Always place functions with names visible

[wildcatherder]

Is there some way to always have function names turned on when they are placed on the Block Diagram?  I think the fact that functions are placed with names not visible by default is the reason we are plagued with so many examples where we are supposed to just "grok" the hieroglyphics or go through turning on names one-by-one to understand what is going on.

[wildcatherder]

By "names", I meant "labels".

[Hooovahh]

I don't know what example you found that has pictures without VIs or Snippets but that is a really poor example.  Labels generally clutter up the BD.  I know what the Add function looks like, I don't need a label on it telling me it is the add function.  I understand new developers aren't as familiar with what everything is, but that's why you learn.  Open the VI (or snippet), open the context help and hover over it to see what it is and how it works.  That being said if you want to make a product suggestion there is the Idea Exchange where users vote on features.  This could also likely be done with VI Scripting but would be a big under taking for a new developer.

[altenbach · Accepted solution]

There is an option to "show subVI names when dropped", but I that does not work for primitives.

The problem is that if we had that option, it would only show for primitives that you drop, and I would imagine that you know the function in that case. You have no control over code written by others.

There is some validity to your request, especially for functions that change their appearance depending on how they are wired (compare "index array" with a 1D, 2D, and 3D array wired. Same for many other array functions). This means that if you see a picture of the function, there is an almost zero change that you find something that looks exactly like it in the palettes. 😞

What you fortunately can do, is lasso all your functions on the diagram at once and do a "right-click...visible items...label". This should be sufficiently fast to show all relevant label to make the diagram more readable to you.

[Gregory]

Hi Wild,

It depends what you mean by "functions". You cannot turn labels for primitives on by default, but you can turn labels for SubVIs on by default. Go to tools >> options...

[ben64]

If you press Ctrl+H to open the context help window you just have to put your mouse pointer over a function and its name will be displayed in the Context Help window.

Ben64

[wildcatherder]

There are over 10,000 different functions and provided subVIs for LabVIEW; nobody learns the icons for them all.

Thanks for the "lassoing and mass change" suggestion, although it will make a mess of the more complex examples.  If labels are not visible when dropped, that space will often be used by something that will mask the label when turned on.  Same for when I am dropping functions.  I really do spend an inordinate amount of time turning on labels.  I program in several languages and it may be six months before I get back to LabVIEW again.

[RavensFan]

But as others have said, you don't need to turn on labels.

Just hover over the function with Context Help turned on.