Select File»Print to display this dialog box.

Use this dialog box to print documentation for a VI, template, or object to a printer or to generate HTML, RTF, or text documentation. This dialog box prints documentation for VIs in the current application instance. To print documentation for VIs in multiple application instances, you must repeat a print operation in each application instance.

Note Click the Preview button that appears on many pages of this dialog box to display the Print Preview dialog box and to view a thumbnail of the document that you want to print.

This dialog box includes the following series of pages, depending on the type of document you want to print:

Option Description
Select VI(s) Lists the following print options:/>
  • VI—

    Prints the current VI in the current application instance.

  • Multiple VIs—

    Prints multiple VIs, which you select on the Select VIs page.
Select VIs If you select Multiple VIs, lists the VIs that you want to print. Click the following buttons to control what VIs or library files appear in the list:
  • Add VI Hierarchy—

    Opens the Add VI Hierarchy dialog box where you add to the list all subVIs for the VI that you are printing.

  • Add File(s)—

    Opens a dialog box where you select .vi or .llb files that you want to add to the list. Select the VI folder icon for an LLB, , to select an entire .llb file.

  • Remove—

    Removes the selected VI(s) from the list.

  • Select All—

    Selects all VIs in the list.

  • Application Instance—

    Indicates the current application instance.

  • Show full paths—

    Shows the full path for each VI in the list.
Print Contents Lists the following print formats and an option to create a unique format:
  • Complete front panel—

    Prints the VI name and the entire front panel.

  • Visible portion of front panel—

    Prints the VI name and the currently visible portion of the front panel.

  • Icon, description, panel and diagram—

    Prints the VI name, description, icon and connector pane, front panel, block diagram, and hidden subdiagrams in Case, Event, or Stacked Sequence structures.

  • VI documentation—

    Prints using custom settings, which you define on the VI Documentation page. You can print the VI name; description; icon and connector pane; front panel; controls and indicators, including data types, names, captions, labels, and descriptions; block diagram; a list of subVIs, including icons, names, and paths; revision history information; and the VI hierarchy.
VI Documentation

Prints using custom settings, which you define on the VI Documentation page. You can print the VI name; description; icon and connector pane; front panel; controls and indicators, including data types, names, captions, labels, and descriptions; block diagram; a list of subVIs, including icons, names, and paths; revision history information; and the VI hierarchy.

  • VI Documentation Style—

    Sets the components in the VI Documentation page according to the following options: Using the panel--Prints the VI name, description, front panel, and controls and indicators, including data types, names, captions, and descriptions. LabVIEW prints the controls and indicators in tabbing order. Using as a subVI--Prints the VI name, description, icon and connector pane, and connected controls and indicators, including data types, names, captions, and descriptions. LabVIEW prints the controls and indicators in tabbing order. This format is similar to the format of the VI and function reference topics in the LabVIEW Help. Complete--Prints the VI name, description, front panel, and controls and indicators, including data types, names, captions, labels, and descriptions. LabVIEW prints the controls and indicators in tabbing order. Custom--Prints using custom settings that you select. Note If you select Using the Panel, Using as a SubVI, or Complete and change any of the default settings, the selection on the pull-down menu automatically changes to Custom.

  • Settings—Includes the following components:
    • Icon and connector pane—

      Prints the VI icon and its connector pane.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Connector? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the VI icon and connector pane.
    • Description—

      Prints the VI description.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Description? property to specify whether to print the VI description.
    • Front panel—

      Prints the front panel.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Panel? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the front panel.
    • Controls—

      Prints a list of control names and a list of indicator names in tabbing order. Also prints sub-controls and sub-indicators of arrays, clusters, and refnums.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Controls? property to specify programmatically whether to print front panel control information.
      • All controls or Connected controls—

        Specifies whether to print all controls and indicators or only the controls and indicators wired to the connector pane. When you select Connected controls, LabVIEW prints only the controls and indicators that are wired to the connector pane.

