TestStand-Engine

[Sunny]

TestStand engine has an ActiveX/COM Interface to be used in high level programming tools but
is there any possibility to use these functions by tools only supporting simple DLL-Calls?

Thanks for your help!

[Shiner]

Not too sure what you exactly mean, but if you are saying can you create sequence steps that call DLL's via simple calls to DLL's the answer is yes.

So for example, if you had a DLL function int Add2Num (int a, int b), then you could create a step that set the teststand variable to the return value, and pass two teststand variables as the int's to be summed. That uses no activeX whatsoever.

This is different to passing an activeX reference into the DLL, whereby it retrieves the parameters from TestStand and passes the answer back into TestStand itself.

I hope this is along the lines of what you were after ?

Chris

[Sunny]

Hello Chris,

Sorry , my question wasn't exactly enough.
I know that TestStand itself is able to call DLL-Functions using the integrated DLL Flexible Prototype Adapter.

What i want to know is, how i could realize to use the
methods of the TestStand Engine in programming tools not supporting to create ActiveX references, but these
tools are able to use simple DLL-Functions like "MessageboxA" of WINAPI.

The methods i want to use refer to an execution of
a single sequence: GetSequenceFile, NewExecution, WaitForEnd, ReleaseFile and UnloadAllModules.

The only idea is to write a Wrapper-DLL containing functions for each of the listed methods in any high
level programming language, but i don't know if this could work.

Have you any ideas to solve my p
roblem?

[Ryan Ramcharan]

Hello Sunny,

The TestStand engine is an ActiveX server. If you wish to use it in another programming environment, that environment must be able to function as an ActiveX client. If you do not have the ability to create references, then there is no way that you can interface to the engine. Building a wrapper would limit you to passing only a set of variables such as booleans, strings, numbers, etc. Since you wouldn't be able to pass references, you wouldn't be able to communicate with the server from within your "non-ActiveX client" environment.