Teststand 3.0 Deployment: How to give DOS commands in the custom commands?

[markus kossmann]

How to create an icon for the operator interface on the desktop when running the installer. I've found only the option to add an entry in the menu.

[David Mc]

Hello markus,

This capability is not built-in TestStand, but there are a couple of different ways you could accomplish this. Take a look at the Knowledge Base article How Can I Instruct Another Installer to Launch Automatically After I Run an Installer Created by the... which talks about a batch file (post.bat) that the TestStand installer will run automatically for you. You could use this capability two different ways to accomplish what you're doing:

1. Put a copy command into post.bat to copy the LabVIEW Operator Interface shortcut (for example) that TestStand adds to the Start menu for you to the Desktop (this command all go
   es on one line in post.bat):
   
   copy "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\National Instruments\TestStand 3.0\Operator Interfaces\LabVIEW.lnk" "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Desktop\My new name for this shortcut.lnk"
   
   
2. You can put a command in post.bat which will create a shortcut on the Desktop for you using a 3rd party tool like Shortcut.exe or the method described here
   

David Mc.
NI Application Engineer

[aghouse]

Hi

Can I use the COPY or MOVE command directly in the custom commands? I have a custom command like the following, which gives an error 2.

MOVE "c:\temp\testexec.ini" "c:\program files\national instruments\Teststand 3.1\cfg"

Please let me know how to give the DOS commands directly in the custom commands.

Thanks
Abdulla

[RajivG]

Hi Abdulla,

You can use copy and move DOS commands in the custom commands. To use the custom commands in your deployment utility, you can select the installer options tab, select custom command, and then click on "add" to add a new command. Then type your command in the command and Arguments window.

In reference to the error, can you post a screenshot of the error and or describe the error in more detail? You can as well try creating a batch (.bat) file with the DOS command and see if that solves the problem.

I hope it helps,
Rajiv Garg

[aghouse]

Rajiv,

I did the same thing that you explined in your first paramgraph. I don't want to use the batch file for some other reason. I get the error when I install the application which is built with the custom commands. I have attache the error which shows up in the custom command progress window

Thanks
Abdulla

[RajivG]

Hi Abdulla,

This is a DOS error 2, which means file not found. I would suggest verifying that the file exists.

Also, atleast for debugging purposes, you can create a batch file and select "Show Commands Progress Window" to verify that all the commands are executed correctly. You can do the same without a batch file but it would be better to add separate commands for "pause".

I hope it helps,
Rajiv

[aghouse]

Rajiv,

The document that I attached is the one with the command progress window enabled. Also with batch file the same command works. So I wonder why if I give the command directly in the deployment utility, it gives Error 2. Any thoughts?
Thx
Abdulla

[RajivG]

Hi Abdulla,

I am not sure why you are seeing the Error 2. Can you try command similar to:

copy c:\file1.txt c:\file2.txt

Although the error 2 is a DOS error for "File Not Found", I am suspecting it could as well be for "file cant be overwritten". So make sure that the file at target location does not exist.

Do let me know what you find out,
Rajiv