Disabling and conditionally compiling graphical code in a graphical program

• US 20040012632A1
• Filed: 07/22/2002
• Published: 01/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Hogan, Kevin, King, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 7,543,281 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/443 Optimisation

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention relates to disabling graphical code in a graphical program. A first portion of the graphical program may be disabled, which may include preventing the first portion of the graphical program from being compiled and/or preventing the first portion of the graphical program from being executed. Another embodiment of the invention relates to conditionally compiling graphical code in a graphical program. A first portion of the graphical program may be compiled if one or more associated conditions are true, or may not be compiled otherwise.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for selectively compiling a graphical program, the method comprising:

displaying the graphical program on a display, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program;

displaying a graphical indication on the display, wherein the graphical indication visually indicates that a first portion of the graphical program is not to be compiled; and

compiling the graphical program, wherein the first portion of the graphical program is not compiled in said compiling.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the graphical indication visually indicates that a second portion of the graphical program is to be compiled;

wherein said compiling the graphical program includes compiling the second portion of the graphical program.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein said compiling the graphical program comprises generating executable program instructions for executing the graphical program;

wherein the generated executable program instructions do not include program instructions for executing the first portion of the graphical program.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises displaying the graphical indication in response to user input.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises:

displaying an object on a first portion of the display; and

displaying one or more nodes of the graphical program within the object;

wherein the object indicates that the one or more nodes within the object are not to be compiled.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving user input to position the one or more nodes within the object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises:

displaying a first node on the display; and

associating one or more nodes of the graphical program with the first node;

wherein the first node indicates that the one or more nodes associated with the first node are not to be compiled.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises displaying one or more lines visually separating the first portion of the graphical program from a second portion of the graphical program;

wherein the one or more lines visually indicate that the first portion of the graphical program is not to be compiled.

9. The method of claim 8,

wherein the one or more lines comprise one or more vertical lines.

10. The method of claim 8,

wherein the one or more lines comprise one or more horizontal lines.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the first portion of the graphical program includes one or more nodes;

wherein said displaying the graphical indication comprises altering an appearance of the one or more nodes in the first portion of the graphical program.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the first portion of the graphical program.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein said executing does not include executing the first portion of the graphical program.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein the graphical program is not executable to perform the first portion of the graphical program.

15. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first portion of the graphical program includes invalid graphical code;

wherein the invalid graphical code does not result in an error when performing said compiling the graphical program.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein the graphical program comprises a block diagram portion and a user interface portion.

17. The method of claim 1,

wherein the plurality of interconnected nodes indicate one or more of data flow, control flow, and/or execution flow.

18. A computer-implemented method for selectively executing a graphical program, the method comprising:

displaying the graphical program on a display, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program;

displaying a graphical indication on the display, wherein the graphical indication visually indicates that a first portion of the graphical program is not to be executed; and

executing the graphical program, wherein the graphical program is not executable to execute the first portion of the graphical program in said executing.

19. A computer-implemented method for conditionally compiling a graphical program, the method comprising:

displaying the graphical program on a display, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program;

displaying a graphical indication on the display, wherein the graphical indication visually indicates that a first portion of the graphical program is to be conditionally compiled based on one or more conditions;

compiling the graphical program;

wherein said compiling the graphical program includes;

determining whether the one or more conditions are true;

compiling the first portion of the graphical program if the one or more conditions are true; and

not compiling the first portion of the graphical program if the one or more conditions are not true.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving user input specifying the one or more conditions.

21. The method of claim 19,

wherein the one or more conditions includes a first condition based on a variable;

wherein determining whether the first condition is true comprises determining whether the variable has a particular value.

22. The method of claim 19,

wherein the one or more conditions includes a first condition based on a variable;

wherein determining whether the first condition is true comprises determining whether the variable is defined.

23. The method of claim 19,

wherein the graphical indication also visually indicates the one or more conditions on which the conditional compilation of the first portion of the graphical program is based.

24. The method of claim 19,

wherein the graphical indication visually indicates that a second portion of the graphical program is to be compiled unconditionally;

wherein said compiling the graphical program includes compiling the second portion of the graphical program.

25. The method of claim 19,

wherein said compiling the graphical program comprises generating executable program instructions for executing the graphical program;

wherein the generated executable program instructions include program instructions for executing the first portion of the graphical program only if the one or more conditions are true.

