Project File Management Enhancements
Continuing my series of posts about the new features of LabVIEW 8.5, here is a short video about the file management enhancements to the LabVIEW Project.
For those of you who aren't familiar with LabVIEW projects, they are a type of file introduced in LabVIEW 8.0. The project file (*.lvproj) does not contain VIs (the way LLBs do), but rather refers to VI files (*.vi) that exist separately on disk.
Labels: files, LabVIEW 8.5, linking, project
posted by Christina at
8:25 AM
17 Comments:
Great video, Christina! I've made short post on my blog highlighting my thoughts on some of the great new features you've shown.
Christina, somehow I don't get to see the video. Is it possible to host it somewhere else (youtube?)
Ton
Jim,
Thanks for the props! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and the features.
tonp,
I'm contacting my web host's support. I don't know why the video stopped working today. I'll investigate duplicating the videos on YouTube in the future.
Thanks!
My web host (MediaMax) responded: "We are working around the clock to correct the situation with temporarily unavailable files."
Sorry! Hopefully the video will be available soon.
Christina,
thanksfor the mirror.
It looks great, the vi.lib folder in dependencies is nice.
One thing I'd like to have is a 'move to project' on a dependency file.
Sometimes you have VIs that should belong to the project but just aren't their, it would be nice to not have to use 'drag and drop' from dependencies to the project.
Ton
Ton,
I would like more of your thoughts on your feature request.
If we had a right-click option in Dependencies to "Add to Project," where should the file(s) go in the project? Wouldn't you still need to drag them to the right folder?
Christina
Christina,
I'm using 8.2 and the dependencies list can be quite long.
The split in 8.5 for vi.lib files is limiting the length in a good direction. But right now I've given up on browsing through dependencies to find VIs I have missed on including. So the dependencies feature is missing its target.
With a structured dependencies list it will get better.
This last item (add to project) will add the VI to the project root and selected (blinking?). IMHO
Ton
PS Spooky picture on the banner
Thanks Christina. One note to the new file tab inside the project window... It would be great to also have the opportunity to drag&drop VIs from there into opened block diagrams. Same should be working with front panel controls. That will enhance the usability even more. I really like that new features because it's a hassle to navigate through the folders from within the open vi dialog.
Henrik,
I agree, the drag&drop should work from the Files view. I checked our bug tracking system, and this issue has been entered there.
Thanks!
Christina: I agree with Ton. For large projects, trying to drag and drop items from the Dependencies into the Project ("My Computer") can be extremely painful (due to all the vertical scrolling that is done to actually reach the "My Computer" node). If there were an "Add to Project" right-click option that moved the item to the bottom of the items under "My Computer", that would be fine with me. I could then move the item somewhere else (e.g., into a specific subfolder of the project) as a second step. Thanks -Jim
Ton and Jim,
I'll suggest the "Add to Project" menu item to others on the R&D team.
In the meantime, you might try this instead of dragging the item in the tree: open the VI from Dependencies, then drag the VI's icon to the place in the project where you want it to be.
- Christina
Christina: Thanks for the suggestion. While that still requires using the scrollbar to move back to the top of the project, it's a heck of a lot easier than trying to drag and drop the item while the project window auto-scrolls to the top. Thanks, - Jim
Christina, thanks. I already filed this issue via bugmail. So I think the made entry was a result of my mail. But one more thing which I forgot. If you drag&drop a VI from the project manager into an opened front panel or block diagram the focus still persists in the project manager. Instead the target VI should become the focus that you can immediately continue your work and shortcuts are working. It would be nice if this could be fixed.
Christina,
> open the VI from Dependencies, then drag the VI's icon to the place in the project where you want it to be.
Actually, I'm trying to do this with LVClasses and there is now way that I can find to do what you are suggesting. If I try to open the class in a new Project Explorer window, it will not let me drag and drop the class into the original project.
Jim,
Follow my suggestion with any member VI (but not the private data control!) of the class. When you try to add an element of a library to a project, LabVIEW adds the whole library.
- Christina
Christina: Ah, that's great. I'll give it a try! Thanks.
Christina: This doesn't work for dependencies. It probably only works for classes that aren't already in the project (or dependencies). Thanks.
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