Right-click a numeric constant and select Properties from the shortcut menu to display this dialog box.
Appearance
Use this tab to specify which elements of the object are visible.
- Label Visible—Displays the owned label for the object and enables the Label Text text box so you can edit the label. You use the label to identify the object on the front panel and block diagram.
- Label Text—Text to use for the label.
- Show radix—Displays the radix for the object, which you can use to change the data to decimal, hexadecimal, octal, or binary format, or SI notation.
Data Type
Use this tab to specify the representation of numeric objects or outputs and to configure fixed-point data types.
- Representation—Sets the representation of numeric data.
- Fixed-Point Configuration—Sets the configuration settings for fixed-point data. Set Representation to Fixed-point (FXP) to enable these options. These options are not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
 | Note You can configure either Encoding or Range settings. If you configure Encoding settings, LabVIEW updates the Range settings to fit the specified encoding. If you configure Range settings, LabVIEW updates the Encoding settings to fit the specified range. If you edit both Encoding and Range settings, the last settings you edit before clicking the OK button are the settings that LabVIEW uses for the fixed-point data. |
- Encoding—Sets the binary encoding settings for the fixed-point data. These options are not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
- Signed—Sets whether the fixed-point data is signed. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
- Unsigned—Sets whether the fixed-point data is unsigned. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
- Word length—Sets the number of bits that LabVIEW uses to represent all the possible values of the fixed-point data. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
- Integer word length—Sets the number of integer bits, or the number of bits to shift the binary point to reach the most significant bit, for all the possible values of the fixed-point data. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms. Integer word length can be larger or smaller than the Word length and can be positive or negative.
- Range—Sets the desired range for the fixed-point data. These options are not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
 | Note The fields you use to specify these values display the values in double-precision floating-point representation, so the precision of Maximum, Minimum, and Desired delta might not be exact in terms of fixed-point representation. However, the deviation is very small. |
- Minimum—Sets the minimum value for the fixed-point data range. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
- Maximum—Sets the maximum value for the fixed-point data range. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
- Desired delta—Sets the maximum desired distance between any two sequential numbers in the fixed-point data range. This option is not available for enums, rings, knobs, slides, or waveforms.
Display Format
Use this tab to set the display format for numeric objects or outputs.
- Apply to—Sets the component you want to configure.
- Type—Type of the numeric object.
- Floating point—Displays the numeric object in floating-point notation.
- Scientific—Displays the numeric object in scientific notation. For example, 60 in floating-point notation equals 6E+1 in scientific, where E represents the power of 10 exponent.
- Automatic formatting—Displays the numeric object in the format that LabVIEW determines is appropriate for the data.
- SI notation—Displays the numeric object in System International (SI) notation, in which the unit of measurement appears after the value. For example, 6000 in floating-point notation equals 6k in SI notation.
- Hexadecimal—Displays the numeric object in base-16 format. Valid digits are 0 to F. For example, 60 in floating-point notation equals 3c in hexadecimal. This option is not available if the representation of the numeric object is floating-point.
- Octal—Displays the numeric object in base-8 format. Valid digits are 0 to 7. For example, 60 in floating-point notation equals 74 in octal. This option is not available if the representation of the numeric object is floating-point.
- Binary—Displays the numeric object in base-2 format. Valid digits are 0 and 1. For example, 60 in floating-point notation equals 111100 in binary. This option is not available if the representation of the numeric object is floating-point.
- Absolute time—Displays the numeric object in terms of time elapsed since 12:00 a.m., January 1, 1904, Universal Time. You only can set absolute time with the time stamp control.
- Relative time—Displays the numeric object in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds starting from zero. For example, 100 in floating-point notation equals 1:40 in relative time.
- Digits—If Precision Type is Digits of precision, this field contains the number of digits to display after the decimal point. If Precision Type is Significant digits, this field contains the number of significant digits to display. This option is not available if Format is Hexadecimal, Octal, or Binary. For single-precision, floating-point numbers, National Instruments recommends that you use values from 1 through 6 in this field if the Precision Type is Significant digits. For double-precision and extended-precision, floating-point numbers, National Instruments recommends that you use values from 1 through 13 in this field if the Precision Type is Significant digits.
- Precision Type—Sets whether to display digits of precision or significant digits. Select Digits of precision if you want the Digits field to indicate the number of digits to display after the decimal point. Select Significant digits if you want the Digits field to indicate the number of significant digits to display. This option is not available if Format is Decimal, Hexadecimal, Octal, or Binary.
- Hide trailing zeros—Removes zeros at the end of the number. If the number has no fractional part, this option also removes the description part. This option is not available if Format is Hexadecimal, Octal, or Binary.
- Exponent in multiples of 3—Formats the number in engineering notation, where the exponent is always a multiple of three. This option is not available if Format is Floating Point, SI Notation, Hexadecimal, Octal, or Binary.
- Use minimum field width—Pads any excess space to the left or right of the number with zeros or spaces to reach the minimum width you enter in Minimum field width.
- Padding—Sets whether to pad with spaces on the left or right or to pad with zeros on the left.
- Time Type—Sets the format of the time displayed in the control or indicator.
- Custom time format—Uses the format you configure in this dialog box.
- System time format—Uses the format of the operating system.
- Time unused—LabVIEW does not display time in the control or indicator.
- Hour type—Sets whether to use a 12-hour clock with AM/PM notation or a 24-hour clock.
- HH:MM or HH:MM:SS—Sets whether to display hours and minutes or hours, minutes, and seconds.
- Digits—If you select HH:MM:SS, this field contains the number of digits to display after the decimal point in the seconds.
- Date Type—Sets the format of the date displayed in the control or indicator.
- Custom date format—Uses the format you configure in this dialog box.
- System date format—Uses the format of the operating system.
- Date unused—LabVIEW does not display the date in the control or indicator.
- Month/day/year—Sets the order in which to display the month, day, and year.
- Year—Sets whether to display the year and whether to display it as 2 or 4 digits.
- Format string—Format codes to use to format the number. This field appears when you select Advanced editing mode.
- Format Codes—Displays the format codes you can use in the Format string. Double-click a format code to insert it in the Format string. This field appears when you select Advanced editing mode.
- Insert into Format String—Inserts the selected format code into the Format string. This button appears when you select Advanced editing mode.
- Format Code Type—Sets the type of format codes to display in the Format Codes list. This pull-down menu appears when you select Advanced editing mode.
- Valid—Indicates whether the syntax of the Format string is valid. This LED appears when you select Advanced editing mode.
- Revert—If the syntax of the Format string is not valid, click this button to revert Format string to the last version with valid syntax. This button appears when you select Advanced editing mode.
- Editing mode—Sets whether to edit the format and precision using the default view of the page or using format codes.
Documentation
Use this tab to describe the purpose of the object and to give users instructions for using the object.
- Description—Contains a description of the object. Descriptions for controls, indicators, and constants appear in the Context Help window when you move the cursor over the object. You can enter a description for a VI or function located on the Functions palette but you can only view the description in this dialog box. The description will not appear in the Context Help window. You can format the text in the description to appear bold in the Context Help window. If you want to display a carriage return in the Context Help window, you must separate paragraphs with two carriage returns.
- Tip strip—Brief description of the object to display when you move the cursor over an object while a VI runs.