The parameters specified by the step do not match the sequence parameters

[BER]

In TestStand 4.0, is it possible to search for all step/sequence parameter errors prior to running the sequence?

[RayFarmer]

All thing are possible, but why would you want to do this. Why not make sure your sequences are correct before you deploy them.

What are you going to do if they are wrong?

Regards

Ray Farmer

[BER]

There are several engineers working on this project using several different PC.  I sometime find that my sequence works on one PC and not another.  The problem isn't my sequence, it' "common code" that we all use.  If the common code were the same on all PCs I wouldn't have a problem but that's not always the case.  My Test Sequence takes several hours to run.  I find it very frustrating to run the sequence for several hours only to find that there's a parameter mismatch.  So, that's why I was wondering if there's a way to verify that parameters are correct prior to running.

I would expect TestStand to warn me when I load my sequence like it does when a step type changes, but it doesn't. 

[RayFarmer]

That is a problem and that's down to discipline on the part of your engineers not to change common code.

Are your systems networked so that you could refresh you common code?

Teststand will tell you when there is conflict but it depend on the Load setup of your Steps but is sounds like there isn't actually a conflict but maybe a useage difference eg you have two string, but they contain different data.

Regards

Ray Farmer

[drohacek · Accepted solution]

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BER wrote:

There are several engineers working on this project using several different PC.  I sometime find that my sequence works on one PC and not another.  The problem isn't my sequence, it' "common code" that we all use.  If the common code were the same on all PCs I wouldn't have a problem but that's not always the case.  My Test Sequence takes several hours to run.  I find it very frustrating to run the sequence for several hours only to find that there's a parameter mismatch.  So, that's why I was wondering if there's a way to verify that parameters are correct prior to running.

I would expect TestStand to warn me when I load my sequence like it does when a step type changes, but it doesn't. 

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You aren't alone on this frustration. We have received feedback from many customers that lack of notification of mismatched parameters is something that causes a great deal of pain in a lot of circumstances.

We are currently working on a major feature in the next version of TestStand that is intended to address this problem (and other, similar problems).

We plan to start the Beta program for the next version of TestStand in the next few months. We will announce the start of the Beta program in the TestStand forum. At that point, you'll be able to sign up to try it out and hopefully provide feedback to ensure that the feature meets your needs.

David Rohacek

National Instruments

[RayFarmer]

Hi,

That sounds interesting.

I tried a small example which calls a Sequence which passes two paramaters, one number and one string. I then linked these two locals except I specified them as one string and one number.  I changed the load setting of the SequenceCall Step to Preload when sequencefile opened. I saved and closed the file.

When I opened the file, no warning or error was flagged. When the Sequence was run it errored on the call to the step with "Type of argument expression 'Locals.arg1' is incompatible with parameter 'Arg1'. Expected Number, found String".

It would be quite envolved to a find all the sequences in a file, get it's arguments, get the Expression, check if its not a constant and if not get the type of the variable in the expression and check it against argument parmater type. Repeat this for all parameter arguments. Repeat this for all sequences.

Then how do you report an errors. How do you handle SequenceCalls that call sequences contained in different sequencefiles.

You can find the arguments in the Step.TS.SData.ActualArgs.

Regards

Ray Farmer

[Erik_Crank]

Consider upgrading to TestStand 2010 which comes with a Sequence Analyzer that helps you find problems, such as parameter incompatibilities, in sequences before you execute them.