The connector pane is a very useful feature for defining what the parameters for the VI are, therefore how it interacts with its environment.
On the other hand, the development experience did not age well. The 32x32 icon that is divided into smaller areas based on the pattern selected for the VI feel small on today's screens. On top of that most of the functionality is hidden behind the context menu.
This feels like a lacking experience for a crucial feature, but we grow accustomed to it, there we do not complain. But that doesn't mean things cannot be improved.
I would personally prefer a new window being opened when I want to edit the connector pane. The pane itself could be represented with 5x magnification (or even better, user selectable): 160x160 pixels.
On the pane, we could have a dedicated drop down that facilitates the selection of the pattern.
On each connector we could have a border representing its current state: Dynamic dispatch/Required/Recommended/Optional.
Cycling trough these states would be available on left click, for example, and reversing the direction with a shortcut, like ALT + left click.
Connecting the front panel terminals to the connector pane could be done by dragging and dropping to the desired place. To make sure that mistakes do not happen, the drag operations shall not move the front panel controls on the panel itself.
To make the workflow as smooth as possible buttons could be added to Apply the new connector pane, Apply and reorganize the front panel, Reorganize the front panel or Cancel the whole operation.
To make sure that we don't lose existing functionality the CTRL + left click shortcut shall keep the swap terminals functionality (a.k.a.: switcheroo).
Removing controls from the connector pane could be done by the right click, or left click for selecting the terminal and then using the Delete button on the keyboard.
Other operations inside the context menu, like the rotate by 90 degrees, add terminal, remove terminal, etc. could be made available via the menu of the window. I personally use these less, but if there is need for them, then we can discuss how they shall be presented on the window.
Since this idea was formulating over a long period of time in my head, but by no means lot of tought put into it, I'm very open to discuss the details. And, by no means the only or best solution to improve the Connector Pane UX.
