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42 Kudos
flaborde

Smart rename for variables

Status: Completed Submitted by Member on 11-08-2010 01:11 PM 7 Comment

Currently, when you rename a variable, you have to rename all the places where you are using the variable manually. It would be helpful to have a "smart rename" option which, after renaming the variable will update its uses.

 

smart_rename.png

7 Kudos
kent.wedeking

Loaded Environment File indicated on TestStand splash screen

Status: New Submitted by Member on 11-16-2020 11:03 AM Comment

If you are using a custom environment file for TestStand 2016 and later, it would be great if, on startup, the splash screen indicated the loaded Env file name and path.

 

As you can see below, in our custom TestStand RTOI we are showing the loaded environment file on the splash screen when it loaded.  The TestStand 2019 splash screen is shown for comparison.

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35 Kudos
Teds

Message Box enhancement with Preview button.

Status: Under Consideration Submitted by Active Participant on 03-28-2012 11:56 AM 1 Comment

I would like to enhance the TestStand Message Box step to add a 'Preview' button.  When selected, it would show how the currently configured message box will look when run.

 

I find that I am often switching around the text, fonts, and other aspects and would like to get that straightened out before run time.  I know you can run the step individually by selecting 'Run Selected Step' but that is tedious, plus you have to take into account preconditions and other functionality.  Normally, I have to remove the precondition (if there is one) as often the step cannot be run by itself.

 

So here is my example with the button added.  Not exactly sure what tab it would belong on.

 

 Message Box with Preview


 

Thanks,

 

Paul

 

27 Kudos
coldy_robsten

Support Triple-Clicks in text fields

Status: Under Consideration Submitted by Member on 12-01-2013 09:10 AM 2 Comment

Please support triple-clicking like in LabVIEW or Firefox...

 

A double-click selects the word at the click position (OLD behavior),

a triple-click selects the whole text (like <CTRL>+<A>, NEW behavior)

 

Thanks!

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7 Kudos
_carl

API that doesn't rely on ActiveX UI Components

Status: New Submitted by Member on 08-18-2020 11:50 AM 1 Comment

The TestStand API doesn't provide a simple, robust mechanism allowing developers to programatically run sequences outside of the ActiveX UIs.

 

On many an occasion I've wanted to wrap the following basic functionality:

  • Run a specific sequence file (with or without a [typically custom] process model)
  • Wait for it to complete.
  • Retrieve the result.

It's something I've needed to do in all of the following situations:

  • Integrating into a customer's existing framework
  • Integrating into my own automated test framework
  • Providing a simple API to a customer
  • Creating customized UIs that rely on UI messages and events rather than the ActiveX Controls

The solution I've ended up defaulting to in the past has been some variation on:

  • Start with the full-featured C# UI.
  • Scrape out all visible ActiveX Controls, and hide the window so that it's running in the background.
  • Integrate a TCP/IP (or equivalent) client into the application that has the ability to listen for requests and then implement them through the AxApplicationMgr.
  • Build a TCP/IP server assembly that launches the client application and exposes the necessary API for simple interactions.

The approach above is time-consuming, error-prone, and feels like a hack -- but given that TestStand does not expose any easy mechanism for simply running a sequence, this is what I've ended up having to resort to.

1 Kudos
isabell_L

No selection of any field inside Offline Processing Utility (ORPU) when application starts

Status: New Submitted by Member on 12-22-2023 04:48 AM Comment

When user opens the Offline Processing Utility and at the same time starts to type on the keyboard the user can accidently rename the profile.

(Attached a screen-recording to visualize)

It would be great if there was no selected row or column when starting/opening ORPU. The renaming of the profile disturbs the production since the database logging will not work as expected.

 

When we start ORPU we already have the '/tray' enabled but somehow its still possible to accidently rename the Profile.

36 Kudos
YogeshPai

Steps that are skipped can be dimmed?

Status: Completed Submitted by Member on 11-11-2010 04:37 AM 9 Comment

Hi,

 

I came up with a suggestion to improve the TestStand software ( currently using 4.2.1)- may be in the forthcoming versions.

 

1.Is it possible to slightly dim ( or grey) the steps that are skipped while creating the sequence file? This can help the user to know by looking at the sequence as to what steps have been skipped.

