Seems to me the general consensus is that constants should be sub-vis, and
since there could (will) be many of them, they can be collected together
into a subfolder under the application. This does achieve some of the
advantages of the #define: the constants are collected together in one
easy to find place, changes to the constants are easily propagated
throughout the application, and there is little (if any) performance
penalty at runtime. The downside? Well, if you told a c programmer he had
to have a different *file* for every constant he probably wouldn't stop
laughing for a couple of years. And there is considerably more of an
editing headache... #define is a handful of keystrokes... the vi constant
method is about a hundred mouse clicks, editing an icon, saving a new file,
and bringing that file onto whatever diagram I was working on (which I can
remember anymore).
Alright, I know this is just par for the course, and I do like LabVIEW, but
that doesn't mean I won't bellyache about things that seem unnecessarily
time consuming or irritating.
George Gatling
Applied Technology Division, SFA Inc.
Space Physics Simulation Chamber
US Naval Research Laboratory
202-404-5405 (phone)
202-767-3553 (fax)
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?
We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. --Jack Handy
