Understanding Shortcut Menu Plug-Ins

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Updated2025-04-01
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Understanding Shortcut Menu Plug-Ins

You can add custom items to the shortcut menu of front panel and block diagram objects by creating shortcut menu plug-ins. Shortcut menu plug-ins call VIs that you customize using VI scripting. You can create custom items that appear when you right-click the following objects:

Edit-time front panel objects
Edit-time block diagram objects
Run-time block diagram objects

Refer to ni.com/lvmenus for more information about shortcut menu-plugins and for code examples from the NI Community.

Shortcut Menu Plug-In Architecture

A shortcut menu plug-in must contain the following files, where x is the name of the plug-in.

x .ctl —The type definition that specifies the objects that the plug-in affects.
x .vi —The build VI that builds the shortcut menu.
Execute x .vi —The plug-in execution VI that executes when you select the custom item from the shortcut menu.

You save these files in an LLB with the plug-in name x .llb. LabVIEW searches and loads plug-ins from LLBs in one of the following directories only. LabVIEW ignores contents of subdirectories when searching for plug-ins.

<LabVIEW Data>\PopupMenus\edit time panel and diagram —Contains LLBs of plug-ins that affect edit-time front panel and block diagram objects used by all versions of LabVIEW.
<LabVIEW Data>\PopupMenus\run time diagram —Contains LLBs of plug-ins that affect run-time block diagram objects used by all versions of LabVIEW.
labview\resource\plugins\PopupMenus\edit time panel and diagram —Contains LLBs of plug-ins that affect edit-time front panel and block diagram objects used by this version of LabVIEW only.
labview\resource\plugins\PopupMenus\run time diagram —Contains LLBs of plug-ins that affect run-time block diagram objects used by this version of LabVIEW only.

If two LLBs have the same name, the LLB in the labview\resource\plugins\PopupMenus directory takes precedence.

Creating Shortcut Menu Plug-Ins

Creating a shortcut menu plug-in consists of the following parts:

Part 1 : Specifying the objects that the plug-in affects.
Part 2 : Determining how the custom item appears in the shortcut menu.
Part 3 : Editing how the plug-in executes when you select the custom item.

To begin creating a shortcut menu plug-in, run the following utility VI: labview\resource\plugins\PopupMenus\Create Shortcut Menu Plug-In From Template.vi

The utility VI generates the files you need for your plug-in. You customize the files to build the shortcut menu and execute the plug-in.