LabVIEW 8.6 Released

[Darren]

QUOTE (Antoine Châlons @ Aug 6 2008, 11:58 PM)

by the way, one question about quick drop - I haven't tried to install LV 8.6 yet - can we customize the key combination to launch it ?

The default key combination is Ctrl-Space (Cmd-Shift-Space on Mac), but you can customize it in Tools > Options > Menu Shortcuts to be something else if you want.

-D

[Aristos Queue]

QUOTE (Darren @ Aug 7 2008, 12:27 AM)

The default key combination is Ctrl-Space (Cmd-Shift-Space on Mac), but you can customize it in Tools > Options > Menu Shortcuts to be something else if you want.

Which I will be doing for the Mac. See, on the Mac, the shortcut is cmd+shift+space because cmd+space is the shortcut for spotlight. But requiring a double modifier is a real pain for this accelerator. Why didn't we make it ctrl+space on the Mac? I know cmd is our normal modifier, but the ctrl key is available in this case and it seems like a more reasonable choice than adding the shift key.

[Yair]

QUOTE (Neville D @ Aug 7 2008, 12:46 AM)

I usually wait for the package in the mail since LV-RT is never available for download.

I seem to remember seeing 8.6 RT available for download when I looked a couple of days ago.

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

Is anyone else having trouble registering all of the add-ons that come with the suite?

LV 8.6 registered OK but now it looks like I am going to have to enter a new key for each.

Ben

[Val Brown]

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 7 2008, 12:15 PM)

Is anyone else having trouble registering all of the add-ons that come with the suite?

LV 8.6 registered OK but now it looks like I am going to have to enter a new key for each.

Ben

I found the same serial number worked across all toolkits -- except Adaptive Filter Toolkit -- even though I did have to install each separately.

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 7 2008, 03:19 PM)

I found the same serial number worked across all toolkits -- except Adaptive Filter Toolkit -- even though I did have to install each separately.

Thanks Val!

It is probably an issue with my serial number since LV 8.6 registered OK. Support is checking with R&D about what could be up. I suspect the "integrators" license number has something to do with it.

Oh Bother!

Ben

[Antoine Chalons]

QUOTE (Aristos Queue @ Aug 7 2008, 06:33 PM)

Which I will be doing for the Mac. See, on the Mac, the shortcut is cmd+shift+space because cmd+space is the shortcut for spotlight. But requiring a double modifier is a real pain for this accelerator. Why didn't we make it ctrl+space on the Mac? I know cmd is our normal modifier, but the ctrl key is available in this case and it seems like a more reasonable choice than adding the shift key.

I really agree with you AQ, the keyboard shortcut "translation" from Windows to MacOS is far from natural... I use LV on both and switching from one to the other OS is not so easy !

The possibility to customize shortcut is really a great feature !! :worship:

Thanks Darren for confirming it works with quick drop as well.

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

Just got LV 8.6 open and went to diagram and found very plesent suprise. The defualt palette is now "Programming" so it doesn't take multiple wigles and clicks to get to a For Loop.

Big thimbs up for that one.

:thumbup:

Ben

[Darren]

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 7 2008, 03:15 PM)

Just got LV 8.6 open and went to diagram and found very plesent suprise. The defualt palette is now "Programming" so it doesn't take multiple wigles and clicks to get to a For Loop.

If you are in fact using LabVIEW 8.6, why are you going to the palettes to drop a For Loop?

P.S. - One of your colleagues at NI Week said 'hi' to me today on your behalf, but I forgot already who it was...you'd think the guy who wrote Quick Drop would be better at remembering peoples' *names*...

QUOTE (Aristos Queue @ Aug 7 2008, 11:33 AM)

Which I will be doing for the Mac. See, on the Mac, the shortcut is cmd+shift+space because cmd+space is the shortcut for spotlight. But requiring a double modifier is a real pain for this accelerator. Why didn't we make it ctrl+space on the Mac? I know cmd is our normal modifier, but the ctrl key is available in this case and it seems like a more reasonable choice than adding the shift key.

