Cannot place custom subVI on the block diagram

When I press the "Select a VI..." button on the function palette and select the VI I want to place on the block diagram nothing happens. This only seems to be happening for two particular VIs. Most of the time I can place the custom subVI without any problems.
Is there some option that could have accidentally gotten set that does not allow a VI to be placed on another VIs block diagram?
Please let me know if there is any way to fix this problem.
Thank you,
David R. Asher

David,
What you sent me has a .ctl file extension. The ctl extension is for LabVIEW custom Controls, not VIs. Even though it is actually a VI, the wrong extension must be confusing LabVIEW and not letting it load. It's probably trying to put it on the front panel since that is where controls go.
If you change the ctl extension to vi, it works as it should.
Ed
Ed Dickens - Certified LabVIEW Architect - DISTek Integration, Inc. - NI Certified Alliance Partner
Using the Abort button to stop your VI is like using a tree to stop your car. It works, but there may be consequences.

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Place an image on the block diagram

Is there an easy way to place an image on the block diagram?
To clarify, I would like a simple way to paste a bmp or jpeg or png or whatever onto my block diagram for the purpose of documenting the block diagram for future programmers.
The way I currently accompish this is by creating a picture constant on the diagram and running a seperate vi to load a picture into a picture window, then using copy and paste functions to get the image into the picture constnat in my block diagram.
There's a simpler way, right?
global variables make robots angry
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Thanks, but that isn't at all what I am trying to do. I want to
place an image on the block diagram, not read an image. I've attached a
screen shot of my block diagram to show you that I am using an image
that I pasted onto the block diagram to document the block diagram. The
picture below the wiring is a schematic of a rectangular reticle that
corresponds to the wiring diagram above. You can see which points go
where when drawing the targeting reticle around kermit the frog, so it
is easier to understand the wiring diagram.
The method
I have to use to paste an image into the block diagram is cumbersome. I
would like to know if there is an easy way to paste an image into the
block diagram.
Message Edited by Root Canal on 01-10-2009 01:53 PM
global variables make robots angry
Attachments:
like_this.PNG ‏73 KB

The Block diagram that cannot be edited...

The customer wanted to launch the application ( done in LV7 ) with a shortcut from the desktop and when done with it wanted to close all including the LV environment.
So I made the following changes :
1. Made the application to "Run on Open "
2. Connected the while loop Stop button to the "EXIT" function.
3. Saved and started the application.
Presto!! All worked as expected. Except that I no longer was be able to Edit the block diagram !!
Good - I had a copy of the code before the change and survived the nightmare ....
So the moral : Be very clear of what you are doing before you use the EXIT function.
Just though will share the experience, before somebody makes the fatal mistake as above.
( I have now ordered out my copy of the Application Builder, so that I can have my editable code well away from the customer's PC.)
Raghunathan
Raghunathan
LV2012 to Automate Hydraulic Test rigs.

Here's another way to do it.
Create a directory in your LabVIEW x.x directory named 'wizard', and save the attached VI there. If LabVIEW is running, you'll need to restart it, but then in the 'File' menu, you'll have a new selection named "Supress Run on Open...". Select this and you'll get a browse dialog to select the VI to open. It opens it by reference so it will not run.
This is saved in LabVIEW 6.1, but works fine on 7.0 and 7.1.
Ed
Ed Dickens - Certified LabVIEW Architect - DISTek Integration, Inc. - NI Certified Alliance Partner
Using the Abort button to stop your VI is like using a tree to stop your car. It works, but there may be consequences.
Attachments:
Supress Run on Open.vi ‏18 KB

Why cannot the block diagram view of a VI show the "connector pane" view in the UR corner, like the front panel view does?

Perhaps there is a good reason for this that I just haven't figured out. I haven't seen any questions about it searching the NI site, however.
But it just seems totally inconvenient to always have to go to the front panel to get to the connector pane view, especially if some of those connectors are hidden. Then I have to go to the block diagram, guess which control/indicator I want to unhide, go back to the FP to check it on the connector pane, then go back and hide it again, and repeat if necessary. Even if the C/I is visible on the FP, it's still an extra step or two.
When I'm building connections using the block diagrams and planning where to put connectors in subVIs so they would be easier to wire up (line up inputs/outputs on sides, not have to go top-to-bottom, etc.), it sure would be nice to be able to work totally in the block diagram realm.
Cameron
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Yamaeda wrote:
Good idea, put it in Idea Exchange!
It has been there for a while already. No need to duplicate....
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I cannot display the block diagram when the VI is running

It is not possible to show the block diagram while the VI is runs. The frontpannel remains on the screen. When the VI is started from the block diagram, the frontpannel pops up and stays on the screen

