Fix Copy/Paste for property nodes, local variables, etc

[David_L]

I don't know why LabVIEW does this, but when you copy and paste (with ctrl-c and ctrl-v as opposed to ctrl-drag) certain items on your block diagram, they do not act as most would expect.  I think copy and paste should make an exact copy of what you are copying instead of changing the functionality/behavior.  Examples

Local Variable:  

If you copy a local variable, it creates a new control and makes a local variable out of that.  I really just want a copy of the local variable that's already there.  If I wanted a new control, I would have made one, no?

Property Node:

 Copying an implicit property/invoke node changes it to an explicit node.  Why wouldn't it just make another copy of the implicit node that I already had?

I'm sure there's other examples of this behavior that I can't think of now, so feel free to add them to the comments.  If you have a good reason why this behavior is here, please let me know as be happy to be corrected...

[JackDunaway]

This is the "New Idea" I mentioned in the second comment on this Idea. Quoted:

"Copy/Paste and CTRL+Drag are not always the same. Create a Local for Boolean, and CTRL+Drag it - as expected, you get another Local. Now, highlight a Local, and CTRL+V, and you get a brand new 'Boolean 2' terminal, and a 'Boolean 2' Local Variable. Well, just my 2cents, those two actions do not perform the same all the time (I would consider the behavior I mentioned unexpected and undesirable. New Idea?)." 

And AQ's response:

"I wouldn't bother creating an idea for this change."

[A-T-R]

No Kudos here!

Rather than complaining about the current behaviour, I'm glad to have the opportunity, by choosing one method or the other (CTRL+Drag vs. CTRL+V), to decide what will happen!

Once you get used to it, you automatically perform the suitable actions, without even thinking about it...

[jmorris]

I've gotten used to it, but it still bugs me when I accidentally forget and do it the wrong way (or have to deal with putting the new item somewhere when I CTRL+Drag it to make a copy, if the new place I want it isn't visible).  Kudos from me, even though it doesn't sound like it's going to be a high priority anytime soon.  😉

I also would be curious as to know why the decision was made to implement it this way.  I can't figure out why you would ever want to create a new variable by copying the local of an existing one instead of copying the terminal.  It's just not very intuitive IMHO.

[rex1030]

I gotta say the copy and paste behavior of Labview is extremely freaking annoying! Please excuse my frustration, but your picture doesn't quite illistrate how frustrating it is. You should have a before and after picture where the local variable is selected to be copied and then an after picture where when you pasted the local variable it created a brand new control 3 screens to the left and auto grew your sequence structure and completely blew up your whole block diagram. Annoying doesnt quite describe it. Why on earth would anyone want a brand new variable and control/indicator when they were trying to copy a local variable? They wouldn't. They want a copy of the local variable. Not a new control and then a new local variable to the new control they didn't want. Hence the copy command by the user. Yea. Please fix.

Yea, after decades of LabVIEW being out, it would be really nice if they would set a labview development team assigned to fixing all the annoying crap like this labview does. It would only be a bullet list of like twenty or thirty fixable things or something. The point is stuff like this has been considered low priorty for so long it still isnt fixed yet. No changes will be made in the future either if they don't decide to make the changes and just do it. 

Jack, linking the two idea posts is a good idea. I've also noticed that creating screenshots to illistrate your idea tend to get a lot more kudos and responses than just a text description. Just an observation, of course.

Message Edited by rex1030 on 05-28-2010 01:34 PM

[JackDunaway]

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rex1030 wrote:

Jack, linking the two idea posts is a good idea

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I was not suggesting the two Ideas should be linked (they're very different), it's just that the Idea I linked to happened to have related chatter to this Idea.

For the record, I agree that the current behavior is undesirable and unexpected, but I hesitate to Kudos an Idea that makes copy-and-pasting code easier. Needing a really easy copy-and-paste function might be an excellent indicator that you're violating some fundamental good practices in programming. Agreed, it's "extremely freaking annoying" to CTRL+C and CTRL+V only to find my BD massacred, but it's a good time to CTRL+Z and rethink whether copying that big block of code is a good idea in the first place.

I'm ambivalent about this Idea: there's clearly some bad behavior, but that bad behavior may be an appropriate penalty for excessive copy-and-pasting. And since I run into this conflicting situation only every once and a while, it's low on my personal LabVIEW-bug-fix-wish-list.

[Intaris]

If I might add something:

Even copying a case structure or similar where not all code is visible often ends up creating lots of extra controls and indicators on the FP if there happen to be property nodes in there.  This is really annoying.

[rex1030]

You are probably right. They still need to fix the copy and paste thing though. When they first tested the Labview behavior and saw diagrams blow up and controls pop up out of nowhere, that was a good time to step back and figure out how to make labview not do that.

Message Edited by rex1030 on 06-02-2010 01:01 PM

[maramosc]

I fully agree, it's extremelly anoying, and makes you waste lots of time.

NI: please fix this once and for all!!

[bbux]

I work on an big application that runs on three electric cubicles with some differences in their application. The most of time I implement a new functionality on one and after tests, I must implement it on the two others and I copy the part of diagram from one project to the others. The most of items on the front panel already exist and new items are created with new names. Then it's a big work to correct this. It would be very easier if we could have the possibility to make a copy without creation of a new item if it's already exists with the same name and the same type. In this case we would have the creation of a new local variable with the same name. Even if NI don't "fix" the actual functionality of copy/paste, can we have a new possibility to copy items without creation for the already existing...

[JackDunaway]

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@JackDunaway wrote:

I agree that the current behavior is undesirable and unexpected, but I hesitate to Kudos an Idea that makes copy-and-pasting code easier. Needing a really easy copy-and-paste function might be an excellent indicator that you're violating some fundamental good practices in programming. Agreed, it's "extremely freaking annoying" to CTRL+C and CTRL+V only to find my BD massacred, but it's a good time to CTRL+Z and rethink whether copying that big block of code is a good idea in the first place.

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@bbux wrote:

I work on an big application...and I copy the part of diagram from one project to the others...Then it's a big work to correct this

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quod erat demonstrandum