Step Type Menu Distribution. How to?

Hi,
I created at one of my develpopment station with TestStand the custom: Step Type Menu.
How i can to distribute that - Step Type Menu to others stations (e.g. which file concludes it)?
Thank you & Best Regards
*I use LabVIEW 8.X & TestStand 3.5/4.0.1 versions only

If you have created your own Type Palette. The file will be stored in TestStand 3.5\Components\User\Type Palettes, the name of the file will be the name of your Type Palette, e.g. MyTypes.ini
Regards
Steve
There are 10 types of people in the world that understand binary, those that do and those that don't.

Similar Messages

Weird step type menu behaviour

I am having problems getting a menu item to show up in the step type menu using the menu configuration tool, even though it is shown as unhidden. I attached an image. What could be wrong here? I restarted teststand also.
Attachments:
step type menu.jpg ‏347 KB

>
It looks like that group is empty. TestStand will not display empty groups.
Well, I swear the step was inside the folder just prior to taking that screenshot, because I couldn't get at the step type I deposited in the folder because it was hidden (my first indication of a problem). I then moved it back out so I could see it and use it, then I took the shot. I should have taken the screen shot prior, because now I cannot reproduce the issue. I moved the step back into the folder and it showed up. So chalk it up to quirky behavior.
Thanks
Message Edited by david_jenkinson on 09-12-2007 11:07 AM

How do I increase the maximum number of list items in the Step Type Menu Editor?

I am trying to create a lot of custom steps and have reached the point where they no longer appear in the "Insert Step" menu. Message reads "Max Menu Items Reached". Is there a way to increase this maximum?

Hi,
You have hit the same problem as I.
Unfortunately you wont beable to easy resolve this unless you are using TestStand 3.0.
see here for answer:
http://exchange.ni.com/servlet/ProcessRequest?RHIVEID=101&RPAGEID=135&HOID=506500000008000000A98C0000&UCATEGORY_0=_8_&UCATEGORY_S=0
Using TestStand 3.0 the problem goes away as it is capable of handling more than the 256 step types.
Regards
Ray Farmer
Regards
Ray Farmer

How to insert a new step type into a submenu?

Hi!
I'm inserting a step type into the MyTypes.ini file with c++.
With the code below I managed to put it into a menu (in the step type menu editor it is called "Group").
But I want a sub menu.
How can I put it into a sub menu (in c++)?
Who can help me? Thanks in advance!!!
Here is the code:
property->PutName("StepTypeName");
typeUseage->InsertType(property, 0, TS::TypeCategory_StepTypes);
stepObj->PutMenuGroupName("StepTypeMenuGroup");

TSNewbie,
There is no API method to edit those groups. I can only suggest to use the Step Type Menu Editor to create the group you want and make it a submenu. Then when you call stepObj->PutMenuGroupName("SubMenuGroup") the step type will be in that submenu.
I apologize if this isn't the answer you are looking for.
Ronald Byrd (NI)

How do I modify custom step type that is part of a sequence?

I have an example sequence that has a custom step type called "LabView Reentrant Action". My interest is to modify this step type to my needs. Because this custom step type is part of the sequence there is no definition in global type palette. I was told that I could copy this step into global type palette. But, I don't think I could.
I can copy the step from the sequence space but I do not have an option to paste it in the palette.
In sequence space I have options to choose LabView Reentrant Dialog Steps under Insert Step pull-down menu. When I open Step Type Menu Editor in the palette space, all types are listed except LabView Reentrant Dialog Steps. I think these are not showing in the palette because they are custom types built into the sequence.
How can I extract the custom step type into global palette so that I could modify to my needs?

