Minimum VisualC++ source code to execute a sequence

Question

Hello,
I need to make a small applet that will call TestStand sequence.
It has to initialize engine, run sequence, exit and return exit code of error or success.
No user interaction is needed/wanted. So I dont want to compile file with MFC or ATL libraries.
Theoreticaly I can initialize and run COM object even from console application, but in practice - I'm not sure, which interfaces should I call.
Maybe it should start like:
CoInitialize(NULL); // Init COM
IEnginePtr pEngine (__uuidof(TS::Engine), NULL, CLSCTX_ALL); // get the pointer to interface
pEngine->PutUIMessageMinDelay(0); // do some calls
pEngine->LoadTypePaletteFiles();
CoUninitialize(); // Unitializing COM
Is it a rig
ht/possible way to do it?
Will I get some problems later if I will use such method?
Thank you!

Answer 1

You can discern the minimal code required to execute a sequence from the "SimpleMFCOperatorInterface" in your \Examples\OperatorInterfaces\Simple MFC directory. You are correct in that you do not have to use MFC or ATL in order to load the TestStand engine and execute a sequence, the only requirements are as follows (as well as the general process flow of loading the engine and executing a sequence):
1) Initialize the COM library with OleInitialize()
2) Create an instance of the TS engine with TS::IEnginePtr CreateInstance()
3) Register your UIMessageCallback function with TS::IEngine RegisterUIMessageCallback(). Your UIMessageCallback function should have a structure similar to this:
void __cdecl UIMessageCallback(struct IDispatch *UIMessageDisp)
TS::UIMessagePtr uimsg = UIMessageDisp;
TS:equenceContextPtr seqcontext;
int hr;
seqcontext = uimsg->Thread->GetSequenceContext(0,NULL);
switch((int)uimsg->Event)
case 0:
break;
case 8:
hr = seqcontext->Engine->ShutDown(VARIANT_FALSE);
break;
case 9:
hr = seqcontext->Engine->ShutDown(VARIANT_TRUE);
quit = true;
break;
default:
break;
return;
NOTE: You must handle the "EndExecution" and "ShutdownComplete" UIMessages (eventcodes 8 and 9 respectively) at a minimum in order to properly execute a sequence and shutdown the engine when it is complete.
4) Get a sequence file reference with TS::IEngine GetSequenceFile() (note: you can use the TS::IEngine DisplayOpenFileDialog() method to select a file path with)
5) Start the execution with TS::IEngine NewExecution()
NOTE: That the above UIMessageCallback message handler waits for the "ShutdownComplete" message to set a flag variable named "quit" to true to signify to the rest of the application that the sequence has finished executing.
If you take a look at the source files for the SimpleMFCOperatorInterface, you can see how each of these methods are used.
Jason F.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
www.ni.com/ask