Sparkette

Yeah I know about that; I actually noticed it as I was turning that option on for something. I just tried it with both options enabled and it just places it with the contents, and nothing interesting is logged. I don't think it's related. Do you have the "VI is External Editor" option?

When I'm editing a palette and I right-click a subVI on the palette, I get a context menu option called "VI is External Editor", one of the ones that you can select to check and uncheck it. When I turn it on for a subVI, it makes it so placing that subVI from the palette instead behaves as if I'm creating a structure, changing the cursor and allowing me to mark a rectangular area. But then nothing happens when I do; it doesn't place anything. One noteworthy thing I notice is that if I have the panel open for the subVI in question, I see the grid on the panel disappear for a split second, as if the VI is being locked for editing briefly (though this does not happen if I "create the structure" on that same VI.) In addition, the following text is appended to the gDPrintf log; Added MstrWiz gUnattended will cause VIs leaving memory during GetInstHandle to get saved automatically. This is dangerous. ### DoTransaction is aborting last transaction ### (In case anyone is curious where I see this text, I have a VI in my Tools menu that turns on the "gDPrintf mirror" using the "Call Internal Command" private method, and displays the logged text in a window. If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll attach it.) The "MstrWiz" part is interesting, because it brings to mind the fantastic-sounding "Master Wizard" class that shows up when you enable scripting, as well as some other stuff I've seen. Most relevant is the "External Editor Wizard" private method on block diagram refnums, and the scripting class of the same name, neither of which I've been able to figure out how to do anything with. (Though one of the properties on that class refers to a "master container structure", which is interesting because of the structure-like behavior.) It also reminds me of the mysterious Open Editor Wizard menu item string I found in the resource files. By the way, since a lot of this stuff is just scripting and not private, I figure someone will know something about it. What I find most strange however is the fact that I haven't seen any information about the "VI is External Editor" menu item. At first I assumed it was an NI-internal feature enabled by one of the various options I have turned on in LabVIEW.ini, but the option remained there even after temporarily renaming my LabVIEW.ini file to restore the default options. I even disabled a certain XNode development-related file I have installed (I'm sure some of you can guess) in case that was also enabling it but nope, still there. Does everyone else have this option? If not, does anyone know why I do? What is the option for? My guess (though it's just a guess) is that if the VI has the correct connector pane, I can drag that "structure" box around some stuff, and then it will run that VI to perform some scripting action on the selected objects.

Yep.

If I have an object selected, is there any way I can open the menu for that object without having to actually click on the object? I'd try using that menu key on the keyboard that no one ever uses, but my keyboard doesn't have that key, and the equivalent Shift+F10 doesn't work. The reason I need this is because I have a frameless cluster control I created, and with no frame to click, the only place LabVIEW detects a click is inside the cluster, and it just opens the palette menu when I right-click there. The only other thing I can right-click is the label, and that doesn't give me the menu I need. I can select the cluster itself just fine by dragging a box around it, but the context menu seems to be the only place to use certain options, and I can't figure out how to open the context menu without a place to click. If there is no shortcut to open the context menu on a selected item, is there a way to programmatically open the context menu on an object using its refnum? That way I could write a Quick Drop plugin to do it.

Haven't been able to figure anything out, except that it doesn't seem to be referring to a block diagram (or front panel) object reference. Sorry. Here's the code I have though, in case you feel like experimenting some more. Linked Ref Test.zip

I'll play around with it and see if I can figure anything out. I enjoy messing with that kind of thing.

If you're talking about what files contain the string, that seems to be the case for a few different menu tags I've tried, that I know do work. They're probably referred to elsewhere by the resource ID number.

Cool, thanks I'll give that a try when I get home from work. Oh, and that also answers my question about one of those dialogs in my screenshot.

Found this menu item listed in lvstring.rsc. Its tag is "APP_SC_OPEN_EDITOR_WIZARD". I did a Google search for "Open Editor Wizard" and nothing came up, and I tried using the "Invoke Menu Item" method on its tag but nothing happened. Is this some kind of internal NI thing? (And if so, does anyone mind saving me the trouble of unearthing whatever enables it?) I also found one called "Developer Tools", which looks interesting, but it could just be a normal feature somewhere I'm not remembering, especially because LabVIEW is itself a developer tool.

