Hide front panel when opened

I have a VI running as a back ground task (VI_A) to the main VI (VI_B). VI_B starts VI_A and the idea is that VI_A will be minimised on startup. There is a button on VI_B to restore the window and a button on VI_A to hide the window and return to VI_B.
This is all working OK, I open VI_A front panel when called, VI_B minimises VI_A straight away etc, I am using the WINUTIL.LLB functions to perform this. The problem I have is VI_A front panel is visible upon start up for a couple of seconds (there is no real delay in my execution to minimise). I have tried setting VI_A to be at teh back within VI_A but still it appears at the front for a couple of seconds.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to why this is occuring.
Cheers,
Wayne

One thing that you could do is to change the Windows Appearance property to NOT open front panel when called. You can then have your main VI (VI_B) open the panel for VI_A as before, but it will not start with the panel open. If you are creating an executable, go to the VI Settings tab page and click on the line with VI_A and then Edit Settings. Turn OFF the Remove Panel property. This should work for you (I've done similar already anyway).
Rob

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Hide front panel when running

Who knows the way to hide a VI's panel when VI is running?

Hi Ronin,
The reason that your Front Panel property node is no longer working is that the Current VI's Path VI is returning a different path for your executable than it did for your VI. There is an excellent KnowledgeBase which describes this issue and how to work around it: Functionality of Current VI's Path Depends Upon Execution Environment.
By the way, in the future you will have much better luck getting replies if you create a new thread--this thread is three years old
Best Regards,
Megan B.
National Instruments

Hide front panel bars at open

Good morning,
Is there a way that I can hide the FP title bar and menu bar etc… at open? From the VI Properties, I can hide them at run time. But I would like to hide them at Open. I have a running main vi, it opens and runs another vi(code is attached). The main vi is run with full screen and hiding title, menu bar etc… I need to have the secondary vi run full screen without the bars as well. If I make changes in VI properties setting, the bars will disappear at run time, but I can see the bars flashing before they disappear. Any idea on how to accomplish this? Thank you for your help and time!
Yonghe
Solved!
Go to Solution.
Attachments:
secondaryVI.doc ‏26 KB

What I would do, if I'm understanding you correctly, is don't show the window when you call the VI (this can be set in VI properties; uncheck the box to show front panel when called). Then, in your code, set the windows properties using property nodes and after they are set programmatically show the window using a property/invoke node.
CLA, LabVIEW Versions 2010-2013

Looking for a way to programmatically set the visible portion of the front panel when a subVI opens

I am looking for a way to programmatically set the visible portion of the front panel when a subVI opens. Haven't found any posts that relate, but I'm not sure how to ask the right question. To be clear, I want to write a helper VI to go through a list of subVIs to make sure the background images are all in the same place when their respective subVIs open. I hate manually playing with scroll bars before I save each of the VIs... I'm figuring I need to find the top/left location of the background image (know how to do this already) and then set a VI FP property to these values or some offset, but I can't find the relevant property. FP:run-timeposition:custom looked promissing, but only affects the location of the window, not the area of the front panel the window is displaying.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Cool. Getting closer. The way I implemented your suggestion affects the subVI only if it is open. I can use this to do what I'm after, perhaps putting the code into each subVI. Maybe open all subs, run the helper, and save. Seems like I'm missing the elegant version...
My proof of concept code:

Refresh graph properties (colors...) when front panel not opened

I have a problem with setting the plot properties of a multiple xy-graph.
I first pass the data (n plots, number variable) to the graph control, THEN I set the according properties like color, line style etc. by a property node beginning with "active plot" followed by the properties. So when I set them, the xy-graph is already initialized with n plots.
Afterwards, I take the graph picture and save it to a bitmap-file.
That works fine as long as the front panel is opened or the number of plots and their attributes stays constant. But if the panel is closed (which is the default of that VI) and the number of plots changes, I get only as many plots plotted correctly as there are shown in the plot legend
- regardless of if the legend is shown or not.
I don't like the idea of having a huge legend on the panel which still might be too small sometimes or having the legend scaled by it's height-property in pixels.
What I need is something like a .refresh-method that forces the graph to update even if the front panel is closed. Any idea how to do this?
Cheers & thanks, Daniel

The issue you are seeing is because LabVIEW doesn't update the controls/indicator of a front panel that is not open. This is done to save computer resources. The simple way around this is to use VI server to open the front panel for it to update and then close it again. You can use the VI property FP.position to move the window offscreen where it can't be seen and perform the open/close. This will get you the results you are after while still allowing the illusion of a closed front panel.

I created boolean references in my main vi block diagram and copied them to my sub vi front panel. when wire my reference in my main vi to one the input node of the sub vi the wire is broken. the error says its a class conflict why?

i created boolean references in my main vi block diagram and copied them to my sub vi front panel. when wire my reference in my main vi to one the input node of the sub vi the wire is broken. the error says its a class conflict why?

