Style: reducing large diagrams, clearing wires, using subvis

Question

I've looked at the style guidelines by NI and read as many posts about LabVIEW style as I could find, but I'm still looking for more guidance on making clear, manageable diagrams for large programs.
Any thoughts, common practices, or habits regarding this would be greatly appreciated, I'm interested to hear how each one of you styles your programs.
I have not really developed any solid stylistic practices (beyond small vis), but if you don't want to say your own style guidelines, maybe could you respond to a couple of my thoughts on the subject that have some semblance to questions: When several parts of a program depend on the same data and they're big blocks of code (so they're quite separated on the diagram), do you just have long wires connecting them or do you make a local variable (and say "forget about it" to the memory waste)? In a situation where you have a large block of code that depends on many small pieces of data from the front panel, do you make it a subvi with lots and lots of inputs or do you leave it as a slab on the diagram? And, what about connecting those last two questions...in a situation where you have many pieces small pieces of data coming from files or controls and they go to several parts of the main program (if you make them subvis, they'll have an abundance of inputs; if you leave them on the main diagram, it's confusing as anything).
If you have a question about style too, post it here I'd like to see other people's ideas.
Message Edited by kaufman on 07-12-2006 02:44 PM
Message Edited by kaufman on 07-12-2006 02:45 PM

Answer 1

Talk about coincidence! I logged on to post this exact topic!!
I do my best to group my controls/indicators closest to where I'm using them the most in my code. I know that most people say you should write your code to fit to the screen as much as possible, but with large projects, I don't find it all that easy. One of the projects I'm currently working on sits on 2 monitors, where I have a tab control on each one. The first tab control has 5 pages and the second has 9, so you can only imagine the number of controls within all those pages put together! And then the code (at least on the PC) does a lot of interface stuff.
On the other hand, the code running on the RT system does kind of fit into that philosophy. The code is more modular, fits into subVIs, etc.
But when you're creating an entire application (displays, setup files, automatic testing, charts, etc.), all those controls and indicators alone take up enough space on the diagram.
Do minimize local variables and property nodes of course, and use subVIs, but also use them wisely, since calling them also adds to resource usage.
If you've got a lot of controls that are going into the same function/subVI, consider a cluster.
I'd love to hear how others manage large projects. Thanks for the post!Message Edited by Sima on 07-12-2006 03:04 PM