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

Figure 1. Nav tree


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.