Prevent restoring minimized Labview windows when opening another vi file

[Novgorod]

It's a very small nuisance but a long-standing one. When I have several Labview windows open (front panels, block diagrams or others) and all of them are minimized in the task bar, upon opening another vi through Windows explorer (e.g. with a double click), this vi's front panel is opened (which is expected) but also one of the other previously minimized windows gets restored. It gets a bit annoying when I want to open a vi but it also pops up another unrelated minimized window, which I have to click away.

I guess this happens because the double click on the vi file launches the Labview.exe, which (supposedly) sends a window restore command if it's already running, and this restores one of the minimized windows (how it selects which one is a mystery) before actually opening the requested vi file. Is there some magic ini setting to keep already minimized windows minimized when opening another vi?

[JÞB]

Yes, it is called the LabVIEW Project Explorer. Is that a concept that you are unfamiliar with?

The problem that I think that you are discussing is what is called "Context."

When you open a *.vi file from Windows Explorer that file is correctly opened with the default exe within the context of the default application.   Lvproj members do not know that they belong to a Lvproj and may be used by multiple Lvproj files.  (Not the same as lvlib files)

I encourage you to use Lvproj files and the project Explorer. 

[Novgorod]

I'm using project explorer for actual projects of a certain size that would warrant that kind of overhead. Here, I'm talking about small tools or "one-off" kind of stuff like quickly taking a look at another vi without having a random minimized window come up out of nowhere. I also fail to see how that's a "context" thing and not a Labview internal window management thing. I don't use the project explorer to browse for random vi tools in my archive or downloaded/example files though because it's kind of cumbersome - that's what the file explorer that comes with the OS is for (things like exploring files...). Of course if I open a vi from the project explorer, then the project explorer itself is a Labview window which is already in a non-minimized state and the whole issue is moot. This is also the case if I open a vi from the file -> open menu in any Labview window because the window in which I used the menu must be necessarily in a non-minimized state. My point was specifically opening vis through Windows explorer and not through the Labview application itself.

Besides that, the window restore issue is a general behavior when you open a Labview file from Windows explorer and all Labview windows are minimized, regardless whether the existing Labview windows belong to a project or not.

[JÞB]

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@Novgorod wrote:

I'm using project explorer for actual projects of a certain size that would warrant that kind of overhead. Here, I'm talking about small tools or "one-off" kind of stuff like quickly taking a look at another vi without having a random minimized window come up out of nowhere. I also fail to see how that's a "context" thing and not a Labview internal window management thing. I don't use the project explorer to browse for random vi tools in my archive or downloaded/example files though because it's kind of cumbersome - that's what the file explorer that comes with the OS is for (things like exploring files...). Of course if I open a vi from the project explorer, then the project explorer itself is a Labview window which is already in a non-minimized state and the whole issue is moot. This is also the case if I open a vi from the file -> open menu in any Labview window because the window in which I used the menu must be necessarily in a non-minimized state. My point was specifically opening vis through Windows explorer and not through the Labview application itself.

Besides that, the window restore issue is a general behavior when you open a Labview file from Windows explorer and all Labview windows are minimized, regardless whether the existing Labview windows belong to a project or not.

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OK, perhaps I am not seeing the specific behavior that you are trying to describe in text.  Could you post a Jing (or other video) of this type of behavior?  I admit that I have not noticed strange Windows becoming unminimized without cause.  What are the Windows settings?  Are they "dialog?"

[Novgorod]

Normal windows, not modal. They can be running or stopped. Here's a minimal example:

First, I open test1.vi (which starts Labview), then I open its block diagram (2 windows open), then I minimize both windows. Next, I double click on test2.vi, which opens the front panel of test2.vi, but also restores the block diagram window of test1.vi (maybe because it was the last one that got minimized, but it's not really consistent which of the minimized windows gets restored). The expected behavior is that when I double click on test2.vi, its front panel gets opened without changing the state of any of the other Labview windows. And before anyone asks: The context help window has no bearing on it. The behavior is the same with the context help closed.