        You also can use the Printing:Custom All Controls? property to specify programmatically whether to print all controls and indicators.
      • Descriptions—

        Prints the description next to the control or indicator name.

        You also can use the Printing:Custom Control Descriptions? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print descriptions of front panel controls.
      • Data type information—

        Prints data type terminals for each control or indicator.

        You also can use the Printing:Custom Control Types? property to specify programmatically whether to print data type information for front panel controls.
      • Label—

        Prints the label for each control or indicator.

      • Caption—

        Prints the caption for each control or indicator. If a control or indicator does not display a caption, this option prints the label instead.

      • Caption [Label]—

        Prints the caption and label for each control or indicator.

    • Block diagram—

      Prints the block diagram.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Diagram? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the block diagram.
      • Iconified Cluster Constants—

        Specifies whether to print the hidden contents of iconified cluster constants that might be present on the block diagram.

        You also can use the Printing:Custom Cluster Constants? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the hidden contents.
      • Hidden frames—

        Prints the block diagram, including the visible subdiagrams of each Case, Event, and Stacked Sequence structure, then prints all hidden subdiagrams for each structure.

        You also can use the Printing:Custom Diagram Hidden? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the hidden frames for each structure.
        • Ordered (Repeat from higher level if nested)—

          Prints the block diagram, including the visible subdiagrams of each Case, Event, and Stacked Sequence structure, then prints all subdiagrams for each structure in order, including visible and hidden subdiagrams.

          Select this option to better visualize the hierarchy of nested structures in the VI you are printing. You also can use the Printing:Custom Diagram Repeat? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print visible frames in sequence with the non-visible frames.
    • VI hierarchy—

      Prints the current VI hierarchy in memory with lines to show connections among VIs and subVIs. The current VI is highlighted with a box.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Hierarchy? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the hierarchy of the VI in memory.
    • List of subVIs and Express VIs—

      Prints the icon, name, and path of all subVIs and Express VIs the VI uses. If a polymorphic VI is a subVI, LabVIEW prints the instance used in the top-level VI including the icon, name, and path. If the top-level VI is polymorphic, LabVIEW prints a list of all the instances of the polymorphic VI including the icon, name, and path of each instance.

      For polymorphic VIs, LabVIEW also prints all the instances of the polymorphic VI. You also can use the Printing:Custom List of SubVIs? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print a list of the subVIs and Express VIs the VI uses.
    • Express VI configuration information—

      Prints the configuration information for any Express VI on the block diagram.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom Express VI Configuration? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the configuration information for Express VIs.
    • VI revision history—

      Prints the history information, if any exists, for the VI.

      You also can use the Printing:Custom History? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to print the VI revision history information.
Destination Lists destinations to which you can print the file—a printer, HTML file, RTF file, or plain text file.
  • Printer—

    Sends the output to the default printer or other printer you select.

  • HTML file—

    Sends the output to an HTML file.

  • Rich Text Format (RTF) file—

    Sends the output to an RTF file.

  • Plain text file—

    Sends the output to a plain text file.
Page Setup Includes the following components:
  • Print header (name, date, page number)—

    Prints a header at the top of every page that includes the VI name, the last date the VI was modified, and the page number.

    You also can use the Printing:Page Headers? property to set whether to print headers programmatically.
  • Margins—Use this section to set the margins for printouts.
    • Use default margins—Sets absolute margins for printouts in centimeters or inches. You can set all four margins (Left, Right, Top, Bottom) separately. The physical parameters of the printer limit the margins. If you set margins smaller than the printer accepts, the printer uses its minimum settings. This checkbox contains a checkmark by default. Remove the checkmark from this checkbox to set custom margins. This option affects any VI in which you have not set custom margins. If the Use custom page margins checkbox in the Print Options page of the VI Properties dialog box does not contain a checkmark, the VI uses the margins you set in the Options dialog box. If the Use custom page margins checkbox does contain a checkmark, the VI uses the margins you set on the Print Options page of the VI Properties dialog box.
      • Margin units—Allows you to specify whether to use inches or centimeters for the margin values.
        • Inches—

          Uses inches for the margin values.

