Display: convert all (hundreds) from "view as icon"

[KevinMac]

How can I reduce all of the icons in my schematic view to the smaller representation- i.e. disable "view as icon" property without selecting each individually?

Inheritted someone's sprawling 6-by-6 foot nest of wires....

[NIquist]

Since there is no property for it I don't think it's possible to automate.  Maybe an NI guy will know of a way.

It's a shame that this silly option defaults to ON.  I'll bet every LabVIEW noob ends up kicking himself for not turning it off after a few months of LV experience when their block diagrams start to get more complex.  Is there ANY advantage to this "feature"???

[JohnMc19]

Hi KevinMac,

You can do this by going to Tools> Options>> Click 'Block Diagram' >> Untick the option 'Place front panel terminals as icons'.

Unfortunately you will have to do this before you start making your code...

Hope this helps!

[smercurio_fc]

---

@JohnMc19 wrote:
Unfortunately you will have to do this before you start making your code...

---

I beg to differ...

---

@NIquist wrote:

Since there is no property for it I don't think it's possible to automate.  Maybe an NI guy will know of a way.

---

Well, I'm not an NI guy, but I can tell you that this can be done using scripting. See attached example, written in LV 2010.

---

It's a shame that this silly option defaults to ON.  I'll bet every LabVIEW noob ends up kicking himself for not turning it off after a few months of LV experience when their block diagrams start to get more complex.  Is there ANY advantage to this "feature"???

---

Supposedly it comes in useful with graph controls/indicators. Or something like that. I don't know - it's also one of the first things I turn off, if not the first thing, on new LV installs.

[Darren]

See this thread for a utility VI that will solve your problem.  Also, kudo this idea exchange post if you want the default option changed.

[smercurio_fc]

Somehow I should have known that Darren would have something like that tucked away in his little LabVIEW toolbelt.

[RavensFan · Accepted solution]

Here is my version of it.  Actually one of my first attempts at scripting.  I used the framework that was demonstrated when scripting first became public.  The same framework as "smashy-smashy".

Run this.  It creates a sort of background running VI.  Just have the block diagram you want to change active, then go over and click the button on this VI.  This way you don't have to worry about paths.

(Since then, I've gone a step further and learned about the Right Click Framework and made it an add-on for that.)

[DFGray]

The "view as icon" is very handy for classes and (new use case) clusters of typedefs.  There are some who say you should not mix use of both types, but I, personally, beg to differ.  I use it for clusters and classes.  In all other cases, I would rather have the standard glyph (and i DO turn "view as icon" off immediately on new installs).

[KevinMac]

Thanks.

RavensFan tool did the trick beautifully.

In the end this code is destined for iconless CVI, but I have to do some tire-kicking first.