Can I Zoom In or Out in the LabVIEW Block Diagram?

Issue Details

• Can I zoom in or out on a LabVIEW block diagram?
• I am using LabVIEW on a high-resolution display screen, and it is difficult to wire functions on the diagram or read VI labels. How can I better see the VI terminals for wiring?

Solution

The zoom in and zoom out feature in LabVIEW is only available starting from LabVIEW 2023 Q3. Meaning that version earlier than 2023 Q3 will not have this feature available.

There are a few ways to utilize the zoom feature in LabVIEW 2023 Q3:

1. Using the View menu
   • Select View>Toggle Zoom from the menu, the diagram will zoom out to fill the entire window. LabVIEW will restore the zoom level to its previous value when the same menu command is used a second time, but the diagram will be centered around the current mouse position.
2. Using Ctrl (Cmd on MacOS) and the scroll wheel of the mouse can also be used to zoom in or out. A tip strip displays the zoom level percentage when zooming. To return to 100% zoom, use View>>Actual Size.
3. Using keyboard shortcuts, new keyboard shortcuts include:
   • View>Zoom In: Ctrl-+ (or Ctrl-=)
   • View>Zoom out: Ctrl--
   • View>Actual Size: Ctrl-0
   • View>Toggle Zoom: F2

Additional Information

• View As Icon: For subVIs with many terminals, you can expand the subVI to view the input and output nodes in a larger format. 
  1. Right click on the subVI's icon and uncheck View As Icon.
  2. Then, click and drag the bottom of the resulting icon to expand the subVI and visualize the nodes.
     • Optionally, you can return it to View As Icon mode after wiring.

• Use more SubVIs: Creating SubVIs for modular sections of code reduces the block diagram size, increases readability, improves code maintainability, and enhances code scalability. Overly large block diagrams can make navigation and readability of code difficult. To condense a section of code into a SubVI, simply select the desired code by dragging you cursor around it. Next, select Edit»Create SubVI.
  • Refer to the subVIs tutorial for more information.
• Increase font size: You can increase the font size LabVIEW uses to display labels. To do this, in LabVIEW select Tools»Options. This will launch the LabVIEW options window. Select Environment from the Category list and scroll to the Font section. Select the predefined font type from the font chooser drop-down menu. Uncheck the Use default font option and select the Font Style button. Adjust the font size to suit your viewing preferences.