Hmm...you know a message board thread has gotten out of hand when you have to reply two different times to address two entirely different messages in the same thread...

If I recall correctly, the Ctrl key cannot currently be assigned to shortcuts in Tools > Options > Menu Shortcuts on the Mac. We didn't have the resources in 8.6 to add this ability, so we did the same thing the Context Help window does on Mac...we used Cmd-Shift as the modifier since the Cmd modifier was already claimed by something in the OS.

-D

P.S. - What shortcut are you planning on using? Tell me if whatever you choose works well, and I'll start recommending it as an alternative to Mac users.

[Val Brown]

QUOTE (Darren @ Aug 7 2008, 02:29 PM)

One of your colleagues at NI Week said 'hi' to me today on your behalf, but I forgot already who it was...you'd think the guy who wrote Quick Drop would be better at remembering peoples' *names*...

Not at all -- it's a great demonstration of one meaning of "Quick Drop"...

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

I like this one:

Licensing

LabVIEW supports both single-seat and volume licenses. Single-seat licensing is the use of LabVIEW

by an individual user. Single-seat licenses may be used on one computer by many users or by one user

on up to three computers.

So I do not longer deed debug deployment licences - that saves me some money...

[Yair]

QUOTE (Darren @ Aug 8 2008, 12:29 AM)

P.S. - One of your colleagues at NI Week said 'hi' to me today on your behalf, but I forgot already who it was...you'd think the guy who wrote Quick Drop would be better at remembering peoples' *names*...

You should have assigned them a shortcut (e.g. if it was Mike Porter, it could be MP). :laugh:

Of course, if you had a better algorithm, maybe you would find their name easier when thinking of Ben.

By the way, you might like this video. It starts out slow, and it's out of focus all the way through, but it becomes reasonable:

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

QUOTE (Darren @ Aug 7 2008, 05:29 PM)

If you are in fact using LabVIEW 8.6, why are you going to the palettes to drop a For Loop?

...

OK Wire-Slinger, help me out with this Quick Drop stuff.

To answer your Q, it looks like I have to define all of my own short-cuts to use it, Correct? That is reason enough not to QD on first open but proceeding...

Please talk to me about your exact key strokes you use.

ctrl-space bings up the QD screen.

then "SW" (my short-cut for Structure While loop) but then what are your key-strokes and mouse clicks from there?

Ben

[Aristos Queue]

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 8 2008, 09:34 AM)

To answer your Q, it looks like I have to define all of my own short-cuts to use it, Correct?

Nope. You can just type the names of items as they appear in the palette without providing your own shortcuts. So you can type "While" if you want the while loop.

[Darren]

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 8 2008, 09:34 AM)

To answer your Q, it looks like I have to define all of my own short-cuts to use it, Correct? That is reason enough not to QD on first open but proceeding...

Please talk to me about your exact key strokes you use.

ctrl-space bings up the QD screen.

then "SW" (my short-cut for Structure While loop) but then what are your key-strokes and mouse clicks from there?

As Stephen indicated, you don't need to configure shortcuts (although they are invaluable to me personally). Every single item in your current palette set will be available to drop with Quick Drop. The object names are auto-completed for you as well. On my LabVIEW 8.6 install, merely typing 'fo' and 'wh' are enough to auto complete For Loop and While Loop, respectively. I prefer using shortcuts, though ('fs' and 'ws' for For Loop structure and While Loop structure), since I don't have to worry about some other object appearing in the palettes and screwing up my auto-complete in the future. But I digress...

There are three ways to drop an object once Quick Drop is open. Let's say I want to drop an "Add" function:

1. Press Ctrl-Space. Type "add". Press Enter. Quick Drop disappears, and an Add function appears on my cursor. Drop the Add function wherever I want it in my VI.

2. Press Ctrl-Space. Type "add". Double-click on the "Add" function that appears in the name match list below. Quick Drop disappears and an Add function appears on my cursor. Drop the Add function wherever I want it in my VI.

