# FactoryTalk View Studio main window

When you start FactoryTalk View Studio, you can open an existing application or create a new one using the items from the File menu. Once you open an application, the application appears in the Explorer window on the left side of the main window.

Many elements in the main window are common Windows elements and are not described here. The following are described because of their importance to using FactoryTalk View Studio.

Menu Bar - is located below the title bar. It contains the menus for the active window. The menus available depend on which type of editor or window is active.

- To open a menu in the menu bar, click the menu name.
- To choose an option from an open menu, click it, or press the shortcut keys listed beside it.

Toolbar(s) - is located below the menu bar. Toolbars contain buttons for commands commonly used in the active window. When you point to a button with the mouse cursor, its name is shown below it. This is called a tooltip. You can show multiple toolbars by selecting Toolbars from the View menu.

For quick access to one of these commands, click the toolbar button.

Explorer window - displays the folders containing the FactoryTalk Directory structure and the FactoryTalk View Studio editors. FactoryTalk places the name of the local computer and the local directory icon at the top of the tree, and the System folder containing security folders at the bottom, below the application-specific folders. The Explorer window includes the Application window and the Communications window, accessible through the tabs at the bottom. By default, the Explorer appears as the left pane of the main window. You can move, hide and resize the Explorer.

Diagnostics List - is located at the bottom of the window, above the status bar. The information displayed depends on how you have set up FactoryTalk Diagnostics. Click the Clear button to delete the message that is displayed, or, if you have resized the list to display more than one message, select a message and click Clear. Click the Clear All button to delete all the messages.

At run time, to view information about the system, use the default [DIAGNOSTICS] graphic display, or use a diagnostics list object in a customized graphic display.

Status Bar - is located at the bottom of the main window. It provides information about the active window or about the selected tool or command. The information that is displayed depends on where the mouse pointer is.

Workbook Mode tabs - if you select Workbook Mode from the View menu, the right pane displays tabs at the bottom for each graphic display and/or editor currently open in the Explorer window.

Tip: | You can hide or display the toolbars, Explorer window, diagnostics list and status bar using the View menu. A check mark means they are shown. You can undock the diagnostics list and the Explorer window and move them elsewhere in the main window. To move the diagnostics list, click on the double "grab bars" at the left and drag, holding the left mouse button down. (If you can’t see the double grab bars, drag the top edge of the bar up to make it a bit larger. The bars appear at the bottom left.) To dock the diagnostics list, grab the title bar with the mouse and drag the diagnostics list until it touches the status bar, or double-click its title bar. To move the Explorer window, click in its title bar and drag, (holding the left mouse button down), or double-click on the title bar. To resize the diagnostics list or Explorer window when they are undocked, grab an edge with the mouse and drag. Both the Explorer window and the diagnostics list have menus that appear when you right-click on the title bar.

## See also

Use the Explorer window

Test projects during development