How do I cleanly pass in a bunch of references to a subVI?

Question

In a subVI, I use references to grab current control values and change properties of those controls according to those values. I'm only passing three references in, but even if I array them together to reduce input size, they clutter up my block diagram. They're also preventing me from turning some spaghetti code into a subVI, as they dont remain consistent through the edit->create subvi process. Is there some better way to handle this?

Answer 1

I go for one of the following options:
- Create a non-strict reference terminal on the front panel of the SubVI - useful when it's only one or two references you need.
- Bundle up the references into a cluster and then convert it into a type definition. I can then unbundle any of the references I need within the SubVI. This is good if you want to perform specific actions on specific references in the SubVI (e.g. update string, set colour of button etc.) and it keeps the correct class type
- Create an array of references. This is useful if you want to perform the same action on multiple items of the same class (e.g. setting visible / enabled state which can be done on any control/indicator). They'll get type-casted to the common parent class which means that some specific methods won't be available unless you cast it back inside the SubVI.