Cat Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 I recently got handed a new laptop to start developing on. The problem is that it's got a much higher resolution monitor than what I've been using. 1920x1080 vs. 1280x800. In order to actually be able to read any of my code without serious squinting, I've upped the font, etc. size to 125% (this is on a Win7 box). When I did this, thankfully, lots of stuff in LabVIEW got bigger. Local/global variables, bundle by name, etc. all are much more readable. However, in the block diagram, all the LabVIEW primitives, subvi boxes, as well as controls and indicators stayed the same tiny size. Also, in Project Explorer, the descenders are cut off of any letters in a vi name. Same with the font name in the upper middle of the front panel. So the question: Is there any way to make LabVIEW itself bigger? I can only see this problem as getting worse and worse as monitor resolutions get higher and higher. Quote Link to comment
Aristos Queue Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 You, mi'lady, are asking for a feature we like to call "Zoom." And, no, there is no way to make LabVIEW itself bigger. Or smaller, for that matter. Your operating system might supply such features (use ctrl+scroll wheel on a Mac and you get the OS and all hosted apps zoomed in... quite nice). The feature to have LV able to zoom its diagrams/panels/etc is one that we are indeed working on, but when you have 20+ years of pixel manipulation code, it takes a monumental refactoring effort, and we are still a few years away from having that graphics layer reworked. 1 Quote Link to comment
Popular Post Phillip Brooks Posted December 13, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Sounds like a First World Problem... 3 Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Embrace your age maturity Cat! Sounds like a visit to your local optician is in your near future... Quote Link to comment
Tim_S Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 You could change the resolution to something lower (usually not as good looking as native resolution), use a separate monitor, or get IT to buy you something like a LCD monitor magnifier (yes, this is a real product). Quote Link to comment
fabric Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 The feature to have LV able to zoom its diagrams/panels/etc is one that we are indeed working on... Really?! Then can I put on a request for "CTRL +" and "CTRL -"? It works amazingly on adobe apps, and after a few hours of icon editing I'm always disappointed to come back to LV and find that my muscle memory has disappointed me. Reminds me of all those touchscreen projects... After a few hours of testing I've been caught out tapping the "normal" monitor back at my desk... Quote Link to comment
Popular Post Aristos Queue Posted December 13, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Really?! Then can I put on a request for "CTRL +" and "CTRL -"? No. LabVIEW will have four viewing sizes and will automatically switch between them every quarter hour, which we feel should give you time to focus on the broad overview (on the hour), the major architecture components (15 minutes past), the individual functions (half past) and the algorithm details (15 minutes before) in good rotation in order to keep your overall application fresh in your mind. The front panel will scale inversely, so that both panel and diagram will be at the same scale at half past the hour. In all honesty... we are years away from even thinking about UI gestures for this. Keyboards may be obsolete by the time it is done. Years. No, I'm not joking, exaggerating, making stuff up or trying to set false expectations. 3 Quote Link to comment
fabric Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 ... we are years away from even thinking about UI gestures for this. Keyboards may be obsolete by the time it is done. Years. No, I'm not joking, exaggerating, making stuff up or trying to set false expectations. Just years? Excellent!! I was thinking it would be somewhere between decades and never... Quote Link to comment
Cat Posted December 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 You, mi'lady, are asking for a feature we like to call "Zoom." And, no, there is no way to make LabVIEW itself bigger. Or smaller, for that matter.[...] it takes a monumental refactoring effort, and we are still a few years away from having that graphics layer reworked. Thank you for your answer, kind sir. I was afraid I was asking too much. Hopefully "a few years away" happens before I retire. :-) Quote Link to comment
Wire Warrior Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Assuming your new laptop is using Windows 7 you can use the native zoom feature described here on Lifehacker....http://lifehacker.com/5802134/shortcuts-for-quickly-zooming-in-and-out-of-any-windows-application Quote Link to comment
Cat Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Embrace your age maturity Cat! Sounds like a visit to your local optician is in your near future... No, it's age. I've never been very mature. You could change the resolution to something lower (usually not as good looking as native resolution), use a separate monitor, or get IT to buy you something like a LCD monitor magnifier (yes, this is a real product). I realized that the huge monitors we usually hook up to our fielded systems are actually the same resolution as my laptop. So I'm going to use one of those for development while I'm in the lab. Then I just have to squint a lot at my laptop screen when I'm scrunched up in a dark corner on some submarine trying to do code changes. It will make the experience even more wonderful. Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Then I just have to squint a lot at my laptop screen when I'm scrunched up in a dark corner on some submarine trying to do code changes. I know it's off-topic, but that sounds so cool! Quote Link to comment
Mellroth Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Then I just have to squint a lot at my laptop screen when I'm scrunched up in a dark corner on some submarine trying to do code changes. I know it's off-topic, but that sounds so cool! Off Topic again; the reason for sub-routines got a much better explanation now.... Merry Christmas everyone /J Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Off Topic again; the reason for sub-routines got a much better explanation now.... Well played. Quote Link to comment
Phillip Brooks Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 But aren't the called sub-VIs? Quote Link to comment
Oakromulo Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 That's the main reason why most LV developers need an external monitor with a much lower pixel density when working with a laptop... Quote Link to comment
Rolf Kalbermatter Posted December 26, 2012 Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 That's the main reason why most LV developers need an external monitor with a much lower pixel density when working with a laptop... Or you go for a laptop with quite less than 150dpi! But yes the 1920*1080 starts to get the standard by now since everybody produces those displays and they are getting cheaper and cheaper in comparison to the rest. Personally I find them very awkward on Windows (not yet Retina style resolution, which Windows can't handle anyways, but also not a comfortable dpi resolution below something like 23 inch). And I'm not sure how the GDI based Windows graphic system could really be adapted to support true retina operation. Quote Link to comment
Cat Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I know it's off-topic, but that sounds so cool! You can go for me, next time! (The grass is always greener...) Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 You can go for me, next time! Pretty sure the US Government might take issue with that Quote Link to comment
ShaunR Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 You can go for me, next time! (The grass is always greener...) 1 Quote Link to comment
Cat Posted December 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Or you go for a laptop with quite less than 150dpi! I wish that was an option. Personally, I was quite happy with 1024x768! As you note, 1920x1080 is becoming the standard. Plus, when I develop on my lower res laptop, all the front panels look tiny and the fonts are messed up on the standard monitors. I've had to become very familiar with using multiple panes around GUI elements so my users can expand and contract FPs to something easier to view on different resolution monitors. Quote Link to comment
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