NI TestStand Idea Exchange

Find yourself placing a Sequence Call step and trying to determine the appropriate value to enter for a numeric parameter called "Direction"? Tired of creating sequences with numeric parameters named like the following: "Direction_0_Up_1_Down_2_Left_3_Right"?

The solution is to support the creation of variables with enumerated type within TestStand. Enums could be created as custom variables and then used as wherever a self-documenting variable is required.

Enum type creation:

As seen from a Sequence Call step to a subsequence that uses an Enum as a parameter:

Modifying names in interface are never good idea, but some times it is must.

No matter is the change made in LabVIEW Front Panel or in TestStand type cluster mapping. Or the cluster type is changed for some other reason. The changes needs to be applied in LabVIEW module call parameters.

When you have multiple sequence files and multiple calls to same VI or with same cluster type in each of them, you would not really want to go trough the steps one by one.

Ideas:

- Cluster mapping changes apllied with LabVIEW Protorype reload

- Cluster mapping changes applied to hole sequence file or/and to all same VI calls in the sequence file

- Need of cluster mapping change applying notified with Analyzer

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Hi,
I would like to show the following problem with the Update Custom Data Type from Cluster tool when updating TestStand container type definition based on LabVIEW cluster.

TestStand creates new container type definition according to the LabVIEW cluster items order. The problem apears after you create the TestStand type definition and then reaorder LabVIEW cluster. After this change in LabVIEW, TestStand will not properlly reorder items in its definition. So for example:

We have LabVIEW cluster { 1My String, 2My Numeric, 3My Boolean },
Then we create TestStand type from it and we have { 1My_String, 2My_Numeric, 3My_Boolean},
Now, we change order in LabVIEW { 3My Boolean, 1My String, 2My Numeric },
TestStand do not see change,
Then we add new item in LabVIEW { 3My Boolean, This is new, 1My String, 2My Numeric },
Update in TestStand will be { This_is_new, 1My_String, 2My_Numeric, 3My_Boolean}.

So at the end we have:

in LabVIEW : { 3My Boolean, This is new, 1My String, 2My Numeric },
in TestStand : { This_is_new, 1My_String, 2My_Numeric, 3My_Boolean}.

IMO items order can be sometimes (if not always) important part of good style. That's why I would like to suggest to update also items order if you select Force Exact Match.

It would be helpful to be able to provide a regular expression (like Labview Match Pattern) as a string value test limit. We often look for a pattern of data within a string rather than a constant.

Maybe also a regular expression function within the built in functions within TestStand expressions would be a help also. This could provide more flexibility if a user needs it. For example adding option to gain match position, and match length as well as give the option to search in reverse and ignore case.

This idea mostly goes along with this idea. I use type def all the time in LabVIEW, especially with enums. TestStand can interact with my VIs with enums, but they are handled as a number. Furthermore, if the enum gets changed, the wrong value of the enum is often used. I really like the idea of custom data type of an enum. The ultimate would be if I only had to alter the enum once (in ctl file) and TestStand would automatically update its data type. This should be the same for clusters.

NI has gone through a lot work to get the IVI Components integrated within TestStand as step types. I was wondering why NI has not incorporated the NI-DAQmx technology into TestStand as step types. I realize most TestStand developers would just create TestStand Adapters in the sequence step written in CVI or LV to interface to NI-DAQmx functions. Even the more advanced TestStand Developers would create their own custom step types to interface to NIDAQmx. I have just done that to where I have created a framework of custom DAQmx step types that I use as a small subset from all the NIDAQmx functions used from the NI-DAQmx library.

In some cases it could be handy, if you were able to convert a container you've constructed in the variable pane into a type directly from the variables pane.

One case could be, if you chose to store some settings in the sequence file, but the settings are dependent upon fx equipment or the product variant. It can be handy to have a variable with the settings, and an array of settings specific to various configurations from which you can choose. But the 'settings' container and the type in the array of settings containers, of course have to align. And this is best achieved by a custom data type.

Often sequences start out for one configuration only, and later on the need for multiple configurations occurs - and that's why I think it could be handy - if you were able to convert a container, already in the variable pane, into a custom data type.

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The Step Type Messaga Popup .

Usually I use the same text in the Step Name for the Title Expression

and for a long time now I have used NameOf(Step) in the Title Expression so as not to have to duplicate the Step Name.

Now that Templates are available I can save a copy this version to use instead of the default step type. But thats only true for my development PC.

This may not be saved on other development PC.

What would be nice if the default value for Title Expression was NameOf(Step) instead of "untitled".

regards

Ray Farmer

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It would be nice to have some kind of Custom Step which gets triggered when a step is deleted from a sequence. Something very much similar to "OnNewStep" which is triggered when a Step is dropped into the sequence.

We may have an option, say, "OnStepDeletion" to detect the deletion of a step. This will be very helpful in many of the step usages.

The TestStand Flow Control Steps like "IF" and "FOR" use the "OnNewStep" to create an "END" step along with them when they are dropped. But there is no means to automatically remove the created "End" when the "FOR" or "IF" Steps are deleted from the sequence. The proposed "OnStepDeletion" can be handy in such cases.

I hope you all will support this idea as it will make many of the functionalities more efficient.

Regards,
Nitz

(PS : Forgive me if anyone has posted this idea already. I couldn't find any such posts)