Y Controls Package

[paul_cardinale]

I have invented Y Controls and I am trying to create a VI Package for installing them.  I would like it to result in "Y Control" being an option when selecting File -> New from the LabVIEW menu.

But my .vipb file doesn't seem to do anything; no output, no errors, just a big NOP.  Any help would be appreciated.

Y Controls.zip

[paul_cardinale]

Sometimes I get this (which makes no sense because that VI is not a dependency of Y Controls, and it is not missing)

[Antoine Chalons]

This looks interesting, I've created a QControl and really enjoyed the concept, haven't dug too much into Y controls but it looks interesting, are you developing this alone or as an open source project?

I get the same error when building the VIP, you should post here I think : https://forums.jki.net/forum/5-vi-package-manager-vipm/ to get some support, JKI is usually quite responsive.

[paul_cardinale]

I've been developing it alone, but I'll take any help I can get.

[The Q]

I just added an explanation of how to add to the New dialog on the LabVIEW Wiki:

https://labviewwiki.org/wiki/New_dialog

If you have any ideas to help me make QControls better, let me know.  I have a thread on the QControl Enthusiasts page:

https://forums.ni.com/t5/QControl-Enthusiasts/QControl-Usability-Improvements/td-p/4101397?profile.language=en

Edited November 25, 2020 by The Q

[paul_cardinale]

4 hours ago, The Q said:

I just added an explanation of how to add to the New dialog on the LabVIEW Wiki:

https://labviewwiki.org/wiki/New_dialog

If you have any ideas to help me make QControls better, let me know.  I have a thread on the QControl Enthusiasts page:

https://forums.ni.com/t5/QControl-Enthusiasts/QControl-Usability-Improvements/td-p/4101397?profile.language=en

Gee, I put all my ideas into Y Controls.  Attached is my help file (still under construction) for Y Controls.

Y Controls.chm

[paul_cardinale]

On 11/25/2020 at 2:36 AM, Antoine Chalons said:

This looks interesting, I've created a QControl and really enjoyed the concept, haven't dug too much into Y controls but it looks interesting, are you developing this alone or as an open source project?

I get the same error when building the VIP, you should post here I think : https://forums.jki.net/forum/5-vi-package-manager-vipm/ to get some support, JKI is usually quite responsive.

I managed to post the issue there, but it's very cumbersome because I only get one post per password reset (and their Contact Us link is broken).  I did get a reply and was able to solve that problem, but now it throws error 1357.  Maybe it's time to throw in the towel on VIPM.

Edited November 26, 2020 by paul_cardinale

[Antoine Chalons]

11 hours ago, paul_cardinale said:

 it's very cumbersome because I only get one post per password reset (and their Contact Us link is broken). 

 

I had the same issue, it's actually because the login is you "name" not the email address you used to create the account, I was confused by that but if you read carefully the site tells you that.

As far as I can remember the contact us worked fine for me and the support told me the trick.

 

The error 1357 message is confusing, not sure who's to blame, LabVIEW or VIPM, but again, I would suggest to post on the JKI forum.

At the same time if you care to open source this project and place it on a hosted service like Github (or any other) the community might be able to help you on the code AND on the package building.

As for me I've had many failres while building packages with VIPM but never that one...

[paul_cardinale]

Unzip the installer, read the READ ME, run the installer, read the help (LabVIEW -> Menu -> Help -> Y Controls).

If you're curious, look in the source.

Y Controls Support Version 1.0.0.1 Installer.zip Y Controls Version 1.0.0.1 Source.zip

[paul_cardinale]

I've made some minor improvements.  Is anyone interested?

[X___]

Playing around with it. It looks like, as for X and Q controls, compound controls need to be bundled up into a cluster. As a result, the facade is rigid, in the sense that when dropping an instance of the Y control, I cannot adjust the components of the control (or the whole control itself for that matter) unless I modify the definition of the control itself.

This is fine for a "one of" control, but somewhat of an issue for something intend to be generic. As an example, I was trying to try out the package with a simple string with visibility checkbox. Once dropped on a FP, neither the checkbox nor the string can be resized.

This type of ability (or lack thereof) is one of the things which immediately cooled my enthusiasm for the X and Q controls.

I may be missing something though.

[paul_cardinale]

That issue has been corrected (see attached files).  However it won't fix already-created Y Controls.  To fix them, make sure that Facade.ctl and the .yctl file are set as "TypeDef" and not "Strict TypeDef"

Other improvements:

• The installer and uninstaller will ignore RO status of an existing installation of Y Controls.
• The wizard fixes up the label of the cluster in the .yctl file.

Y Controls Support Version 1.0.0.1 Installer.zip Y Controls Version 1.0.0.1 Source.zip

[paul_cardinale]

On 11/25/2020 at 10:44 AM, The Q said:

I just added an explanation of how to add to the New dialog on the LabVIEW Wiki:

https://labviewwiki.org/wiki/New_dialog

If you have any ideas to help me make QControls better, let me know.  I have a thread on the QControl Enthusiasts page:

https://forums.ni.com/t5/QControl-Enthusiasts/QControl-Usability-Improvements/td-p/4101397?profile.language=en

Perhaps you might find this useful.

Update File_New.zip

[X___]

5 hours ago, paul_cardinale said:

That issue has been corrected (see attached files).  However it won't fix already-created Y Controls.  To fix them, make sure that Facade.ctl and the .yctl file are set as "TypeDef" and not "Strict TypeDef"

Other improvements:

• The installer and uninstaller will ignore RO status of an existing installation of Y Controls.
• The wizard fixes up the label of the cluster in the .yctl file.