3. Press Ctrl-Space. Type "add". Click in the VI where I want the Add to be. Quick Drop disappears, and the Add is already dropped in the diagram where I clicked.

Method #3 is what I use 99% of the time I'm using Quick Drop. I like to call it "Super Quick Drop".

I will be posting a nugget on the http://forums.ni.com/' target="_blank">NI Discussion Forums in the near future where I expound on pretty much everything there is to know about Quick Drop. Stay tuned...

-D

[TobyD]

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 8 2008, 07:34 AM)

it looks like I have to define all of my own short-cuts to use it, Correct?

At the end of http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7423' target="_blank">this article there is a txt file that you can download to setup some common shortcuts. I have found most of them to be fairly intuitive.

I think I am really going to like the quick drop feature once I get used to it. Right now it slows me down, but as I start remembering names/shortcuts I can see it as a real time saver. :thumbup:

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

QUOTE (TobyD @ Aug 8 2008, 11:43 AM)

At the end of http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7423' target="_blank">this article there is a txt file that you can download to setup some common shortcuts. I have found most of them to be fairly intuitive.

I think I am really going to like the quick drop feature once I get used to it. Right now it slows me down, but as I start remembering names/shortcuts I can see it as a real time saver. :thumbup:

Thanks for the tips. I am going through the process of defining my own short cuts because typing the actual name is just not part of my brain.

The For loop threw me because it seems to take more mouse clicks to complete it placement.

I think that dragging around a memory stick with the ini text to use these short-cuts on most of the machines I touch should be possible. For those sites where I am not permitted to bring in memory sticks or any type of media, I'll have to resort to the tried and true mentod of navigating palettes.

Epiphany:

While defining my shot-cuts, I suddenly realized, I do not know what the official names of all of the operators I generally use! Talk about being visually oriented!

Ben

[Phillip Brooks]

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 8 2008, 12:07 PM)

Epiphany:

While defining my shot-cuts, I suddenly realized, I do not know what the official names of all of the operators I generally use! Talk about being visually oriented!

I remember reading (or writing) in a forum somewhere that the primitive names in LabVIEW are not always consistent with textual languages. The (my?) example was Modulus. In LV it's Quotient & Remainder.

[John Lokanis]

My only potential problem with Quick Drop is my left hand is busy changing tools with the tab key! (I just can't use the auto tool selection. old dog. no new tricks..)

Plus, it is getting dangerously close to having to type again to write software!

Seriously though, it looks like a cool feature. Now if we could just eliminate the keyboard and use one of these to call up the function we want:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23261794/

-John

[Val Brown]

QUOTE (Darren @ Aug 8 2008, 08:42 AM)

...

There are three ways to drop an object once Quick Drop is open. Let's say I want to drop an "Add" function:

1. Press Ctrl-Space. Type "add"...

2. Press Ctrl-Space. Type "add"...

3. Press Ctrl-Space. Type "add"...

...

OK, here I am "old school" anthem ringing in my ears but isn't this supposed to be GRAPHICAL programming? I really don't want to use the keyboard at all -- except to document what I do -- so having to type anything seems like a far slower way for me to go, because of how I have to move off my trackpad. Now part of that might also be that I always program on my MacBook Pro so I don't use a mouse.

<caveat re: mouse. There's still a bit of a problem I'm having at times with right clicks on my MBP running XP under Fusion but that's a different issue for a different thread>

So the bottom line for me is that QD will probably be SA (slow addition) to my use patterns. Despite that I think it's a great idea, esp for those who are more used to STILL using text-based programming.

end of post from old school whose off to pursue other options... :beer:

[Darren]

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 8 2008, 02:41 PM)

OK, here I am "old school" anthem ringing in my ears but isn't this supposed to be GRAPHICAL programming? I really don't want to use the keyboard at all -- except to document what I do -- so having to type anything seems like a far slower way for me to go, because of how I have to move off my trackpad. Now part of that might also be that I always program on my MacBook Pro so I don't use a mouse.

