Scroll through elements in array controls/indicators

[JingZhao]

When I use LabVIEW array control/indicator, I often come to such a need that I want go through all the array elements quickly, e.g., look for a specific value, maybe compare with each other, or examine if there is anything abnormal about the data, especically during logging/debugging.

I find there is no easy way to do it right now. I can enter the index so the display can quickly starts with that element. But how many times should I update the index to finish reviewing all the data? And how much should I add to the index to refresh with the next chunk of elements? Of course I can always resize the array to a new height, to accomodate more visible elements. But what's the proper size, and it's not good to drag an array control so long.

I know, I can e.g., save all data to file, plot them on chart, to view all data. But I don't think it worths the effort. Maybe all I want to do is to browse a block of neighouring data, probably not all of them.

It'd be terrific if mouse wheel is supported. When the mouse is focused on array control/indicator, wheel can control scroll up/down array elements. Even better, pressing "PgUp", "PgDn" can scroll a whole page(the height of array) up and down, respectively.

[fabric]

Have you tried: Right-click>>Visible Items>>Vertical Scrollbar ??

[PaulG.]

Scroll with mousewheel is fairly common in other software. Makes sense.

[Intaris]

Unless the data item is also a control which could support scrolling such as an enum.....

[Wart]

Check out my related idea: http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Control-Scroll-Wheel-for-Arrays/idi-p/1758600

[JingZhao]

fabric: a normal array doesn't support this operation. There isn't a scrollbar option in context menu. Besides, I'd really prefer using wheel than vertical scroll bar as the latter one will occupy part of my array UI. It just looks wield when array's width is small.

[JingZhao]

Wart: To me, wheeling on array elements is more practical and easier than wheeling over index, because the index area is so small. You need move your mouse precisely over it. But elements area is much bigger, and it's unlikely to miss the area when you want wheel up/down, right? 😉

[fabric]

"a normal array doesn't support this operation."

What do you mean by normal? It works fine on the example you posted.  (In fact, it is my preferred method when the list is long... easier than scrolling with the mousewheel!)

"There isn't a scrollbar option in context menu."

I agree that there are many times when showing the scrollbar is impractical. For the record, I think mouse wheel scrolling would be extremely useful in certain situations. Array probes are a good example.

[JingZhao]

fabric: Yes, I see the scorll bar now. I guess what I selected is element not array itself.;)

Besides what you mentioned, another benefit of wheeling over scrolling is that you don't have to show the scroll bar in context menu, peek the data, and then hide the bar, especially when you have more than one array, e.g., one for temperature, one for humidity, one for pressure, etc. You need to do it one by one. Because many times, peeking data is just used during my development, and I don't have to keep it to the end. While wheeling is the thing it's born with, and I don't have to enable/disable anything to have it.

[Brandyn]

Intersting.  This would be very useful.

[altenbach]

> ... another benefit of wheeling over scrolling is that you don't have to show the scroll bar in context menu

I defiintely don't want users to be able to scroll if the scrollbar and index control is hidden. Many times I want to present a fixed size section programmatically to the user and he should not be able to change the view.