uninvasive data extraction from a vi

[RavensFan]

Your missing the error case structure like you show in your image earlier.

Also, you are going through Diagram then TopLevelDiagram, which is the Block Diagram.  The only object on the diagram is a Control Terminal. You need do to your actions on the front panel.

[Fibo]

Thanks, that worked... but I don't understand why I had to switch from Block Diagram to Front Panel?  Do controls not exist on the Block Digram?  I'm not sure what TopLevelDiagram is.... is there somewhere I can read about this?

[Fibo]

another question... how come in the method above I can't access some of the numeric properties?  I've included an image of the properties available when I use the method in the vi above and then the properties available directly from a numeric... I'm interested in the "Display Format" property but that group of properties is not available.... the first list ends at "Unit Label".... thanks!

[RavensFan]

Technically, the control is the object that is located on the front panel, the control terminal is the object located on the block diagram.  Two different classes of objects.  Although they are linked because a control on the front panel has a corresponding terminal on the block diagram.  And they each have a property node that will provide a reference to the related object.

At least during development time.  If you later build the VI into an executable, the block diagram gets stripped off, or if you save the VI without the block diagram.  The actual operating code will still exist in its compiled format, but the visual representation of the code that is the block diagram will be gone.  So you'll still have a front panel control, but no corresponding BD terminal anymore because the BD is gone.

Now the reason that the list of properties on the terminal is different from the properties from the corresponding control on the FP is because some properties don't apply to the BD terminal object.  Such as unit label.  Units are only something that show up on the front panel.  Same with the increment and decrement buttons.  They don't have a visibility property on the terminal because they can never be visible on the block diagram.

[Fibo]

ah ok, it's still confusing but I found that the objects on the block diagrams are "terminals" and "nodes" and that the "controls" like you said are on the front panel... ok, I can live with that

I also found out why the list of properties is different in the image I showed on my previous post... I just didn't go deep enough, both lists are identical (up to a certain point) because they both inherit from the same classes, but the one on the right has an extra child class, a more specific class than the other... so in order to access that list of properties I had to typecast to a more specific level... seems like these numeric indicators are from the "digital" class... I had stopped at the "numeric" class previously and therefore could only see the properties up to and corresponding to that class

thanks