VeriStand Steps for TestStand Feedback

[Andy-C]

Hi MaWei, 

Thanks for your question. I have also observed this issue. Unfortunately I believe a fix will require a slight modification to the step types. I have created an Issue for this problem on the project's GitHub page. 

https://github.com/NIVeriStandAdd-Ons/VeriStand-steps-for-TestStand/issues/6

As a workaround I was able to use a variable expression with the Run Stimulus Step by defining the Expression using the Step Properties section of the Step Settings pane. The Step will evaluate the variable correctly as long as you do not open the Step's configuration dialog. 

[MaWei]

Hi Andy,

thank you for the workaround. It works like a breeze.

Regards,

MaWei

[ARLROB]

I would like to not leave the Veristand splash screen open when I run my sequence.  I am using the Initialize Veristand step with the visible flag set to False and then I end my sequence with the Close Workspace and stop Veristand steps.  Any ideas?

[Andy-C]

Hi ARLROB,

Unfortunately there isn't a specific Step to close the Veristand.exe application. I think it would be straightforward to create a Step which calls either LabVIEW or .NET to close the Veristand.exe process programmatically. You could also use the 'Call Executable' step to open a Command Prompt and close the Veristand.exe process using Taskkill. That may be the easiest solution.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491009.aspx

It's not a bad idea to have this as a built-in step though. Feel free to create an #enhancement issue for this feature on the project's GitHub page. 

https://github.com/NIVeriStandAdd-Ons/VeriStand-steps-for-TestStand/issues

Best,

Andy

[MaWei]

Hello,

as mentioned earlier, I'm using the VeriStand steps to run a directory full of stimulus profiles. As they are being worked on constantly, some of them tend to hang during execution which stops all of the following profiles from being executed in my nightly test run (in my opinion, there's a bug in VeriStand which leads to ignoring  the 'timeout' parameter when calling an RT Sequence from a Stimulus Profile). So what I would like to do is implementing a timeout function from within TestStand.

I think I do need the "Run Stimulus Profile (Async)" step for this. But I don't know how to set up a wait-for loop afterwards to constantly monitor the execution status and call "Undeploy Project" in case a Profile hangs during execution.

Could you please help me out here?

Thanks,

Markus

[ElectricWraith]

I've found what appears to be a bug with the Set Channel Value Custom Step. I'm running 2014 versions of everything involved here; LabVIEW 2014 SP1, TestStand 2014, and Veristand 2014. I don't recall the version number of the VS Custom Steps installer I used, but obviously it's the one that supports the aforementioned software.

The problem I've found seems to only be an issue when attempting to create a VS Custom Step programmatically, but that's the whole point of the work I'm doing. The PropertyObject invoke node requires a DBL numeric input for the Veristand.ValueToSet step property  (see first screenshot), but when executing the following error is generated: Error -17308 occurred at Expected Number, found String.

I believe this is because the datatype for ValueToSet is String in the NI_VeristandTypes palette (see second screenshot). I don't understand why the Set Channel Value step works just fine when it's manually dropped into a TS sequence and configured, but it does. 

This problem is immensely frustrating as I've finally found a way to programmatically generate TS sequences including Veristand Custom Steps only to run into this show-stopping issue. I really need to get this working with the 2014 versions of the software I'm using. I checked to see if a newer version (for TS/VS2016) of the Custom Steps still shows this same datatype mismatch, and it does. I've not tested my sequence generation code in 2016 (there's no point), but the datatype mismatch is definitely present.

I was thinking about using a single-element write to a Set Multiple Channel Values Custom Step, but I can't seem to find an invoke node step property that will allow me to write to an array step property.

Help! 

[dokimo]

Hi Andy,

I am setting up a HIL Environment using NI Teststand and NI veristand 2016.

Can you provide the link to  download the Veristand step installer ?

Best Regards,

king

[Samraj]

Hi Andrew,

I am facing one problem with this VeriStand Steps for TestStand. I will give a little intro about my project and error.

We built a BMS HIL test system using VeriStand, LabVIEW & Teststand. In VeriStand we configured all the hardware's and necessary things, in that We are using XNET LIN in VeriStand for normal LIN messages and I am using LIN Sleep custom device which is given by NI. In that LIN sleep custom device is used to give sleep and wait for wake-up in critical condition. So, I have one manual GUI which is developed with LabVIEW and VeriStand, in that it's working fine. After sleep I am able to set critical condition.

But in TestStand I am using "VeriStand Steps for TestSTand" add on in that I am sleep by using "Set Channel Value" step and TestStand is not moving out of that step and getting hang until we stopping VeriStand, but it's working fine as expected very rarely. But in LabVIEW with VeriStand it's working fine always.

Can any one help me solve this issue.

Thanks in advance.

[Andy-C]

Hi Samraj,

By default the Set Channel Value step type waits to return until it sees the channel value update to the new value. This can be a problem if the channel you are trying to set is also being written to from somewhere else in the system, for example a custom device. For this reason the step type includes a Timeout property that will force the Step to return even if the value change is not observed. The Timeout property can be set using the Property Browser section of the Step Settings. 

What is the Timeout currently set to for your Set Channel Value steps?

[Andy-C]

Hi dokimo,

All available builds of this package are available from the community page. 

Best regards,

Andy