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Hello,

 

For the moment, the precondition builder editor only allow to check steps status or to create custom conditions.

 

It would be nice to add a way to test the current sequence Status.

 

To handle this, i create my own custom condition by using the runtime variables Runstate.SequenceFailed and  Runstate.SequenceError.

The problem is that these variables doesn't exist at edit time.

 

I think that adding this feature to the precondition builder editor could simplify our work.

 

Thanks.

 

Manu.

Background --

 

When I have a step in a sequence file, and I change the Load Option of the step, and I go to Sequence File Properties and change the global Load Option to something other than "use step load option", I get red exclamation marks next to my load options on my steps to let me know that that value is overridden by the global sequence file option.

 

HOWEVER

if I look at the Result Recording Option, I see the step result recording option configured for that step.  But, that can be overridden by the Sequence Properties  -> "Disable Result Recording for All Steps".  I would expect that I would get a similar red exclamation mark next to the result recording option in my step properties configuration page to let me know that that value is overridden by the sequence option.  Possibly also update the settings column to include "result recording disabled" message like it would if I flagged just that step option to disable result recording (although I am a little more on the fence about this part)

 

highlightResultRecordingOption.png

 

On a similar but different topic, it is horribly hard to understand whether a sequence itself has configured to disable results recording.  I need to go through each sequence individually and look at the sequence properties.  Adding a settings column for the sequence list view would be nice.

 

The ability to type in a property string to search for:

 

properties finder.png

I currently use property loader to load calibration data from a file during test.  I populate this file using export.  The problem is that now I want to write a calibration sequence as well and there is no property exporter step to do this programatically in TestStand.  I will end up writing my own code to create this to emulate the way that Import/Export does it but it would be nice if this was supported as a TestStand step.

We use VIPM to manage our reuse in LabVIEW, and it works wonderfully, but there's nothing for TestStand.  I'd like to be able to create and distribute packages with like functions, roll-back/forward project-based configurations, etc, within the TestStand development environment.  I know that a lot of stuff can be done manually, but it's monolithic - I need something that's modular.

I would like to see Shared or Separate FileGlobals available to all Types of Sequence File not just limited to Batch or Parallel Process Models.

 

Regards

Ray Farmer

Hi,

 

I think it'd be good if the Requirements property (in step properties) would be able to recognise url like http:// https:// svn:// notes:// etc.

 

Then we could directly link the step to the requirement system which could save a lot of hassle with changes tracking.

 

For now it is a plain text only.

 

Capture.PNG

 

steplist.png

It would be awesome if we could drag and drop attributes from the attributes dialog into expression panes in TestStand.

When editing in CVI, I often find it useful to copy the contents of 'Find Results' into an edit window so I can edit/parse/filter/sort the information.  I would like to be able to do the same thing in the TestStand Sequence Editor.  Saving the Find Results to a plain text file would be an acceptable alternative.

 

Thanks,

JoeN

When a step cannot be preloaded due to the prototype being out of date (if, for example, a VI was updated after it had been placed in a sequence), an error message pops up telling the user what is wrong. This can then be used to track down where the step is that is causing the issue. Some of the error descriptions get quite lengthy.

 

While this does provide the user with information as to where the error is occuring, the only option is to click "OK", which then closes the message. In long sequences with many subsequence calls and steps (many of which may be similarily named), it is cumbersome to find the specific step that was listed in the error message that is now no longer viewable. At times I find myself having to get to the general area where I thought the error was listed as occuring, and then click RUN again just to get the error message to pop up again, and then continue narrowing it down (repeating this process several times). This is very cumbersome.

 

There is a simple solution to this issue. The easiest method would be to simply include a second button in the error message that brings you directly to the step that is causing the issue (with it selected in the step window). This would solve the main issue of trying to find the step that was listed in the error message as being the problem.

 

To go a step further, there could be a button that simply activates the "reload step prototype" that you have to do once you are at the step that is out of date.

