Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden

Ok,

I've attached a zip of my project as it currently stands. I've taken the approach where I separate functionality into dynamically launched sub-VI's. I have a feeling like I'm a babe walking into a dark wood and the sun is setting quicker than I realise. It's quickly getting out of my control and it's all stemming from trying to separate things into small chunks which are supposed to operate in parallel but be started individually and arbitrarily.

It would be great if someone could have a glance over the project, specifically "main.vi" and the subs it calls, and tell me if there's a better way of doing what I'm trying to do. Specifically the idea of running parallel processes which are meant to talk to each other from a single, management type, user events handler. The reason I was trying to get things all being triggered from a consumer type events manager is that to do otherwise (i.e. use dynamic events to trigger the parallel loops in the main host) is that in terms of foot-print it really wouldn't be any more efficient than what I was doing already.

Regards,

Alex

This image from from my Design Albumn on the Dark-Side

is a SSD detailing the interaction of the various components in an application that required spawning an unkown (at development time) number of data collectors display their data and consolidate all reading in a single file.

If that is helpful you may want to review some of the other albumns in my image gallery here (you can skip the family of course). many of those images have links to the original thread where they were posted.

Have fun,

Ben

w

This is a shameless plug for a new idea I've submitted to the Idea Exchange suggesting that by default, a VI should not have (or need) a Front Panel. Connections to the con-pane are defined from the Block Diagram - after all that's where the data is used, and the subVI interface to that data should be specified. One (or more) Front Panels can then be added which provide a user interface to the BD data (controls/indicators). Perhaps one is the standard run-time view, and another is a debugging view (like an enhanced Probe window). Or for many subVIs, there may be no FP at all.

Kudos (or critique) welcome!!

What part of the FP do you not like?

Re-entrant sub-VI techincally can have multiple FP (one FP for each instance).

If the FP is never shown it can be stripped in the build.

So please forgive when I ask "what missing or what are you trying to achieve?

Curious,

Ben

Almost all of my apps are state machines within state machines.

Take a look at these two galleries on the dark-side to get some ideas.

http://forums.ni.com/t5/media/gallerypage/user-id/9539/album-id/9000

http://forums.ni.com/t5/media/gallerypage/user-id/9539/album-id/9006

Ben

Still just theoretical, but check this out.

That is interesting.

I wonder how they will sepearte the hydrogen once the water is cracked.

Ben

... The best way would be hydrogen fuel cells but they are not there yet. But at least things other than fossil fuel are being experimented with.

Sitting here on the pile of coal in my backyard I have to ask...

Where do we get the energy required to produce the hydrogen used by the fuel cell if not fossil fuel ?

Hydrogen fuel cells are great for situation where hydrogen is a by-product of some other process.

Ben

When closing a project we get a "something has changed" that the detils seldom help reveal. I have given up trying to find the answers on occation. It should show us what has changed and the nauture of those changes.

Ben

People don't hate Prius'... they hate Prius drivers. Or at least the Prius driver stereotype.

(Every time I see a Prius I think of the South Park episode.)

[Edit - 10 minutes after I posted this that very South Park episode started on Comedy Central. Coincidence?]

"I'll take three." Ike, same S.P. episode (BTW I live in South Park both literaly and figuratively).

RE: The prius etc.

I have a cRIO app that I have been toying with to help the sales of such critters. It will monitor the accelerator pedal and critial parameters and coordinate a set of linear postitioners and a giant sound system such that reving an electric vehicle sounds and feels like an LS crate engine. Since it will be software based, users could choose the classic car they want to emulate.THe wife and I did concider alternative motive source vehicles when choosing to replace our oldest Cavalier. At the rate I drive (60 miles a week) the batteries would need replaced in the vehicle before I would start to realive the break-even point. So we decided on a Jeep, not to save on gas but to transform those masive snow banks from bariers into tempting challenges reaching out to me from the side of the road.

Ben

I love Prii - more gas for me!

I drove one on a business trip into the mountains of North Carolina and didn't have any trouble at al. It was quite comfortable and zippy. I'd never buy one, however, as I'm waiting until we dummy up and let those high-mileage Eurpoean diesels into the US.

I worry mostly about the Prius' battery. I don't have a coffee can in my workshop big enough to hold one when it dies...

At the recent recyling day for our community I showed up with my pickup filed with old PC printers etc. Whe I produced a large box of batteries the people working the recylce project where confused if they accepted batteries. It apperas that I was the only person recylcing batteries.

Ben

I completely respect your driving style. I don't tailgate the crap out of slower drivers, but I do expect slow traffic to yield to fast traffic. The covenant is that if slow drivers going to use the left lane(s) to pass (or cruise), you are paying enough attention to merge out of the lane when it's prudent. I go out of my way to thank drivers that do this. It seems to me that most drivers only ever get negative feedback on the road so I like to let people know when they aren't a thorn in my side.

That is a nice way of describing an accident.

Now I am giggling over a situation where people do get positive feed-back.. A Nany-Garmen ... Nice stop there asbo, hardly exceeded 3 Gs this time."

Take care,

Ben

I appreciate your tendencies to stay out of people's way (especially not nursing the left lane) but people who do pass in the left lane but refuse to match the flow of traffic in that lane frustrate the bejesus out of me. This is what single-handedly turns my 20 minute commute into a 30 minute commute most mornings - I'll duck around a queue and pass some guy going 65 or 70 in the far left lane.

I loved driving on the autobahn in Germany, practically everyone was a cognizant, intelligent driver. If a guy was coming up behind you going 300kph, you got the hell out of the way, doesn't matter what you're doing or what speed to you want to be going.

