DMD - How Do I...

[Mike Nash]

How do I get my Project Browser and Data View back the way I want them (short of "Default Layout")? I seem to be quite adept at dragging a memory view a little too far and suddenly having it dock all over the place. Then, trying to drag it back out of the left sidebar, top or bottom, I get totally hosed. So now I am seeing a solid left sidebar with tabs at the bottom to choose Project Browser or Data 1. I want to have Data 1 below Project Browser as it does in the default layout. But I don't want to default it to do it. (My Cmore v6 lost a window and "default" was a baaaad idea. Now I'm gunshy.) This has happened a lot and I don't know how to drag or click things back right.

Second. I am not very clear on how to manage the Memory Views. If I dock them, they take up a bit much of my limited screen space. If I right click on the title bar and select "Hide" as best as I can tell they are "Gone" as I can't find them and have to recreate the view. When they get mysteriously docked at the top (with tabs) I don't have the layout I need (Single column, multiple views at the moment to line cells up between different "arrays"). Yes I absolutely need a larger monitor and a second or third to boot.

One more - for now - I often get a rung of the ladder highlighted when I don't think I did it. These highlighted rungs seem to take a lot of clicking around to get them deselected. I can select other rungs or instructions and the unwanted ones also stay selected. I am NOT doing this with any keyboard keys being pressed. If it is a rung I selected I can easily deselect it.

These aren't gripes, just frustrations, and I suspect it is just me not figuring this out. I run into this stuff when doing a project and don't have the time to spend playing with things enough.

The processor and software are great. The actual programming is taking far less time than getting my head wrapped around what I have to get into the program to make the machine work.

P.S. I know "gunshy" isn't a real word as typed, but I am also paranoid these days.

[franji1]

There currently is not a Help topic on how to manipulate Dockable/Floatable views - we will address that in the next release.  In the mean time...

• To dock a dockable/floatable view, just grab its title bar by holding down the left mouse button, then move the mouse cursor to one of the 4 edges of the client area of Do-more Designer to dock it on that edge (non-title bar, non-status bar area).  You should see the outline of the view while you are moving it around, and see it "snap" to the edge when your mouse cursor gets to that edge.  Release the mouse button to drop the view there.
• To float a dockable/floatable view, just grab its title bar by holding down the left mouse button, then move the mouse cursor to any place on your screen, or even another screen if you have multi-monitor support.  Release the mouse button to float the view there.
• Dockable/floatable views can be docked adjacent to each other or even layered on top of one another, regardless of whether the views are docked to the application or floating.  They can be docked above, below, left, or right of each other.  When they are layered on top of each other, a tab shows up on the bottom of the docked group for each view in the layered group.
• To layer a dockable/floatable view with another dockable/floatable view, grab its title bar or its tab.  You should see the outline of the view while you move it around.  Move the mouse cursor to the title bar or the tabs of the other view.  The outline of the view you are dragging should snap to the other view's shape and reveal the outline of a tab at the bottom of the other view.  Release the mouse button to layer the view on top of the other view.
• When a dockable/floatable view or tab group is docked, you can auto-hide it by un-pinning the view.  Click on the Push-Pin button next to the Close button in the title bar.  This will auto-hide the view to the edge it is docked to.
• To momentarily reveal an auto-hidden docked view, float your cursor over its tab on the edge, then move it away from the tab when done.  To temporarily see the hidden view, click on its tab.  Then click anywhere else to hide it again.  To permanently see the docked view (disable auto-hide), reveal the view and click on the Push-Pin in the title bar to toggle it back to normal docked display mode.

[franji1]

Rung highlighting occurs in the following situations:

• Shift+Arrow key to select rung(s).
• Shift+Ctrl+Home, Shift+Ctrl+End to select multiple rungs from the current rung back to the beginning of the ladder view, or forward to the end of the ladder view, respectively
• Left Clicking in the "rung address" margin of a rung selects THAT rung.
• Ctrl+A to Select All of all the rungs in the current view.

Note that non-contiguous rung selection is NOT supported.  It must always be a single rung or a range of rungs, all within the same code-block.

[Mike Nash]

There currently is not a Help topic on how to manipulate Dockable/Floatable views - we will address that in the next release.  In the mean time...

Thank you, thank you. I'm afraid I cling too hard to the past at times. I'm flexible as long as I only have two choices

I just tried this out in the simulator to avoid disturbing my online project and I can see there is a lot I have been missing. I can also see how easy it is to "lose" things when I don't know what all the GUI is capable of. 

(My XP desktop is nearly identical to 98SE, my Win7 (which I loathe) is as close as I could force it, I even saw a Windows 8 machine once or twice...)

[Mike Nash]

Rung highlighting occurs in the following situations:

• Shift+Arrow key to select rung(s).
• Shift+Ctrl+Home, Shift+Ctrl+End to select multiple rungs from the current rung back to the beginning of the ladder view, or forward to the end of the ladder view, respectively
• Left Clicking in the "rung address" margin of a rung selects THAT rung.
• Ctrl+A to Select All of all the rungs in the current view.

