I hope NIWeek 2018 was as fun and exciting for all the attendees as it was for me! If you weren’t able to attend, you can still watch the keynotes online.
One of the big announcements was, of course, LabVIEW 2018. There are many new features, but here are the headliners:
- Automate software building and execution with the Command Line Interface
- Call Python code directly with the Python node
- Prototype FPGA code faster with expanded floating-point support and the 64-bit version of the LabVIEW FPGA Module
My personal favorite new feature, though, is the new style of controls!
The NXG Style palette contains controls with a similar visual styling to those in LabVIEW NXG.
If you haven’t heard of LabVIEW NXG, it’s software that leverages familiar paradigms from LabVIEW 2018 and earlier, but it emphasizes faster automation of measurements and tests through tighter integration with hardware and data. It doesn’t (yet) support all of the G language features and measurement devices as LabVIEW, but it’s expanding with each release!
Because the default panel color in LabVIEW NXG is white, the LabVIEW 2018 NXG Style controls look best on a white background.
And, yes, the NXG style (unlike the Silver style) includes a tab control!
For those of you who like to customize control appearance, check out the NXG Style Text Button. It has hover states like the System button, but it’s colorable!
The NXG Style palette is focused on user interfaces, so not all controls are available in it. If you need one that’s not available, let me know so we can try to add it in a future release!
If you want to use NXG style controls all the time, you can make it the default style in Tools>>Options in the Front Panel category under Control Style for New VIs. You can similarly make it the default style for an existing VI using VI Properties and the setting in the Editor Options category.
To make NXG Style controls easily accessible in your right-click palettes, pin a palette and drag the NXG Style category to the top using the “drag” area on the left edge of the category heading.
Another small but delightful feature in LabVIEW 2018: you can right-click on a target in your project and create a Type Definition. No more having to remember to set Custom Controls to be type definitions before you save!
What new feature has you most excited to upgrade to LabVIEW 2018?
