location of TestStand configuration and Callback sequences in directory structure after deployment Operator Interface and TestStand Engine

[Roger_C]

Hi,

My deployed LabVIEW based Operator Interface doesn't use the directories

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\National Instruments\TestStand (i.e. <Teststand Public>)

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\TestStand (i.e. <TestStand Application Data>)

for it's configuration files and FrontEnd and Station callback sequences but it uses: C:\Program Files\National Instruments\TestStand (i.e. <TestStand>) 

Both directories exist after deployment of the teststand engine and the Operator Interface. But when I use <Teststand Public> and <TestStand Application Data> the station globals or sequences are still loaded from the "Program Files" path (i.e. <TestStand>) Of course the files are in their coresponding sub directories: that is

FrontEndCallbacks.seq in ..\TestStand 2010\Components\Callbacks\FrontEnd

StationCallbacks.seq in ..\TestStand 2010\Components\Callbacks\Station

StationGlobals.ini, User.ini, TestExec.ini, etc in ..\TestStand 2010\Cfg

The absolute paths mentioned above hold for windows XP but on a windows VISTA I experience the same problem. In a development environment updating/changing files in <Teststand Public> and <TestStand Application Data> works  as expected (just as it is documented in the Teststand manuals).

A workaround is to put the configuration files and callback sequences in the "Program Files" path (works OK) but it makes automatic deployment difficult. We use a central network drive were these configuration- and callback files are stored and from were these are automatically updated to the different teststations. Some of these teststations use the development environment were the files are in the correct place.

Is it a setting in the teststand engine that I'm missing?

I use Teststand 2010 in combination with LabVIEW 2010 on Windows XP en Windows VISTA.

Thanks.

-Roger

[Roger_C]

After digging some deeper in this issue I found the setting "TestStand Default Location"  on the Preferences-tab in the Configure - Station Options -menu of  Teststand. The TestStand 2010 help gives the following information:

<TestStand Default Location>—The default location, which is <TestStand Application Data>\Cfg.
Note  TestStand stores the configuration directory path in the Windows registry under the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\TestStand\<TestStand Version>\CfgLocation. You must have write authority to the Windows registry to change this value.

The strange thing is that the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\TestStand\<TestStand Version>\CfgLocation doesn't exist on both the deployment environment as the development environment. Probably this value is only set when we change the default value in the "TestStand Default Location" in the Configure - Station Options -  Preferences-tab?

What value has this "TestStand Default Location" when I only install the Teststand engine?  And is the <TestStand Application Data>\Cfg location the default location ("hard coded" inside the teststand engine?) when the registry key doesn't exist?

Thanks

-Roger