Expanding and clarifying what BJD said;
After you create the temporary sub-VI that BJD mentioned, open its front panel and copy the reference control that LV created when it created the sub-VI.
This reference control will be correct class etc that you need. Use the control to replace the original control that you were attempting to wire up.
The technique of "create sub-VI...copy" always works for me.
There is one more thing that you should watch out for.
The mechanical action of the boolean can not be set for latch action when attempting to read the value using a value property node.
Trying to help,
Ben
Ben Rayner
I am currently active on.. MainStream Preppers
Rayner's Ridge is under construction

Cluster does not populate in sub-vi unless front panel is opened

I have a sub-vi that saves my data to a database and the cluster
containing the data will not populate unless I open the front panel
when it executes. What could possibly cause this?

It is the readings cluster that does not populate. That is the input cluster for the vi. When I run in the development environment the program saves correctly without opening "Save Readings.vi". However after the complete program is compiled the data will not save unless "Save Readings.vi" is opened when it executes. I have attached the missing vis
Attachments:
Log SQL.vi ‏27 KB
Connect SQL Server.vi ‏48 KB
Update Process Info.vi ‏81 KB

How to show the front panel when launching VI with Call by reference node??

Hello!
I just wonder how I make the front panel visible during execution when I launch the VI with CALL BY REFERENCE NODE.
Se example.
Could u also show me how to change different properties (window size ..) of the front panel??? (launched with CALL BY REFERENCE NODE)
Thank you!
Attachments:
test.vi ‏18 KB

In VI Properties>>Window Apperance>>Customize you can check "Show front panel when called". This will open the front panel on each call. It doesn't matter how the call was initiated.
You can set a lot of Front panel properties during runtime. Place a Property Node in the block diagram. Change the class from App to VI. Under properties select Front Panel window>>Panel bounds to set the position and size of the front panel.
Waldemar
Using 7.1.1, 8.5.1, 8.6.1, 2009 on XP and RT
Don't forget to give Kudos to good answers and/or questions

HIde Front panel - enjoy Ctrl-Key shortcut

It is not a question, it is a link to a good old idea:
http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Allow-ONLY-the-Block-Diagram-to-be-opened-Without-Fron...
and Ctrl-Key shortcut attached.
Shortcut hides (including taskbar) and restores front panel window.
It always activates block diagram after all:
If you use shortcut with the hidden FP, it will activate block diagram (unlike simple Ctrl+E activates front panel)
Attention! It will be hard to find VI, if you have hidden it's front panel and closed block diagram - that is why we still need this to be integrated into LabVIEW
PS Use: Place into C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2011\resource\dialog\QuickDrop\plugins and set shortcut in VI Shortcut window (Ctrl+Space -> Shortcuts -> Ctrl-Key Shortcuts)
Attachments:
Hide front panel.vi ‏19 KB

It is a custom quick drop shortcut: Labview description is here:
http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361L-01/lvhowto/qd_keyboard_shortcuts/
Place the vi to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2011\resource\dialog\QuickDrop\plugins
Next time labview launches, it will be available, but you need to set a quick button for it:
Press Ctrl+Space, it will open Quick drop window.
Press Shortcuts..., switch to Ctrl key shortcuts tab (see picture)
Set the button (E) for the selected plugin vi.
Next time you press ctrl+space, followed by Ctrl+E, LabVIEW executes plugin vi.
Correction for my description: if the front panel is hidden, closing block diagram closes the vi (with confirm dialog, as usual). This is not a problem
Attachments:
Untitled.png ‏28 KB

Show LabVIEW VI Front Panel When Sequence Step Called

Hello,
By clicking on the “Show VI Front Panel When Called” checkbox in the Step Settings pane displays the LabVIEW VI Front Panel for approximately 100 milliseconds. Is there a configuration way to display the VI front panel for a longer period of time, during that step execution, and allow the user to control the duration of the front panel exposure by clicking to resume execution of the sequence file at their will?
Thank you.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi,
You will need to have some sort of structure in your VI for handling front panel response, otherwise you front panel is only going to be visible for as long as it takes to execute an return back to teststand.
But remember, once you hold your step within that VI which is waiting on the operator to eventual close it, your Sequence will be held as well and if you are expecting steps to continue running after your VI then you will have to consider running it in parallel to your main test sequence.
You may also need to consider what happens if you want to terminate your Test Sequence, how do you close your VI.
Check out 'Strategies for Terminating or Breaking Sequences' in the following.
hope this is of help
Regards
Ray Farmer

Disable launch of front panel when starting web services

Hello all,
This may be a naive question as it may have a simple answer that I am missing, but is there a way to not have all VIs associated with a web service launch (i.e. show their front panel) when you start a web service? I find this to be very irritating as I have a lot of VIs associated with the web service that I am running and don't want my windows cluttered up with VI front panels that I am not interested in viewing.
Thanks, Matt
Matt Richardson
Certified LabVIEW Developer
MSR Consulting, LLC

Thanks for the reply, tst. I was hoping that I would be able to reproduce this on the client side, but unfortunately I can't generate a simple example . My web service is large and contains a lot of resources to access different variables and it seems to reproduce this, you would have to deploy this onto an RT target.
Some further insight into the issue - starting a web service on my current target is similar to when you select Deploy All on a virtual folder in a project - all of the front panels become visible.
Matt Richardson
Certified LabVIEW Developer
MSR Consulting, LLC

How can I hide the main front panel when I run from the executable?

