Allow embedding of 'Edit' UI into step settings panel for custom step types

[Sam_Sharp]

I was pretty surprised that this isn't already possible or that there wasn't an idea in the ideas exchange for it. The idea is to allow custom step types to embed their 'edit' dialogue into the configuration tab for the step settings. At the moment you have to click a generic 'edit <step type>' button to launch a dialogue.

Instead of:

Have:

This would make custom step types much more user friendly and save unnecessary clicks/steps required to custom and bring the experience of configuring steps more in line with the built-in step types.

I appreciate that it might require a little more effort on the developers part (e.g. posting new values on value change instead of on 'ok'/'cancel') but it could also help to avoid some issues like 'hanging' TestStand when the dialogue is closed and the panel close isn't disabled/handled.

[Elaine_R.]

I guess the real question is how the heck would LV/LabWindows allow itself to be embedded as an active component into a c# / c++ GUI effectively?  The only way I could think to do this would be to make LV deploy a custom edit dialog (or maybe even all steptype related code as activeX component(s) that can be then invoked by a C# GUI wrapper dialog which is inturn then embedded inside the TS tab control...

alternatively can we get the LV R&D Guys to figure out how to write a hook such that any VI can be interpreted as subpanel object by C#? Maybe those famed 'webcontrols' we keep hearing so much about? 😉

either way it seems pretty convoluted 😞

That said, for folks who ARE already developing in C# / C++, it might be neat to put up some safety bumpers in TS around the GUI source code and provide  an example of how a user provided subpanel might be inserted into the default tab object...?

I know the code behind that tab is non-trivial, and would require very specific user sofware development versions /parameter passing/ event handling to make it stitch together... but it seems that it might be worth it for those stubborn enough to want to seemlessly integrate (gives the side eye to system integrators)

[Sam_Sharp]

Well I didn't dive too much into the technical details because that's for R&D to figure out (something akin to how LV shows .NET controls/panels by layering it over the VI window?) ...but I did think it was a worthy idea. The space in the tab itself is otherwise useless having just a button and it unnecessarily hides information from the developer. DIAdem allows you to do it (but that method is *very* clunky as it requires using their own forms creator).

[coldy_robsten]

This idea already exists (in a similar form): http://forums.ni.com/t5/NI-TestStand-Idea-Exchange/Ability-to-create-user-built-in-StepTypes/idi-p/1...

[WireWeaver]

https://forums.ni.com/t5/NI-TestStand-Idea-Exchange/Ability-to-create-user-built-in-StepTypes/idi-p/...

https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/18/creating-custom-step-type-edit-tabs-in-t...

This is only possible with .NET