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14 Kudos
RayFarmer

Find / Replace Dialog popup the Variable Dialog to auto complete names

Status: New Submitted by Trusted Enthusiast on 11-02-2011 11:15 AM Comment

It would be nice when entering in the Find: control to beable to pop open the Variable dialog (as in the expression editor) to select variable names. It could be linked to the Limit Search to: control. Like wise on the Replace control when that window appears. 

 

I know you have that drop down facility on this control but that only remembers what you have previously entered.

 

Find_Replace.png

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1 Kudos
Perry_S

Save in Previous Version

Status: Declined Submitted by on 10-24-2011 11:18 AM 2 Comment

TestStand can save a sequence file in previous versions but that option is not very evident. Currently when you go to File >> Save As, the option to chose from is "Files of Type". I propose that a change to "Save in Version" or something to that effect be implemented. This change will make things a lot clearer for the user as it will be self explanatory. Another option will be to make it its own menu item under file>>. I hope see this in future versions of TestStand.

1 Kudos
~jiggawax~

Spare Configuration Entry Point in Default Process Model

Status: Declined Submitted by Trusted Enthusiast Trusted Enthusiast on 09-22-2011 11:40 AM 2 Comment

I think it would be a cool idea to put an extra configuration entry point in the Sequential Model (or all the shipped process models) by default.  Inside of it would be a simple call to an empty callback.  This way users can override the callback to get custom sequence file configuration setting. 

 

This would be useful for storing info like: DAQmx addresses, GPIB addresses, etc... off to a file.  Sorta like machine specific configuration info.  That way during execution the file can be read in and used.  However, if it's empty then people can use it for whatever they want. 

 

I understand that I can go in there and edit the process model and make my own but it would be nice to just have the default already there.

 

You could call it Sequence File Configuration or something.

1 Kudos
Jackie_B

VISA Step Insert for TestStand

Status: Duplicate Submitted by on 09-03-2011 04:06 PM 2 Comment

The usual Insert Step menu in TestStand:

suggestion1.png

 

What the menu might look like with a Insert VISA step:

suggestion2.png

 

A VISA>>Write step would replace a LabVIEW Action Step such as the one I used below for direct Instrument control from TestStand. Queries would look similar and be able to set limits on the returned value.

suggestion3.png

 

LabVIEW VI for the power supply command to the VISA instrument setup from M&A Explorer.

suggestion4.png

 

This is “PS1” in Measurement and Automation Explorer uses Alias Name.

suggestion5.png

 

Example of Query instrument to an Agilent 34970A using Alias Name “DM1” setup in MAX.

suggestion6.png

 

However, a little more complicated than a single string command from the menu. Might take several Write steps first.

suggestion7.png

 

Possible Uses:

  1. Debugging
  2. Instrument control without additional software or programming languages.
  3. Ability to immediately add new instruments and modify existing sequences without an instrument driver. Demonstrates the quickest possible way to gain instrument control with the least effort (for simple systems).
  4. Simple test sequences can be written right away making it easier for technicians or engineers to write tests.
  5. VISA sequence steps can be dragged to the palette and easily re-used.
    suggestion8.png 
16 Kudos
ChrisHawk

Make Output panel available as UI ActiveX Control

Status: New Submitted by Member on 08-19-2011 04:03 AM 2 Comment

The output messages are a good way of sending status messages from the test solution to the end user.  However the control is not available as one of the controls that can be added to user interfaces.

OutputMessage.jpg

Can this control be made available to be quickly added to a UI and linked to the execution view manager.

Also adding some kind of API interface to be able to capture these messages to a log file would remove the need to implement any custom logging mechanisms.  If possible ability to open multiple file logs within the engine at the same time with each file given some kind of filter rules (for example Severity=”error” or ExecutionId=5).  If logs had to be attributed to an execution ID then they could automatically be closed when the execution ended, otherwise the user would have to manually close each file which could get forgotten and TestStand end up with lots of open file references.

8 Kudos
icastillejos

Add Step Precondition To Watch View with 1 Click

Status: New Submitted by Member on 06-29-2011 02:02 PM Comment

When you are running an execution and you want to check if a step will execute or not depending on the precondition you have to go to the step, browse to the precondition, copy it and paste it in the Watch View...

 

Wouldn't it be great if you could add your step precondition the the watch view with a single click (like VS "Add Watch")... ideally I'd have another entry in the menu below called "Debug" ot "Watch View" with submenu-items: "Add Precondition to Watch View", "Add Pre-expression to Watch View", "Add Pre-expression to Watch View"

 

ideaxchange.png

 

Vote for me!!!

