Configuring Controls and Indicators

Configure the properties of controls and indicators to change how the objects appear or behave. You can use the Properties dialog box or the shortcut menu to configure properties.

To display the Properties dialog box, right-click the control or indicator and select Properties from the shortcut menu. You cannot display Properties dialog boxes while a VI runs.

To display the shortcut menu, right-click the control or indicator.

Tip  To perform a common operation on multiple objects simultaneously, select the objects and use the shortcut menu or the Properties dialog box.

The following options are common to all control and indicator shortcut menus:

• Visible Items—Lists the parts of an object you can choose to hide or show, such as the name label and the caption.
• Find Terminal—Highlights the block diagram terminal for the control or indicator. This menu item is useful for identifying a specific object on a complex block diagram.
• Change to Indicator and Change to Control—Changes the current object to a control or indicator.
• Description and Tip—Displays a dialog box where you can enter and view object descriptions and tips for using the object.
• Create—Creates a Local Variable, Reference, Property Node, or Invoke Node to control various properties of the object programmatically.
• Replace—Replaces the front panel object with a different control or indicator without losing all of the editing options you applied to the object up to that point.
• Data Operations—Contains a submenu of the following data editing options:
  • Reinitialize to Default Value—Sets the control to its default value. You also can use the Reinitialize To Default method to reinitialize a control to its default value programmatically.
  • Make Current Value Default—Makes the current value of the control its new default value. You also can use the Default Values:Make Current Default method to set the default value of all front panel controls programmatically.
  • Cut Data, Copy Data, and Paste Data—Cuts, copies, or pastes the contents of a front panel object.
• Advanced—Contains a submenu of the following advanced editing options:
  • Key Navigation—Assigns keyboard shortcuts to controls so users can navigate the front panel without a mouse.
  • Synchronous Display—Displays every update. Use this feature to display animations. You also can use the Synchronous Display property to set this option programmatically.
  • Customize—Displays the Control Editor window, which you can use to customize front panel objects.
  • Run-Time Shortcut Menu—Contains a submenu in which you can disable or customize the run-time shortcut menu for this control.
  • Hide Control or Hide Indicator—Hides the front panel object from view. To access a hidden object, right-click the block diagram terminal and select Show Control or Show Indicator from the shortcut menu.
  • Enabled State—Determines if an object is enabled, disabled, or disabled and dimmed.