How to make a step grop in test stand?

[Shansundar]

Hi,

  I have a flat sequence of about 900 step in it, I want to make a group of step tests and action together inside the main sequnce itself. I know we can do this using sub-sequnce call , but insted of using sub-sequnce call, I wanted to group like 100's of step under common name inside the Main sequnce only, So that the sequnce will look more tidy and easy to find the blocks inside the main sequnce only. Is there any way to acheive this kind in test stand?

[~jiggawax~]

You are better off using sebsequence calls.  It will make your code more readable and easier to navigate.

However, unfortunately you cannot make step groups.  Each sequence is limited to 3 and only 3.

I have seen where people will use the Label step to separate code.  With the Label step you can hide the Icon, Status and Name and it acts as whitespace.  You can also change the icon of it to represent something more meaningful.

[Shansundar]

Thanks for the response jigg, Actually the way you explained only I am managing now like having more white space kind of steps in between blocks.

[arj]

I agree that NI should come up with a way to group steps with without having to create sub sequences. They should give the developer a way to group steps with custom group names, similiar to setup main and cleanup. There are some disadvantages to using subsequences and it would be much easier to organize a program without having to creat a bunch of new sequences.

[~jiggawax~]

arj,

I'm curious what the disadvantages to using subsequences would be?

I know that TestStand isn't considered a programming language, but if you think about it like one then it is advantageous to write modular, scalable code.

Essentially by putting hundreds of steps inside of a stepgroup without modularizing, it would be similar to putting a thousand lines of code in one function in a text based programming language.  OR if you are a LabVIEW person it would be like a spaghetti block diagram with too much scrolling involved.

Of course I am saying this without fully understanding your application and use so I apologize if it doesn't make sense for your particular case.

Regards,