Progress display using semi-transparent slider?

[pgaastra]

Hi,

I am working on a project which controls 28 chambers.  I want to have a screen with bars with different colors for the different stages.  I am thinking sliders here.  I want to fill them in before the run starts and then have a covering slider which is semi transparent to move across. 

I cannot see any way to get semi transparent with the another slider. 

My next idea is to have a semitransparent 2D picture on top which changes size as the run progresses. 

Any simpler suggestions?

Thanks

[Aventador]

I don't understand as to why a covering slider is required in this case.  I assume that you need to programmatically fill the slider with values which are to be the upper limits of that particular case and which may change during every run. If that is the case, filling the slider and controlling the movement through another slider would be a round-about solution.

Consider setting the Maximum value and Response to value outside the limits using property nodes. Sample VI is attached for your reference.

Hope this helps !

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Subramanian.A

Engineer

Captronic Systems

[tst]

There are any number of options you can use, such as:

• A 1D array of clusters where a color box sets the color and a slider with a transparent BG shows the progress.
• A picture control where you draw everything yourself.
• A 2D array of color boxes where you simply change the color to indicate progress.
• Customize the slider control to make the slider itself semi-transparent.

Since I don't understand what you want exactly, I have no practical recommendation other than to upload a simple example or mockup of what you actually want.

[pgaastra]

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't do a very good job of explaining what I wanted. Here is roughly what I am trying to achieve:

 

The vertical line is how far the process has progressed.  I have done that with a transparent, wide slider covering all the other sliders.  I would like all the colours to the left of the vertical line to be greyed out.

TST says I can customise that slider.  Can I get the  fill to be semi transparent?  I have seen how you can import an image into a slider and that image can be semitransparent if it was imported from PowerPoint.  I have not been successful with that.

[Jason-M]

pgaastra,

In response to your initial idea regarding layering a semitransparent picture atop your slider, this is a possibility, but it is not recommended because it makes LabVIEW run inefficiently by taking up too much processing power at a time. Also, issues may arise with the rendering of the UI. The idea of a picture control drawn yourself may seem tedious, but it would be a solution that would prevent layering of indicators. I do not believe that the fill of individual sections or allocated areas of the slider can be altered to be semi transparent with any simple command. I will continue to look into this, let me know if you find a solution.

Best,

[pgaastra]

Thanks for all the input. 

I think my semi transparent idea is just too hard.  I will go ahead with what I have shown in my last post.

[tst · Accepted solution]

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@pgaastra wrote:

Can I get the  fill to be semi transparent?

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Yes. Like I said, there are any number of ways in which you can do this, but to keep in line with what you already did, you can create a square semi-transparent PNG (I like Paint.NET, but I believe PowerPoint should also work for that) and import that instead of the fill. The key point is that after you do that, you need to hide the backround of the slide. To do that, select Window>>Show Parts Window in the edit mode and find the part called Cosmetic. Then change its size and position so that it's hidden. Alternatively, you can import a transparent picture to replace it. That will allow you to see behind the slide.

[pgaastra]

Thanks Tst,

I was messing up little details.  Following your instructions I have a working transparent slider now.