To be able to view the block diagram through the front panel

[Sivadas]

It will be nice to have a button on the front panel of a VI (may be in the top right corner, near the window-minimize / close buttons) that provides a quick, "X-Ray view" into it's block diagram. After opening a VI if you press this button down on the front panel, you would get a quick glimpse of the block diagram behind it  while the front panel becomes semi-transparent. When you release the button the "X-Ray view" disappears. This will help the developer to quickly check the code behind any panel (when not needing to edit anything) without having to do a Ctrl+E and later closing the diagram. Also by pressing down the button, the developer should be able to drag the semi-transparent front panel around, over large swaths of the block diagram (typically larger than the front panel) to inspect all parts of the diagram.

[jcarmody]

>> enhances productivity tremendously

It saves a Ctrl+e then a Ctrl+w.  How much faster can an editor tool be?

[Manzolli]

Normally I use the FP in one monitor and the BD in the other. I thinking of buying a 3rd one for the Probe Watch Window, Help, Project Explorer, etc. With a bunch of VIs the transparency will make things a bit messy, or not?

[Sivadas]

Agree with jcarmody. But the button proposed is not for viewing the BD alone. It is also for panning a large BD (may be larger than the screen itself) using the FP as a window, so that you don't need to use the sidebars of the BD window for panning. I have explained this more in one of my earlier replies. In my experience, panning a large BD searching for a specific constant or subvi  using the sidebars is very frustrating.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

sivadas: regarding the second piece of your idea

> Also by pressing down the button, the developer should be able to

> drag the semi-transparent front panel around, over large swaths of

> the block diagram (typically larger than the front panel) to inspect

> all parts of the diagram.

What follows is my personal opinion, not necessarily how I think R&D as a whole might react:

I seriously doubt that we would ever do this part because that would impact the behavior of the front panel which is an actual running application. I do not think we should be injecting debug behaviors into the panel environment because that changes the actual running of the VI -- such as code monitoring for Mouse Move events or keyboard interactions. Fading to semi-transparent seems, in my opinion, to be a reasonable intervention as that is display only, not affecting the actual running behavior. The drag that you're talking about would have follow on repercussions, so seems like a less good idea to me.

[Sivadas]

Replying to Manzoli: Looks like I did a bad job writing up this idea. My frustration stems from when I've to inspect lots of similar VIs (say 10 or 15) for a certain constant or an enum value in their BDs in a short span of time (let's say just before compiling). Ideally, I would like to see a pre-view of the code when I hover over the respective VIs in the project explorer. But I'm not asking even that 😞 . I'm just saying that a press down/release button on the FP will give the necessary preview I need, without having to keep the BD window permanently open.

>With a bunch of VIs the transparency will make things a bit messy, or not?

Absolutely. But I want the preview-window vanish, as soon as you release this button. Also, the transparent front panel would restore its opaqueness simultaneously.

Again, I was suggesting this momentary  translucency (not total invisibility) to the FP because, one might want to cross-check with the FP (such as control/indicator names on the FP) while looking at the BD. Thanks.

[Sivadas]

 Absolutely agree, AristosQueue. That's why I would like this not for run-time. This should be available only while editing VIs.

I've described a typical scenario of this button's usage in my reply to Manzoli. That would give a clearer picture where I'm coming from.

[Sivadas]

Sorry, I didn't grasp your earlier posting when I replied. If FP is already running in the edit mode, then it is going to be difficult- isn't that what you meant? In that case, can we get a preview button /pane in the project explorer?

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Let's be clear about terms: None of this applies to a built application or DLL. This is only about VIs inside the development environment.

I am assuming that this feature is for VIs that are currently running in the development environment. I thought you were wanting to watch the diagram (i.e. exec highlighting) while the panel was on screen.

If you are wanting this while the VI is in edit mode, I can't see a value to this request at all. <<< again, personal opinion, not speaking for R&D.

[Darin.K]

I would not mind a non-latching button that has the same effect as the peek feature in Windows without forcing me to have the window open (and perhaps minimized) and finding its taskbar thumbnail.  Click-see what I need to see-Release and return to where I was.  Same for FP peeking from BD.

[Sivadas]

Replying to AristosQueue: Yes, I'm talking about the development environment. No, I don't want to see the 'exec highlighting'. Here's a typical user scenario, that I previously explained to Manzoli: I have a Project Explorer window open with 10 VIs in it. I need to check the BDs of each VI quickly and make sure that a specific constant value is wired in each of them, before creating executables. I would like to do this by using a pre-view tool without having to open the BD.

And it will be even better if I don't need to open the FP - But, this is asking too much 🙂