Y Controls Support Version 1.0.0.1 Installer.zip 1.4 MB · 0 downloads Y Controls Version 1.0.0.1 Source.zip 1.59 MB · 0 downloads

How do I access the help again? It worked fine in the previous version, but is nowhere to be found in the new one, and the chm help file in the installer doesn't work as is...

[paul_cardinale]

There were some missing dependencies in the source zip.  I also renamed a library to make name collisions less likely.

Y Controls Support Version 1.0.0.2 Installer.zip Y Controls Version 1.0.0.2 Source.zip

[X___]

Still can't seem to be able to access the Help. Certainly not in the Help -> New -> Y Control -> Y Controls menu and the chm file still doesn't work for me?

It seemed quite straightforward when I first installed it, but maybe the UNinstall step messed up with something?

I just uninstalled 1.002 and tried again the release from post 22 and am without an easy way to find Help within LV (and the chm file is not working anymore as a standalone) 😞

[paul_cardinale]

2 hours ago, X___ said:

Still can't seem to be able to access the Help. Certainly not in the Help -> New -> Y Control -> Y Controls menu and the chm file still doesn't work for me?

It seemed quite straightforward when I first installed it, but maybe the UNinstall step messed up with something?

I just uninstalled 1.002 and tried again the release from post 22 and am without an easy way to find Help within LV (and the chm file is not working anymore as a standalone) 😞

Uninstall deletes "C:\ ...  National Instruments\LabVIEW nnnn\resource\plugins\Y Control\*",  "C:\ ...  National Instruments\LabVIEW nnnn\help\Y Control\Y Controls.chm", and removes the Y Control from "C:\  ... National Instruments\LabVIEW nnnn\resource\plugins\NewDialogFiles\ LVNewDialog.xml".

Is the installer creating "C:\ ...  National Instruments\LabVIEW nnnn\help\Y Control\Y Controls.chm" for you?

Y Controls.chm

[X___]

1. I removed LVNewDialog.xml before re-installing 1.0.0.2 and got this:

which, after I pressed continued, left the installer window opened in a stopped state, but at least now the help is back in the menu (but in Help>>Y Control, not Help -> New -> Y Control as you have it in the Readme.txt)

However, the File>>New... dialog is now empty, so removing LVNewDialog.xml is definitely not the thing to do (putting it back resolves the issue but is missing the Y Control item).

2. Re-uninstalling Y Control Support now LEAVES the Help >> Y Control menu but nothing happens when selecting it:

3. Re-reinstalling 1.0.0.2 restores the Y Control item in the New... dialog box...but removes the Help menu!

Getting somewhere?

Edited December 15, 2020 by X___

[paul_cardinale]

12 hours ago, X___ said:

1. I removed LVNewDialog.xml before re-installing 1.0.0.2 and got this:

which, after I pressed continued, left the installer window opened in a stopped state, but at least now the help is back in the menu (but in Help>>Y Control, not Help -> New -> Y Control as you have it in the Readme.txt)

However, the File>>New... dialog is now empty, so removing LVNewDialog.xml is definitely not the thing to do (putting it back resolves the issue but is missing the Y Control item).

2. Re-uninstalling Y Control Support now LEAVES the Help >> Y Control menu but nothing happens when selecting it:

3. Re-reinstalling 1.0.0.2 restores the Y Control item in the New... dialog box...but removes the Help menu!

Getting somewhere?

Is the installer creating "C:\ ...  National Instruments\LabVIEW nnnn\help\Y Control\Y Controls.chm" for you?

[paul_cardinale]

Perhaps this is the problem: When changes are made to LV help, they don't take effect until LV is restarted,

I'll improve the completion dialog for the installer.

[paul_cardinale]

Is anyone else running into bugs?  This one is driving me nuts:  If the owning VI is a member of a library, and the library is open, then the event handler usually doesn't launch.

[paul_cardinale]

Here's another one: If the owning VI is set to run when opened, it will start running before the Y Control finishes initializing.  (I might have to do some major surgery to resolve this.)

[The Q]

1 hour ago, paul_cardinale said:

Is anyone else running into bugs?  This one is driving me nuts:  If the owning VI is a member of a library, and the library is open, then the event handler usually doesn't launch.

This is one of the main reasons I created QControls.  XControls don't behave properly when using them in a VI that is part of a Library or Class.  This made them near impossible to work with in Actor Framework.  It was due to their Init and Uninit Abilities firing when you wouldn't expect them to and that was because those fire when the VI enter and leaves memory, respectively.  When in a library/class, the VI enters memory when the library/class does (usually when the application starts if not loaded dynamically).  And they won't leave memory until the application is complete (there is no way to unload a library/class).

I don't know how much functionality you have carried over from the "xctl" file to your "yctl" file but there might be something there.

QControls don't have this problem because nothing is running until the owning VI is running.

Edited December 16, 2020 by The Q

[X___]

cf Brian Powell referring to the "hackish" nature of XControls in the infamous NXG obituary thread...

[paul_cardinale]

Quite a few changes: Cleanup, bug fixes, and kludges to workaround a bug in LV 2018 and earlier (but the installer is smart enough not to include the kludges when installed with LV 2019 +).

If you've made any Y Controls with the prev version, you'll need to remake them.

Y Controls Version 1.0.0.3 Source.zip Y Controls Support Version 1.0.0.3 Installer.zip