National Instruments BridgeVIEW Activity 4-2. Import a Graphic Image into BridgeVIEW

Chapter 4 Human Machine Interface

If you want to use the control in other VIs, you can save it as a custom

control by selecting File»Save. After you save the control, you can place it

on other front panels using the Controls»Select a Control….

You can import graphics from other programs for use as background

pictures, as items in ring controls, or parts of other front panel controls.

Before you use a picture in BridgeVIEW, you must load it into the

BridgeVIEW clipboard. To load an example of this type of control,

right-click the front panel and select Controls»Select a Control…, and

open Example\G Examples\General\controls\custom.llb box.

If you copy an image directly from a paint program to the Windows

clipboard and then switch to BridgeVIEW, BridgeVIEW automatically

imports the picture to the BridgeVIEW clipboard. Or you can select

Edit»Import Picture from File… to import a graphics file into the

BridgeVIEW clipboard. Once a picture is in the BridgeVIEW clipboard,

you can paste it as a static picture on your front panel, or you can use the

Import Picture option of a popup menu, or the Import Picture options in

the Control Editor. Picture files supported include EMF, BMP, and WMF fil es.

Activity 4-2. Import a Graphic Image into BridgeVIEW

Your objective is to use a graphic image created in an external drawing

package in a BridgeVIEW front panel control.

1. In BridgeVIEW, select File»New to create a new VI. With the front

panel open, select a Horizontal Pointer Slide from

Controls»Numeric. Pop up on the slide (click on it with the right

mouse button) and select Change to Indicator.

2. With the Positioning tool, grab the upper-right corner of the slide and

stretch it to the right, to make the slide longer. If you hold down the

<Shift> key when you click and drag the mouse, you will restrict the

stretch to one direction. Move the Digital Display of the slide to a

central location below the slide.

3. Select the slide with the Positioning tool and select

Edit»Edit Control…. The Control Editor window appears, as shown

in the following illustration.