 

<<- N --.>

0 Kudos
Shawn_S.

Explain Error in Teststand like LabVIEW

Status: Declined Submitted by on 05-20-2011 05:06 PM 3 Comment

I didn't see this suggestion yet, but could we add the explain error feature in TestStand that is available in LabVIEW under Help » Explain Error...?

0 Kudos
Matt_Cotton

Expand Remote Step Types to RT

Status: Declined Submitted by on 04-20-2011 05:49 PM 1 Comment

I wanted to gauge community interest in a set of step types for remotely setting up an RT Target.

 

1) RT Software Install

 

From a high level, we want to give our users the ability to specify:

  • RT Host
  • RT Target
  • RT Software to install

On a lower level, we have a few different ways to specify software to install. The first is to provide the user the ability to specify specific GUID's from the host or to install all available software from the host. The second is to allow the user to install all available, install selected software from a local file that maps distributions and GUID's, install a "Software Set" from a network location that matches a user-specified part number, or communicate to the RT Target and request a list of software that it can have installed.

 

2) RT Software Un-Install All

 

User specifies a Target Name (or IP), Password and whether to reboot the target after un-install

 

3) RT Reboot

 

User specifies a Target Name (or IP), Password and the target reboots

 

____________

 

 

We've heard interest in these or other remote automation Step Types before, so any feedback or questions would be really valuable!

 

Matt

4 Kudos
MichaelMC

Make it possible to edit Stationglobals from the Teststand Base Deployment License

Status: Declined Submitted by Member on 04-13-2011 07:19 AM 18 Comment

I use the Stationglobals.ini to define my hardware settings on the test PC, like comport number and so on. It is running Teststand Base Deployment.

If I want to edit the settings it's only possible if I copy the stationglobals.ini to my development PC which has the full license, edits the settings, and then copies the file back to the test PC. Before I copy the file to my development PC I need to make a backup of the original file, so I don't get the settings on the development PC overwritten. Then afterwards I have to re-establish the backup.

 

This is a lot of copying back and forth, which is quite annoying.

 

Please make it possible to edit the Stationglobals.ini directly on the test PC with the Base Deployment Engine.

3 Kudos
Josh_W

Make Update VI Calls Tool Work on Type Palettes

Status: Declined Submitted by Active Participant on 03-22-2011 02:19 PM 6 Comment

The Update VI Calls tool only works on sequence files right now.  I'd like it to also work on Step Types in type palettes.

 

Here's the situation where it would be useful for me: I'm working on a set of custom step types for a customer, which use VIs as Edit-Substeps and Post-Substeps. Some of these VIs are shared between multiple step types.

 

The issue that I'm having is that if a customer requests a change to one of these shared VIs (for instance, to add another input or output), then I have to go through and manually update all of the substeps in all of the referencing step types. I've already had a situation where I missed an update of an edit substep. This didn't show up in our automated testing, because it is only run at edit time, but caused an error for the customer which they didn't know how to interpret. Our testing process now has to include manual opening of every single edit substep to make sure they all still work before every release.

 

As part of my validation before a release to the customer, I run the Update VI Calls tool to make sure that there are no broken VIs in the sequence files I'm shipping. The Update VI calls tool already makes sure that I've updated any step modules, but it doesn't catch if I've forgotten to update a Step Type's substeps.

 

And yes, I know, I could write my own tool to traverse a type palette and do the updating myself, but I'd like to see this integrated into the existing tool.

 

 

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44 Kudos
Al.B

Create a TestStand Example Finder

Status: Completed Submitted by on 03-17-2011 01:20 PM 6 Comment

I have noticed that the TestStand shipping examples are often overlooked when looking for ways to accomplish things with TestStand.  This is not the case (as much) in LabVIEW and CVI, and I feel that this is because TestStand does not have an example finder.  I would like to see some method of accessing the shipping examples through the sequence editor environment, such as:

 

1-1.png

Another problem with the current setup is that the only way to know what the example demonstrates is the name of the folder.  This makes it easy to overlook examples that would be helpful. 

 

I propose adding a TestStand example finder with these features (in order of importance):

 

  • Provide a description for each example (most of this info can be pulled from the sequenceFileLoad callback dialogs in a lot of the examples)
  • have keywords for the examples, and allow searching
  • for more advanced examples, provide a batch file to load all necessary components 
  • Provide links to the NI community and developer zone to encourage participation
0 Kudos
Mustanghipo65

Expression Checker for Sequence

Status: Completed Submitted by Member on 10-29-2010 11:56 AM 5 Comment

Having multiple engineers working on code is an issue for me when a person writing an expression doesn't check for errors. I myself am sometimes a culprit of this. The error doesn't show up until Teststand trys to evaluate it, some code will not show errors if the sequence flow doesn't access the step with errors.

