Event structure and case structure in the same loop

[takanoha]

Hi

I am writing an application to update the numeric value given user's input value and depending on the user's input value the program checks if it is greater than 10 if it is greater than 10 then the program waits for 1 second and then will have a popup message says "true".

My intention was to call the conditional check, printing true every one second if the user's input value is greater than 10; in other words, the case structure was to be called regardless of the event structure in the same loop infinitely.

But it doesn't seem to work the way I expected. Unless there is user's new input value, getting into the event structure, the program doesn't get to the case structure even though the case structure is in a loop.

Is there any way to call the case structure not dependent to the event structure but I want to use a shift register for the numerical value and also having an event structure and a case structure in parallel ? 

Thank you.

 

 

test.vi

[infinitenothing]

Everything in the loop must complete before it can run again. Therefore, if the case structure is in the same loop as an event structure, they have a relationship and aren't really independent.

Edited May 22, 2018 by infinitenothing

[Bryan]

A while loop will not iterate until all nodes within have completed execution.

First thing: do you have a "Timeout" event case defined?  If not, your loop is going to "hang" and only loop when your "Numeric" value changes.  The wire you have currently running to the "timeout" terminal of your event structure is not going to do anything as this defines the amount of time that the event structure "waits' for an event before proceeding via the "Timeout" event case.  You'll need to wire a separate constant for your iteration delay (i.e. Timeout value), say: 1000ms.

If you wanted these two cases to be independent, you'd have to set up a second while loop and pass data between them.  I don't know what the end product is for what you're working on, so just for simplicity's sake, I'd say to set up your timeout event case.

Note: when this is running and your timeout case is set up, there will be up to a 1000ms (1s) delay from the time you press "Stop" until the VI stops execution.  This is unless you have a "Value Change" event set up for your "Stop" button. 

Edited May 22, 2018 by Bryan

[takanoha]

 

8 minutes ago, Bryan said:

 

First thing: do you have a "Timeout" event case defined?  If not, your loop is going to "hang" and only loop when your "Numeric" value changes.  The wire you have currently running to the "timeout" terminal of your event structure is not going to do anything as this defines the amount of time that the event structure "waits' for an event before proceeding via the "Timeout" event case.

If you wanted these two cases to be independent, you'd have to set up a second while loop and pass data between them.  I don't know what the end product is for what you're working on, so just for simplicity's sake, I'd say to set up your timeout event case.

1. I don't have a "Timeout" and yes it does hang. 

2. Yes That's exactly I want to do. Where do I create a while loop ?

The end product is to display a histogram on LabVIEW in real time. The histogram library is written with .NET and my application reads the node from .NET, which keeps changing the histogram value and I want to iteratively read the value while the user is not blocked by it. That's why I will need an event structure for the user to press buttons. 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by takanoha
typo

[Bryan]

You're probably going to have to implement a producer/consumer design pattern if you want truly parallel processes.  There are many examples of them in the LabVIEW examples.  I wasn't sure whether going into producer/consumers was going to be overkill for what you wanted, but you may want to look into going that route based on your description.

For simplicity's sake (and my lack of time), and to illustrate what I was talking about in my first paragraph using a timeout case, I've attached a VI (in LabVIEW 2016) that uses the timeout case.  The default timeout is -1, which means that the event will wait forever or until an event occurs. In my attached, it waits for 100ms.  You can have the timeout be as long or short as you want as long as it's greater than -1.  

To keep the value in your shift register, you'll have to wire your shift register value straight through your timeout case.  If you don't, it will be overwritten by a default value (normally "0"). 

This method is a quick and dirty way of allowing the event structure to complete alongside your case structure and not be dependent on it while being in the same loop and not have the while loop hanging. 

I hope this helps!

Untitled 1.vi

[Bryan]

Here's another quick and dirty example just using local variables and two separate while loops.  I don't like using sequences and local vars in practice myself, but this is just a way to show you a simple way to control parallel loops.  It's quirky, but I hope it gives you an idea.  There are much better ways to implement parallel loop control and communication, but I just wanted to provide a quick example for you.

The "Stop" button is set up to use latch functionality, which isn't compatible with having it used as a local var, so I had to create a separate indicator for "Stop All" to "hold" the value to be used by the second loop.  Please don't use this as the best example as it doesn't really show good LabVIEW programming practice, but will at least show you what's needed for parallel loops.

Again, I hope I've helped you out!

Untitled 2.vi

[smarlow]

Looking at your original code, your timeout case had an output tunnel that was unwired.  As soon as your timeout case executed once, the timeout value would go to 0 and the sift register value would get stuck there.  If you set the timeout value to zero, you program will get locked in the timeout state.  Why did you wire the shift register value to the timeout input?  Anyway, if the shift register value is zero, the case structure will not execute.  There are also a lot of bad habits in your code.  You don't need the property node in the Numeric value change event, as it just writes the same value back to the control.  If you want to pop up a dialog every second if the value is greater than 10, then use the timing feature of the event structure to check the value in the timeout case.  See below for some simpler versions, and an explanation of your error.

 

 

What you want to do is to use the timeout feature of the event structure to check your value every second and display a dialog if the value is greater than 10.  Although I don't really recommend this type of structure, because the modal one-button dialog can easily block the user from pressing the stop button for rates faster than 1000 ms.  In this particular case, 1000 ms is long enough for the user to press the stop button.  For faster rates, it is not recommended.  The Numeric value change event updates the shift register, and the timeout event passes the shift register value through so that it does not change until Numeric changes.  I also moved the Numeric 2 indicator outside the event structure so you can see what the shift register value is.  If you had done this you would have noticed that your value was getting set to 0 by the unwired tunnel in your timeout case.  I also added a stop button value change to stop the loop when the stop button is clicked.test.vi

 

test.vi

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by smarlow

[smarlow]

You will notice in my example above that once the value exceeds 10, it is hard if not impossible to change the value again due to the one-button modal dialog box.  You can eliminate this problem by using a two-button dialog and giving the user the opportunity to reset the value using a Value Signal property node, as shown below:

 

Or, if you prefer, you can use the case structures and a local to reset

 

 

test.vi

Edited May 23, 2018 by smarlow
added example code