Converting Mediator test plans to TestStand sequences, what tools and calls are available to do it programatically?

Question

With over 200 test plans to convert, as well as new ones the customer may generate, it will be neccesary to write a converter, unless someone else already has? I'd prefer to work either in c/cvi or vb - what calls/tools are available to generate steps and sequences?

Answer 1

Hi Bob,
the best starting point for generation of sequences programatically is the API help.
There's an example program in the sequence builder tool directory in the teststand\examples directory which uses this to get the sequences built.
National Instruments has a TestStand course on customisation that has an exercise on sequence generation which is done as a sequence, using API calls to the TS engine, so it could be worth at least contacting your local sales engineer to purchase a copy if you don't have the time to attend the course itself.
Also, the following links may prove useful...
TestStand Customisation Techniques
Create Sequence Files(TS 1.0 but the principle still applies)
Adding New Steps and Sequences
Although you can easily (relatively) generate your sequences, there is a licenseing issue involved. (This is mentioned in the second link above) TestStand has 3 different licenses. One is for distribution, so you can target a machine with an operator interface and the TestStand engine and your sequences you've built, but if you want to target a machine that involves generating sequences on the fly (say based on your mediator test plans) so it happens automatically, that can fall into the development license. Talk to your sales engineer about the implications of this for your particular integration. (The
third license is a debug license)
Hope that helps
S.
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