feedback on my new LCD VI?

[johnsold]

I will disagree with altenbach on this one also.  On the Mac closing a window does not always shut down the application.  Consequently Mac users typically do not close windows but use a Quit command from the menu or keyboard.

My top level VIs always have a stop button.  It is easy enough to quit the application as the last thing the program does after the shutdown process.

Lynn

[altenbach]

(It might well be slightly different on the Mac, I would not know. :))

In any case, having a stop button is NOT sufficient, you also need to make sure that the user actually uses it exclusively. It would need to be the only way to stop or shut down the program.

This also means that we need to either hide the [x], or handle it programmatically (panel close, application exit events, etc.) anyway to enforce it. So why not combine it with the [Stop] functionality? We cannot control where the user wants to click. Have you ever watched others operate your programs? It's not pretty! Imagine the new guy in the plant calling you at midnight that the reactor is going to blow unless he can shut down the program immediately. Well, if there were a functioning [x] in the upper right corner, he would have figured it out already.

Since we need to handle the [x] action anyway, we might as well treat the [x] button as stop button and avoid duplicate and non-standard functionlity.

Virtually all programs in existence (at least under windows) are closed with the [x] button, it is the natural thing to do. Nothing new to learn! Why should a LabVIEW application be any different? 🙂

A stop button is a carryover, trying to emulate the power button of a real instrument in a virtual instrument. The young generation knows very well to work in a multitasking windows environment, but they may have never used a real instrument in their life! Let's keep up with the times! 😄

(Note that I probably exaggerate here to make a point. I still use stop buttons in simpler code, of course :D)

[ABCPrograms]

I always have a buttonbar in any of my application. This is used to switch between different screens.  The last button (of 12) is typically the STOP/QUIT button (F12) to finish the application and close it down.  Never the less, the little red X on the top of the window shuts it down as well.  It's just a user issue I guess.  Some people like to hit the button with a mouse click, some people hit F12 on the keyboard and other people just close it down with the red X.

And just because you have a buttonbar, it doesn't clutter your front panel.  All is in the way you present it to the user.

[tst]

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@altenbach wrote:

Imagine the new guy in the plant calling you at midnight that the reactor is going to blow unless he can shut down the program immediately. Well, if there were a functioning [x] in the upper right corner, he would have figured it out already.

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Some of my programs are designed specifically NOT to be closed by the new guy. They are (sometimes touch screen) operator interfaces which run for weeks or months on end and they're often not only maximized, but have no title bar, so they fill the entire screen, both for the visual look and to gain the extra ~30 x X pixels (and to make it a little harder for the operator to fool around). They have a stop button, but that's located in an admin part of the app, since it's rarely needed. They sometimes also have a dedicated Minimize button.

[JÞB]

Interesting thread!  It seams to show just how flexable LabVIEW is!  Windows Apps (Or whatever MAC uses) and Test vehicles.

I started in LabVIEW in a Laboratory enviornment we ran our experiments without building exe's.  True "Virtual Instrumentation" for test automation in this case.  we weren't writing applications for operators as our "customers" wanted Data not Software.  For several years I've been more focused on "Systems" as the deliverable and yes there is a focus on assuming the end user has 5 minutes of training and the IQ of an orange.  Altenbachs comments are great advise to the developer of software others are going to use.

[BSeegmiller]

Stopping a VI -- I suppose that it was because I was rather new, but I made a VI that checked the name of the executable, and then exited.  As long as it wasn't LABVIEW.EXE, it exited.  Before I figured this out, my LV development environment would shut down when I pressed the stop button because it called the Terminate LabVIEW VI.  Once I got that working, I kept it, and the STOP button would also stop the (and exit) the program. 

fwiw

[altenbach]

All you need is a property node: "App:Kind". 😄

[BSeegmiller]

Good point -- as I said, I was new.  I have a feeling that App.Kind will be used in the very near future!

Thanks!

[tst]

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@BSeegmiller wrote:

Stopping a VI -- I suppose that it was because I was rather new, but I made a VI that checked the name of the executable, and then exited.  As long as it wasn't LABVIEW.EXE, it exited.  Before I figured this out, my LV development environment would shut down when I pressed the stop button because it called the Terminate LabVIEW VI.  Once I got that working, I kept it, and the STOP button would also stop the (and exit) the program. 

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That's not your fault. It's a bad design. Vote for this to change it, and tell your friends as well - http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Add-an-easily-accessible-way-to-close-an-application/i...