HMI Architecture for the NI LabVIEW Touch Panel Module - Improvement Tips

[AlexDarsigny]

Hi,

I followed this paper (http://www.ni.com/white-paper/6121/en) about HMI programming on LabVIEW 2013 and I installed every package needed to make the example work. This feature is for touch pad but I've adapted it to work on a normal PC. It's working fine but I was wondering if there was a way to improve the refreshing between each page. I joined my labview project. Simply open HMI_Main.vi and run it. Then play with buttons on the right (button on bottom have no effect yet).

You'll probably notice that we have time to see the desktop behind between each transition from page to page. Is there a way to speed up the refreshing so the eye can't see the transition? By the way I use a powerful PC.

Thank you!

[Esteban.R]

Hi AlexDarsigny

I am not sure what exactly are you referring to I tried to open the application that you attach but it seems that there are several files missing as you can see in the image that I attach. I am not sure what you mean when you said that you can see the desktop behind, each transmission could you be more specific and if it is possible any screenshot where we might be able to see the problem.

Regards

Esteban R.

[AlexDarsigny]

Hi Esteban,

Thank you for your answer.

I joined another zip which contain the missing *.ctl. You'll probably have to link them manually.

I tried to record some navigation in the HMI but the recorder I used is too slow to catch my problem. I'll try to re-explain. When I click on a button to go to a different page of my interface, my eyes have time to see the current page closes, then I see my desktop behind and then the destination page opens. I'd like my LavVIEW HMI to act like a real application with fluid navigation between pages.

Thanks again.

[AlexDarsigny]

I tried to insert some delay in my loop but there's nothing I can do. I'd probably need a handle that freezes my screen for a short time, so I wouldn't see the transition between the two vi's. It could be something like that :

When I'd click on a button to go to another page,

1. My screen freezes

2. My current page closes,

3. My destination opens

4. My screen unfreezes.

Is there any object that controls screen?

Thanks.

[JefeL]

Hi AlexDarsigny,

I think I understand the problem you are describing and I would like to make sure you are using the appropriate front panel controls for this situation. Unfortunately, I believe that the new archive is still mising files. Specifically, the files on the HMI. Here is a screenshot of the files I can't find in the archive:

[AlexDarsigny]

Hi jliles,

I had a rough time to install everything to make this work. Let's forget my HMI and we'll use the example from NI Developer Zone instead because the same behaviour is present in it.

I followed this procedure which requires to install hne20_installer.zip from this page.

The HNE was also requiring Asynchronous Message Communication (AMC) Library so I followed this page and downloaded ni_lib_amc-2.1.4-5.ogp and qmh_107.zip

I downloaded the VI Package Manager and hit Download AMC Library in the same page too.

Finally, when I tried to run HNE_Example.lvproj located at labview\user.lib\HNE\examples. There was still missing files so I searched them on VIPM and installed necessary library.

I use LabVIEW 2013.

Thank you for your help!

[JoeySpinella]

We will try to follow your instructions to reproduce this.

Could you post a jing video of the behavior?

[AlexDarsigny]

Hi,

This Jing thing is really good! I could catch the behaviour with it. It's not doing it at every transition. Sometimes, the recorder doesn't see the occurence and sometimes it's actually not doing it for real on my computer but you can see an example at about the end of the video. The occurence of the behaviour seems to be random depending on the moment in the loop where I click on a button. I used my own HMI but it's exactly the same thing with the example.

Hope it's going to help!

Thanks.

[Esteban.R]

Hi AlexDarsigny

Thanks for the video, it was really helpful, I think that we now have a good idea of what the problem is, and now let’s try to find the source of the problem, I am following the instruction from your last post in order to reproduce the error on our side with a TPC.

Regards

Esteban R.

[Esteban.R]

Hi AlexDarsigny

Which pc are you using for this application?

I run the example in a NI TPC-2212 and I was not able to reproduce the issue neither the screen freezes nor can I see the desktop not even for a second. I follow the steps on your post. The TPC is running the LabVIEW runtime engine 2013 and WES7 (Windows embedded system 7)

Could you give more details about the computer specifications?

The issue might be related to the TPC that you are using nevertheless as a workaround there are invoke nodes and property nodes that you can use in order to control when to open the front panel the size, location and if it is maximize or not. For example take a look to this link.

Regards

Esteban R.