1. Tips and Tricks to Speed LabVIEW Development Useful Nuggets to Save You Time ni.com/labviewzone

2. Background of Dan Shangraw, P.E. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Western Michigan University Licensed Professional Engineer State of Michigan Certified LabVIEW Developer 10 Years of Experience Developing Custom LabVIEW applications Owner of Automated Software Technology LLC.

3. Automated Software Technology Licensed Engineering Company that develops custom test, measurement, and control systems specializing in LabVIEW software design. Specialize in short term project from a few hours to 1 month. Part of the National Instruments Alliance Program Located in Lansing, MI

4. 4 Agenda 15 Tips and Tricks for NI LabVIEW Development –Beginner: Simple tricks to save time –Intermediate: LabVIEW tips you probably didn’t know about –Advanced: Useful nuggets to put you ahead of the game

5. 5 Automatically Select the Right Tool Avoid manually switching among many tools 1 / 15 Operate Value Tool Position/Size/Select Tool Edit Text Tool Connect Wire Tool Auto Tool

6. 6 Switch Terminal Wires Easily 2 / 15 Hold Down Ctrl and Left-Click on Input Terminal Note: This works only for functions with two inputs when both inputs have already been wired. Demo

7. 7 Easily Scroll Through Structures 3 / 15 Ctrl + Mouse Scroll Wheel You can use Ctrl + Mouse Scroll to scroll through: –Case Structures –Event Structures –Stacked Sequence Structures –Diagram Disable Structures

8. 8 Quickly Find the Right Palette 4 / 15 Right-click on a block diagram object for a palette shortcut

9. 9 Easily Navigate Arrays 5 / 15 Right-click on an array and select Visible Items >> Horizontal Scrollbar To view last element, select Advanced >> Show Last Element Both horizontal and vertical scrollbars available (depending on view)

10. 10 Removing Many Breakpoints 6 / 15 Select Edit >> Remove Breakpoints from Hierarchy

11. 11 Easily Add Enumeration Items 7 / 15 Press Ctrl while over Enum to use the Edit Text Tool Use Shift + Enter to repeatedly add items Shift + Enter

12. 12 Quickly Open a VI Reference (next to current file on disk) 8 / 15 LabVIEW automatically searches in current directory Right-click on VI and select Call Setup to call it dynamically Good Better Best

13. 13 Automatically Create Control References 9 / 15 Simply drag a control into a Control Refnum Automatically creates a class-specific, type-specific reference Demo

14. 14 Drag and Drop to Save Time 10 / 15 Drag an image into your Front Panel icon Select a file and drag into a path constant Take a URL from Internet Explorer and drag into a string constant Drag items from disk or Project Explorer into a LabVIEW block diagram

15. 15 Quickly Browse Properties and Methods 11 / 15 View >> Class Browser Drag a property or method directly into your VI Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + B Demo

16. 16 Perform Advanced File I/O Tasks 12 / 15 New File I/O VIs in LabVIEW 8.20 Check If File or Folder Exists Recursive File List Compare Two Paths Get File Extension MD5 Checksum File Generate Temporary File Path

17. 17 Implement a For Loop Progress Bar 13 / 15 Place Progress Bar VI inside for loop Opens automatically after a specified amount of time Download sample code from: (http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=192115)

18. 18 Automatically Analyze Your VIs 14 / 15 Tools >> VI Analyzer >> Analyze VIs –Check performance, style, UI, documentation, and more –Save VI Analyzer settings for later use Demo

19. 19 Change the Windows File Dialog (to contain recently used folders in LabVIEW) 15 / Add LabVIEW.ini token “MRUFolders = TRUE” Maintain easy access to the last 5 directories used in LabVIEW

20. 20 Other Resources ni.com/info - Use info code “nugget” to download presentationni.com/info Weekly LabVIEW Nuggets (click here) LabVIEW Style Guide (click here) LAVA: Favorite Tips and Shortcuts

21. 21 Certified LabVIEW Architect Exam Skills tested: LabVIEW application development mastery Certified LabVIEW Developer Exam Skills tested: LabVIEW application development expertise Certifications Certified LV Associate Developer Exam Skills tested: LabVIEW environment knowledge Skills learned: Modular application development Structured design and development practices Interapplication communication and connectivity techniques New User LabVIEW Basics I LabVIEW Basics II Experienced User LabVIEW Intermediate I LabVIEW Intermediate II Advanced User LabVIEW Advanced I Skills learned: LabVIEW environment navigation Basics of application creation using LabVIEW Basics of data acquisition and instrument control Skills learned: Large application design Advanced development techniques Multideveloper project implementation Courses

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