The location of a file within a file system. See also Absolute Path.
physical channel
Specifies a DAQ device and channel where a signal is physically connected.
picture control
A control used to display graphics that can be drawn using low-level picture function.
pipe
A special file that is used to read and write data between different applications on a computer. It can be thought of as a queue that is accessible across applications. Use the Pipe Functions to access pipes in LabVIEW.
platform
Computer and operating system.
platform dependent
Software components or functions that only work on specific operating systems. For example, ActiveX is platform dependentit only works on Windows.
plot
A graphical representation of an array of data shown either on a graph or a chart.
plot legend
A part of the graph/chart that displays the name, line color, and line style of the plots.
Polymorphic VI
A special VI type that links to multiple VIs that handle different datatypes for the same operation.
Polymorphic VI Selector
Part of a Polymorphic SubVI that allows the programmer to specify which polymorphic member VI to call. See also Polymorphic VI.
polymorphism
Ability of a node to automatically adjust to data of different representation, type, or structure.
Pop Up
To call up a special menu by clicking (usually on an object) with the right mouse button (Windows and Linux) or while holding down the command key (Mac OS X).
Pop-up Menus
Menus accessed by popping up, usually on an object. Menu options pertain to that object specifically.
port
A collection of digital lines that are configured in the same direction and can be used at the same time.
positioning tool
Tool used to move, select, and resize objects.
priority
Used to control the execution order of parallel tasks (VIs). If two VIs are waiting to execute, the one with higher priority VIs will usually execute first.
probe
Debugging feature for checking intermediate values in a VI.
probe tool
Tool used to create probes on wires.
profile window
Used to generate and view statistics about the execution of VIs. For example, number of times called, total execution time, average execution time, and so on. This is commonly used as a tool for optimizing code.
programmatic printing
Automatic printing of a VI front panel after execution.
project library
A collection of VIs that contain public and private member VIs. Public member VIs can be called by any other VIs, and private member VIs may only be called by members of the same library.
property
An attribute of an object. See also Property Node.
property node
A node used for reading or writing to an object's properties. See also Property.
pseudocode
Simplified language-independent representation of programming code.
Pull-down Menus
Menus accessed from a menu bar. Pull-down menu options are usually general in nature.
pulse
A signal whose amplitude deviates from zero (or some baseline level) for some (usually short) period of time.
PXI
PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation. A modular instrumentation platform based on Compact PCI with additional timing and triggering lines on the communication bus.