absolute path in specifying vi path in test stand

[india 294]

iam using test stand 2.0 with test code written in labview 6.0.
when creating a step i need to specify the vi path for it which is a absolute one. but iam afraid that while building a exe and transferring it to another system i shall not able to retrieve the vi as it can be in another drive. what is the solution for that?

[Carlos L]

When you specify the module (the VI in your case) for a step, you DO have the option to use a "relative" or an "absolute" path. The window that allows you to browse for your VI has a checkbox named "Use Absolute Path". If it is NOT checked then the path used will be RELATIVE to the TestStand Search Directories. If the module is NOT found in the TestStand Search Directories, you will get a window asking you whether to use an absolute path or to include the directory where the module is located to the TestStand Search Directories and thus, a relative path will be used.
When deploying your system, you can place the VI wherever you want. You will only need to include the directory where it is located in the TestStand Search Directories of the target computer.

You can find more about the TestStand Search Directories in the User Manual, page 4-34 (Chaper 4 -> Configure Menu -> Search Directories).

On another note, I am not sure what you mean by saying that you will build an executable. Are you talking about creating an executable out of the VI? If this is the case, be aware that the LabVIEW adapter is ONLY able to call VIs and NOT executables! In other words, you DON'T need to create an executable out of your VI when you will deploy your system. If you still want to create an executable and call it from your sequence, you will need to call it using the "Call Executable" step type.

I hope this information will be helpful.

Regards,

Carlos Leon

[india 294]

thanks man. i find that useful. i believe that u should be well versed in test stand.
iam struggling to have a interactive execution in my LVOI.whatever parameters i specify iam stiil getting the complete execution and not the selected steps.
i believe in the new execution method only the interactive args parameter has to be given along with the normal one. iam using the same create interactive args vi as used in the OI along with the test stand.
can u help me around in that...

[Carlos L]

So that all the TestStand discussion forum's members know, this comment was posted as a new question and is already answered at:
http://exchange.ni.com/servlet/ProcessRequest?RHIVEID=101&RPAGEID=135&HOID=506500000008000000734F0000&UCATEGORY_0=_8_&UCATEGORY_S=0

Regards,

Carlos Leon

[KittF]

Just to add to Carlos' reply ...

Sometimes there is a need to determine an absolute path programmatically. In this case you would use the Engine.FindFile method to " ... search for a file in the TestStand search directories using a simple filename or relative pathname." This method will return an absolute path to you as long as your file is located in the search directories. There are certain directories that are automatically included as TS search directories as you can see by selecting Configure>>Search Directories. These directories are relative to the TS installation directory and therefore are independant of the drive letter.

Carlos makes a good point in that VIs called by steps are not compiled into EXEs.

[india 294]

i understood the problem in having executable. so what shall i do when i have to build a application and should not give it in source code.
can i have the test vis in source and make the operator interface alone as exe.???

[Carlos L]

That's correct. Your Operator Interface should be compiled into an executable in order to distribute it, while your Test VIs can be distributed without compiling them into executables. There is a tool that you can use to distribute your Test VI that is located under "Tools> Assemble Test VIs for run-time distribution". This tool gives you the option to distribute your VIs with or without their diagrams. You can find out more about this in the User Manual, Chapter 17 Distributing TestStand.

Regards,

Carlos Leon