 

It sure would be nice to have a tool that checks for expression errors either in the whole sequence file or a called sequence.

0 Kudos
WiMAX_Eng

New Idea Exchange?

Status: Completed Submitted by Member on 09-28-2010 07:03 AM 4 Comment

I'm bound to see backlash for this one but here goes!!

 

The idea exchange, forum and shipped examples are great for learning and resolving specific issues and requesting features and I use them a lot.  But as kind of a newbie what cool things can you actually do?  I'm talking about a different kind of idea exchange for the purpose of sharing what's possible or maybe how some API functions were used to create a particular feature.

 

Fire away !

 

3 Kudos
Skeptical

Sequence File Validation

Status: Completed Submitted by Member on 09-14-2010 01:35 PM 3 Comment

I would like a built-in tool in the Sequence Editor that would check my sequence file to verify that all expressions used in every step are valid and that all variables called exist. It would be nice to find errors during development/edit time rather than at run-time. I think this could significantly improve the usefulness of TestStand.

0 Kudos
kekin

Ability to SELECT / INITIALIZE test resources for UUT before performing TEST.

Status: Declined Submitted by Member on 08-24-2010 06:32 AM 4 Comment

TESTSTAND is capable of interfacing so many devices & instrument to a UUT.

 

Incase of ATE(Automatic test equipment), where lot of resources are made available to test the UUT, not all the resources or instruments will be used through out the test for a particular UNIT. Hence there should be facility to select the resources required for particular test, which will be then only initialized & used.

 

For example a simple power device requires only POWER SUPPLY, LOAD & DMM. Where as a data acquisition system requires POWER SUPPLY, DIO & AIO cards & so on.

 

Thus one should only select the resources required for test & hence no need to have init function separately for each sequence. This may sound a bit complicated but It really helps for LARGE ATEs, where optimization is KEY. Same thing can be implemented for TERMINATING resources once test is done.

30 Kudos
RayFarmer

Tool to create Sequence from Highlighted Steps

Status: Completed Submitted by Trusted Enthusiast on 08-04-2010 01:38 AM 2 Comment

It would be nice to be able to create a new sequence from highlighting steps in a sequence and performing a right mouse click, "Create New Sequence...", this would be a kin to Create SubVI in LabVIEW.

 

This action could display a dialog to give possible options such as, to copy the Setup and/or Cleanup group, Create in a New SequenceFile or in Current SequenceFile, the option to Move or Copy highlighted Steps. It could also include creating any locals and /or  FileGlobals (if creating in a new SequenceFile) used by those highlight steps.

 

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60 Kudos
jeffh12345

Add the capability to express limits in +/-% of expected value in all limits

Status: Completed Submitted by Member on 06-29-2010 06:02 PM 9 Comment

Almost all of our analog measurements are specified in %: example

 

a Power Supply DMM measurement limit is 24.00Vdc +/- 5%

 

We typically have 100+ measurements like this in a project

 

 

Why not include it in the default step types as an optional selection?

I sure would use it, so would my team.

 

I agree that it should not alter existing programs using the default step, but I believe that this feature should have been in Teststand when it was first released.

 

I have run across this in both analog measurements, and the results from an ADC

Think a limit of 0x234 +3%, -7%

 

 

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1 Kudos
Eugene12

A TestStand configuration wizard

Status: Declined Submitted by Member on 06-29-2010 10:28 AM 3 Comment

A TestStand configuration wizard

 

I would like to see a TestStand configuration wizard that would walk a developer through a checklist of all of the most important configuration settings and generate recommended changes.

 

It is best for a developer to be already familiar with Best Practices as in the following link:

 

Best Practices for Improving NI TestStand System Performance

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7559

 

However, it would also be nice to have assistance in recording WHY certain choices are made as shown in this image:

17669iC6E2378DE5CA3B29

 

 

Eugene

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2 Kudos
Eugene12

Professional Development package should include source code control (SCC) and Requirements Gateway

Status: Declined Submitted by Member on 06-24-2010 12:27 PM 6 Comment

Professional Development package should include source code control (SCC) and Requirements Gateway right out of the box.

 

I know that bundled SCC was a problem in the past that NI wants to avoid, but I feel that a "Professional" development system isn't very professional without it and Requirements Gateway. However, It is very difficult and painful for me to get separate funds approved for important items that really needs to be already there right out of the box.

 

I already use free SVN, but TestStand does not recognize it, so it is not "integrated".

 

 

Eugene

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