About the Nav sidebar

The Nav sidebar contains a hierarchical view of the whole system, referred to commonly as a tree. The metaphor is better described as an upside-down tree with the main root, My Host at the top.

The Nav tree sidebar opens by default when you start Workbench

Each node in the structure includes a symbol or icon that reflects its type. If the node is a file, the symbol represents the type of file.

At the highest level, the Nav tree may include the following (when working from a localhost, as shown):

  • My Host identifies the hardware system that hosts the framework.
  • My File System provides access to the system and user homes as well as the local computer’s drive(s).
  • My Modules lists the software units that comprise this instance of the framework.
  • My Tools makes selected tools available during the current session when no station is connected. When you open Workbench, a My Tools node is not present in the Nav tree. It appears when you click Tools and select any tool. My Tools is provided as a convenience and may be useful in only a limited number of situations. When connected to a station, you would use the services under the Services folder of the specific station.
  • Platform connects the framework to your PC or remote controller.
  • Station(s) (connected or disconnected) represent the stations being managed by the current instance of Workbench
You can double-click on each node and use popup menus to perform all operations that are available from the Nav tree. For example, you can double-click to connect or disconnect to a station, refresh a tree node, and more). The expandable tree provided here is very useful for performing actions on nodes and for navigating among views.