Note that non-contiguous rung selection is NOT supported.  It must always be a single rung or a range of rungs, all within the same code-block.

I know it isn't supported, but it sure "looks" like it is trying to do it at times. I always click around the screen to get it to un-hang since I don't know what it will actually do at these times. I usually can't make it do it, it just catches me up. I am suspecting it occurs when moving between tasks or programs. If I can find a reproducible combination, I will let you know. I rarely work offline so I am on a real processor or the simulator.

BTW, the single instruction copy/cut and paste is a really nice upgrade.

[Mike Nash]

An issue with the Cross Reference. I set my options for No Nicknames and Number Rungs by Address for the screenshots below.

The first image shows the cross reference showing C999 highlighted just before I double clicked on $Main@82.

The second image shows C999 still highlighted, but the cross reference is no longer showing C999 and I do have the cross reference set to follow ladder cursor. This is a consistent behavior and I have not found a way around it.

[franji1]

In a previous post, you stated

I always click around the screen to get it to un-hang since I don't know what it will actually do at these times. I usually can't make it do it, it just catches me up.

This may be the issue - the software should not be "hanging".  I am guessing that your XP box may be a little "dated".  The graphic updates may be a little burdensome for your PC.

There are some settings in the .INI file to "slow down" the update rate for slower PCs.

1. Shut down Designer, then relaunch it without opening a project.

2. In the Launch Pad window (docked on the left side), in the Applications group, look for the DmDesigner1_4.ini file entry.  Double click on that.  This will launch NOTEPAD to let you edit the proper .INI file.

3. Look for the SETUP group in square brackets.  Within that group are two entries that are commented out with semicolons at the beginning:
;DataViewInterval=50
;ProgViewInterval=25

4. Remove the semicolons, and quadruple the two values, so set DataViewInterval to 200 and ProgViewInterval to 100:
DataViewInterval=200
ProgViewInterval=100

These are update intervals in milliseconds.

5. Save the .INI file in Notepad, then shutdown Notepad.

6. Open your project online and turn status ON, and see if Designer behaves any differently.  It should appear more "responsive", and you should no longer see anything "hanging", as you commented earlier.

Please let us know if this addresses the "hanging" issue.  I am hoping that this may be the root cause of your XRef View issue also.

[Mike Nash]

You may be correct about the slow (my Win7 machine is far far worse - go figure.)

I made the changes you suggested and it seemed like it did the trick - initially. But if I open more program tabs, a data view, turn on status, etc. it starts acting up again. It is very consistently wrong though. However, changing one of the parameters, such as closing a program tab, or the data view or turning off status seems to change where it "lands" given the same start position before the double click in the xref.

I just sent a bug report about this machine crashing the program when opening a memory view.

I'm going home now though.

[franji1]

You may be pushing the limits of your PC.  Do-more Designer CAN work on older PCs, but it CAN get bogged down if you have lots of code-blocks open with STATUS ON, along with lots of Memory Views (as was in your first screen shot) and Data Views.

What is the processor model/speed in your PC?
How much memory do you have?
Is it the 32-bit version of XP?

You may need to upgrade your PC, or else limit the number of code-blocks and data views and memory views to a small number, to keep the UI responsive.

[Mike Nash]

Well, at least you know it can work when some old fart refuses to give up his comfort zone.

I can live with the little issues (as long as I can remember they are only on my end...)

I did try the DataViewInterval=200 ProgViewInterval=100 at work, and then again just now at home except I used 500 and 250 here. No real change on either. The xref works just peachy until I have 3 tabs open (main, subprogram, task) in any combination, without a data view, without a memory view, and no status even. Something about having 3 even though they are not big routines and only one is "open".

I have set the ini settings back. If I see the hanging highlights again I will see if either or both help. Of course I can't make it do it when I try.

Don't lose any sleep over this and thanks for the help!

[Controls Guy]

I got the Permanently Selected Rung glitch today for the first time.   What worked for me to reset it was to click in the left margin of the selected rung (to the left of the left rail), then in the output/coil column.

I also had a weird incident where I added a timer normally (with no evident problem), then when I tried to insert a contact, I'd type "Txx", get the member list as normal, select "Txx.Done", but when I hit enter I get this weird dialog about a non-printable character in the nickname.  It was fairly persistent, but seemed to fix itself after about five irritations, so I can't tell you how to reproduce it (plus it's the only time it's ever happened to me).

Finally, and this thread reminded me of it, I've been wondering for a while if there's some reason you can't keep track of which windows are visible and move status data for only the visible ones.  That way if you have 50 of them open with all status on, it doesn't add to the comms load and bog down the machine (or at least the comms).  Obviously trend views and things that need to maintain a history would be an exception to that.