Scrolling the front panel based on monitor sizes

[thentangler]

Hi Guys,

 I have built an exe file from a VI on one machine that has labview so that it can be run in another that doesn't have labview. The machine where I programmed the VI has a wide 22" monitor and so I laid out my front panel accordingly. The machine that is going to use the exe has a 15" screen size, and some of the front panel components cannot be accessed if I do a maximize. However if I don't maximize the screen I can move the window to the edge and access the controls. But this is so cumbersome. Is there a way I can add scroll bars to the VI so that I can scroll the front panel? 

Thank You

[RavensFan · Accepted solution]

Of course.

Scrolls bars are something you can enable (and are normally enabled by default) within the VI properties dialog of the  VI.

Also, it is usually better to design your front panel so that it is laid out effectively for the smallest screen size you expect it to run on.

[thentangler]

Hi Ravens,

Thanks for the reply.

The scroll bars dont seem to automatically appear in the exe. 

It is enabled on the VI though. 

I would expect the program to give tolerances for monitor sizes, since we dont really know what the smallest monitor size would be used when running the program. Besides, if we want to put a lot of front panel, indicators, controls etc, I would not be able to fit it for a 15" screen.

[thentangler]

I found the sloution. Partly thanks to Raven.

You can also programatically change it. Found here:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/048C31D73E8EC91286256E440063E1BB

[RavensFan]

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@thentangler wrote:

Hi Ravens,

Thanks for the reply.

The scroll bars dont seem to automatically appear in the exe.

It is enabled on the VI though. 

Check the build settings for the VI.  There are somethings in the build settings that you can change on a per VI basis that will override the settings that are inherently in the VI.  Not sure if this is one of them.

I would expect the program to give tolerances for monitor sizes, since we dont really know what the smallest monitor size would be used when running the program.

You'd wish it would be as simple as that.  But LabVIEW doesn't really know how you'd want things to resize and move based on infinitely variable window sizes.  For the programs where changing Window sizes seem effortless (e.g. Word, Excel) there is a lot of code behind the seens written by Microsoft to handle all of that.  And since it is a widely used, and tightly controlled program, they can afford to invest the time to write that code.  But LabVIEW is a program used to make programs. It is up to the programmer to make that happen.  I think you'd have the same problem if you were trying to make a flexible windows program in VB or C.  LabVIEW does provide some tools for scaling front panel objects and panes within the window.  But they can't do everything. 

Besides, if we want to put a lot of front panel, indicators, controls etc, I would not be able to fit it for a 15" screen.

That's why nobody uses 15" screens anymore.  I would consider 17" screens to small by today's standards.

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[thentangler]

LOL, 

Your argument does make sense from a programming point of view, however, from a user's point of view it would be such a pain. Like if I wanted to use my 14" Dell tablet PC, or similar. 

But Like you said, I guess it is upto the programmer to avail that option to the user. 

Thank You for the kind explanation.

🙂

[RavensFan]

Thanks.

(I meant "behind the scenes", not "seens" in the earlier post.)