Common behaviors among LabVIEW Developers

[GregFreeman]

---

@joaopam wrote:

I've just finished one medium project (5 VI's, VISA based) and I noticed that I've spent much more time working in details than in 

Thank you all

Regards

---

This statement is a red flag for me. 5 VIs VISA based applications, for me, should be a very small program. One I'd expect to write within a half hour. If you feel it is medium sized, that tells me there is a lot going on, and you aren't using enough subVIs to componentize the code. That is just a guess though. I have seen some huge applications written that don't have a single VI bigger that the size of my monitor. That's not to say go on overkill and make subVIs just to make things fit on your screen. Sometimes this actually makes things less organized because stuff is broken up more than it should be. But, clean block diagrams can be done. 

One tip, try to look at other reputable peoples' applications as much as possible. I have gotten much of my block diagram organization skills from seeing what others have done in certain situations and thinking "oh, I could use that all the time."

[joaopam]

---

johnsold escreveu:

I like neat diagrams and probably spend too much time getting them that way.  Over the years I have learned to program in a style that is comfortable for me so that I rarely need to edit a diagram for looks.  I also keep the auto wire routing tool turned off. I think it creates some really strange wire paths.

I do not like the Diagram Cleanup tool.  I never use it on my own programs because its idea of good style and mine are quite different.  When I use it on some of the code downloaded from the Forum, I find that it sometimes is a decent starting point.  At least it moves controls left and indicators right (although it gets the justification wrong). It also does a poor job of placing shift registers.

<images & explanation>

I do not have the VI Anayzer, but have reason to believe that it does not like the constant and control terminal borders touching. In this situation I think that a one pixel overlap does not reduce readability significantly while keeping the diagram compact and as many wires as possible straight.

Lynn

---

Lynn, very good post. I try to get the final result as much as I can.

I have the VI Analyzer as I probably quoted before, and it's very useful. And I also agree with you when you say that overlaping pixels doesn't necessarily reduce the readability, while compacting the diagram. This is a practice that I like to use, even more if the data types are the same.

Thanks for your feedback. Very nice job.

Regards

[joaopam]

---

apok escreveu:

there' a few things I use when developing...

• try,try and try to keep the block diagram on one screen size
• do not use icons
• try to keep wires straight with few bends
• use the align and distribute object tools
• rt clicking alot
• clean up wire
• Peter A. Blume's LabVIEW Style book
• CLD requirements doc.
• Cntrl/Shft shortcuts

---

Looking at your "checklist" and thinking about what I tend to do, we have similar ways to develop. Except for Blume's book and CLD requirements DOC (I hope I have both in the future).

It's good to compare my style with others. Thanks for your feedback.

Regards.

[joaopam]

---

for(imstuck) escreveu:

---

This statement is a red flag for me. 5 VIs VISA based applications, for me, should be a very small program. One I'd expect to write within a half hour. If you feel it is medium sized, that tells me there is a lot going on, and you aren't using enough subVIs to componentize the code. That is just a guess though. I have seen some huge applications written that don't have a single VI bigger that the size of my monitor. That's not to say go on overkill and make subVIs just to make things fit on your screen. Sometimes this actually makes things less organized because stuff is broken up more than it should be. But, clean block diagrams can be done. 

One tip, try to look at other reputable peoples' applications as much as possible. I have gotten much of my block diagram organization skills from seeing what others have done in certain situations and thinking "oh, I could use that all the time."

---

Hi Greg,

You said you'd took less than a hour to finish it. Okay, that's what I call experience in first instance.

5 VIs project can be a small project for you and I congratulate you for that, I hope I can get at your level someday.

Just to clarify, my project involves reading/writing with VISA and do a lot of work with data. Logs, math operations and other usual stuff.

I appreciate your tip and I'll try to do it. I've been using this forum everyday, and I see that I know much more today than yesterday. And tomorrow will be the same thing, you know?

In my case, SubVIs were mostly used to improve the neatness. To "modularize" my main VI, which has lots of repeated operations. So, as I need to do the same thing tons of times, a SubVI do all the work for me.

Thank you for your feedback. Hearing from experienced users like you and others that answered this thread is very good.

[drjdpowell]

---

@joaopam wrote:

5 VIs project can be a small project for you and I congratulate you for that, I hope I can get at your level someday.

Just to clarify, my project involves reading/writing with VISA and do a lot of work with data. Logs, math operations and other usual stuff.

---

I think for(imstuck) is trying to say that you are likely not using enough subVIs, and thus your few VIs are very complex and thus require lots of time to keep neat.  With experience, you will find that good subVI design (and data bundling in clusters/objects) will lead to invidividual block diagrams being less complex and thus easier to keep neat.   

[joaopam]

Now I see it.

Thanks for pointing this POV.

Nice feedback, by the way.

Regards