        • Centimeters—

          Uses centimeters for the margin values.

      • Margin settings—Allows you to customize margins for printouts.
        • Left—

          Sets the width of the left margin.

        • Right—

          Sets the width of the right margin.

        • Top—

          Sets the height of the top margin.

        • Bottom—

          Sets the height of the bottom margin.
Printer

Sends the output to the default printer or other printer you select.

  • Scale front panel to fit—

    Scales the front panel to no less than one-fourth the original size to fit on the fewest number of pages possible. If this option is dimmed, the Front panel checkbox on the VI Documentation page of this dialog box does not contain a checkmark, or you selected an option on the Print Contents page that does not print the front panel.

    You also can use the Printing:Front Panel Scaling? property to scale the front panel programmatically.
  • Scale block diagram to fit—

    Scales the block diagram to no less than one-fourth the original size to fit on the fewest number of pages possible. If this option is dimmed, the Block diagram checkbox on the VI Documentation page of this dialog box does not contain a checkmark, or you selected an option on the Print Contents page that does not print the block diagram.

    If you place a checkmark in this checkbox and in the Hidden frames checkbox on the VI Documentation page, LabVIEW scales only the top-most block diagram image. You also can use the Printing:Block Diagram Scaling? property to scale the block diagram programmatically.

    Note If a block diagram takes up more than one screen, scaling it to fit to one printed page reduces the readability of the printed copy. If you have a large block diagram, consider creating subVIs from existing block diagram code.
  • Page breaks between sections—

    Inserts a page break between the following sections: connector and icon description, front panel, list of front panel object details, block diagram, block diagram details, VI hierarchy, and list of subVIs.

  • Print section headers—

    Prints a header for each section, such as VI Revision History before the revision history information.

  • Surround panel with border—

    Prints a border around the front panel.

    You also can use the Printing:Custom Panel Border? property to print a front panel border programmatically.
HTML Lists the following options for printing to an HTML file:
  • Image format—

    Sets the image format to lossless PNG, lossy JPG, or uncompressed GIF.

    Note LabVIEW does not save graphics as compressed GIF files. Use a graphics format converter to convert the uncompressed GIF files that LabVIEW saves to compressed GIF files. For higher quality compressed GIF files, select the PNG format when you save the documentation and use a graphics format converter to convert the PNG files that LabVIEW saves to GIF files. Starting with the PNG format produces higher quality graphics because the PNG format is an exact reproduction of the original graphic. Modify the HTML file that LabVIEW generated to refer to the GIF files with the .gif extension.
  • Color depth—

    Sets the color depth to black and white, 16 colors, 256 colors, or true color (24-bit).

  • PNG compression—

    Sets the level of quality for the output of PNG graphics.

    The quality of the graphic is not affected by the compression, but the graphic file size and speed of compression are affected by this value. Valid values range from –1 to 9 and balance file compression with speed. The following table lists example values for compression.
    –1Good compression and speed (default)
    0No compression
    1Best speed with compression
    9Best compression
  • JPG quality—

    Sets the level of quality for the output of JPG graphics using the IJG JPEG library scale, which ranges from 0 to 100. The default is 80.

    The scale balances image quality and file size. A value in the 75–95 range produces a compressed file with a high-quality image, and a value below 50 produces a smaller file size with a low-quality image.
RTF Lists the following options for printing to an RTF file:
  • Help compiler source (images written externally)—

    Saves images as external BMP files instead of embedding them in the RTF documentation so you can use the RTF documentation in a compiled help file.

  • Color depth—

    Sets the color depth to black and white, 16 colors, 256 colors, or true color (24-bit).
Plain Text Lists the following option for printing to a plain text file.
  • Limit text per line to—

    Sets a limit on the number of characters of text that appear per line in the printout.

    • characters—

      Sets the number of characters each line displays.