02 Layout & Design

• Background color of block diagram is grey (RGB = 226/226/226; 'Indicator Background') where applicable

• NO DEFAULT ICONS

  • Do not use VIs or Controls with the LabVIEW default icon
  • 

• Icons that make sense

  • Manage common icon templates in project repository
  • Have a background layer (→ alignment of text)
  • 

• When working inside a library or class, use its icon template

  • Leave the layer NI_Library intact

    • you can edit it for all members in the General Settings of the class/library properties dialog
    • you can import it from the owning library in the Icon Editor
  • When working with accessors in a class (those available as property nodes), changing the VI's documentation or icon is unnecessary as neither show up in code.

• Stick to the Default Connector Pattern (4 × 2 × 2 × 4)

• For selected helper VIs, it is allowed to deviate from the default connector pattern

  • Example: Logger VIs

• Icons have a coloured rectangle on top

  • The colour is derived from the category of the module, see below
  • 8px banner height
  • 8 or 9pt font size
• The coloured rectangle can contain text
• To differentiate modules of the same category, augment the coloured rectangle with…

  • another arbitrarily coloured square on the right side
  • a glyph on the right side (can be higher than the rectangle)

• For constant VIs, color the bottom right corner of the VI icon in black

RGB = 108/0/128

hampelsoft-libraries, and other modules and templates from Hampel Software Engineering

RGB = 109/109/131 ('Slide Housing')

Main program for a programmable hardware, sequencer, state machines

RGB = 100/255/0 ('LED on')

User Interface, Results Display, Visualization, Log & Debug Views

RGB = 255/0/0 ('Thermometer Fill')

Error handlers inside modules, shutdown VIs, emergency stop

RGB = 0/65/220 ('Slide Fill')

Generic control of a specific, “non-programmable” hardware like a camera, motor, DC source (NOT: cRIO, FPGA, PLC, …)

RGB = 255/255/204

Writing data to file/database, save images

RGB = 255/153/255

Other Software, Internet, PLC, Database, RS-232, etc.

RGB = 255/128/0

Data Acquisition, Data processing, feature extraction, feature evaluation, calculations…

RGB = 251/223/255

For _Example VIs and _VI Templates.

If converting from or to specific LabVIEW data types, try and use the corresponding wire color in the icon.

Example: Convert from integer to single: Left side is blue, right side is orange.

Glyphs are stored in LabVIEW's data folder, eg. C:\Users\admin\Documents\LabVIEW Data\Glyphs\

• Marks VIs that broadcast data into the world
• [DQMH] Separates Broadcast VIs visually from other request VIs
• Download glyph as .png

• Obsolete for DQMH since release 4.2!