Are the VI Properties >> Window Appearance... set to dialog or modal? That could keep the front panel on top.
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Disable (all) functions on the block diagram with right-click menu

Hello to everyone,
here is one more idea, which I'd like to propose.
As for me, it would be useful to have the following: when all components (functions, wires, subVIs, etc.) are selected on the block diagram (like, after ctrl+A), operator could do right-click, and in the menu would appear menu item "Disable everything". After it, all the code could be placed into Disable structure.
Of course, I can add Disable structure to block diagram manually, and cover whatever I want, but with right-click menu it would be much faster.
Also, it can be modified to disable only selected items - then each of them can be placed into separate Disable structure, and, for example, additionaly in the enabled case of Disable structure, corresponding wires will be connected. Sometimes it is needed for testing - just to disable couple functions, and test subVI. Or to disable subVI fully (it's faster, then disable place, where it is called. Especially, if subVI is used in many places).
It will not make debugging difficult, because anyway Disabled structures are used; such functionallity can just make life a little bit easier...

There is always the File->New... which opens up a new window. You can have your templates in that window by putting them somewhere (I don't remember where at the moment).
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Labview: Null Window ... stopped at unknown on the block diagram

Hi,
I have a fairly large program that was written in Labview 6.0. Recently we upgraded to Labview 9.0 and this program was exported to an executable with the new version.
When running the executable I sometimes get the following error as seemingly random places. I have not been able to make it crash when not using the executable. Labview: Null Window. The top-level VI ".vi" stopped at unknown on the block diagram of ".vi"
I apologise for having to blank out the vi names but i cannot give vi names, say what the software is used for or give over code. I can say that it uses NI USB 6212 IO cards, interfaces with Rhode and Swartz instruments and uses alot of file IO.
I was hoping that someone could give me a hint on how to debug such an error. I have noticed that When this error occurs, the memory use almost doubles.
Thankyou
James
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I think you open the front panel of a VI that has it's front panel removed during the build. Try to adjust the built settings of that specific VI to include the front panel.
Ton
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How can I open a vi and show the block diagram?

Hi,
I am opening an vi using "Open VI Reference" and "Invoke Methodpen FP", but I want to open the vi and show the block diagram, but I haven´t found any method (Invoke Method) to do that and any property.
Any idea?
Thanks!
Gracinda

OK, I can come up with a reason. I have written a program that will search the entire VI Hierarchy of a program and update all of the descriptions for all VIs with the top level program part #, the name of the top level program that the VI is used in, the company copyright info, the ITAR notice, company address, the name of the engineer performing the update, along with the date and time. This will also place as a background image on all the VIs, a watermark of the company name, legality stuff and the copyright. It works very slick in that if there are thousands of sub-vis, such as what I'm working on now, it goes through all of them, makes sure the data is there as per company policy without having to open every one of them look at them and update or not whichever the case may be. The one portion that is tough is that the program will detect if there is a description written about what funtion the VI performs and if there is not a description, then it pops up a dialog requesting the user to write a description. The problem is that without looking at the block diagram for the VI, it can be nearly impossible to write a description for the functionality of the VI. So is there a way to programmatically open a VI, show its block diagram (this would only be in the case of a missing description) and then upon completion of the updates, close the block diagram? (I already open and close the VI programmatically in order to read the VI DESC and update as needed, but that is in the background and of course you can't see the block diagram).
Thanks,
Dan

How to open the block diagram of the NI ELVISmx

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Why Is the Block Diagram Disabled?

What did I do now? Please look at the attached image. A VI that I am using as a subVI in various different programs suddenly started looking like I had used application builder to create an exe file out of it (But I didn't!!). The only options are Start and Run Continuously, and the block diagram is disabled. What did I do to get myself in this mess? How do I undo whatever I did, so I can edit the block diagram again? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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Attachments:
Disabled Block Diagram.png ‏259 KB

Did you ever built a source distribution with the option set to remove the diagrams? In this case, the original must still be around somewhere.
Since LabVIEW 8 you can no longer simply save without block diagram and you would not be able to upgrade such a VI to LabVIEW 2011, which it is now. (details)
Of course it is possible that there is some corruption, but looking at the memory usage, the block diagram is blanked out.
LabVIEW Champion . Do more with less code and in less time .
Attachments:
NoBlockDiagram.png ‏38 KB

What is the best way to keep the block diagram/ front panel clean?

