# Operating Panels

A panel is a rectangular region of the screen where controls and menu bars reside. Panels provide the backdrop for many different activities, such as representing the front panel instrument.

| Note To place a panel into the User Interface Editor window, select Create»Panel.

Panels operate like windows. You can minimize panels, resize them, move them, and overlap multiple panels. Panels can contain other panels, called child panels. An example of a child panel within a parent panel appears in the following figure. The outer panel is called the parent panel; the inner panel is called a child panel. Child panels can appear within other child panels. You cannot drag a child panel outside its parent panel. If you shrink a parent panel, a child panel might be partially or completely hidden in the shrunken panel view.

Child Panel within a Parent Panel

You can operate a panel from the keyboard in the following ways:

- Press <Shift-Ctrl> and the up arrow key to move to the parent panel of the current panel.
- Press <Shift-Ctrl> and the down arrow key to move to the child panel of the current panel.
- Press <Shift-Ctrl> and the left or right arrow key to move to rotate between panels at the current level in the panel hierarchy.
- Press <Tab> to move to the next control on a panel.
- Press <Shift-Tab> to move to the previous control on a panel.

You can operate a panel with the mouse in the following ways:

- Click anywhere inside a panel to make it active.
- Click anywhere on a control to make it active.

Operating Pop Up Panels

Programming Panels

Programming Pop Up Panels

Child Panels

Panel Attributes

Panel Functions

Panel Events