 

To go even a step further, and solve another issue I would like to see remedied, there could be the option of reloading all steps that call that module (since they are now likely all out of date and need the prototype refreshed). Currently, if a VI is called repeated throughout the sequence, then each one must be found and have its prototype reloaded manually. This is very tedious.

 

There may be other preloading errors besides the "prototype out of date" issue (ex: VI not found, etc.) that could use the same functionality of a button that brings you to the offending step, but this is what I am running into at the moment.

 

Regards,

It would be nice if NameOf() had the option to return the entire name including the containers that it is nested within. This could be an optional boolean parameter in NameOf, such as NameOf(Parameters.Contaner1.Value, True) returns "Parameters.Contaner1.Value" and not just "Value".

It would be nice if I could right click a variable in the variables pane and choose from the context menu "highlight steps which reference this variable" or words to that effect and then the background of each step which referenced that variable would alter.

It would be really nice if it happend just by hovering my mouse over a variable.

 

I know this can be done by using a search but it is rather clunky

When putting values into an array of number local variable, there is little documentation specifying the correct way to input values in an array. The documentation needs to be improve and/or the error message that pops when evaluating your statement should be fixed to better demonstrate the problem. The current error states "Variable or property types do not match or are not compatible. This value will cause a run-time error." A getting started documentation that addresses variable syntax would also be helpful, these ideas will improve ease of use for people working in TestStand. The typical syntax when working with arrays is the use of a bracket [] and the error that appears when using a bracket for arrays is even less helpful. Attached is an image of an example of the fixed error that would demonstrate this problem more thoroughly (The red highlighted section would be a potential change to the errors).

 

Capture.PNG

Trying to minimize memory used by Teststand, I have selected from sequence properties "Disable Result Recording for All Steps".  This works great except for sequence which DO need to record results.  There is currently no way to override this sequence option to enable recording for the specific measurement steps.  I would recommend added an option which allows the step to 'Override' the sequence disable result recording setting.  In TestStand 2014 there is an option under the Step / Run Options / Result Recording Options to "Enabled (overriding sequence setting)" but this does NOT work to enable / override the sequence setting, the results don't get recorded.  The only solution I found was to NOT enable the sequence "Disable Result Reporting" option on sequences with measurements, and select each step, disabling the Result Recording, except for the measurement steps.

Finding syntactical errors -- missing arguments, arguments of the wrong type, ... -- involves either manual inspection or running a sequence to see where it croaks.  TestStand could use the equivalent of a broken run arrow from the LabVIEW environment.  As in the LabVIEW environment, clicking on that broken run arrow would present a list of the syntactical errors, and double-clicking on one of the entries in that list would take you to the entry itself.

The Database Options dialog in TestStand 2013 and 2016SP1 (the versions I have tried) have the key focus set to the 'OK' button. Pressing the 'Enter' key at any point while navigating that dialog will close it and not save the changes.

 

This becomes very frustrating when editing the 'Command Text' of a database statement as you might want to insert line breaks to make editing/reading the statement easier.

 

I have had this happen at least 10 times already today and is very frustrating and is only a very minor change to the Database Options dialog.

 

Hopefully we could get it as a patch?

I would like a built-in tool in the Sequence Editor that would check my sequence file to verify that all expressions used in every step are valid and that all variables called exist. It would be nice to find errors during development/edit time rather than at run-time. I think this could significantly improve the usefulness of TestStand.

I have a sequence file that contains hundreds of sequences.  It would be nice to be able to logically group and organize these sequences, such as in a tree control with virtual directories (hierarchy), instead of them being in a single long list.

Now, when error happens (not during the execution but during the parsing) TS sequence editor displays message like below.

 

Untitled000.png

 

This message can be very meaningless and misleading as it doesn't indicate what is really wrong, it doesn't lead to any file.

It is very difficult to track, because it can happen that after switching the to the development mode this step can be perfectly fine.

 

Request: please do better description and explanation why particular VIs doesn't work with the RTE.

Hi,

 

As in subject,

 

It would be good to have the Fail execution option. When the step will fail the execution pointer shal be moved to clean-up part of the sequence (and parent sequences) and the whole execution will be marked as failed

 

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