Grouping of front panel objects?

[Johannes Niess]

Hi,

I'm asking myself how to group front panel objects like all programs
for graphics design (e. g. Corel Draw) can do it. Consider this
(constructed) example:

The values of two channels of a DAQ card are to be displayed with mean
and standard deviation. To make a nice front panel you put the two
indicators per channel into a frame. Aligning the two indicators per
channel is easy. But it requires moving pixel by pixel to align the
frame around the two indicators. It needs even more slow moving by
hand to align the two frames (1 per channel) together with their
content.

What I want to have is exactly the behavior that I get from a cluster
of clusters: I can align subclusters, use auto sizing on the frame of a
subcluster,
etc. But clusters create clutter from all the (un)bundling
I've to do. Adding or removing a front panel object breaks every I/O
wire, unless I use a type def or update a lot of (un)bundle
blocks. But that's too much hassle.

Have I overlooked a feature of LV 5.1? Related to this is the missing
feature of using the context menu on all of the selected front panel
objects.

I wanted to keep the example as simple as possible, so in this simple
case there are some simple solutions (array of clusters (per channel),
2 arrays (mean and std. dev., etc.). But it stops when you have
different physical instruments which all need a "sub front panel" of
their own. Any ideas?

Johannes Niess

[Jim Kring]

Yes, I want that feature, too, but LabVIEW doesn't have it. The positions
of objects are controllable with attribute nodes. Therefore you can reposition
objects at run-time. If you write a routine that will align one object relative
to some other object, and cascade that, you can accomplish grouping. There
is no easy solution. The best way is to select multiple objects at once
by holding down the shift key and selecting objects by clicking on them or
dragging the selection box around them. You can then move the selected "group"
of objects.

-Jim

Johannes Niess wrote:
>Hi,>>I'm asking myself how to group front panel objects like all programs>for
graphics design (e. g. Corel Draw) can do it. Consider this>(constructed)
example:>>The values of two channels of a DAQ card are to be displayed with
mean>and standard deviation. To make a nice front panel you put the two>indicators
per channel into a frame. Aligning the two indicators per>channel is easy.
But it requires moving pixel by pixel to align the>frame around the two indicators.
It needs even more slow moving by>hand to align the two frames (1 per channel)
together with their>content.>>What I want to have is exactly the behavior
that I get from a cluster>of clusters: I can align subclusters, use auto
sizing on the frame of a>subcluster, etc. But clusters create clutter from
all the (un)bundling>I've to do. Adding or removing a front panel object
breaks every I/O>wire, unless I use a type def or update a lot of (un)bundle>blocks.
But that's too much hassle.>>Have I overlooked a feature of LV 5.1? Related
to this is the missing>feature of using the context menu on all of the selected
front panel>objects.>>I wanted to keep the example as simple as possible,
so in this simple>case there are some simple solutions (array of clusters
(per channel),>2 arrays (mean and std. dev., etc.). But it stops when you
have>different physical instruments which all need a "sub front panel" of>their
own. Any ideas?>>Johannes Niess

[Kevin_work]

Jim Kring wrote:

> Yes, I want that feature, too, but LabVIEW doesn't have it. The positions
> of objects are controllable with attribute nodes. Therefore you can reposition
> objects at run-time. If you write a routine that will align one object relative
> to some other object, and cascade that, you can accomplish grouping. There
> is no easy solution. The best way is to select multiple objects at once
> by holding down the shift key and selecting objects by clicking on them or
> dragging the selection box around them. You can then move the selected "group"
> of objects.

You can also use the align and distrubute menus to get things close and then
go with the hand fine adjust. If you want to have some frames like you get in
a cluster then use the decor
ations and send ti to the control editor. You can
make numerous changes and save them as typdefs or strictly as controls
that you can plop down on any Front Panel.

I would like to see the grouping feature also, It *MAY* come out in version 6
which is due out soon. I dont know for sure about this though
Kevin Kent

[CraigGraham]

> What I want to have is exactly the behavior that I get from a cluster
> of clusters: I can align subclusters, use auto sizing on the frame of a
> subcluster, etc. But clusters create clutter from all the (un)bundling
> I've to do. Adding or removing a front panel object breaks every I/O
> wire, unless I use a type def or update a lot of (un)bundle
> blocks. But that's too much hassle.

You can't group objects as yet- apparently it's possible in LV6 when it's
released. There IS a way of activating the feature in LV5, but it's
apparently unstable and causes the application to crash.

You say you can't add controls to clusters after they're created- if you use
the unbundle-by-name functions then there's much less of a problem with
this- you can unbundle only the eleme
nts you want each time, and if you add
a new element, all the existing unbundle operations are unaffected and
continue to work- unless, of course, you rename an existing control!

There's still problems with passing the whole cluster to a sub-vi, since
then you have to do the same mods to the sub-vi's panel as you do to the top
level panel, but in my experience this isn't a big deal- most sub-vis don't
need the whole panel replicated, just a selection of parameters.