Provide options to disable new features that change basic development flow

[Marc_A]

New features that help us code more efficiently are great, but recently some have been added that change how things work and can be more of a detriment for people not used to them. I'm simply asking for an option to be added when a feature like this is in a new version of LabVIEW. Here are two examples of what I mean, from each version's documentation:

2017:

• Maintaining Wire Connections When Moving Objects - LabVIEW 2017 automatically maintains wire connectivity when you move objects in and out of structures on the block diagram.

2019: 

• Create Constant, Create Control, and Create Indicator - Creates a constant, control, or indicator from a terminal. These shortcut menu items have long been available and are now duplicated at the top of the shortcut menu.

Both of these are disruptive if you're used to doing things a certain way. Maintaining wire connections is nice, but only when I want it to happen (which is how it works when you disable it, it's much better.) I spent more time undoing and removing objects through structures than I ever saved from the automatic wiring. The one in 2019 just doesn't make sense to me. Those functions are already in the shortcut menu. Moving them to the top just moves other functions, like "Use default if unwired", that I constantly use.

I've disabled both of these using keys added to the configuration file, so it's possible that an option can do the same. I just wish it was included so I didn't have to go hunting for the configuration key every time something like this is added.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

> I wish there had been some kind of public vote for

> this change before final decision was made. 

It was not fully public, but it was in the beta and we explicitly called it out to our beta users to ask them to comment on it. Being truly public doesn't really help us gauge up or down because we get a few loud voices complaining about any change. Within the beta forum, we know pretty much everyone is seeing the post, we know that we have a good cross-section of our user base represented, and we can better evaluate whether or not the change is good to go forward.

[UMASO]

Is Beta group open to everyone?  

If not, how many people are in the beta group?

[AristosQueue (NI)]

It is generally open. There are some restrictions (like citizens of certain regimes that USA puts limits on), therefore the application is vetted. But it is my understanding that most customers who apply are admitted. There's several hundred this year, so it isn't particularly exclusive. But we do know who each one is, which is valuable for feedback... more measurable to know the nature of the users impacted by a given decision than the often-anonymized posts of the regular NI forums.

https://ni.com/beta