1.1 Labview environment

When you launch LabVIEW, the navigation dialog box appears that includes introductory material and common commands.

The LabVIEW dialog box includes the following components:

• A menu with standard items such as File>>Exit .
• A set of buttons for creating and opening VIs, configuring data acquisition devices, and finding helpful information.
  • Click the New button to create a new VI. Click the arrow on the New button to choose to open a blank VI or to open the New dialog box.
  • Click the Open button to open an existing VI. Click the arrow on the Open button to open recent files.
  • Click the Configure button to configure your data acquisition devices. Click the arrow on the Configure button to configure LabVIEW.
  • Click the Help button to launch the LabVIEW Help . Click the arrow on the Help button for other Help options, including the NI Example Finder .

Creating and saving a vi

When you click the New button in the LabVIEW dialog box, the New dialog box appears. You also can select File>>New to display this dialog box. When you select a template in the Create new list, previews of the VI appear in the Front panel preview and the Block diagram preview sections, and a description of the template appears in the Description section. shows the New dialog box and the SubVI with Error Handling VI template.

Click the OK button to open the template. You also can double-click the name of the template VI in the Create new list to open the template. If no template is available for the task you want to create, you canstart with a blank VI and create a VI to accomplish the specific task. In the LabVIEW dialog box, click the arrow on the New button and select Blank VI from the shortcut menu or press the Ctrl-N keys to open a blank VI.

Open/templates

Use the New dialog box to create different components in LabVIEW to help you build an application. Youcan start with a blank VI to write a VI from scratch, or start with a template to simplify the programming. The New dialog box includes the following components:

• Create new

  Displays templates you can use to start building VIs and other LabVIEW documents. Selectfrom the following templates and click the OK button to start building a VI or other LabVIEW document.

  • Blank vi

    Opens a blank front panel and blank block diagram.

  • Vi from template

    Opens a front panel and block diagram with components you need to builddifferent types of VIs.

  • Other document types

    Opens the tools you use to build other LabVIEW objects.

• Browse for template

  Displays the Browse dialog box so you can navigate to a VI, control, or template. If you previously have browsedfor and selected a template from this dialog box, use the pull-down menu of the Browse button to select a template to reopen it.

• Front panel preview

  Displays the front panel for the VI template you selected in the Create new list.

• Block diagram preview

  Displays the block diagram for the VI template you selected in the Create new list.

• Description

  Displays a description of the template you selected in the Create new list if the template includes a description.