Create/ Edit UIR without IDE

[Lenin]

Hi all,

I would like to add the following functionality to my CVI application:

• Allow the user to create its own (user defined) views from a (very long) pre-defined list or tree of available data elements.
• The user should be able to create panels, to place controls on it, edit the panel / control appearance and settings and link them to the above mentioned data elements.
• The user created panels should be saveable / loadable to / from file by the user.

I know that everything of the above is in general possible in CVI but it means mostly to re-invent the UIR editor integrated into the IDE, which is a project fro a couple of months.

Is there another solution to allow the user to edit UIR, TUI or whatever without having the CVI IDE?

Any help is very much appreciated.

[RobertoBozzolo]

Well, said that LoadPanel permits you to load TUI files, it's true what you say about reinventing the UIR editor, even if treating TUI text files; moreover, the amount of parameters annexed to a control is very huge, so the work involved can really be relevant..

I can suggest you take a look at movectrl.fp instrument driver, that can at least save you a lot of work since it permits to make controls moveable / sizable. You will need to add function for creating the control and saving its attribute, but the same fp has two useful functions to Save- and LoadMovableCtrlSettings that again can help you a lot. The file is located in toolslib\custctrl folder, and a useful example of how to use it can be found in samples\userint\custctrl.

This instrument driver (like almost all others shipped with CVI) is distributed in source format too, so in case you need a special function or want to take some idea for a particular job you are free study and in case modify it.

Message Edited by Roberto Bozzolo on 07-04-2006 08:37 AM

[Lenin]

Hi Roberto,

thanks for your quick response. I know movectrl.fp and i already used it in the past. The mayor issue is not to move controls arround but to manage the control selection (select one or more controls, mark them accordingly with some kind of frame, move them, resize them, align or distribute them, set attributes for multiple controls and things like that). Taking into account different control types with different sets of attributes this can be a huge effort. Obviously you also see no other solution than to rewrite the UIR editor.

Maybe it is worth for NI to think about a stand-alone UIR-Editor, as it already existed in LabWindows/DOS a long time ago.

Just to note: I use CVI from 3.0 on and used LabWindows/DOS before.

[RobertoBozzolo]

Programmatically working with multiple controls is easier with the use of multiple controls and control lists functions (SetAttributeForCtrls, SetCtrlsToAttributeExtreme and so on), but I'm sure you have already examined them, and indeed they imply a hard work in making those functions available to the user.

I was not aware of the independent UIR editor of DOS version of CVI since I never used it. A new item in the cvi wish-list

I personally would add the ability to manipulate common attributes on several controls in the built-in UIR editor: now we can only set position and dimensions for more than one control at a time...

[KentMartin]

Lenin,

Just wondering if you ever got to make the uir editor?

I too require a uir editor that can be used without CVI.

Regards,

Kent.