Wait really? I'm surprised I haven't found that menu item. How do you enable it? Or is it under an NDA that's still in effect from when you worked at NI? (In which case, I'll have to do some digging.) You know anything about those dialogs I posted the screenshot of in that other thread? EDIT: Oh hello what's this?

Yeah I figured; I saw a lot of references to him on Google and no one else named Monnie in relation to NI. Also naturally I assumed it was a woman, because Monnie is generally a woman's name--so much so that I accidentally typed "her" at first when replying to you 😆 I've actually seen that before, at the Maryland Science Center. You may remember my thread about it from a while back

😄 I'm curious about that screenshot. What's that VI from?

Few interesting things in lvdialog.rsc: This file contains a good number of dialogs used by LabVIEW as VI files. None of them have block diagrams, probably because they're programmed directly in C. These three stood out as interesting, though they might not be at all. The dialog on the right, specifically, was listed under a name that suggests it's used for adding built-in functions to the palette. Perhaps some NI-internal feature just waiting for the right INI key or license? By the way, that weird "User Item" object placeable via scripting (or my Place By Style plugin, which I guess still counts as scripting) shows up here a lot, usually where images would show up. I guess it's a placeholder control that just does whatever the connected C code is programmed for.

Found the icon for Select Menu Item. Also I tried applying that "add supports 2 ddt" conpane to a VI, and it turns out it's a hidden one that's not normally selectable. Actually, here's all the icons in lvicon.rsc. I also put up a Web page where you can hover the cursor over one and see its description.

Let's take a look inside labview.rsc first... Four of the connector pane patterns actually have names: 4833: "monnie pleaser" 4834: "super monnie pleaser" 4835: "monnie would be pleased-er" 4836: "add supports 2 ddt" I guess this book wasn't lying. (edit: This is on page 122, and actually, it did get it slightly wrong: the two conpanes shown in the text are actually 4834 and 4835, respectively.) Two cursors with rather...interesting names: 64: "order sucker" 65: "order squirter" Someone at NI has a dirty sense of humor 😛 There's some resources that correspond to the style values for VI scripting. Some of them aren't in the style list; unfortunately attempting to use these just gives an error: 2051: "Comment Node" - says "Case" in the data, and gives "Unable to create new object" instead of the usual "object not found" error 2358: "Line of Script" 3902: "Growable Node with Header" 3905: "ExtFuncTerminalTipStrings" - data says "External Function Node", and has names for "path in", "path out", and the standard error in/out terminals 9008: "Select Menu Item" - with all the menu nodes. Looks like at one point they were working on a primitive for programmatically activating menu items. Someone found some hidden structure types a while back. All but one of them didn't work, and that other one is now an official part of LabVIEW. I found the image for the "Race Structure", which I've posted to that thread: There's also this super-minimalist "Alternate Splash Screen": And some monochrome sprite sheets—looks like the old Boolean constant graphics are still there. From what I know about internal VI data structures, I wouldn't be surprised if those were still used if you load a VI created in an old version of LabVIEW. Just thought I'd share. Curious if anyone has seen these before!

You know the 3D Picture control? I was messing with it and I noticed there wasn't any way to merge objects together except by chaining "Add Object" subVI's, which can be annoying if you have a whole lot of objects. I was thinking it could be a good idea to have a growable node to do it, so I decided to make one. Yes, a simple For loop (perhaps in a subVI) combined with a Build Array node would work just as well—and would really have simplified the code generation if I had thought to do it before—but I like making XNodes, and thought this would be a fun one. And yes, the usual disclaimer about XNodes applies—use it at your own risk; XNodes aren't supported by NI. Merge 3D Objects.zip

Oh right, that's where I originally found this control, including the "(warning: dangerous)" text. I thought that might have been it; I know that node used to be "SuperPrivate" as you called it I've heard that "rusty nails" analogy many times before but I thought scripting wasn't considered part of the "attic" anymore, and wouldn't that include the New VI Object node? How did they create the control on the front panel prior to the existence of the scripting interface? I assume with some internal tool similar to my work-in-progress VILab?

What private nodes specifically?

Yeah I guess. For the record I have no need to use it or receive support for it; I was just curious.

Well if someone causes problems with it, after coming across it in the way I described that doesn't give any kind of warning, wouldn't NI be obligated to provide support?