LabView (Chapter 1)

1.8 Palettes: If the Functions Palette is not visible

-select functions plaette from view to display to the plaette

Front Panel Toolbar (Distribute Objects)

-sets the preferred distribution for two or more objects (ex: can evenly space the objects or remove all the space)

Front Panel Toolbar (Reorder)

1. Move objects relative to each other (important because placing an object over or partially covering a control of indicator slows down screen updates and causes flickers 2. Can also group objects so that they can be moved as a single unit or lock them

1.8 Palettes: If the Controls Palette is not visible

-select controls plaette from view to display to the plaette

1.8 Palettes: If the tools palette is not visible...

-select tools plaette from view to display to the plaette

Black Diagram Toolbar (Retain Wire Values)

-Allows you to create proles after VI runs (aka after the VI runs successfully, you can place a probe on the block diagram and the most recent value of the data will be displayed on the probe) (helpful for debugging)

Black Diagram Toolbar (Step Into )

-Allows you to step into a node

Black Diagram Toolbar (Step Out)

-Allows you to step out of a node. By stepping out of the node, you can complete the single stepping through the node and go to the next node

1.8 Palettes: Quick Drop

-Another way to search for specific functions or controls -Access under the view pull down menu or use the shortcut (Ctrl-space)

Black Diagram Toolbar (Clean-Up Diagram)

-Automatically cleans up the block diagram by rerouting all existing wires and reordering objects

1.10 LabView help options: How to display the help window?

-Choose Show Context Help from the Help pulldown menu -If you already have objects placed on the front panel/block diagram, you can find more by placing the cursor on the front panel/block diagram. This causes the Context Help Window to appear showing the icon associated with the selected object and displaying the wires attached to each terminal

Black Diagram Toolbar (Highlight Execution )

-Enables execution highlighting -As the program executes, you will be able to see the data flow through the code on the block diagram

Front Panel window

-Interface to your VI code -Contains various types of controls and indicators (inputs and outputs)

Front Panel Toolbar (Run Continuously)

-Leads to a continuous execution of the VI -clicking on it again leads to it disabling the continuous execution

1.6 Shortcut Menus: Dialog Boxes

-Menu items leading to dialog boxes are denoted by ellipses (...)

1.11 Building Blocks: Pulse width modulation (PWM)

-Method used to digitally encode an analog signal level through modulation of the duty cycle. -used in a variety of situations (light bulb with dimmer switch)

Front Panel Toolbar (Pause/Continue_

-Pauses VI execution -To continue program execution after pausing, press the button again, and the VI resumes execution

Front Panel Toolbar (Broken Run)

-Replaces the Run button when the VI cannot compile and run due to coding errors -Clicking on it will lead to a window that lists all the detected program errors

Front Panel Toolbar (Resize Objects)

-Resize multiple front panels to the same size (ex: select multiple objects and resize them)

Front Panel Toolbar (Align Objects)

-Sets the preferred alignment of the various objects on either the front panel or block diagram

1.9 Opening, Loading, and Saving VIS: What happens when you click the New Link

-The New dialog box can be employed to help you create LabVIEW applications by utilizing VI templates

1.11 Building Blocks: duty cycle definition

-The ratio of pulse width to total cycle time -By changing the duty cycle (50%..80%..etc) the longer pulse length (or "on" time) results in an increased cycle

1.6 Shortcut Menus: How to access the control and function palettes

-You can right click on the empty front panel and block diagram space

Node

-an execution element (like a For Lop or subVI)

1.6 Shortcut Menus: What are hierarchical menus?

Menu items that expand into submenus -Denoted by right arrowhead on the menu -Once clicked, will present with different types of options and commands

Front Panel Toolbar (Abort Execution)

-terminates the execution of the VI (do not click on this, usually let the VI complete or incorporate a programmatic execution control to terminate the VI from the front panel)

Black diagram window

-contains program code that exists in a graphical form (icons, wires etc) -contains terminals corresponding to front panel controls and indicators, as well as constants, functions, subVIs, structures, and wires that carry data from one object to another

Black Diagram Toolbar (Step over)

Button steps over a node

1.8 Palettes: Difference between Functions and Controls Palettes

Controls --> used in creating the front panel Functions--> used in creating the block diagram

1.6 Shortcut Menus: Mutually exclusive option (in hierarchical menus)

If you select the option, a check mark will appear next, indicating the option is selected

1.10 LabView help options: How do you determine which terminals need wiring?

In the help window, required terminals are labeled in bold, recommendation connections in plain text, and optional connections are gray

What does LabVIEW stand for?

Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench it is a powerful and flexible instrumentation and analysis software development application

Front Panel Toolbar (Text Setting)

Pull down menu that sets font options