What is the use of local object refrence variable

[rajeshg]

Hai...

I am a beginner in teststand....

Could u please tell me what is the use of below local variables

1) Object Refrence

2)Types

     a) Path

     b) Expressions

and how to use those variables......I will be happy if u explained with example code......

Thankyou

Regards

Rajesh G

[JonathanN]

Howdy Rajesh,

Since you are a beginner in TestStand you don't want to get far ahead of yourself as there is a lot of features in TestStand that if you jump into to soon can be confusing.

I would strongly suggest taking our TestStand I && II course as they will make your TestStand journey much easier.  I would also recommend walking through our TestStand Reference Manual  (Help >> Search the TestStand Bookshelf; Notice a bunch of reference guides) which contains answers to a bunch of beginner questions such as the one you are asking and takes you through TestStand basics and some advanced features.  In particular, Chapter 14 entitle "Standard and Custom Data Types" discusses your questions. 

As an overview of what you will be reading in terms of your questions, TestStand contains sequences that contains local variables.  Sequences can have any number of local variables, which you can use to hold values that you get or set in step modules. You can also use local variables for maintaining counts, for holding intermediate values, or any other purpose.

One of those local variables is an Object Reference that contains a reference to a .NET or ActiveX/COM object. It can be equated to pointers in most programming languages. 

When you are in the locals tab, you can right-click and select Insert Local which contains a submenu from which you select the data type for the local variable you want to insert.  If you want to insert a local variable with a custom data type, you must create a named data type. You can create a named data type in the Sequence File types view of the Sequence File window or in the Types Palette window.   After you create the named data type, it appears in the Types submenu of the Insert Local submenu.  Some of these types you see are used by step types such as path or expression. For example, open a new sequence file and drop down and Expression Statement step. Then select the View drop-down ring control and choose Sequence File types. Then select the Standard Data Types tab and notice Path and Expression are listed as they are part of the step you inserted into your sequence.

I would definitely recommend looking at our TestStand Developer Zone for reference as it has examples and tutorials that are extremely helpful.

Again, talking about step types and custom data types is a little more advanced than the stage you are at. So start at the basics and work your way up.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

Message Edited by Jonathan N on 09-08-2006 04:12 PM