accordion gui control

[joshuatree]

first post from a labview noob:

  i'd like to implement an accordion control in labview and haven't found any helpful info ...  i've posted an image of what i'm talking about.  does anyone have experience with creating custom controls in labview? 

[Ben]

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joshuatree wrote:

first post from a labview noob:

  i'd like to implement an accordion control in labview and haven't found any helpful info ...  i've posted an image of what i'm talking about.  does anyone have experience with creating custom controls in labview? 

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[Set WiseAssMode = TRUE ]

Yes!

[Set WiseAssMode = False]

Now that I have that out of my system....

What you are asking for is not trivial.

I'll assume that the size of the "open pleats" will have to very so you don't want to play games with a Tab control where the tabs are along the edge (decorations on the tab pages could make it look like an accordian).

So I would suggest using a sub-panel for the "opened pleat" and just make all of the closed pleats into booleans. When a new boolean is pressed squish down the sub-panel, move the buttons up or down to get them out of the way and then insert the proper sub-VI into the re-possisioned sub-panel.

This would make a nice XControl for anyone looking for a challenge.

Sorry I can't just post a solution, but concidering this "solution" hasn't been invented in LV yet, I have to do a lot of hand waving.

Post back if you are going to give this thing a go.

Ben

[joshuatree]

thanks for the quick reply... 

i've still got to do the design for the rest of the GUI, but this is looking like the most logical presentation for my purposes.  i think using

splitter bars and rectangular buttons will give it the accordion presentation, and like you said, show/hide the visible "pleats" when clicked.

i wish i could just do some hand waving when it comes to gui design and layout...  ugh!

[tst]

Ben's method is probably the simplest solution, but if you want code that goes some of the way, you can try searching the LAVA forums for PJM LabVIEW's posts. He once posted a picture control solution for getting an effect like the one you get in the side bar of a window in Windows XP (the one with the chevrons where you can expand and contract sections) and you might be able to use some of it. 

[tst]

OK, I have PJM's code on my laptop (8.0). As mentioned, you can use it as a starting point.

[unclebump]

wouldn't this basically be a dressed up tree control??

[unclebump]

Microsoft calls this the navigation pane. Maybe an activex or .net control could be downloaded or is already on your system.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vbpowerpacks/thread/7a1e881e-751e-4931-99f2-94bde309f4...

[unclebump]

Here is a 3rd party .net control. Not sure how easy it would be to use with labview.

http://www.devcomponents.com/dotnetbar/navigationbar.aspx

[joshuatree]

thanks for all the helpful posts...  

tst, that library from PJM is so close to what i was looking for it was like a eureka moment when i ran it.  a few tweaks and it should fit my design perfectly! Thanks

[Ben]

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joshuatree wrote:

thanks for all the helpful posts...  

tst, that library from PJM is so close to what i was looking for it was like a eureka moment when i ran it.  a few tweaks and it should fit my design perfectly! Thanks

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Hi Joshuatree,

Please forgive me for interjecting but that sounds like tst's post re that example warrents BOTH a Kudos (Thank you) and marking as a Solution.

Thank you,

Ben