26. The method of claim 19,

wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises displaying the graphical indication in response to user input.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises:

displaying an object on a first portion of the display; and

displaying one or more nodes of the graphical program within the object;

wherein the object indicates that the one or more nodes within the object are to be conditionally compiled.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving user input to position the one or more nodes within the object.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises:

displaying a first node on the display; and

associating one or more nodes of the graphical program with the first node;

wherein the first node indicates that the one or more nodes associated with the first node are to be conditionally compiled.

30. The method of claim 19,

wherein said displaying the graphical indication on the display comprises displaying one or more lines visually separating the first portion of the graphical program from a second portion of the graphical program;

wherein the one or more lines visually indicate that the first portion of the graphical program is to be conditionally compiled.

31. The method of claim 30,

wherein the one or more lines comprise one or more vertical lines.

32. The method of claim 30,

wherein the one or more lines comprise one or more horizontal lines.

33. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

wherein the first portion of the graphical program includes one or more nodes;

wherein said displaying the graphical indication comprises altering an appearance of the one or more nodes in the first portion of the graphical program.

34. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

selecting the first portion of the graphical program.

35. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein said executing includes executing the first portion of the graphical program only if the one or more conditions are true.

36. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein the graphical program is not executable to perform the first portion of the graphical program if the one or more conditions are not true.

37. The method of claim 19,

wherein the graphical program comprises a block diagram portion and a user interface portion.

38. The method of claim 19,

wherein the plurality of interconnected nodes indicate one or more of data flow, control flow, and/or execution flow.

39. A computer-implemented method for creating a graphical program, the method comprising:

displaying graphical code in the graphical program in response to user input, wherein the graphical code visually represents functionality of the graphical program;

disabling a first portion of the graphical code in response to user input, wherein said disabling the first portion of the graphical code comprises specifying that the first portion of the graphical code is not to be executed during execution of the graphical program; and

storing information representing the graphical program.

40. The method of claim 39,

wherein said disabling the first portion of the graphical code comprises preventing functionality of the first portion of the graphical code from being performed during execution of the graphical program.

41. The method of claim 39,

wherein the graphical code comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes visually indicating functionality of the graphical program.

42. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

visually indicating that the first portion of the graphical code is disabled.

43. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

selecting the first portion of the graphical code;

wherein said disabling the first portion of the graphical code comprises disabling the first portion of the graphical code in response to user input indicating a desire to disable the first portion of the graphical code.

44. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein the graphical program is not executable to perform functionality of the first portion of the graphical code.

45. The method of claim 39,

wherein the graphical code includes a first element for specifying a portion of the graphical code to be disabled;

wherein said disabling the first portion of the graphical code in response to user input comprises receiving user input requesting to associate the first portion of graphical code with the first element.

46. A computer-implemented method for creating a graphical program, the method comprising:

including a plurality of interconnected nodes in the graphical program, wherein the plurality of interconnected nodes indicate one or more of data flow, control flow, and/or execution flow;

disabling one or more of the nodes in the graphical program, wherein the one or more disabled nodes are not executed during execution of the graphical program; and

storing information representing the graphical program.

47. The method of claim 46,

wherein said disabling the one or more of the nodes comprises preventing functionality of the one or more nodes from being performed during execution of the graphical program.

48. The method of claim 46,

wherein said disabling the one or more node in the graphical program comprises disabling the one or more nodes in response to user input.

49. The method of claim 48,

wherein said disabling the one or more nodes in response to user input comprises disabling the one or more nodes in response to user input indicating a desire to disable the one or more nodes.

50. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

displaying the graphical program; and

visually indicating that the one or more nodes are disabled.

51. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

compiling the graphical program, wherein said compiling comprises generating executable program instructions operable to perform functionality of nodes in the graphical program that are not disabled, but not generating executable program instructions operable to perform functionality of nodes in the graphical program that are disabled.

52. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

compiling the graphical program, wherein said compiling comprises generating executable program instructions operable to perform functionality of nodes in the graphical program that are not disabled without performing functionality of nodes in the graphical program that are disabled.

53. The method of claim 46,

wherein said disabling the one or more nodes in the graphical program comprises programmatically disabling the one or more nodes.

54. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

including a code disable structure in the graphical program;

wherein said disabling the one or more of the nodes comprises associating the one or more nodes with the code disable structure.

