Certification
ATM Machine for Review
Hi All -
I am starting to get ready for my CLD, which I would like to take sometime this year. Attached is my first shot at one of the sample tests, the ATM Machine.
Overall, I'd say the only thing I really had trouble with is getting it done in 4 hours, but I guess that's the main point! I got everything coded in about 4 hours, but I didn't test anything, so my program did not function properly. It took me an additional 25 minutes to test/debug it.
It did take me about 15 minutes to build up the front panel. That does bring me to one question. Is the front panel really supplied for us when we take the CLD? I've heard/read conflicting information on this. If I didn't need to build the front panel, there is a good chance I would have had this done in 4 hours, I think.
Anyway, any feedback you all may have would be greatly appreciated!
I just gave it a quick glance. It works, it is documented, and the style is not horrible. Instead of a comment on your block diagram saying "I know, kinda messy", you might want to click on the diagram cleanup tool. You will get dinged for overlapping objects. The cleanup tool is far from optimal but it will not leave any overlapping objects. Your comment could then say that you are not satisifed with the results of the cleanup tool and given more time you would clean it up. At least that way it is LabVIEW that is messy and not you 
I think you have a very good chance of passing the test if you can do this in four hours.
Edit: I see that jarcTek bumped a slightly older thread and I didn't notice the date of the original post. I need to stop doing that! Anyway did you take the test and how did you do?
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback guys!
And nothing wrong with bumping the post, I was just waiting patiently for someone to reply. 
I haven't taken the test yet, still need to practice the other 3 tests and get to whereI can code a little faster.
I haven't passed myself, so take my feedback with a grain of salt. It looks good overall and is functional!
Some minor suggestions:
1) It looks like the Project and the Elapsed Time sub-VIs don't have Documentation properties filled out.
2) Run VI Analyzer if you can. It'll help catch little mistakes, like spelling errors.
3) This is probably just preference, but in "Right Buttons" and "Left Buttons" you can save yourself some time by using a "Cluster to Array" function instead of unbundling and then building an array.
4) I can't remember if this is a requirement, but trying to withdraw more than the amount in the account will result in a "Successful withdrawal" message. On the plus side, you do not write a negative balance into the account; it just stays locked at $0.00.
Good luck on your test, please let us know how it goes!
Thanks for the review Mike Le! A few of questions\comments:
1. Definitly missed the boat with the comment on the Ellapsed Time AE. As for the project, are you refering to commenting on the .lvproj file itself? If so, I've never done that or even thought of doing that. Is that a common thing that people do? I might do it for the CLD regardless, it is a place where they may take points away...
2. Good point about cluster to array. I missed the boat on that one. What would probably be an even better approach is to move the right and left buttons cluster out of the event structure. Then, make a unique event for each button in each cluster. I think this would have simplified things greatly for me.
3. You're right about not displaying insufficient funds if the amount to withdraw is greater than the balance! Thanks for pointing that out. Turns out I had it coded, it was simply a logic error preventing it from displaying...
