Tab Control Run-Time Menu for Each Tab (page)

[Edjsch]

Currently (up through LV2010) the only run-time menu (RTM) available for a tab control is for the entire tab control, not for the individual pages (tabs). The right-click context menu (Description and Tip, Help, etc.) for each page only works at design time, not at run time. This is true of both the default or a custom RTM.

Why is it called a "run-time menu" if it doesn't work at run time? I consider this a bug, but it probably is just an oversight in the design. (I suppose that technically this is not a "bug" because I cannot find this feature, an RTM for each tab or page, documented.)

Anyone else think this a useful product improvement?

Ed S.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

0) Just to make sure everyone is talking about the same feature:

1) I was able to successfully create a custom runtime menu for a tab control in LV 2010. It does work at runtime when I try it, so I am not sure what problem you are seeing. I got it to work both with "Save To File" and "Save With Control." Can you post VIs that demonstrate the issue? If so, post them over in the regular forums so that an AE can investigate and escalate a bug report as necessary.

2) There is only one RTM for the entire Tab Control. This is consistent with all LV controls. There are not seaparate RTMs for different parts of any control. Your idea would make that different for the Tab Control. I think that's ok, but can anyone think of reasons why we shouldn't let the Tab Control be special in this regard?

[Edjsch]

See this forum post:

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/quot-Description-and-Tip-quot-for-Tab-Control-not-working/td-p/14424...

I know the tab control's RTM works at run-time, but, as you said, it is for the entire tab control. Each individual tab (page) has a context menu that appears at design time, but not at run time. What is the point of having the Description and Tip, for example, be available at design time but not at run time?

You say, "There are not seaparate RTMs for different parts of any control" but that is not true. The tab control DOES have separate RTMs for the tabs at design time, just not at run time where it would be useful to the user.

Ed

[AristosQueue (NI)]

> The tab control DOES have separate RTMs for the tabs at design time

I cannot replicate this. At design time, there's just the built-in LV pop up menu. And it looks the same no matter which tab I pop up on.

[Edjsch]

Go to my forum post near the bottom of page 1 you will see 2 attached vi's. Open either or both and see that at design time there is a separate Description and Tip for each individual tab (page), while at run time only the tab's Description and Tip is available (which is blank in my examples).

On page 2 of my forum post, this is what Sam K, NI Applications Engineer said:

"When you right click and choose Description and Tip while the VI is running you will always get the Tab Controls description and tip, not an individual page's description and tip.  This is expected behavior although I agree that it might be useful to have each individual page show its respective description and tip."

"I agree that it would be beneficial to have the right click access to individual tab description and tip as you described. I highly recommend you post this on the idea exchange for the LabVIEW developers to consider in the next version of LabVIEW."

Hence this post.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Ok.  I have been entirely focused on setting a custom runtime menu for the control, not looking at Description and Tip at all. Your idea refers to the runtime menus all the way through, not to the behavior of a handful of individual runtime menu items. I thought you were complaining that the menu itself didn't show up or that when you added a custom menu, you got separate custom runtime menus in edit mode and a single custom runtime menu while running.

You and I have not been speaking the same language.  Now I've figured out what's up, let me try to restate everything.

> The tab control DOES have separate RTMs for the tabs at design time

No. There is one and only one runtime menu for the entire Tab Control. There are multiple Description & Tip entries, and the menu is accessing the wrong one at runtime. I'd call this a bug, myself.

---

@Edjsch wrote:
You say, "The individual tab descriptions still show up on the context help window." but that is only true at design time, not run time. Correct, or do you mean something else?

---

I double checked this. The other poster was correct -- the Context Help window (what you see when you hit ctrl+h) is updating to show the description and tip for the individual pages when the mouse is over the tabs. The only thing that appears to be incorrect is the actual Description & Tip dialog at runtime.

[Edjsch]

Yes, Ctrl-H does work, but a user of a stand-alone application is not likely to know that keyboard shortcut.

For many of my controls I have a custom RTM menu with just "Description and Tip". The overall one for the Tab control is the only one that appears in the right-click pop up when the vi is running. I want each tab's (one of the Tab control's "multiple" as you say) Description and Tip to appear. The fact that it does not you called a "bug". This is what I'm talking about!

[AristosQueue (NI)]

> This is what I'm talking about!

Good. We're on the same page now. I've decided to go ahead and file this as a bug report and close this idea. The bug was filed as CAR #285134.

[Edjsch]

Aristos Queue,

Are you an NI employee? (I am under the impression that only they can issue a CAR, according to Ben (http://forums.ni.com/t5/Feedback-on-NI-Discussion-Forums/Reporting-bugs/m-p/1008652?requireLogin=Fa...). (I searched in vain to find a web page devoted to bug reporting, but did find "Bug Fixes" for each LV version.)

While I agree that this is indeed "unexpected behavior" from my point of view, others have differing opinions. Sammy K said it was "expected behavior". I take that to mean "what we observe is what the control does". Whether or not it should function differently is up for discussion. (Whether or not it's a "bug" depends on how you define the term.)

My forum post was to find out if I was doing something wrong when I was unable to get the Description and Tip right-click pop-up to appear at run time. Once I found out that this is the way the Tab Control works I decided to enter this in the LabVIEW Idea Exchange as a product improvement (rather than a bug).

Thanks for getting a CAR, but according to Ben's post there doesn't seem to be any way to track it.

Ed

[G-Money]

Ed,

        Ben is correct that there is no easy way for customer's to track bug reports. We have our internal CAR tracking system that we use to assign the issue to a developer and keep track of it's development but none of that information is customer facing. The best way for a customer to track is to monitor the "Bug Fixes" section of the readme file in each new release of the product. The  Bug Fixes  will have the list of CAR IDs that were fixed in that release.

[G-Money]

Moved to CAR database. CAR#285134