Navigating the Controls and Functions Palettes

Click an object on the palette to place the object on the cursor so you can add it to the front panel or block diagram. If you click the thumbtack in the upper left corner of a palette to pin the palette, you also can right-click a VI icon on the palette and select Open VI from the shortcut menu to open the VI.

Click the black arrows on the left side of the Controls or Functions palette to expand or collapse palette categories. These arrows appear only if you set the palette format to Category (Standard) or Category (Icons and Text).

Use the following buttons on the Controls and Functions palette toolbars to navigate the palettes, to configure the palettes, and to search for controls, VIs, and functions.

 Up to Owning Palette —Takes you up one level in the palette hierarchy. Click this button and hold the mouse button down to display a shortcut menu that lists each subpalette in the path to the current subpalette. Select a subpalette name in the shortcut menu to navigate to the subpalette. This button appears only if you set the palette format to Icons, Icons and Text, or Text.

Search —Changes the palette to search mode so you can perform text-based searches to locate controls, VIs, or functions on the palettes. While a palette is in search mode, click the Return button to exit search mode and return to the palette.

Customize —Provides options for selecting a format for the current palette, showing and hiding categories for all palettes, and sorting items in the Text and Tree formats alphabetically. Select Options from the shortcut menu to display the Controls/Functions Palettes page of the Options dialog box, in which you can select a format for all palettes. This button appears only if you click the thumbtack in the upper left corner of a palette to pin the palette.

Restore Palette Size —Resizes the palette to its default size. This button appears only if you resize the Controls or Functions palette and you click the thumbtack in the upper left corner of a palette to pin the palette.