Menus and Toolbars

LabVIEW 8.5 Help
August 2007

NI Part Number:
371361D-01

»View Product Info

Use the menu and toolbar items to operate and modify front panel and block diagram objects.

Menus

The menus at the top of a VI window contain items common to other applications, such as Open, Save, Copy, and Paste, and other items specific to LabVIEW. Some menu items also list keyboard shortcuts.

(Mac OS) The menus appear at the top of the screen.

Note Some menu items are unavailable while a VI runs.

Shortcut Menus

All LabVIEW objects have associated shortcut menus. As you create a VI, use the shortcut menu items to change the appearance or behavior of front panel and block diagram objects. To access the shortcut menu, right-click the object.

(Mac OS) Press <Control>-click to perform the same action as right-click.

While you are editing a VI, the shortcut menu of a control or indicator contains several common options.

Shortcut Menus in Run Mode

When a VI is running, or is in run mode, all front panel objects have an abridged set of shortcut menu items by default. Use the abridged shortcut menu items to cut, copy, or paste the contents of the object, to set the object to its default value, or to read the description of the object.

Note You cannot reinitialize, cut, or paste the data of an indicator in run mode. The Reinitialize to Default Value, Cut Data, and Paste Data options are available only for controls in run mode.

Some of the more complex controls have additional options. For example, the knob shortcut menu includes items to add a needle and to change the display of scale markers.

You can customize the run-time shortcut menu for each control you include in a VI. To customize a shortcut menu, right-click a control and select Advanced»Run-Time Shortcut Menu»Edit from the shortcut menu to display the Shortcut Menu Editor dialog box. Use the Shortcut Menu Editor dialog box to associate the default shortcut menu or a customized shortcut menu file (.rtm) with the control. You can customize shortcut menus programmatically.

You also can add shortcut menus to front panels. To add a shortcut menu to the front panel, use the Shortcut Menu Activation and Shortcut Menu Selection pane events.

You also can disable the run-time shortcut menu on a control.

Note Custom run-time shortcut menus appear only while the VI runs.

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts

You can change and customize the default LabVIEW keyboard shortcuts. Select Tools>>Options to display the Options dialog box. Select Menu Shortcuts from the Category list to set keyboard shortcuts for VI menu items. Customized keyboard shortcuts apply only to block diagram and front panel windows. The Menu Shortcuts page of the Options dialog box also lists the default LabVIEW shortcuts for menu items.

VI Toolbar

Use the buttons on the VI toolbar to run VIs, pause VIs, abort VIs, debug VIs, configure fonts, and align, group, and distribute objects.

Project Explorer Window Toolbars

Use the buttons on the Standard, Project, Build, and Source Control toolbars to perform operations in a LabVIEW project. The toolbars are available at the top of the Project Explorer window. You might need to expand the Project Explorer window to view all of the toolbars.

You can show or hide toolbars by selecting View»Toolbars and selecting the toolbars you want to show or hide. You also can right-click an open area on the toolbar and select the toolbars you want to show or hide.