2009 Review #6: User Input

My 2009 Resolution #6 was Develop new, more effecitve ways to capture user input.

As you can imagine, with the number of experienced LabVIEW users out there, and the fact that we have some many direct channels for feedback (direct sales force, NIWeek, seminars, tech support, etc), we sometimes struggle with the sheer amount of feedback we get.  Ideas for features, enhancements, and minor annoyances all get catalogued and reviewed for each release, but priorities often cause some of them to stay on the list for years.  At that point, we have trouble putting them all into context and comparing relative importance. 

We realized last early last year that for these “small but important features” the users were the best group to prioritize them for us.  I talked to a customer (who was clenching his fists at the time)  in Germany last Fall who was incredibly frustrated with his inability to know what is coming and/or make suggestions in a way that had a chance of being heard.   He told me that over the years, sometimes the most minor tweaks to features could have huge impact to the developers using the products every day – even though they may appear small and unimportant to NI, they can make a huge difference if you are using the product a lot. 

The Idea Exchange went live for exactly this kind of user input.  When we introduced the LabVIEW Idea Exchange in May 2009 we weren’t sure what kind of feedback we’d receive.  Would our users submit any ideas?  Would we get enough user feedback on those ideas to know which ones were most important?  Would we get bombarded with ideas that would be difficult to implement?

I’m pleased to say that since its launch, we’ve received 749 ideas, 2,889 comments on those ideas and over 14,000 votes from LabVIEW users.  Most ideas deal with improving the LabVIEW UI and programming experience, and we’ve dedicated R&D engineers to building several of the top ideas into LabVIEW 2010, and we plan on implementing even more as time goes on.  I thought I’d let you in on my top five user ideas that will be in LabVIEW 2010:

#1

Including LabVIEW Version in a VI Snippet
Submitted by:  Michael Aivaliotis

I’ve blogged about VI Snippet in the past, but as a quick reminder LabVIEW’s VI Snippet feature allows you to create an image of your block diagram with the code itself embedded in the image.  You can drag and drop VI Snippet enabled image from any webpage or email directly to your block diagram and the full LabVIEW code appears. 

We’re continuing to develop this feature as VI Snippets become more and more popular.  Over time it will be important to document the LabVIEW version on each image so that you can know which images will work in which versions of LabVIEW.  VI Snippets created in LabVIEW 2010 and beyond will include that versioning information.

#2

Move/Shift terminals in the icon connector pane
Submitted by:  tst

This is the best idea you never thought of.  If you want to swap two connector terminals on a VI icon today you have click on the icon terminal, then on the front panel object, for every control or indicator you need to change.  Beginning in LabVIEW 2010 all you need to do is click on the icon terminal and drag it to the new placement.  The existing icon will switch to where the moved icon came from.

#3a

New Boolean Constant Design
Submitted by:  altenbach

So I’m cheating a little and including three ideas as part of one larger idea:  conserving space on the block diagram.

The old LabVIEW Boolean constant displayed both a T and F symbol with the current value highlighted with a dark green box. That design is fine if you’re only using a few of these constants, but what if you’re using a dozen or more in an array?  All you really need to see is the current value.  The new layout is much clearer and frees up valuable block diagram real estate.

#3b

Local Variables Redesign
Submitted by:  altenbach

Another idea in the “saving block diagram real estate” category, this idea removes the extra border around a variable and instead communicates input/output with an arrow on the left or right side of the variable name.

 #3c

View Cluster Constant as Icon
Submitted by:  chris.b

The final of the three space saver ideas focuses on reducing the footprint made by a cluster constant on the block diagram.  The following image (submitted by chris.b) is a little over the top, but you get the idea.

#4

Indicate the display format of string constants
Submitted by:  altenbach

A string is a string…unless it’s a hexidecimal string, or a password string, or…you get the idea.  Just like we’ve done previously with numeric constants, string constants in LabVIEW 2010 will include a glyph that indicates the strings format. 

#5

Increase default “Maximum Undo Step by VI” to 99
Submitted by:  PJM_LabVIEW

If you code like I do, you never use undo…This is a relic from the old days of LabVIEW, when computer memory couldn’t handle more than a handful of undo steps (if it’s any indication of how long I’ve been around, I can remember when LabVIEW didn’t have an undo function…scary, I know).  Prior to LabVIEW 2010 a user would have to go into the Options menu and change the undo step default from 8 to whatever value they wanted.  LabVIEW 2010 will save you that step when you install and configure it

#6

Adding labels to wires
Submitted by:  falkpl

You can assign labels to all kinds of objects in LabVIEW, but what about wires?  Sure you can place a free label on or near a wire, and Block Diagram Cleanup generally leaves it alone, but couldn’t we make it easier?  falkpl’s idea is great for when you have a large block diagram with long wires.  That way you can keep track of which wires correspond to which variable without having to scroll all over you diagram to find its source or destination, plus it will minimize all the fingerprints on your monitor…