How to edit Teststand UI controls in the Labview example

[MechUnit]

Hello Community,

32-bit Teststand 2014

32-bit Labview 2015

I am trying to make edits to the provided Teststand Simple Interface in Labview called Top-Level VI.vi.

I want to be able to make edits to the Teststand UI controls and having a rough time.

I found though the property brower, for the buttons, I can make some changes to the text style.

There are a few buttons I want to disable and came across this link for help, but I did not fully understand it.

I tried using "Unbundle by Name" and "Invoke Node". However, I don't think I was doing it correctly.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/3FE78CAEC4AD770286256E9100090900?OpenDocument

Next, I wanted to rename the buttons and came across this link.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/530118071CD7E3B686256E89007BB16D?OpenDocument

Also, while looking at the labview examples for teststand I noticed that it is possible to switch out the Teststand UI control for a regular labview control. Is this worth looking into instead?

I mainly want to make the interface look better and not being able to make edits to the teststand UI control is holding me back.

Any help or examples on how to make changes to a teststand UI control would be greatly appreciated please.

Thank you

[Norbert_B]

The TestStand UI Controls are ActiveX containers. A lot of functionality is prewritten and cannot be changed. For instance the button text is determined by the button itself by reading the TestStand language file depending on the TS connection you have configured for the button.

If the modifications to the visual appearance you plan to implement exceed simple configuration setting (a simple configuration being e.g. decal), it is easier to use/modify standard LV controls.

Please look into the examples provided here for information on how to work with this (use the "Black UI" example).

Norbert

[MechUnit]

Thank you Norbert for the helpful information.

I was able to add a standard LV boolean to the Teststand UI Data Type definition.

What I am trying to learn...

"Entry Point 2 Button" is the "Single Pass" button in teststand.

On my GUI I want to be able to style my Start button while using the Single Pass Functionality in Teststand.

The buttons are two different types.

Is it possible to replace "Entry Point 2 Button" with my standard LV control?

[levitt2me]

Hello MechUnit!

There is an example in TestStand that walks you through how to use native LabVIEW controls when building a TestStand UI. This document will direct you to the example and has instructions on how to use it.  Hope this helps!

Casey L.

Applications Engineer

[Dennis_Knutson]

The very first version of TestStand had a UI built entirely with LabVIEW. Maybe some one still has a version sitting around. I didn't keep one, the ActiveX controls were a huge step forward.

[MechUnit]

Hey Levitt2me,

Thank you for the exmaple document location. 

The VI is doing what I wanted and that is using the basic labview controls to interact with Labview.

However, the controls on the front panel still act the same way as the Teststand UI control and not what I was expecting.

I am able to enable or disable the control and rename the control with ease, which is great.

I can not change the color of the buttons ON/OFF state in the "Basic UI with Native Controls.vi".

Why is something like changing a color to the button so difficult  

Would you please be able to attach a quick example as to how you would modify the color of the "Execute" button in the "Basic UI with Native Controls.vi"?

[zou · Accepted solution]

These buttons are ActiveX buttons.

To change their properties, right click on it, and select Property Browser... 

Please be aware that TestStand owns them.  Any changes may be overwritten by TestStand at runtime.

If you want to use a native LabVIEW button, you can use the ActiveX button method => Do Click to start the sequence when your button got clicked.

However, you have to take care other properties (such as diable when sequence start run) of your button yourself.

[MechUnit]

It seems the best option for me is to use the Teststand UI Button Control and use the ActiveX button method "DoClick".

This way I can use a native labview button and customize it how I want.

It was shown in some of the examples given to me, but I did not grasp it at the time.

Thank you all for your help and time.