using teststand activex server in vb.net

[Sreedhar_T]

Dear All,

I am quite a newbi to TestStand. I am still learning to configure the sequences.

but my concern is how to use teststand activex server in vb.net.

I want to control teststand completely (opening seq editor etc) using vb.net

Please help me.

Also presently I have only the evaluation version of teststand 3.5...

[JonathanN]

Hi TSreedhar,

I believe what you are referring to is the Operator Interfaces that come with TestStand.  An operator interface is an application that provides a graphical user interface for executing sequences at a production station. Your TestStand software includes three run-time operator interfaces in source and executable form. Each run-time operator interface is a separate application program

TestStand by default provides five built-in operator interfaces written in LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Visual Basic .NET, C#, and C++  (MFC).  Every operator interface provided by TestStand all have similar GUIs and functionality.  They allow you to start multiple concurrent executions, set breakpoints, and single-step just like in the sequence editor.  Unlike the sequence editor, however, the operator interfaces do not allow you to modify sequences, and they do not display sequence variables, sequence parameters, step properties, and other programming variables in TestStand.   

The full-featured operator interfaces are located in the <TestStand>\OperatorInterfaces\NI\Full-Featured directory while the simple operator interfaces are located in the <TestStand>\OperatorInterfaces\NI\Simple directory.  These operator interfaces are a useful starting point when designed your own customized operator interfaces

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

[Sreedhar_T]

Hi Jonathan N,

Thanks a lot for your reply I was very glad to see the way it is working. But the problem is I am not able to edit sequences i.e the sequence editor is not open for me (I'm talking about the TestExec.exe made in vb.net). I am able to call some pre-defined sequences and execute them successfully... but my concern lies in editing the sequence. I also want to customise the reports.

I will be extremely thankful if you suggest me how to do that. Can I have a sequence editor and all its functions in my .net application?

One more help that I want from you is, can you tell me what is the function of "NationalInstruments.TestStand.Utility.dll" given in the same folder. I think if this dll is properly understood by me, I will be able do what I want.

If there is any other ActiveX (dll or exe) which gives the above functionality, please tell me that also.

Thank you once again.

Regards,

Sreedhar T

[Sreedhar_T]

Hi Jonathan N,

Thanks a lot for your reply I was very glad to see the way it is working. But the problem is I am not able to edit sequences i.e the sequence editor is not open for me (I'm talking about the TestExec.exe made in vb.net). I am able to call some pre-defined sequences and execute them successfully... but my concern lies in editing the sequence. I also want to customise the reports.

I will be extremely thankful if you suggest me how to do that. Can I have a sequence editor and all its functions in my .net application?

One more help that I want from you is, can you tell me what is the function of "NationalInstruments.TestStand.Utility.dll" given in the same folder. I think if this dll is properly understood by me, I will be able do what I want.

If there is any other ActiveX (dll or exe) which gives the above functionality, please tell me that also.

Thank you once again.

Regards,

Sreedhar T

[JonathanN]

Hi TSreedhar,

I believe you are getting a little confused between the operator interface and the sequence editor. You cannot edit any sequence in the operator interface. You want to create and edit sequences in the sequence editor. Then run these sequences with the operator interface. In the sequence editor, you can edit pre-defined sequences and callbacks that directly deal with report generation.  See the Understanding and Modifying Result Collection tutorial. A lot of the basic questions you have can be answered by browsing through the TestStand NI Developer Zone section. This contains tutorials and example code about various topics that are very helpful. 

As far as developing a sequence editor in .NET, this can't be done right now. Do you editing in the sequence editor, then display your sequences in the operator interface. 

That TestStand.Utitlity DLL is used to access various TestStand API features. You can open the .xml file located in that same directory as that DLL and see what classes and members are used in that DLL. You need this to develop your operator interface.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

[Sreedhar_T]

Hi Jonathan,

I am extremely thankful for your kind reply. I understand that one cannot edit/create any sequence in the operator interface. Therefore I want to know, if we can open the sequence editor in VB.Net (as we did for the operator interface: <TestStand>\OperatorInterfaces\NI\Full-Featured\VB.Net\bin\release\TestExec.exe). I want to know the feasibility of it. As already mentioned, I have only the evaluation version of TS-3.5 will it help?

Thanks and Regards

Sreedhar

[JonathanN]

Hi TSreedhar,

So first off you need to understand that the sequence editor is simply an application that Windows runs. It’s totally independent of the VB.NET environment.  The actual operator interface isn’t calling the sequence editor but rather the TestStand Run-Time Engine. This Engine accesses the sequence editor commands. Hence you don’t even need to have TestStand installed to use the operator interface. You just need the Run-Time Engine. 

The look and feel of the operator interface was built from scratch to make the GUI look similar to the actual sequence editor. However, the GUI uses separate individual calls to the Run-Time engine to run those sequences.  

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

[Sreedhar_T]

Hi Jonathan N,

This helps me a lot... Thank you very much for your help.

Regards

Sreedhar

[Sreedhar_T]

Hi Jonathan,

With regard to the above discussion, I want to know, if I can run multiple sequences in operator interface (one after another) without any further user intervention, i.e. I will select multiple sequences all located in different locations and once when I execute, all those sequences selected must run one after the other automatically and only one report should finally get generated.

Please help me. Tell me any other option as applicable.

Thanks and Regards

Sreedhar.