MAX testpanels unusable on W7 netbook

[altenbach]

(this is using the newest DaqMX 9.2.1 (MAX 4.7.1), just downloaded from NI)

To do some simple DAQ with my USB-6211, I installed on a W7 netbook. Things seem to work, but the test panels in MAX cannot be closed for the following reason:

The vertical netbook resolution is 600 pixels, this cuts off the [help] and [close] buttons so they cannot be reached. Unfortunately, the window is set as dialog (why???) and there is no [X] button in the upper right. It also does not have a task bar entry, so it is not possible to e.g. "right-click...move" and move the window up sufficiently with the arrow keys.

Moving the window with the mouse cannot be done using the default windows settings (I don't know if this can be customized), because as soon as I move it even one pixel above the screen bounds, it snaps back in alignment with the top of the screen. (remember, this is Windows 7!)

Is there an easy solution?

In the future, I suggest the following:

• The [X] button in the upper right needs to be available and functional, and it should have the same function as the [close] button. The current [close] button can even be eliminated (why do need two ways to close a window??? ;)).
• If we retain the [close] button, it should be assigned to the <esc> key.
• The test panels should adapt to the max screen height (minus task bar) and add a scrollbar if needed.

Netbooks are a great way for simple, portable, in-the-field tasks and NI should do everything possible to make them usable for NI products. So far there seems to be some unexpected and meaningless quirks that could easily be solved.

[viScience]

I wonder if you could use the winutil.llb to get a handle to the window and resize it?

Also you can use a program called Winspector to see everything going on in an app and its child windows.

[bstreiff]

The window being a modal dialog has been noted before. See also: DAQ Idea Exchange - Allow Multiple Test Panels Simultaneously Through MAX

And it's not just MAX that has UI problems with netbooks; Darren also pointed out in his blog that LabVIEW has some quirks as well on a small screen (notably, the Getting Started Window doesn't fit on a 1024x600 screen).

[Seth_B.]

I've filed Corrective Action Request #250609 about this.  In the mean time, using the escape key should allow you to close the panel if you haven't started it yet (I know this isn't really a valid work around, but I thought I'd mention it)

I'd recommend creating a voltage task in MAX to use in the mean time.  As a fellow netbook user, I feel your pain

A lot of our dialogs are designed to be 600px tall (test panels being a noticeable exception) so hiding the Windows task bar works in most cases, such as with the DAQ assistant or the LabVIEW Getting Started window.