[JÞB]

Thank you for that!

Try this.

• Close LabVIEW 
• From Windows file explorer rename the file <LabVIEW>LabVIEW.ini. NOTE: This will cause any application configuration settings to reset to default 
• Repeat your steps to demonstrate the problem
• Report changes in observations  if any; paste a text copy of the renamed LabVIEW.ini file

Strange behavior noted.

[JÞB]

Some other thoughts

I haven't seen LabVIEW launch that fast since @5.1.

I cannot resolve the build information on the splash screen...details please

[Novgorod]

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@JÞB wrote:
Some other thoughts

I haven't seen LabVIEW launch that fast since @5.1.

I cannot resolve the build information on the splash screen...details please

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It's a very clean installation (only Vision addon, no NI hardware) on a VM running on a fancy Samsung 990 Pro SSD 🙂 .. The version is 2024 Q3 f3 (64bit). It also helps that Labview was opened and closed before, so some of it is cached in RAM. A cold start takes some seconds longer.

I also didn't modify the ini myself (not even the secret/private stuff) because it's a simple test environment. I removed the ini as you suggested and let it be re-created with defaults (e.g. the functions palette is now opened by default unless all windows are minimized) - it didn't change the behavior when opening a new vi from Windows explorer (it still restores one of the previously opened minimized windows in addition to opening the front panel of the double-clicked vi).

Another small note: If I double click on a vi file in Windows explorer whose front panel is already open in Labview and minimized, it will restore this front panel window and another one of the minimized Labview windows which is (seemingly) picked at random. If this "random pick" happens to be the front panel window of the vi I just double clicked on, then only this window is restored and not a second one. Of course this is a bit of a contrived scenario because if a vi is already opened in Labview as a window, you'd rather click on its icon in the taskbar to restore it. It's just to show that this window restore behavior not only happens when you open an unopened vi via Windows explorer.

Can anyone reproduce or confirm this behavior? I observe it all the time on many different PCs and Windows versions since "forever" (years). It's just a minor nuisance so I didn't pay much attention to it and can't tell in which Labview or Windows version it really started, but it would be great to override this window restore behavior...

[JÞB]

Potentially embarrassing question.

Did you try single clicking?

Note: You didn't demonstrate opening files from Windows Explorer....you activated Shortcuts on your VM desktop 

<Story time>

 After developing LabVIEW for 24 years, the muscle memory of my right hand is so ingrained that Mitch Rapp, Court Gentry and John Clark would envy the dexterity at which I can "double-tap" a mouse.  Reacher might be faster! (Not by much - but that's more than enough)

</Story time>

[altenbach]

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@Novgorod wrote:

It's a very small nuisance but a long-standing one. When I have several Labview windows open (front panels, block diagrams or others) and all of them are minimized in the task bar, upon opening another vi through Windows explorer (e.g. with a double click), this vi's front panel is opened (which is expected) but also one of the other previously minimized windows gets restored.

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This has bothered me forever too. If I open a Vi from window explorer and have many VIs already open, all with their diagram front panel windows minimized, at least one of the existing minimized windows gets restored too for no obvious reason.

Similarly, all LabVIEW windows are somewhat entangled and don't mesh well with the the handling by the OS. I often bump into the following maybe related problem and this is the direct cause why I often have minimized LabVIEW panels during development. I might have many LabVIEW windows open but not minimized and am working on a small diagram where I try to implement some math. For that I might have a Wikipedia web page containing the formula, so I need to go back and forth and would like to have both windows (panel & browser) next to each other. The problem is that as soon as I operate on the diagram, all other LabVIEW windows will move forwards, covering the browser window and obscuring my view. Now the whack-a-mole starts, where I need to minimize all other LabVIEW windows in order to keep the browser in view when going back and forth between the diagram under constructions and the browser window. Super annoying for many decades already!