Jeff, this seems like a really cool function (macro?) that can help a lot. I can't wait to dig into it further.
If I could suggest one more feature to add this, put an output that gives the tick count as well. That way we could use it as an inline on a wire to assist with benchmarking code.
Hey Jeff, you know this is going to cause lots of discussions right? My first question, is what benefit does VIMs have that an XNode doesn't (or can't) that same question could be applied to other things like Generics, and even express VIs, but I suppose that is a different discussion.
Edit: I'm also posting this in the link you had, because this discussion might be better categorized there, rather than this idea exchange item.
Macros use an XNode (XMacro.xnode in the resource directory). Anything you can do with a macro you can do with an xnode at considerable extra time and effort. Individual Xnodes are much more flexible than a corresponding macro, of course, but if you don't need that flexibility a macro may suffice. A macro simply inlines the code and lets type propagation resolve everything and there isn't much help if an error is encountered (other than using the xnode wizard to show the inlined code). I think of a macro as a poorman's generic VI.