If "match the flow" could technically earns me a ticket, then then color me guilty.

i once concidered building a billboard display that I could hang on the back door of the jeep. I could use a handholed keyboard to type messages like "I know I am going slow but chill, I'll get out of the way as soon as I can."

I am glad I don't have to get in your way on my comute. The biggest delays are the occational tractors moving between fields.

Oh, and if you do happen to find youself behind me, please smile and wave as you pass.

Ben

I have riden far to many cars to their death and don't want to do so again. I am the proverbial "Old man in a hat". Dismissing the one occation involving a head on collision with a 16 year old driver trying to beat the midnight deadline, all of my accident occured in traffic that involved a lot of stoping and starting. I have since changed my driving habits and my insurance company apreciates it.

I would like to concider for a moment "what would traffic flow look like if it was under computer control and optimized?"

I answer that question by envisioning a smooth flow of traffic with no stops and goes.

So when I put on my hat and get behind the wheel I drive my vehicle as if it being coordinated with all others and leeve plenty of room ahed of me to let people change lanes as they wish without forcing me to slam on the brakes and putting the bike rider behind me in jeopardy. If I can get through a traffic jam without ever coming to a halt, I concider it a win.

Under non-jam conditions I do try to adhere to the speed limit (I calibrate my spedometer at evry one of those "Your spped was" signs ) and use the left lane sparingly. But if I am in the process of passing a vehicle and I am approached from behind at high speed by another while doing so, they will just have to wait until I am back in the right lane since I can ignore long queues with the best of them.

so what is the end of it all?

If we are starting out on a long road trip together, I suggest y'all depart before me. I'll only p$#% you off.

Games old men play while driving:

Can I make my brakes last longer than my mechanic predicts?

Can I avoid using gas when going down hill?

Can I keep that uncovered cup of coffee from spilling on the way to work?

Can I keep the section of roadway I am driving out of the local traffic reports?

For those of you that a happy when you see me slip back into the right lane:

Go ahead have a good time. I'll do my best to stay out your way.

Ben

I avoid construct that kill time like the plague so it has been a while since I had to do benchmarks on code perfomance (it problably has more to do with faster CPUs than my imporved coiding techniques I freely admit) but when I did I used the seq frame with ms tick counts.

But, I kept performance in mind as I have been developing and buried in the "top-level" Hardware Class (from which most of my widgets inherit) there is an optional built-in timing functions so I can turn on the time logging functions. I hope I never have to use them!

Ben

Very cool - I like this very much so I will post it here:

Be forwarned that globals can cause Timed Loops to finish late. I never got a good explanation as to why but testing made it clear that globals can cuase timeing issues.

Globals also do not scale well. As soon as that "constant" needs changing due to a requirements change, you may be converting to an AE in the end.

Done beating my drum,

Ben

Now that is a cool program. I think my programs were just relegated to novice/boring status...

I have boring apps as well but those require a security clearence and approval by a regulatory agency ... that I can't talk about.

Ben

My brain died a little here.

It is called artistic liberty... I think.

ben

There once was a website named LAVA......

That read well with those beans named fava.

The post were all sweet

and the forum was neat

With lots of info for those who where nova.

:ph34r:

I am dispicable.

Ben

Ben

Where LabVIEW Gurus spew new views to chew for you.

Ben

Break all of the rules and inventing official names for each.

Ben

Venting the frustrations and hopes of all users....

LabVIEW Explorers Club

Ben

Maybe it's hubris talking, but it seems to me LAVA plays a fairly important role in advancing LV development practices. Should LAVA should have a catch phrase that reflects that? Perhaps something that ties in with the volcano metaphor? Underwater vents are sources of all sorts of new and different life forms. Could we come up with a concise phrase that captures the idea of creating new ideas and helping LV development evolve?

I think you will have to work a bit harder to get a lively discusion going the way you want because all I can come up with is "Tube Worm" "Shrimp" and "Sulphur devouring bacteria" and LAVA can probably do a bit better than that.

Ben

Yikes, I actually just started Atlas Shrugged

Its OK if you give up listening to the news or any current events. Just don't mix the two and think at the same time.

Ben

Hmm. It's been a year or two (or 30!) since I read it. My vague recollection is there was some emphasis on hands-on, real world knowledge verses book learning. And plus I probably was looking for any excuse to drop out.

I should probably reread it. Hopefully it won't inspire me to quit my job.

If you are looking NOT to find reasons to quit your job then NOW is a very BAD time to read Atlas Shrugged.

ZAMM was one of those books that I was recomended to read but never did.

Ben

You forgot Lady Gaga.

I don't think I would be able to pick her out of a police line-up.

When young I was very bad with author names so I may be wrong but I believe the author was "Kierkegard" that wrote about a knight. It was given to me by one of my philosphy professors (the one that used to room with Mel Brooks when young) when I was going through a rough time while trying to complete my degree while still being a single parent and the rest. It inspired me to complete my studies.

So add Kerkegard to my list.

If I got the name right most people cite him as examples of "being way out there" but I felt like he was writting for me.

I wonder what I did with that book?

Ben

In that order?

Chonolologically, yes.

Degree of ispirations?

I have to confess, I'm not sure. Let me get back to you.

There are others, Ghandi, MLK, Leonado, Albert, ... but they don't bump any of my "first guess answers" listed previously.

Ben

Who inspires you?

Abraham

Moses

Jesus

George Washington

Detric Bonhoeffer

Don Quiote

Ben