LabVIEW Idea Exchange

Scroll bar should be disabled if all elements are visible! Kudo here to get a big bang for the buck sooner than the 2nd in TOP KUDOED IDEAS from 2013 with 600+ kudos (https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Indicate-that-array-constant-contains-more-elements-than/idi-p/2299860). It points out that the scroll bars are not a viable method because it looks the same when all elements are visible. That is EASY to fix; disable the scroll bar if ALL elements are visible! Currently it is disabled only if an empty element is visible. Perhaps the behavior was originally by design like block diagram scroll bars as mentioned in the reason that the following was Declined, '...without this "boundary", it is impossible to create more space...' but constants can easily be stretched by border handles to create more elements (https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Make-window-scroll-bars-reflect-actual-contents-of-window/idi-p/1844127).

The Project Explorer Files view already contains the useful "Move on Disk..." option. It would be useful if, when a VI or CTL is owned by a lvclass or lvlib, an option named "Move to Owner Folder" (or similar) existed. This option would move the selected file to the folder that contains the lvclass or lvlib that owns that file. This action would be equivalent to using the "Move on Disk..." option, but would save the user from navigating the (potentially large) folder structure to find the right folder. In short, it would save a few seconds and would help ensure consistency. It would also encourage the best practice of storing owned VIs and CTLs in the same folder as their owner lvlib or lvclass (actions that are easy to do are performed more often).

For example

Screenshot 1: A project that contains two libraries

Screenshot 2: In the Items view, the mouse was used to drag C.vi from Library 1.lvlib to Library 2.lvlib

Screenshot 3: Typically, I would now press Ctrl + E to switch to the Files view, right-click the file, and select "Move on Disk...".

Notes

• It would be great if the "Move to Owner Folder" menu item was also available when multiple items that are owned by the same owner are selected.
• A related idea: It would be useful if, when using the Items view to move an item from an owner to another, LabVIEW would pop up a dialogue message similar to the following "Would you also like to move the file on disk to folder <insert here the folder path of the new owner>?". The dialogue would contain Yes and No buttons. This would save the user from having to switch to the Files view altogether.

Thanks!

The default Data Directory path is set to "%Userprofile%\Documents" under windows. 

This is fine regarding custom probes, settings etc, but problematic when it comes to the compile cache and other "runtime" files.

In our corporate setting, this folder is always synced with onedrive AND with the roaming profile. So one problem is, that it bloats the synced volume, which by it self is annoying. But it often leads to corrupt files when onedrive blocks them or writes them in the wrong moment. 

So our workaround is to set this path to %programdata%\LabView Data. This, however, brings new problems, since now all users need write access to this folder.

I think a better way would be to save the folder under %localappdata%, but this can not be done with a symblic path and must be defined static, so it works just for one user.

Solution:

Provide a symbolic link to the %useroprofile% or %localappdata% folders. Additionally it would be nice, if the cache target folder could be seperately defined.

Currently, the TDMS File api does not offer a way to get the TDMS file size.

Our use case is that we'd like to limit the size of the TDMS files and span them accross multiple individual files (and I've posted an idea suggestion for adding that as a native feature, too).  To do this, we need to be able to monitor the TDMS file size, so that we can save/close the current file and then create the next file in the span for continued use (until we hit the size limit again).

Excel displays the number of selected cells.

VS Code displays the number of selected characters.

LabVIEW should display the number of selected items in the Project Explorer.

LabVIEW should also display the number of selected items on the block diagram and the front panel.

Notes

• In the Project Explorer the functionality would be useful to count/monitor/audit the number of VIs and CTLs in a lvclass, lvlib, or in a virtual folder of these owners, etc. It would be nice to know at a glance "oh, there are 12 public VIs in this class".
• The block diagram count functionality can become more useful in large projects and VIs. For example, I recently edited the block diagram of a VI in a DQMH-based project. The project contains 16 DQMH modules at the moment (more to be added). I wanted to check that the VI I was editing was calling the Start Module.vi public VI of each of the 16 modules (wanted to check that the VI would launch all DQMH modules). The only way to do this was to "manually" count the VIs on the block diagram. Selecting them and LabVIEW displaying "Count: 16" would have been easier.
• In the block diagram the information displayed by LabVIEW could be more nuanced. For example, it could display the total number of items selected (subVIs, nodes, property nodes, etc), but also a breakdown based on item type: number of VIs, number of nodes, number of property nodes, etc. All these selection stats may occupy too much space for all to be displayed at once. Perhaps they could be displayed in an element that, when clicked, expands to present all the information.
• The block diagram and front panel count functionality would enable programmers to quickly estimate the complexity of a VI. Pressing Ctrl + A on a block diagram to select all items, then looking at the selection stats would reveal the relative complexity of that VI.
• If a whole structure is selected on the block diagram, then the count should return the count of all items contained in the diagram, not just the items displayed to the user. For example, if a case structure is selected, the number of items contained in all cases should be displayed.

Thanks

Right now, there's no way to easily open show a LabVIEW project file in the "native operating system file explorer" on Linux (for me on Ubuntu, that's the the Gnome "Files" Nautilus app and I can easily open a folder from a terminal/shell by executing an `open .` command).

Side Note: In VS Code (as described in the documentation), you can open to the location of a file or folder in the native operating system file explorer by right-clicking on a file or folder and selecting Reveal in File Explorer on Windows, Reveal in Finder on macOS, or Open Containing Folder on Linux.

Let's please add this to LabVIEW for Linux! 🙂

Open the VI Properties dialog when the Control key is depressed and the VI's icon in the upper right is double-clicked.

Right-clicking the icon shows a pop-up menu with VI Properties, Edit Icon..., and Find All Instances. Double clicking it opens the icon editor.

It can be difficult to go back to the Search Results window when searching for subVIs or text in a project with many open VIs.

It'd be great if the Search Results window had an "Always on top?" option. The screenshot below shows a possible implementation, using a tickbox.

I'd be happy for the default value of the tickbox to be false (unticked). The default behaviour would be identical to the current behaviour.

When the option is ticked the Search Results window would float on top of other VI windows, similar to how the Probe window floats on top.

This would make life easier when going back and forth between a few results, with many VIs already open, especially when so many VIs are open that all LabVIEW windows have collapsed into one tall list in the Windows taskbar.

This feature is not terribly impactful, but has a high benefit-to-effort ratio, due to the very small implementation effort.

Thanks

Problem: When developing or inheriting a large code base it is helpful to know which VI has Automatic Error Handling (AEH) enabled and which has it disabled. Currently, the quickest way to get this information is to bring up the VI Properties window (pressing Ctrl + I) and navigate to the Execution page. This is tedious when done on large numbers of VIs.

Solution: LabVIEW should display whether AEH is enabled or disabled on the Block Diagram. For example, a grey triangle located in the bottom-right corner of the block diagram window could indicate that AEH is disabled, and an "error green" triangle could indicate that AEH is enabled, as seen in the screenshots below. This display method is just a suggestion - professional UX designers may well find a better method. I would be happy with any indication method that I could at a glance see on the block diagram window.

Idea expansion:

• Executing a single left click on the triangle (or any other indication method) would toggle the setting to its other value. For example, a single left click on the grey triangle would toggle the AEH to enabled and the triangle would become green.