 

2. Ability to assign a color to the steps with particular settings: ex: 'preconditions'.

 

Would this help the user for a quick analysis of the sequence file during sequence creation? I am not totally sure but was just a suggestion for improvement. Any expert comments please?

 

Thanks,

 

Yogesh

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13 Kudos
warren_scott

TestStand Sequence Analyzer able to anlyze subset of a sequence file

Status: Under Consideration Submitted by Active Participant on 09-26-2017 04:50 PM 4 Comment

right now with TestStand Sequence Analyzer utility, it is limited to analyzing a whole sequence file at once (or as much of it as you analyze before you hit the stop button).

However, if I have a long sequence file this can take quite a while, and I don't really want to wait.

Add a feature where I can select areas to analyze and have sequence analyzer just analyze those areas (for example -- select a few (sub)sequences in my sequence file, or a few steps within a sequence).  This way I can limit the area of my analysis to where I know I made changes (or where I know my biggest problems are) and focus on those and not waste time analyzing everything else. 

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11 Kudos
Mr._Jim

Clickable Links for Cross Referencing Steps or Sequences from an Expression Comment

Status: New Submitted by Active Participant on 05-18-2018 12:19 PM Comment

Hi all,

 

At times when I am filling out an expression, I'd like to be able to refer other developers to a specific sequence or step within the file.

 

I think it'd be useful to be able to add clickable "hyperlinks" to other steps or sequences within the same file.

ExpressionCommentLink.png

Would anyone else use this if it were a feature?

 

Thanks as always,

Mr. Jim

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34 Kudos
LVB

Add Progress Indicators During Pre-Load

Status: Completed Submitted by Active Participant on 08-06-2010 01:13 PM 3 Comment

When loading large sequence files, TestStand does not display progress and appears to "lock up" both TestStand and the LabVIEW OI.  Sequences with hundreds of steps can take minutes to load.  Operators often incorrectly conclude the application has stopped respoding during long pre-loads.

 

I am suggesting to implement a responsive progress display, allowing the LabVIEW OI to proceed execution, and post the following UI Messages during step pre-load.

 

UIMessageCodes

  1. UIMsg_ProgressPercent–(Value: 11) TestStand step modules post this message to the user interface to notify it to update its progress indicator associated with an execution.
  2. UIMsg_ProgressText–(Value: 12) TestStand step modules post this message to the user interface to notify it to update its progress message associated with an execution.

 

20869i87D31F1755A9EB9F

29 Kudos
Al.B

Make "OnNewStep" its own subStep type

Status: Under Consideration Submitted by on 10-10-2011 01:13 PM 2 Comment

Currently, if you create a step type and name it OnNewStep, it will execute when an instance of the step is created.  This is pretty confusing to new users - why don't we just have an OnNewStep substep type (like prestep, edit, etc)? Custom steps would then just be meant to be called manually using the Step.ExecuteSubstep() Method as documented in the help.

 

onNewStep.png

 

We could keep the "onNewStep" custom step functionality to maintain backwards compatibility with older step types. 

11 Kudos
Mr._Jim

Copy Full Variable Name Expression From Context Menu

Status: New Submitted by Active Participant on 02-26-2018 11:35 AM 2 Comment

Hi all,

 

There are times, for instance, when I am paused at a breakpoint and I want to copy the full name expression of some deeply nested variable that only appears at runtime.

 

I wish there was an option on the context menu that would allow me to copy the full path of some variable.

 

For instance, in the following illustration I want to be able to copy the string

"Parameters.ModelPluginConfiguration.Plugins[0].PluginSpecific.RuntimeVariables.PerSocket[0]"

I've added a context menu option called "Copy Path", but maybe that's the wrong nomenclature.

 

Am I ignorant of some functionality that already does this? (Besides typing it in the watch window?)

 

Thanks as usual,

 

Mr. Jim

 

CopyVariablePath.png

 

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4 Kudos
Mr._Jim

Order Types Alphabetically in Type Selection Context Menu

Status: New Submitted by Active Participant on 08-06-2021 10:09 AM 3 Comment

When assigning a type to a property, the list of types is in an unordered pile. In the next release, can someone please alphabetize it?

