Learn about block diagram enhancements in LabVIEW 2020.

Cleaning Up Broken Wire Branches

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. In previous versions of LabVIEW, a broken wire branch causes the entire wire to display as broken and removing the wire branch removes the entire wire. In LabVIEW 2020, only broken wire branches display as broken. When you remove broken wires by selecting Edit » Remove Broken Wire or pressing <Ctrl-B>, LabVIEW removes only broken wire branches. LabVIEW removes the entire wire if all branches are broken.



[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member altenbach.]

Hiding the Event Data Node

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. In an Event Structure, you can show or hide the Event Data Node for a case when all data items are unused. Right-click the structure border and select Visible Items » Event Data Node for This Case to show or hide the Event Data Node.

[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member Broken_Arrow.]

Hiding the Iteration Terminal in Loops

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. In For Loops and While Loops, you can choose to show or hide the iteration terminal. Right-click the loop border and select Iteration Terminal to show or hide the terminal. You cannot hide the iteration terminal if the terminal is wired.

[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member somebody_that_i_used_to_k.]

Swapping Wire Positions When Only One Input is Wired

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. In previous versions of LabVIEW, you can swap wire positions on a function that has two inputs and both inputs are wired. In LabVIEW 2020, you can swap wire positions on the function when only one input is wired. Press the <Ctrl> key while clicking the wired input to swap wire positions.

[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member altenbach and tst.]

Setting Text on Icons

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. In LabVIEW 2020, you can quickly create an icon that contains text by using the Quick Drop keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-K>. When you press <Ctrl-Space> and then <Ctrl-K>, LabVIEW adds the filename of the VI as text in the icon. LabVIEW truncates the text if it is too long.

You also can right-click the VI icon and select Set Icon to VI Name.

You can customize the text by pressing <Ctrl-Space>, typing the text you want to appear in the icon, and then pressing <Ctrl-K>.

[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member tst.]

Displaying Context Help for Objects in Quick Drop

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. The Context Help window displays information about the object you select in the Quick Drop dialog box.

[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member elset191.]

Improvements to Wiring Terminals for Objects Inserted from Quick Drop

This new feature originated from a suggestion on the NI Idea Exchange discussion forums. Objects you add on the selected wire using Quick Drop have improved default wiring. When you use the Quick Drop keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-I>, LabVIEW wires the object to the most appropriate terminals. The following functions have improved wiring:

  • Binary numeric functions, such as Add, Subtract, Multiple, and Divide
  • Binary Boolean functions, such as And, Or, Exclusive Or, Not And, Not Or, Not Exclusive Or, and Implies
  • Binary Comparison functions, such as Equal?, Not Equal?, Greater?, Less?, Greater Or Equal?, Less Or Equal?
  • Compound Arithmetic
  • Get Variant Attribute
  • String functions, such as Match Pattern, Search and Replace String, and Search/Split String
  • Array functions, such as Delete From Array, Insert Into Array
  • Quotient & Remainder
  • Select
  • Insert Into Map
  • Insert Into Set
[Idea submitted by NI Discussion Forums member D*.]