I think that the combo text box and the non-sequencial ring would make good symbolic constants on the diagram, allowing to display an item label and outputting a constant value with smaller footprint than a global. Unfortunately, in LV7 such diagram constants do NOT update from their typedef, keeping the same label and value as when they were put on the diagram. Is it fixed in 7.1?
I agree that a better support for symbolic constants is needed for LabVIEW. I try to "train" my C programmers (and myself when I do C) to use symbolic constants for better documentation and maintenance (once one used "#define K1 1024" which meant he didn't quite understand yet the actual purpose...). However it is more difficult to accomplish in LabVIEW. And the problem of defining symbolic constants is different than having "no constants in the diagram" at all. Symbolic constants are defined at compile time. Changes in constant values need recompilation. "No constants on the diagram" requires that parameters are assigned at run-time from a file or other resource that can be edited without recompilation of the source code. In this case, a Global VI populated with a INI file at initialization is a good technique. Jean-Pierre Drolet www.avensys.ca