55. The method of claim 54, further comprising:

displaying the code disable structure, wherein the code disable structure is displayed in a first area;

wherein said associating the one or more nodes with the code disable structure comprises positioning the one or more nodes within the first area in response to user input.

56. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

including a first graphical program element in the graphical program;

wherein said disabling the one or more of the nodes comprises associating the one or more nodes with the first graphical program element.

57. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

selecting the one or more nodes;

wherein said disabling the one or more nodes comprises disabling the one or more nodes in response to user input indicating a desire to disable the selected one or more nodes.

58. The method of claim 46,

wherein the graphical program is not executable to perform functionality associated with the one or more nodes.

59. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein said executing does not include executing the one or more disabled nodes.

60. The method of claim 46,

wherein said including the plurality of interconnected nodes in the graphical program comprises:

arranging a plurality of nodes on a display; and

interconnecting the plurality of nodes in response to user input.

61. The method of claim 46,

wherein the graphical program comprises a block diagram portion and a user interface portion.

62. The method of claim 46,

wherein the one or more nodes have functionality including one or more of:

industrial automation functionality;

process control functionality; and

/or

test and measurement functionality;

wherein said disabling the one or more of the nodes comprises preventing the functionality of the one or more nodes from being performed during execution of the graphical program.

63. The method of claim 46,

wherein said storing information representing the graphical program comprises storing information indicating that the one or more nodes are disabled.

64. A computer-implemented method for creating a graphical program, the method comprising:

including graphical code in the graphical program, wherein the graphical code includes a first portion of graphical code specifying first functionality and a second portion of graphical code specifying second functionality;

disabling the first portion of the graphical code, wherein said disabling comprises preventing the first functionality from being performed during execution of the graphical program; and

storing information representing the graphical program.

65. The method of claim 64,

wherein the first portion of graphical code comprises a first plurality of interconnected nodes visually indicating the first functionality;

wherein the second portion of graphical code comprises a second plurality of interconnected nodes visually indicating the second functionality.

66. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

visually indicating that the first portion of the graphical code is disabled.

67. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

selecting the first portion of the graphical code;

wherein said disabling the first portion of the graphical code comprises disabling the first portion of the graphical code in response to user input indicating a desire to disable the first portion of the graphical code.

68. The method of claim 64,

wherein the graphical code includes a first element for specifying a portion of the graphical code to be disabled;

wherein said disabling the first portion of the graphical code comprises associating the first portion of the graphical code with the first element.

69. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein the graphical program is not operable to execute the first portion of the graphical code.

70. A computer-implemented method for creating a graphical program, the method comprising:

including a plurality of interconnected graphical program elements in the graphical program, wherein the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements includes a first graphical program element;

associating a subset of the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements with the first graphical program element, wherein said associating the subset of the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements with the first graphical program element indicates that elements in the subset of the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements are not to be executed during execution of the graphical program; and

storing information representing the graphical program.

71. The method of claim 70, further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of the graphical program;

wherein said displaying the at least a portion of the graphical program comprises displaying the graphical program elements in the subset.

72. The method of claim 71,

wherein said displaying the at least a portion of the graphical program further comprises:

displaying the first graphical program element; and

visually indicating that the graphical program elements in the subset are associated with the first graphical program element.

73. The method of claim 72,

wherein said visually indicating that the graphical program elements in the subset are associated with the first graphical program element comprises displaying the graphical program elements in the subset within an area bounded by the first graphical program element.

74. The method of claim 70,

wherein said associating the subset of the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements with the first graphical program element comprises including the graphical program elements in the subset within the first graphical program element.

75. The method of claim 74,

wherein, before said including the graphical program elements in the subset within the first graphical program element, one or more of the graphical program elements in the subset have first positions within the graphical program;

wherein including the one or more graphical program elements within the first graphical program element comprises moving the one or more graphical program elements from their respective first positions to new positions within the first graphical program element.

76. The method of claim 74,

wherein, for one or more of the graphical program elements in the subset, including the one or more graphical program elements within the first graphical program element comprises including the one or more graphical program elements within the first graphical program element when the one or more graphical program elements are included in the graphical program.

77. The method of claim 74,

wherein, before said including the graphical program elements in the subset within the first graphical program element, one or more of the graphical program elements in the subset have first positions within the graphical program;

wherein including the one or more graphical program elements within the first graphical program element comprises surrounding the one or more graphical program elements with the first graphical program element.

