TestStand, LabVIEW, and using DIAdem for reporting

[mrbean]

I working with TestStand 3.5 and LabVIEW8.  I have to modify the operator interface to meet some customer requirements.  My first question seems silly, but I want to understand the foundation.  I see that the TestStand operator interface implementationcomes in two flavors, either CVI or LabVIEW. 

Q) Since I plan to develop my tests in LabVIEW, it seems logical to me that I would work with the LV8 version of the Operator Interface.  Is there any reason to use the CVI version of the OI instead?

Q) Obviously, when working with the sequence editor, I deal with the components that make up a sequence.  But when working with the OI, it seems I'm 100% immersed in LabVIEW, correct?

Q) Is there any GOOD documentation that explains the various components of the OI from a LabVIEW perspective?

Q) I know that 'out-of-the-box', TestStand has some reporting capabilities.  I assume I can get to that somewhere in the OI code, correct?  Also, I have DIAdem, but have not yet used it.  I noticed that LV8 contains a DIAdem Report icon in the Report Generation function Pallete.  What is involved, and would it even be wise, to replace/enhance the default report generation with that offered by DIAdem?

[Dennis_Knutson]

NI actually provides OIs written in C++, C#, and VB in addition to the ones you mention. There's no real reason to use one over another. If all you have is LabVIEW, make your modifications with taht. If you have one of the other programming languages and want to use it, go ahead. It doesn't make any difference in how your sequence files are executed. It is the TestStand engine that does all of that and all that the OI (in wahtever language) does is make calls to the engine. When you write or modify an OI, you need to be familiar with the TestStand API so it is more than just knowing a certain language.

I'm not aware of any other documentation other than chapter 6 of the Using LabVIEW with TestStand document that ships with TestStand. Assuming that you've read it, what kind of specific questions do you have?

I'm not sure what you mean by "get to that". The reporting is done by modules in the process model. Viewing an XML or HTML report can be done in the OI. I think of DIAdem as a data mining tool. I might want to use it to graph the measurements from all UUTs for a specific test or graph the measurements from multiple channels on the same UUT. I think it would would be a great tool for process control and statistical analysis. All of my tools for this were in place long before NI bought DIAdem and we have no good reason to switch at this point. For the test operators, a simple pass/fail indicator is enough and most of my technicians only want to know what test failed, what was the measurement, and what were the limits. The standard XML/HTML report works fine for me here. If you feel the need, you can certainly add something to the OI to create DIAdem reports or have a separate program to do the same thing. DIAdem will work with the database you log all of your test data to so you don't have to necessarily modify the existing TestStand logging.