 

(PS. Do not ask about the context of this image. It's not pretty. 😏 )

 

PileOTypes.png

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17 Kudos
Mathieu_T

User Interfaces available in LabVIEW : Why Sequential model and not Batch or Parallel ?

Status: New Submitted by on 05-27-2015 07:35 PM 3 Comment

Hi there,

 

This post is just in order to know why there is a user interface available in LabVIEW language (simple or full-featured) suitable for sequential model and NOT for Batch and Parallel models, while these are available in CVI language ?

 

The customer, who is an allaince member and a famous TestStand user (MESULOG) submitted this idea because he had to translate code from CVI to LabVIEW, and thnik this would be a great thing to add to the next release.

 

Cheers,

 

Mathieu,

 

 

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5 Kudos
bienieck

Add Tools to Custom Toolbars

Status: New Submitted by Active Participant on 11-25-2020 01:57 AM Comment

I would like to see the possibility to add Tools (Menu > Tools) to Toolbars. See the recording below:

tools.gif

 

As you can see from Tools section I can select only "Customize". It could be great to have the ability to use custom tools when customizing toolbars and menus.

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19 Kudos
NitzZ

Custom Step to detect "Step Deletion"

Status: Under Consideration Submitted by Active Participant on 05-09-2012 06:07 AM 4 Comment

It would be nice to have some kind of Custom Step which gets triggered when a step is deleted from a sequence. Something very much similar to "OnNewStep" which is triggered when a Step is dropped into the sequence.


We may have an option, say, "OnStepDeletion" to detect the deletion of a step. This will be very helpful in many of the step usages.

 

The TestStand Flow Control Steps like "IF" and "FOR" use the "OnNewStep" to create an "END" step along with them when they are dropped. But there is no means to automatically remove the created "End" when the "FOR" or "IF" Steps are deleted from the sequence. The proposed "OnStepDeletion" can be handy in such cases.

I hope you all will support this idea as it will make many of the functionalities more efficient. 

 

Regards,
Nitz 

(PS : Forgive me if anyone has posted this idea already. I couldn't find any such posts)

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17 Kudos
Shawn_S.

Context Menu Addition - Close All Except This File

Status: Completed Submitted by on 08-16-2012 03:40 PM 3 Comment

Hello,

 

Could we add an option to the context menu within TestStand that populates when one right clicks the tab for a *.seq file in the Sequence Editor?  I would like a feature that allows users to be able to close every window except for the selected window.  I've included a screen shot below for clarity.

 

CloseAllButThisFile.png

 

Cheers!

 

Shawn S.

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17 Kudos
Manooch_H

Add Quick Drop to TestStand

Status: Completed Submitted by Active Participant on 06-22-2011 03:43 PM 4 Comment

How many of you would benefit from the addition of a feature similar to LabVIEW's Quick Drop?

The functionality that initially comes to mind would be typing to search for your desired step type or step template and dropping it into the sequence you are developing. Please add comments for any additional functionality you might like to see in a TestStand step Quick Drop (for example, you may want TestStand to automatically navigate to the Step Properties of a step after it is dropped from Quick Drop).

Please also add comments for any other situations/scenarios (outside of adding steps to a sequence) where you might benefit from a Quick Drop-like functionality. Thank you.

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17 Kudos
AllenR

The ability to have line numbers for all steps in the left hand gutter.

Status: Under Consideration Submitted by on 05-25-2011 08:02 AM 5 Comment

Having the ability to have line numbers for all steps in the left hand gutter would help in troubleshooting, code reviews, and any time when communicating about a sequence.  There seems to be a gutter there already, so adding there seems to be a place for them already.  Error messages can also post the line number too.

 

6 Kudos
crossrulz

Select VI PPL View

Status: New Submitted by Knight of NI Knight of NI on 05-03-2018 06:56 AM 1 Comment

When choosing a VI for a step, if you browse into a PPL, the view shows the directory structure inside of the PPL.  A better view would match what LabVIEW shows: the Virtual Folder layout.

 

I tend to keep my library VIs in a flat directory structure, but organize them in my project with Virtual Folders.  But the PPL view in TestStand just shows the single directory instead of the nice organization that I set up in the project.

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