LabWindows/CVI Idea Exchange

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One thing, I'm comming accross with very often is, that the drawing updates of Table controls are very slowly, Sometimes, they bring the system to hanging, whithout increasing the processor load, and User Interface events (e.g. Commit events) are not recognized quick enough (up to 30 s delay, depends also on other events, e.g. Timer, HW events etc.).

On most of my projects, I was changing the Table controls to Tree controls, which are much more quicker in drawing updates. But sometimes, I need the Table features (e.g. Ring cells, picture cells etc.), so I'm not able to change the Table into a Tree.

According my expierience, Table controls should be updated every 2 s and Tree controls are able to be updated every 200 ms or faster without waiting for User Interface Events.

You should make Table controls nearly as quick as Tree controls...

Thanks

Some created CVI executeables, which don't need access to registry entries or don't have other DLL, module or driver dependencies, so no installation (distribution kit) is required, are not running without the CVI RunTime DLLs. A menu option (macro) in the CVI editor might be fine, that copies all necessary CVI RunTime DLLs to the project directory. This helps to run the program on any computer without installation. Otherwise, I have to find and copy the DLLs to the windows\system32 folder (for which I need administrator rights) or to the folder, where the EXE file is.

The possibility, to copy the RunTime DLLs, is only in the Edit Distribution dialog available (so far no dependencies are necessary).

Thanks

CVI 2010 offers a great feature, I was waiting for: I'm now able to set an installation directory for e.g. program data, working data and so on using the RootDrive option building a distribution kit. But, why didn't you enabled the "make directory writeable for all users" option? On every installation, I would have to enable the user right "writeable" for all users manually as administrator.

Another feature for the future might be an directory option, which asks the user at the installation prompt for any installation directory to set up a specified program data directory. This option should also have a possibility to set up a registry key automatically (e.g. %UserDefinedDir), so that programs could find the user selected directory by reading the registry.

Thanks

In a Picture Control, with the option "Stick image to corner" the image is always sticked to the upper-left corner of the control.

I suggest that the user should be able to specify the corner to which the image should be sticked (upper-left, bottom-left, upper-right, bottom-right).

I've been thinking to this properties because I have some picture controls used as a background images, and I need the background isn't moved when I drag a splitter (see this thread)

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make Window menu modal

In the CVI IDE the Window menu provides a list of View options, e.g. the Find Results.

While it's possible to display a window via selection of the corresponding menu item, it's not possible to deselect an item and hide/remove this window via the menu.

Moreover, even if the Find Results window is not selected, it does show up every time I use CTRL+F and hence does not honor my wish to not have it displayed.

Because every additional window requires some space I would prefer the possibility to decide myself if I want to have a Find Results window displayed or not.

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Decoration element

Hi,

designing a screen layout I frequently encounter the wish to have not only rectangular (and circular) decoration elements, but also one of the type shown below.

Only the upper right rectangular shape can be realized now, while the more complex shape on the left is what I would like to see added in the future.

Instead of two parameters width and height four parameters would be required (two heights and two widths), may be even a fifth parameter specifying the orientation of the shape: as shown, mirrored in x, mirrored in y, mirrored in x and y.

Without doubt grouping control elements is useful; unfortunately these groups may differ in the number and type of control elements.

Thanks for consideration,

Wolfgang

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It would be great to add the possibility to include documentation for (especially global) variables and data structures to the HTML documentation. Currently only functions could be documented. And it would make no sense to duplicate information about data structures used as parameters in each function which is using it.

It would further make sense to structure the HTML documentation at least by the module (.C file) it is defined in, together with the variables and data structures. Such you would get a tree like HTML doc with the modules as 'chapters', then sections for data structures, variables and functions. At the moment I get one big HTML index with documentation from all functions within the project sorted by name (I have not been able to find out how to get another structure in the 'functional index').

In best case there should be a chance to group 'public' data structures, variables and functions independent of 'private' ones to clearly identify the ones which are the intended interface functions and which are module internal helping functions. One way to automatically distinguish between this types might be using all functions documented in .H files as public and documentation from within .C files as private.

Best regards,

Roland Exler

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I apologize if this has already been addressed but this was determined as a issue years ago and forced us to implement a workaround.

We use PloXY for large data sets (up to 16 MB has become pretty standard lately). To address lag years ago, we pared the data to be viewed to 4000 data points in background code and send that to PlotXY. However, when the user zooms - which is always, you must then go back to the original data to find the new best 4K data points prior to plotting the new data. The code usually works well but there are instances where it can shutdown unexpectedly - not often enough to fight through friutfully though.

As for an truly automated perhaps a more logical course of action is to retrieve the panel size and use that for the data sizing. Regardless, it would be nice to use the CVI built in function and then subsequent zooming etc could be possible via standard functions.

syntax highlighting for xml

cvi forum

Request for ssh CVI library

In previous applications, we would talk to our product using a telnet session.
CVI has libraries to do this, such as...

ConnectToTCPServer ((unsigned int *)&g_ShelfHandle[iSocketNumber], 23, sAddress, com_ClientTCPCB, NULL, 0);

In one of our new products, it only supports "ssh" which is similar to telnet, but is a "secured shell" connection.
One option is to use putty: http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/C49602A79827DDBE86256CE9005757D5?OpenDocument

It is not the most straightforward way of doing things, but at the moment, it is what we have to deal with.

