Automatically skip password protected vi.lib VIs when searching

[tst]

When you do a search for something in the hierarchy and you have a password protected VI, you get this dialog:

 

Often (for example in this case) we don't have the password for the VI and never will because it was developed by someone else. So why not allow us not to see this in the first place?

• First idea - Don't display this at all for VIs in vi.lib. Just skip them.
  Presumably before LabVIEW ships the VIs aren't locked anyway, so the LabVIEW developers shouldn't have a problem, and if they do, let them do a programmatic unlock. The users shouldn't be the ones to suffer.
• Second idea - Generalize it a bit more. Allow us to have a configurable list of folders where the search won't bother to try and unlock VIs (so that if we have locked code from other vendors, we can discard it as well). The default folder for the list should be vi.lib.

[waldemar.hersacher]

Yes do it. From time to time I'm suffering from this dialog. This would save a lot of mouse clicks or Return hits.

The list of the second idea should not only contain folders but also LLBs.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

> Presumably before LabVIEW ships the VIs aren't locked anyway, so the LabVIEW developers shouldn't have a problem

Nope. They're locked on our machines too. I have many interesting passwords memorized for many different parts of LV... 

I'm not saying that you're idea is a bad idea, just saying that it would actually be a problem for LV developers.

[tst]

> just saying that it would actually be a problem for LV developers.

Oh, that is just served on a platter. I can't resist saying:

"I DON'T CARE!".

Actually, it's not that I don't care, but NI should solve its own problems not at the expense of the users.

Now, to be honest, most of the time I have the "Ignore VIs in vi.lib" option checked, so I don't see this usually, but it does pop up occasionally, which I find annoying, and I guarantee you every other user finds it annoying too.

A natural extension of this idea would be to give us an exclusion list of where to search. Currently, the only way to exclude is either by excluding vi.lib or by manually selecting which VIs we do want to search in (using the Select button near the search scope ring), but I usually want not to search all the OpenG VIs I have in my code.

A simple extension of the existing situation (which would probably be enough for me, actually) is to add a second check box - "Ignore VIs in user.lib", but a more general approach would be to add an exclusion list of folders.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

> "I DON'T CARE!".

Good! 🙂 That's exactly the right attitude. Our job is generally to find the best solution for our customers. It's what you pay us for. It is a very rare suggestion that I would reject because of the burden it places on NI, and this isn't one of those. I made my previous post only because of the assertion that was made, but it doesn't impact whether or not this is a change we should be making.

[waldemar.hersacher]

 tst wrote:

and I guarantee you every other user finds it annoying too

Here is another one.

[altenbach]

I guess I don't really use search, so I never bumped into this. 😉

Still, I agree that such popups are annoying and should be eliminated (similar to the problem with missing VIs when loading).

[MichaelAivaliotis]

altenbach, you don't use search? I'm a little surprised.

I would suggest a simpler fix would be to move this checkbox to the originating search configuration dialog. Add an option to ignore password protected VIs, similer to the ignore vi.lib option.

However, even this is still just a hack. I would like to see a more holistic approach to password management. The password dialog concept is useless in general. No one remembers or cares to look up a password in the middle of development in the middle of a search for that matter. The only time is when you're working on the pre-built source and then it's actually not password protected. You either want all the passwords off or all on but ignored.

I would like to see the password management added to the project window. From there, I would like to see some sort of configuration window where I can define all my passwords for the project VIs and dependancies. From this new control panel I can clear passwords, enter them, have LV forget them, etc.

[Ray.R]

ya gatta love that "I don't care attitude"  😉

Yes, the password protected VI's are a nuisance when doing a thorough search, especially when you need to look for something that was done a while ago and you can't remember where the code resides...  Or more likely, it was done by someone else and you need to find it. 

Kudos!

This idea needs more kudos!..  I should advertise...

[GuenterMueller]

Kudo for tst's "Second idea": I am a frequent "searcher" and feel forced to check the option "Skip remaining ..." because some of the VIs in memory are password protected.

[MGiacomet]

Wow! Four years (or more!) and this annoyance still exists...

NI, it's a handfull of lines of code: When the "Authentication" dialog is about to pop up, read the user setting (skip or not) from the Registry (or .ini), then save it back when the dialog is dismissed.

Makes everyone's life easier.