ni.comLabVIEW Programming Techniques The Good, the Bad, and the UglyGreg McKaskle Senior Group Manager Fri Aug 18 10:15-11:30 a.m., 1:45-3:00 p.m. Ash (10A)ni.comGood, Bad, or Ugly?ni.comGood, Bad, or Ugly?ni.comWho are We to Judge?Industrial design degree? Graphic design degree?We are critics! We have experience with the real world We rely on familiar interfaces to guide us Our goal is to recognize our limits, to mimic and copy the professionalsni.comAgendaExamples (VIs, stereo, car, newspaper) Association Colors Tab control guidelines UI features in LabVIEW 6ini.comExample 1 Whats Wrong With It?ni.comFirst, Lets Remove the Colorni.comRemove Text Labelsni.comPack into a Tighter Gridni.comAnother Optionni.comAssociationMost important technique Idea is to separate and group logically Use: Color Borders Spacing Combinationni.comAssociation ColorNot the best technique for associating It is the most overused technique Strong, brute force approach Best used when spatial arrangement cannot be controlled Contrast is more important than color The red fox jumped over the lazy dog.ni.comAssociation BordersNotice the one at the top of the slide? Used extensively in news media Can be a line, box, or transition in texture Match the border weight to other objectsni.comAssociation SpacingMost effective technique Books, presentations, and computer keyboards rely on white space to associate Spacing defines a grid and separates items into groupsni.comAssociation CombinationsCombination Look at professional interfaces and learn individual techniques first Then learn how to combine them Real world examples newspaper, stereo, keyboard, copying machine, toolbarsni.comColors How Much is Enough?Only two types of color Neutral colors (for coloring large objects) Highlight colors (for coloring small objects)Neutral colorsHighlight colorsSystem color pickerColor historyTransparent colorni.comColor Blind?ni.comFonts A Few GuidelinesUse very few fonts on a panel Two or three fonts is probably the limit One is often the right number Vary the size, weight or boldness instead Use serif fonts for printed blocks of text Use non-serif or sans-serif fonts for screenni.comTab Control GuidelinesLabVIEW 6i includes a built-in tab control It allows more information on a panel It simplifies the programming and the UI It is not foolproofni.comTab Control No-NosUse descriptive names Avoid many rows of tabs Avoid scrollbars if possible Avoid having tabs perform actionsni.comControl Features in LabVIEW 6i3D controls and line decorations Multiple scales on graphs and charts Multicolumn listbox Color ramp for rotary controls Digital graph, logic analyzer displayni.comEditor Features in LabVIEW 6iControl references A SubVI can make attribute changes Use it to share code and clean up diagrams Tip Strips on controls Group and Lock New control and panel attributes