How to create a fully black/transparent array indicator

[Journeyman]

Hi there,

I'm working on my first Labview project at work, and i'm running into silly UI problems.

I'm trying to customise an array indicator so that it is completely transparent or black (the background is black).

I've had some success in customising it, but i can't get it to work while the array is empty.

I've attached two screenshots, one with empty arrays and one with data in them.

Anyone come across this problem before?

[altenbach · Accepted solution]

Please attach the VI "without data". It is not clear what is going on from a picture.

(Why don't you use a table indicator instead?)

[blawson]

the problem is that any cells that are visible and that are empty (i.e. data exists for N rows, M rows visible, M>N) will appear "greyed out".

you *could* code it with property nodes to only show as many rows as data ("Number of Rows" property for the array), but it won't show less than 1, so you also need to handle what is shown if the array is empty. (set visible property to false).  You may also have problems with alignment if the text cells are sized by height.

but really the functionality you want is a table, like altenbach said. the only difference is that you might have to convert the datatypes to text first.

use a Modern or Classic style table (you can't give a system table a transparent background, although you could make it black, and you can't change the scrollbar colors).  Fix the colors up like you like them, change it to an indicator, etc.

If the array(s) of data you were showing are not yet text, convert them to text before updating the indicator.

what font did you use for the wavelength numbers?

[Journeyman]

Sorry for the late reply, guys.

Thanks Altenbach, a table was what i needed. At the moment i'm making things up as i go along, as i've had no tuition in Labview, or any other programming languages for that matter.

Cheers to you too, Blawson for your explanation. The font i'm using for the wavelength indicator is a 25pt Agency FB.

Again, sorry for such basic questions, but i did trawl through the forum searching for anything similar.