78. The method of claim 70,

wherein said associating the subset of the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements with the first graphical program element comprises associating one or more of the graphical program elements in the subset with the first graphical program element after the one or more graphical program elements in the subset have been included in the graphical program.

79. The method of claim 70,

wherein said associating the subset of the plurality of interconnected graphical program elements with the first graphical program element comprises associating one or more of the graphical program elements in the subset with the first graphical program element when the one or more graphical program elements in the subset are included in the graphical program.

80. A computer-implemented method for creating a graphical program, the method comprising:

including a first graphical program element in the graphical program;

including a second graphical program element in the graphical program;

associating the second graphical program element with the first graphical program element, wherein said associating the second graphical program element with the first graphical program element indicates that the second graphical program element is not to be executed during execution of the graphical program; and

storing information representing the graphical program.

81. The method of claim 80, further comprising:

including one or more additional graphical program elements in the graphical program, wherein the one or more additional graphical program elements are not associated with the first graphical program element;

wherein the one or more additional elements are enabled to execute during execution of the graphical program.

82. The method of claim 80,

wherein said including the first graphical program element in the graphical program and including the second graphical program element in the graphical program comprises including the first graphical program element in the graphical program before including the second graphical program element in the graphical program.

83. The method of claim 80,

wherein said including the first graphical program element in the graphical program and including the second graphical program element in the graphical program comprises including the second graphical program element in the graphical program before including the first graphical program element in the graphical program.

84. The method of claim 80, further comprising:

including a third graphical program element in the graphical program;

associating the third graphical program element with the first graphical program element, wherein said associating the third graphical program element with the first graphical program element indicates that the third graphical program element is not to be executed during execution of the graphical program.

85. A computer-implemented method for creating a graphical program, the method comprising:

displaying a first plurality of interconnected nodes in the graphical program, wherein the first plurality of interconnected nodes visually indicate first functionality;

displaying a code disable structure in the graphical program; and

displaying a second plurality of interconnected nodes in the graphical program, wherein the second plurality of interconnected nodes visually indicate second functionality, wherein the second plurality of interconnected nodes are associated with the code disable structure;

wherein the code disable structure visually indicates that the second plurality of interconnected nodes is not to be executed during execution of the graphical program.

86. The method of claim 85,

wherein the displayed code disable structure bounds a first area within the graphical program;

wherein said displaying the second plurality of interconnected nodes in the graphical program comprises displaying the second plurality of interconnected nodes within the first area bounded by the code disable structure.

87. The method of claim 85,

wherein said displaying the second plurality of interconnected nodes in the graphical program comprises:

displaying a first node in response to user input;

displaying a second node in response to user input; and

connecting the first node to the second node in response to user input.

88. The method of claim 85, further comprising:

executing the graphical program;

wherein said executing the graphical program comprises executing the first plurality of interconnected nodes;

wherein the graphical program is not operable to execute the second plurality of interconnected nodes.

89. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying a plurality of elements in an executable diagram, wherein each element has associated functionality, wherein the displayed plurality of elements visually indicate functionality of the executable diagram;

receiving user input selecting one or more of the elements in the executable diagram, wherein the user input indicates a desire to prevent the one or more elements from executing; and

executing the executable diagram, wherein said executing includes performing functionality of elements not selected by the user input, wherein said executing does not include performing functionality of the elements selected by the user input.

90. A computer-implemented method for compiling a graphical program, the method comprising:

including graphical code in the graphical program, wherein the graphical code specifies functionality of the graphical program;

specifying a first portion of the graphical code to be disabled, wherein a second portion of the graphical code remains enabled; and

compiling the graphical code;

wherein said compiling comprises generating executable program instructions implementing the second portion of the graphical program;

wherein said compiling does not include generating executable program instructions implementing the first portion of the graphical program.

91. A computer-implemented method for compiling a graphical program, the method comprising:

including graphical code in the graphical program, wherein the graphical code includes a first portion of graphical code specifying a first portion of functionality and a second portion of graphical code specifying a second portion of functionality;

disabling the first portion of the graphical code, wherein said disabling comprises preventing the first portion of functionality from being performed during execution of the graphical program; and

compiling the graphical code;

wherein said compiling the graphical code comprises generating executable program instructions operable to perform the second portion of functionality but not the first portion of functionality.