It would be wonderful if this were to get implemented. You shouldn't have to search through the properties of a control on the Front Panel to fully understand the control's behavior on the Block Diagram.
> I would like to be able to change the Mechanical Action setting of a Boolean control on the block diagram:
Properties dialog doesn't count? These days I so rarely change the MA since I tend to gravitate towards the button with the one I want, and I personally have not looked for it on the terminal RCM.
> I would also like a visual indication as to the current mechanical action setting on a given control:
I tend to think that the icon view is the place for such accoutrements, but I could see some indication being handy.
I like half of the idea so if I were to use banker's rounding I would give zero Kudos, this time I'll round to +Infinity.
Dare I object to this idea? It doesn't feel right, since the terminal represents a data interface between code modules, while mechanical action defines a user interface element ability.
OK, so LabVIEW currently inextricably ties source code to the user interface with the control-terminal relationship, but moving forward I would rather loosen this coupling rather than tighten it.
Full disclosure - I literally try to perform the exact action you just described at least once a month - it's so intuitive! But that's the blurry line between BD-FP that I want to unlearn.
It doesn't feel right, since the terminal represents a data interface between code modules, while mechanical action defines a user interface element ability.
My original motivation for posting this idea wasn't actually a user interface use case. I have an FPGA VI that my RT VI interacts with via FPGA read/write control property nodes. I'm utilizing latch mechanical action on some of my boolean read/write controls so I don't need to add extra logic to switch their values back to a default once they are written to from the RT VI. Someone who was looking at my code wondered why I didn't have that logic, because they didn't realize that I was using the built-in latching functionality. A glyph on the terminal would have helped. And since I visit the panel of my FPGA VI infrequently, a shortcut to change mechanical action on the diagram would have been useful as well.
I think this editor enhancement could help with any type of programming though (not just FPGA).
I find myself in exact agreement with Darin on this one. Yes RCM, decorate the Icon not the terminal. Sure Mechanical action is only a few clicks away via the property editor but fewer clicks is fewer clicks.
If you do choose to decorate either the terminal or the icon make sure you add those glyphs to the property editor listbox to act as a legend.
ON a side note: while playing with the property editor something struck my "Aw Come ON" button.
QUESTION: Why is there a scoll-bar showing in this view? Next time you're waiting for the coffee pot to finish, sneek in there and size the listbox correctly would you? I mean gosh, we only need a half dozen more pixels in height and there really is a lot of open space right underneath.
With the standard Windows 7 Aero font, the contents do go past the bottom of the listbox.
I filed myself CAR 352782 to look into making it bigger in 2013. It does seem obvious, given the empty space below, but you never know with the Property Page VIs...they're doing all sorts of hiding and showing of info...there may be hidden stuff there that appears in certain circumstances that I'll need to investigate and make sure a bigger listbox doesn't overlap.
Looking at code from the forum, I often wonder about the mechanical action setting, because the code logic might directly depend on it. I would welcome the capability to quickly see it by right-clicking the terminal.
Christian has a point. And, with the number of posters that post only jpgs not to mention the number of posts read on mobile devices, I hereby reverse my position on glyphs. I think they would annoy some parties though. Perhaps an ini option "Show Mechanical Action on booleans" default = True? I can see where the glyphs would benefit the community.
Darren: Can you suggest something other than the parentheses? The way I read this, "Stop Button (switch)" is a Recommended terminal whose default value is "switch".
Available in LabVIEW 2018 and later.