Since the ssh protocol is becoming the new standard in communications (used in all Linux machines, and windows), and most
of the new telnet programs (supporting ssh), I would like to request that a CVI library be created to support this protocol.

New fonts would improve user approval

Actually, specifically a dot matrix font along the lines of the existing 7-seg one. I know it seems like a small thing, but at the end of the day presentation counts for a lot. Remember the days when HP kit ruled? Sure it was good at its task, but there was never a shortage of frequency counters. No, what it had in spades was good looks and a kind of exuded competance. UI's can do that too, as you know instantly when you see a bad one!

ps. There's probably less reason to include a set of Nixie tube fonts 🙂

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From the CVI Help:

Some Interface to Win32 Application Programmatic Interface (API) functions have the same name as some LabWindows/CVI functions, causing a naming conflict. You must include the Interface to Win32 API include files before the LabWindows/CVI include files. LabWindows/CVI automatically resolves the conflict by using the LabWindows/CVI implementation of the function. To use the Win32 API implementation of the function instead, define the SDK_CONFLICT_PRIORITY macro in the Compiler Defines section of the Build Options dialog box.

If you enable the SDK_CONFLICT_PRIORITY macro, you cannot use the following LabWindows/CVI functions and should use the Win32 API implementation instead.

Formatting and I/O Library

CloseFile

OpenFile

ReadFile

SetCommitMode

WriteFile

Utility Library

Beep

CopyFile

DeleteFile

GetFileSize

GetFileTime

GetSystemTime

SetFileTime

SetSystemTime

inp

inpd

inpw

outp

outpd

outpw

Based on my experience these name conflicts have no advantages, and create a lot of problems: usually I use the CVI implementation, but it happens that after some time I need the Win32 API implementation of one of these functions (GetSystemTime(), for example).

In this situation I must heavily modify my code, changing the calls to all the above functions.

I don't like these naming conflicts at all.

I suggest that a "_CVI" prefix (or something like that) is added to the CVI implementation: an old project will recompile perfectly simply adding this prefix to the calls, without modifications to variables, structures, ...

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Set the angle of the strip chart axis names

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User Interface Events in Classic View

When you click on a control on a panel in the *.uir file while in the Operator mode using the Integrated View, you can view the user interface events that are generated in the lower left corner, as seen below in the red box.

However, if you prefer to use the classic view, these events are not visible in the floating window that contains the *.uir file when you click on a control in the Operator mode.

Knowing these events can be useful when choosing which events to create callbacks for, and clicking on controls is a very easy way to play around with it.

I want to change the background color on a Ring Control drop down portion using the "paint tool" and then selecting the operate tool in the Quick Edit Window. When I select the "operate tool" to look at the background color of the drop down portion of the ring control it is always "light grey". Even if I change the color of the ring control using the paint tool the drop down background portion still remains "light grey".

Provide a mechanism to allow the changing of colors to the drop down portion of the ring control to be changed programmatically also. The current version of CVI 2010 does not provide this capability.

Support HPC using GPU computing

My 2000 dollar worth, run of the mill desktop PC has 4 teraflop of brute computation power hiding in 4 GPUs. None of which is accessible for my programs I develop in Labwindows.

Shame!

With the release of the new OpenCL it is possible to generate a "platform independent" GPU computing library. That would place Labwindows on the same or better footing than Labview that already has some GPU computing support.

The advantages are obvious: huge gain in data processing speed, real-time application with streaming data, pattern-recognition (video) applications, image processing, data-parallel tasks in (technical) modeling arena.

I am playing with some optimization algorithms (genetic algorithms, evolutionary algorithms) that benefit and show amazing gains since they are ideal for data-parallel applications! Currently working on the specs for a new type of controller that would optimize several parameters to figure out the state of the tissue culture (expanding, producing, overgrowing, etc.) to maximize productivity and to calculate the optimal settings using evolutionary algorithms... Any complex process control could take advantage of this kind of applications -currently not available- because of computational limitations. Had a previous optimization task that would have taken 150,000 years to complete using a brute force algorithm on a "monofilament" CPU-based application. Converted it to a genetic algorithm and it gives me a good enough solution in 3-4 days on the same standard PC. Now, with GPU, that problem could be solved in fifteen minutes while expanding the evolutionary depth and finding better solutions using even more complex fitness functions.

Ask yourself what do you want: tinkering with the conveniences of the IDE that already does the job well enough; or open the door to new landscapes that could be conquered by using the simple elegance and effectiveness of LabWindows and the power of GPUs?

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LabWindows/CVI Idea Exchange

Drawing updates of Table control are too slowly

CVI editor menu option for copying RunTime DLLs to project directory

RootDrive option in the Edit Distribution Kit dialog

Picture control: stick the image to a specified corner

make Window menu modal

Decoration element

HTML documentation for variables and structures

Graph plotting for large data sets - optimize for screen resoultion / speed

Add a menu option for going to next/previous breakpoint

syntax highlighting for xml

cvi forum

Request for ssh CVI library

New fonts would improve user approval

Add "_CVI" prefix to functions with the same name as Win32 API ones

Set the angle of the strip chart axis names

Implement the 'long double' type with 80 bits of precision.

Hope can maintain its own IPC mechanism.

User Interface Events in Classic View

Have Lab Windows CVI Provide Capability to allow the flexibility to change background color on a ring control

Support HPC using GPU computing