Hello,
I am relatively new to Labview so I'm not able to tell if I'm overcomplicating my programs or making my block diagram too cluttered. I was wondering if there were some ways to tell whether I could simplify my programming just by looking at it (perhaps only experience helps for these things) ?
I have attached my VI here. Currently, it has the capability to monitor the voltage and current from two motors. On display, you can see a indicator with the voltage and current values and there are charts toward the bottom that can display waveforms from different motors with a drop down menu.
The front panel is rather clean in my novice opinion, but the block diagram seems messy to me, just at first glance. I foresee a problem occuring in the future however. In the future, I will have to scale the VI to monitor 50 motors. All the programming will be the same as the one I have now, except it will have 50 indicators and unfortunately 50 times pretty much everything. I would like to avoid this, but I'm not sure how I could.
I am using a USB 6009. I am using its four differential inputs to monitor the voltage and current of two motors. In the future, I will be getting more DAQ units (25 total because 2 motors can be monitored for each DAQ). The new DAQs will help will help with more resource space, but I think complicate things with the additional potential of 24 more DAQ Assistants (as used in my code).
Thanks for any help you might be able to provide!

It usually is mainly experience that will teach you the best methods to make your code look pretty. I don't know anyone who is proud of their first from-scratch application. There are a few resources out there to help with best practices, like this group on ni.com, but you'll learn the most from your own development.
Your front panel looks great. FPs in general are really up to you. You can make it look as ugly or pretty as you want. When you have some duplicate controls and indicator groups, you should utilize clusters and arrays to simplify. You could use a little bit of cleanup in that regard, but not much. Also, personally, I hate reading red text unless it's a warning of some sort.
Your block diagram could use some cleanup in a modularity sense. You have a lot of repeated code, which you could consolidate in to a subVI that is used in multiple locations, or in a For loop. A general rule of thumb is to keep your block diagram within a single monitor. You shouldn't have to scroll. Your application is pretty simple, so it's hard to mess it up
Here are some specifics about your block diagram:
Right click your terminals on the block diagram and uncheck "View As Icon". You're welcome.
Duplicate operations on each waveform "(x*2-4)/16": create subVI and/or run the waveforms through a For loop.
You do a lot of 2-element arrays and then indexing. Just replace those with a Select node based on the numeric.
All of your code is running every time, including your property nodes at the bottom, which is unnecessary. As you learn LabVIEW architectures, you will learn how to bypass this with initialization and exiting code, but for now you should put a case structure around those for only when the motor numbers change.
I'm not sure how you're timing your main loop, but you should put a delay in there because you don't need the DAQmx node to be pulling as fast as your CPU will allow.
There are free intro videos you can watch to learn what NI would suggest in terms of coding and teach you some of the basic features and such. Here's a three hour course, and here's a six hour course.

Can we edit the icon that represents our XControl on the block diagram?

I created an XControl in LabVIEW 8.5 (and 8.2.1), and I did add custom icons to all the typedefs and VIs associated with it. However, when I drop it on the front panel, I get a generic-looking icon representation on the block diagram. However, when I create a simple typedef and drop that on the front panel, I get the typedef's icon framed in the datatype-specific border on the block diagram. Perhaps I missed something about how do edit that guy. It's a minor issue, but I'm curious.
Thanks,
Dan Press
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Right click the XControl itself in the project and select Properties. There you'll see an icon that can edit, which will show up on the XControl on a block diagram.
... Michael beat me to it!
Message Edited by Jarrod S. on 08-17-2007 04:39 PM
Jarrod S.
National Instruments
Attachments:
Icon.PNG ‏2 KB

Putting a frame on the block diagram

Can I put a frame around a set of functions on the block diagram to visually separate them?
How?
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Under these 'structures' pallete, you will find the 'decorations' pallete. There is a frame, lines, etc.
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Using shortcut keys in the block diagram

i want to use shortcut keys in the block diagram. is this possible?
Thanks!
~drycsr~
Attachments:
S1.jpg ‏318 KB
shortcut.jpg ‏155 KB

thank you guys, actually i want to move objects to a pane by using mouse (drag and drop to pane). there are more than one objects (as boxes). then when an object (box #1) which is clicked by mouse is active, the other objects are passive. so,i think maybe i can use shortcut keys as commands.
for example when i drag second box to same coordinates of the first box, it places on top of the first one. i dont want to stow objects. i want to put them side by side. sorry about mess!
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Attachments:
move.jpg ‏142 KB
front_panel.jpg ‏115 KB

How to add text to the block diagram

How do you add plain text to the block diagram for documentation and can I change the background color to yelllow or something else that may be helpful? see image below
Windows is a 64 bit extension to a 32 bit graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition. Byte that Microsoft!
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Just double-click in an emtpy area and start typing. Use the coloring tool to color the text background.
(there is also a "free label" in the decorations palette, but that seems like a detour )
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Cannot place custom subVI on the block diagram

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