So the bottom line for me is that QD will probably be SA (slow addition) to my use patterns. Despite that I think it's a great idea, esp for those who are more used to STILL using text-based programming.

I have never programmed in a text-based language, and I'm the one who wrote Quick Drop! At the end of the day, I have a beautiful, graphical program in front of me, and I was able to create it faster with Quick Drop than I could have with the palettes. That's why I wrote the feature. For me, using the keyboard to instantly drop an object (the name of which I already know) is much faster than trying to find it in the palettes, over and over again.

...and all of my user-defined shortcuts are left-handed, so my right hand rarely needs to leave the mouse when I'm using Quick Drop.

-D

[LAVA 1.0 Content]

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 8 2008, 03:41 PM)

OK, here I am "old school" anthem ringing in my ears but isn't this supposed to be GRAPHICAL programming? I really don't want to use the keyboard at all -- except to document what I do -- so having to type anything seems like a far slower way for me to go, because of how I have to move off my trackpad. Now part of that might also be that I always program on my MacBook Pro so I don't use a mouse.

<caveat re: mouse. There's still a bit of a problem I'm having at times with right clicks on my MBP running XP under Fusion but that's a different issue for a different thread>

So the bottom line for me is that QD will probably be SA (slow addition) to my use patterns. Despite that I think it's a great idea, esp for those who are more used to STILL using text-based programming.

end of post from old school whose off to pursue other options... :beer:

I am old school when it comes to the auto-tool select mainly because it was so slow...

I have plans to make QD part of my normal routine since I can take it with me via the ini settings. In fact I intend to write a QD tutor this week-end that will display one of my short-cutted operators (choosen at random) and watch the key-board to see if I hit the correct keys. When I get through it with making mistakes I'll start working on the speed. When I am coding I first pull-up the image of it in my head, then go naviagting for it. Sometimes when I am after the Add, I occationally clcik on the add icon that is part of the Numeric select palette before I realize I have to drop down one more palette. I see no reason to define short-cuts for all operators, just the ones I use most often. To define short-cuts for all would force me to use mre than three keys in the short-cut and would defeat the purpose of speed.

So the same reason I don't use the auto-tool select is behind my intent to adopt QD, SPEED.

Ben

[TobyD]

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 8 2008, 12:41 PM)

having to type anything seems like a far slower way for me to go, because of how I have to move off my trackpad.

I think any change in paradigm would be faster than writing LabVIEW code with a trackpad I can't even browse the internet comfortably with a trackpad.

[Val Brown]

QUOTE (TobyD @ Aug 8 2008, 01:30 PM)

I think any change in paradigm would be faster than writing LabVIEW code with a trackpad I can't even browse the internet comfortably with a trackpad.

Do you work on a desktop or a Windows laptop? Remember I'm using a MacBook Pro and there are a lot of track pad tricks available there. But, despite that, one of the primary reasons I use a trackpad is that I know that resource is always available and always with a minimal set of useful operations across all of my user's installation -- because they are almost always on laptops supplied by us. So whether on my system, at home or traveling, or on a user's system, I have the same interface available.

And Darren I can tell you that the fact that you wrote it and pushed for it is a very strong statement of its usefulness and is one of the primary reasons that I will be continuing to explore it -- despite my initial hesitations. A lot of that may just reflect my habitual use patterns but I would also add that, using a trackpad as I do, even needing to move the right hand is a diversion! I'm sure at some point I'll get used to it but what I think I'd really like FWIW is a visual interface to that perhaps something like the My Favorites pallet only expanded and easier to use.

I'm still a bit old school, even after all these years...

[TobyD]

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 8 2008, 01:43 PM)

Do you work on a desktop or a Windows laptop?

I use a Windows Vista Laptop, but most of the time it is docked with an external monitor, mouse, keyboard, usb missile launcher. If I do un-dock, I always have a mouse ready to plug in (I use the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000). The mouse fits nicely into a side pocket of my Laptop case and it saves me enough stress to make it worth carrying.

On a side note, my 8.6 DVDs just arrived!!! Yeah!