Hopefully this is an easy question. I have an application where the front panel is not the main GUI and I would like to hide it when the program runs, but only when it runs from the executable. How can I do this?

NIquist wrote:
Yeah, don't do that. Executables built in LV require at least one front panel to be open. If it isn't, the run-time engine automatically closes the executable. I haven't checked recently, but I assume this is still the case.
Instead, you can set the FP state to minimized (as suggested earlier) or (better) to hidden.
P.S. one side point - the property and invoke nodes have a shortcut - if you use the Application or VI classes and don't connect a reference, they default to the current app or VI. That means you don't have to open the reference.
Try to take over the world!

How can I close all open subVI front panels, without closing my top level VI front panel when all VIs are built into executables?

I'm using the code shown in the sample VI discussed here: http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/353A696A3F393D9B86256E8B007A2912
to close all open VIs except my top level VI. My top level VI is actually a separate executable and the sub-VIs are their own executables. All reside under the same project. It works very well if I'm running in LabView but will not work when I build them. I added all the sub-VIs to the Always Include box in my top level VIs properties which did nothing. I also tried adding them to the Startup VIs box. This allowed me to close them all programmatically from the top level VI but it also open all the VIs at once (which was expected and not desired). I think the problem is the executables are not able to see outside their own memory space so the top-level VI never finds any other open front panels to close. Is this correct? Is there another way to go about doing this?
Thanks!

Where do I begin…..
I’m using a “server” to control 4 “client” PCs. My server opens references to 4 VIs on each client then executes them sequentially. So on a normal day, the server will run everything itself and I will have no contact with the clients. But on a several occasions, I’ve needed the ability to walk up to one of the clients and run just one of the 4 VIs.
We are updating from LabView 6.1 to 8.5 and we want to run executables rather than VIs for various reasons. I have a new VI running on the client PCs who’s only function is to initialize the shared variables and open/close the VIs. I initially thought of making the remaining 4 VIs sub-VIs but I will loose the ability to run them individually. I think I would also have to rewrite the VI running on the server since the 4 references it originally opened do not exist. I don’t think you can open a reference to a sub-VI on another PC. Can you???
As you can see, this is a huge mess. I’m still pretty new with LabView so any help you can provide would be great.

Is it possible to use a Case Structure to hide numeric indicators on the Front panel when they are not in use?

I am rather new to LabVIEW, have only been using it for about 1.5 weeks as of this post, which means I may be missing something rather obvious due to ignorance, but is there any way to have my front panel change as my case changes due to user selection of a certain case via the front panel?
The goal of the program is to make a simple layout for a user that is using the digital multimeter that the proposed code is designed for and I don't want tons of numeric controllers and such clogging up the screen space that don't work with the function the user is using to measure with.
Thanks in advanced.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Check out the property node for the controls
Visible Property
Short Name: Visible
Requires: Base Package
Class: Control Properties
Displays the front panel control.
This property is similar to the Show Control and Hide Control options on the shortcut menu of a control.
Also look at the TAB control to control which controls are available to your user.
Omar

Why do I get "error code 3: Could not load front panel" when I run my executable.

I have a LV 8.5 VI that controls only an agilent spectum analyzer. The agilent VIs call DLLs rather than SCPI commands. I created an application and an installer to load on a non LV machine and ran setup which was successful. When I run the EXE I get "error code 3: Could not load front panel" for each of my agilent spectrum analyzer VIs. I have to click "OK" about ten times, once for each VI. (My executable runs fine on all machines that have labview 8.5) The front panel does load with a broken arrow. The errors listed when the arrow is clicked for all of the Agilent VIs state: Missing subVI AGE444xInitialize.VI (or close.VI or read.VI etc.)
There is an AGE444x32.DLL in the data folder with the EXE file so I included as support both the DLL and all of the agilent drivers in the application build. Still no luck. I have built the application and installer about 6 times in various forms. I NEED AIR SUPPORT.
Unfortunately I do not have access to the internet at my jobsite so bear with me.
Rob

Hi V-rob,
I'm glad to hear the executable is working now that NI-VISA is installed. Thanks for posting the solution!
Jennifer R.
National Instruments
Applications Engineer

Hide front panel when opened

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