Editing: How do I prevent the tab control from selecting?

[DWendelboe]

This is a question about editing objects on a tab control. I am creating a new tab control and populating it with other controls and indicators on each tab. More often than not, when I try to select a control or indicator on a tab, the whole tab becomes selected. Sometimes I notice it, other times I end up dragging the whole tab around. Sometimes while selecting multiple objects on the tab, the background also gets inadvertently included. This is really kind of annoying while trying to build up tabs with new components and objects.

I've tried locking the tab and that seems to lock everything. I've tried disabling the tab and that doesn't seem to work either. Is there a way to freeze or lock the tab background to prevent it from being selected, but also allow objects on the tab surface to be manipulated?

[altenbach]

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DWendelboe wrote:
More often than not, when I try to select a control or indicator on a tab, the whole tab becomes selected.

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In my experience, this never really happens. You can typically only select the tab on it's narrow border, not by clicking in it's area. What is your LabVIEW version?

Can you attach a VI that demonstrates the problem?

[DWendelboe]

I'm using LV 8.5. Looking into this closer, it seems to be happening with custom controls that I put together and set as strict typedef.  This one particular control has two indicators (string arrays of 20 elements), two numeric indicators (int32 array of 20 elements, and some header text. All this is grouped into a cluster. When this custom control set is placed on the tab it is very sensitive to where it may be selected. It will select if I click directly on an indicator in the cluster. If I click on any background space in the cluster control, the tab selects. I cannot send the whole VI, but I've attached the offending control. Try placing it on a blank tab control. Click on and blank space in the cluster recessed area, and the whole tab selects. Click in the middle of any individual control in the cluster and the custom control selects.

I guess its not as bad as I thought now that I see where it is happening. I am using a number of strict typedef compound controls in this project, however.

Thanks for you help.

[David_B]

I've taken a look at your control, and I see what you mean and can imagine that being inconvenient and frustrating.  It appears that this behavior is consistent with the behavior of all controls in LabVIEW.  You can see it for example near the corners of a round boolean control.  So, I've filed a product suggestion for you with our R&D team, but as far as I can tell, we'll just need to work with this for now.

If anybody sees a work around for this, please chime in.

[DWendelboe]

Thanks for taking the time to look at my cluster of controls. Great on submitting this anomoly to NI R&D. Maybe a fix will make it into the next LV release.

[Process_Systems]

I have noticed the same behaviour on several versions of Labview. What I do to get around this, is use the shift key along with the left mouse button, and individually click on the items that I want to work with (this is the classic multiple select method). It allows me to select items on the tabbed control without high-lighting the tab itself. Possibly not the most elegant of solutions, but it works.

Dave