Reuse of old PropertyFile format in TestStand2016

[SoundIng82]

First of all: I did search for my Topic in Forum but didn´t find Headlines indicating that my Problem was already treated in another thread!

We came from TestStand 4.2.1 originally, updated to TS2014 some years ago and now want to switch to TS2016. This shall be used for new as well as for existing test stations.

I had to learn that in TS2016 the Property Loader we used till now is only available as "Legacy Property Loader" in the TS Sequence Editor in the future and that there is a new Property Loader with several enhancements.

Especially due to a better failure description in case of Import Errors with the new loader, decision was made to use this now.

In the past, our PropertyFiles were in Excel (2003 XLS, not XLSX!) and in a Matrix Format, displaying the properties for one Test step in one line and same properties in one column (e.g. column Min_Limit, Max_Limit, MaxMeasureTime and so on). Additionally, variable FileGlobals and StationGlobals were contained. Find the example "123456_TemplatePropertyFile.XLS" attached.

After my first tries with the new PropLoader in TS2016, I noticed that this structure is no more supported! Means each Setting leads to one line in the PropertyFile (thus, a test step with e.g. 8 properties, we had in a readable Format in one line before, is displayed in 8 lines now!)

I guess this is to keep file content similar to database entries with sequence properties.

With the Tools->Import/Export Properties... Option in sequence Editor, I get files like csv and txt (also attached), which shall be used for the new PropLoader (we want to change File Format to get rid of MS Office Installation on our test Systems; however, XLSX Export looks the same). 

Even if we would accept this confusing structure of Property Files, we would have lots of efforts to convert all our Property Files to this new Format! I already started a Service request at NI and was in contact with a really competent NI collegue, but he couldn´t even tell me why this new structure has been implemented nor how / if I can reuse our PropFile Format.

My question: Does anyone has the same Problem and found a way to use the new PropertyLoader with old Property Files?

Or is there a converter avaliable to automatically convert old files to new Format?

Our requirement: Use new Prop Loader with CSV file in the structure of our old XLS Property Files!

Thanks ahead for any helpful hint!

[Shashidhar]

As I understand, there are two things here:

- Converting your XLS files into CSV with the same structure

- Using old format property files in TestStand 2016 property loader step

For converting the files, you can either use Microsoft Excel to save files in CSV as mentioned here or use the old Import/Export Properties tool as mentioned here and create new files.

You can use those files in the TestStand 2016 property loader step, set the type to be 'NI Legacy Comma Delimited Text (*.csv)' and property loader should work with the files you create.

Also, if you want a completely different format/syntax for property files, you can create your own plugin as mentioned here so that the new format can work with the property loader step.

Hope it helps.

-Shashidhar

[SoundIng82]

Hi Shashidhar,

thanks for your Reply!

Yes, we want to Keep the well structured old style of property files. Unfortunately, the conversion to CSV directly from Excel doesn´t lead to a loadable CSV for the TestStand Property Loader. Anyhow, I didn´t find the correct Settings to be successful with that.

Exporting the CSV fromout TestStand Sequence Editor 2016 brings up a CSV which can generally be imported; with some modifications.

Finding with that: As already documented here, all comma used in the file are interpreted as separator; thus, no string may be contained with a comma in it, as it´s import will be stopped after the comma!

There is also no other separator possible but comma, so e.g. a semicolon can´t be used! It also doesn´t work with the "NI Legacy Comma Delimited Text (*.CSV)" prop loader.

Trying the hint with the own created prop loader plugin, I wonder how this can be integrated in TestStand!?

On https://www.ni.com/docs/en-US/bundle/teststand-api-reference/page/tsref/property-loader-plugins.html, I found out that

<TestStand>\Components\PropertyLoader\Templates\<Environment> 

means e.g.

C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\TestStand 2016\Components\PropertyLoader\Templates\LabVIEW

and 

<TestStand Public>\Components\PropertyLoader \<YourPluginName>

means

C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\TestStand 2016 (32-bit)\Components\PropertyLoader\MY_PROPLOADER,

but with generating a copy of the LabVIEW LVPlugin.llb in the target Folder and after reviewing the VI templated, I didn´t get a clue how to Import such a plugin after the Generation.

Do you know a helpful example for this? The NI help isn´t a help concerning this plugin Generation issue...

Best regards! SoundIng82

[Shashidhar]

SoundIng82,

Instead of using excel software to convert your files to CSV, you can also try re-creating the property files in CSV format using the Import/Export Properties Tool as mentioned here.

Also, as you mentioned, it might be difficult to create property files in CSV format when the value itself contains comma. If the values doesn't contain any tab character, then you can convert your files to Tab Delimited Text where the separator is a tab, and use it with the 'NI Legacy Tab Delimited Text (*.txt)'.

If you retain the format and syntax used earlier, you can use property files in both old property loader step (shipped with TestStand earlier than 2016) and new property loader step (shipped with TestStand 2016 and later).

I suggest you to create a property loader plugin only when the format/syntax is radically different. TestStand 2016 or later ships the plugin source code for the formats supported by the property loader. It is written in .Net (C#) and can be found at <TestStand>\Components\PropertyLoader\NI_PropertyLoader.sln. If you do not have visual studio, you can traverse the directory to find the cs files and you can check what each function is doing. Each function is equivalent of a VI in the LabVIEW llb. Also, the llb file should be placed in C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\TestStand 2016 (32-bit)\Components\PropertyLoader directory. Your support VIs and other related files can be present in your own directory.

Regarding improving help related to plugins, the issue having ID# 593708 is being logged.

-Shashidhar