Help/documenation for front panel controls and indicators

[robmacl]

Every time I have to figure out how to use a new kind of control, I wonder why there is no "help" option, as there is for any kind of thing on the block diagram.  I have figured how to location this documentation by searching on the various general front panel documentation pages, but it seems that it ought to be a pretty straightforward association.  Many controls have complex interfaces that require some explanation (vector of clusters of vectors of ...).

[AristosQueue (NI)]

> Many controls have complex interfaces

Are you talking about how a user would interact with the control or the VI Server programmatic interface?

[robmacl]

I'm talking about I'm writing a VI, and I want to use a control, and I don't know how.  The control is sitting there on the front panel, because I know I want to use a table (for example), but I don't know anything about how to connect it up.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Can you give me an example of some things that you have figured out on your own that you wish had been documented? It is hard for me to get a sense for what needs more documentation from your comments.  It's not uncommon for the creators of a tool to think its use is obvious and have to have its complexity highlighted by its users. This, I think, is such a case. Obviously, we do not want our users to struggle to use our controls, but I think most of us in R&D would feel that the controls are sufficiently documented, so we're going to need guidance to see our blindspot. 🙂

[StevenM]

What version of LabVIEW are you using, robmacl? In LabVIEW 2010 and later, when you hover over most controls on the front panel, the Context Help window displays a blue Detailed help link that opens the LabVIEW Help to a relevant help topic. For example:

This isn't to say that your idea is invalid. Rather, this is just a tip that might allow you to get to the right place in the help a little faster. If you're using LabVIEW 2010 or later, are you aware of this feature?

Thanks,

Steven M.

LabVIEW Documentation

[robmacl]

I am using LV 2010, and no I hadn't noticed that.  I usually navigate to documentation using the "help" option on the right-click menu.  I don't really like the c-h help box because it clutters up the screen, though I do use it find the types of wires.

[smercurio_fc]

There is an inconsistency with the Context Help, though. For example, with a graph, when you hover over the control on the front panel, the context help is, well, useless. When you hover over it on the block diagram, you get actually useful information.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

smercurio_fc: That is because on the panel, the help is meant to be for *your* users, not our users. The CH shows you the help for the control as it would be seen when the VI is running.

[robmacl]

As to what documentation I recall locating in the past, for graphs, for example, I used searches to find the page that the context help window will take you to, Fundamentals/Concepts/Graphs and charts/Types of Graphs and Charts,  I think it's odd that there isn't a distinct documentation page for every major class of control, as there is for every function or VI.  And I do think you should be able to get to whatever documentation there is off of right-click/help.

[robmacl]

>That is because on the panel, the help is meant to be for *your* users, not our users.

That's not true of the c-h help window, and anyway all the behaviors are different in edit mode.  And likewise not of the right click menu.  There's all kinds of editing related stuff there.   And it's not on right-click help in the block diagram either.   For example, there is presumably class/property documentation for XY graphs, but I can't get there from the page that the c-h help/detailed help takes me to.

My perception is that the controls are in general rather under-documented, although there is some detail there when I've found my way into the class/property documentation.

[StevenM]

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@robmacl wrote:

I think it's odd that there isn't a distinct documentation page for every major class of control, as there is for every function or VI.

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Thanks for the feedback! Comments like this help us recognize areas for improvement in LabVIEW documentation.