackDunaway]

Ravens' idea is certainly worth linking to - "Block Diagram Attached Probes" - check it out, drum up conversation, and consider voting for it. It would serve as a viable and novel solution for my proposed idea.

[JackDunaway]

I just noticed that I cannot watch a floating probe while another application has focus. I am using an internet browser right now waiting for a trigger from a wire I'm probing, but the probe window disappears when I switch focus to the browser. To periodically monitor that probe, I click on the LV app instance to see the probe for a sec, then it disappears once I click on the internet window again.

This behavior is both good and bad. When I have a lot of probes open then go over to another application, it's nice that the dozens of probes disappear. However, now, when I'm just watching one probe, I want it to stay open while another app has focus.

How about a thumbtack on the title bar (like the ones on the palettes) that would pin a probe and make it not disappear, and unpinned would disappear? (I think this is a viable solution for my original proposal... suggestions, comments?)