Appearing for CLD...Your tips?

[FraggerFox]

Hello all,

My CLAD is going to expire soon and so I have decided to go for the CLD. For all those who have already appeared for CLD, please post your experiences/tips. I would be going by LVOOP way mostly, which I confirmed from NI USA, would be accepted as a soultion.

[muks]

This maybe helpful

[Guruthilak]

How familiar are you with LVOOP?

Did you tried to solve the sample paper using the LVOOP concept? If yes then how much time did you take (including all sot of documenttion)?

If the answer to these question are "YES" then proceed with LVOOP.. But why to make things complicated?

Any how ALL THE BEST

Guru 

[FraggerFox]

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Guruthilak wrote:

How familiar are you with LVOOP?

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I feel comfortable when I develop a complete project from scratch riding on LVOOP. I have tried sample CLD examples and have posted them on NI forums also. Check the following links:

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=435572

- Security System

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=441528#M441528

- Car Wash

I took, on an average, 2 hours to complete each of them. They are not documented well, but I would be doing that in actual CLD 🙂

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Guruthilak wrote:

.. But why to make things complicated?

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Why would you say LVOOP makes it complicated?

[RGreg]

I took the test back at the end of January.  I wrote five blog posts in March about how I prepared for it as well as what the actual test day was like.  If you're interested, the first post is at http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2010/03/passed-cld-exam-part-1.html.

[LV_Pro]

Clean code, documented code, don't use structures that are frowned upon. There is little enough time during the exam, you first have to read the problem, understand it, then formulate a method to solve it. I suggest making a template, pre-commented, so that you don't do it each time. Unless you are really FAST doing LVOOP I recommend against it. Time is the enemy!! When I sat for my exam a good friend, whom I consider to be a very knowledgeable and usually fast LabVIEWer didn't make the cut. When we took it was during the transition from 6 to 7 or 7 to 8, some time around then, and he wasn't familiar with the "new look" palettes, that slowed him enough that he didn't pass. Also try and use the latest version. The exams are not supposed to be dependent on any new features, but familiarity with the environment is important, Time is the enemy!

Also, in my case, using an industrial strength antiperspirant would have helped!

Good Luck!!

[herrlin]

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Fragger Fox wrote:

I feel comfortable when I develop a complete project from scratch riding on LVOOP. I have tried sample CLD examples and have posted them on NI forums also. Check the following links:

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=435572

- Security System

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=441528#M441528

- Car Wash

I took, on an average, 2 hours to complete each of them. They are not documented well, but I would be doing that in actual CLD 🙂

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For my CLD I got the Boiler Control problem.  I would deff say that the actual CLD took alot longer then any of the examples.  So my tip would be not to gage your speed on the examples given.

Chill

[JÞB]

Style guide.  Style guide . Style guide. its the only possible qualitative "standard" to measure your code against- guess what the grade will be based on

Document the code FIRST.  (actually coding it is not the highest percentage of the grade.  having a clear - documented method to provide a solution IS)

Error handleing.  without a clear error handler you won't pass.   and yes, the error chain shows clear flow control so use it to demonstrate you grasp the flow control paradigm.  any potential "race condition" is going to be a HUGE hit on the grade.

Ohh... KNOW the options - you can't bring your labview.ini file so know what your customizations are and how to make the test IDE familiar to you

GOOD LUCK!

Message Edited by Jeff Bohrer on 04-21-2010 10:16 AM

[tbob]

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herrlin wrote:

For my CLD I got the Boiler Control problem.  I would deff say that the actual CLD took alot longer then any of the examples.  So my tip would be not to gage your speed on the examples given.

Chill

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I got the boiler problem also.  It took me a full four hours.  I think I missed just one functional requirement, a blinking indicator.  Simple enough, just forgot about it.  I was told that 40% of the grade is based on functionality, 30% of style, and 30% on documentation.  So be sure to document everything:

VI Properites - Documentation.  Fill this in on all subvi's and of course the main.

All controls and indicators should have tip strips and documentation.  When you hover your mouse over a control, the tip strip should pop up.

Style:  NO BENT WIRES.  Line up everything.  Of course its impossible to have no bent wires, but do the best you can.

No hidden wires running under other structures.  No right to left data flow.

Do not use the stacked or flat sequence structure.  Use a state machine.

Create Type Def controls for all enums and such.  Be sure to document the controls even and put tip strips.

Put labels on long wires.  Set background to white and foreground to transparent.  Use text like this:  >> file reference >> and put it on the wire so the arrows are inline with the wire.

Label as much as you can and put comments in your block diagram as much as you can.  Don't overdo it so as to create clutter.  Keep it neat and practical.

Functionality:  I've heard of some people passing even though the VI didn't work perfectly.  They had enough style and documentation points, and the VI worked partially.  They still passed.  Don't get hung up on one functional problem.  Let it go and tackle it if you have time at the end.

Good Luck.

[LV_Pro]

Yes, a program that shows that given a little more time you would have a functional, documented, clean, maintainable program is better than having a functional, messy one within the time limit. That is why I recommend taking a few moments to make a "template" of your sub-vi structure (action engine, basic vi with error) that has templated comments, both on the diagram and in the vi properties.  Also, a couple of minutes configuring the "options" under the tools pulldown to make it more like your environment at "home" will probably pay off too. My friend spent too much time looking for stuff in the newer pallettes, hadn't worked in what ever version it was, and that time cost him. "Lace your running shoes" the way you normally do, not the way it comes out of the box.

P