Hello,
If you already have the customer step type "LabView Reentrant Action" then to modify it all you need is to go in "Type Palette" (Ctrl-T) and make modifications in the step type.
In case you are not able to see the step type in type palette then you need to add the step type in a custom ini file. You can add that ini file by clicking on customize in "Palettes" drop down menu. The you can copy paste a step in the step type and make modifications to the step.
I would recommend going through Tutorial: How Do I Make a Custom Step Type? for more reference.
I hope it helps..
Rajiv

Programatically show/hide step types in the Steps pane

When a user on a new Teststand Development bench syncs to a central repository of custom Teststand components and supporting LabVIEW code, I would like to expose only custom step types saved in myTpes.ini in the steps pane. None of the standard step types should be available unless the use explicitly opens an existing sequence file that contains them. I believe this can be done through the API when Teststand launches, but I don't know where to look for the appropriate API methods. For example, is there a methods to load or unload a specific type palette to or from memory? Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi Charlie,
As of right now, there does not appear to be a way to programmatically change step type menu items from visible to hidden via the TestStand API. Someone has posted a product suggestion for this type of functionality to be made available in a later version of the software, however. You can view it here. I would recommend giving this idea kudos in order to boost its chances of being implemented in a future release.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Stephanie R.
National Instruments
Stephanie R.
National Instruments

How can i modify a step type description?

I need to modify the description of some custom step types. I saw how this is made in the Basic Ivi step types. What i want to do is to display the current selected operation for an ivi step type as is done in the basic Ivi step type. Isaw that this is done just evaluating the vriable instrOperation and depending on the value you guys insert a name corresponding to that value.
I tried to do the same and modified a custom step's description in order to display the currently selected oparation. The problem is that i can't display any label...instead of the label i want to appear i get a "String not found in Table" message in the step's description. What table is this?...Do i need to make the changes i want in a table or i can just use some predefined labels?...this is because with simple words like FREQUENCY or INIT the description seems to work fine. What can i do to solve the problem?
This is the description i have in the step:
ResStr("IVI_STEP_TYPE", "IVI", "IVI") + " " + ResStr("IVI_STEP_TYPE", "Counter", "Counter") + ": " + ((Step.LogicalName=="") ? ResStr("IVI_STEP_TYPE", "UNSPECIFIED LOGICAL NAME", "UNSPECIFIED LOGICAL NAME") : LocalizeExpression(Step.LogicalName)) + ", " + ResStr("IVI_STEP_TYPE", ((Step.Operation==0) ? "CONF FREQUENCY" : ((Step.Operation==1) ? "MEASURE" : ((Step.Operation==2) ? "READ" : ((Step.Operation==3) ? "INIT" : ((Step.Operation==4) ? "STATUS" : ((Step.Operation==5) ? "ABORT" : ((Step.Operation==6) ? "FETCH" : ((Step.Operation==7) ? "PERIOD" : ((Step.Operation==8) ? "CONF. VERTICAL" : ((Step.Operation==9) ? "CONF. INPUT IMPEDANCE" : ((Step.Operation==10) ? "CONF. BANDPASS FILTER" : ((Step.Operation==11) ? "CONF. LOWPASS FILTER" : ((Step.Operation==12) ? "CONF. HIGHPASS FILTER" : ((Step.Operation==13) ? "UNCONFIGURE FILTER" : ((Step.Operation==14) ? "SECONDARY EVENT" : ((Step.Operation==15) ? "RISE TIME" : ((Step.Operation==16) ? "FALL TIME" : ((Step.Operation==17) ? "POSITIVE PULSE" : ((Step.Operation==18) ? "NEGATIVE PULSE" : ((Step.Operation==19) ? "CONF. INTERVAL X TO Y MEAS" : ((Step.Operation==20) ? "CONF. PHASE X TO Y MEAS" : ((Step.Operation==21) ? "MEASURE X TO Y" : ((Step.Operation==22) ? "CONF. EXT. START ARM" : ((Step.Operation==23) ? "CONF. IMM START ARM" : ((Step.Operation==24) ? "CONF. EXT. STOP ARM" : ((Step.Operation==25) ? "CONF.TIME STOP ARM" : ((Step.Operation==26) ? "CONF. DIGITS STOP ARM" : "INVALID OPERATION"))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
and this is the description i get in some of the steps:
Ivi Counter, "Sample Counter", String not found in table

Eromero -
The ResStr function retrieves a string from the TestStand language resource files. We call this a table. The funtion requires a category and tag value name. Review the Creating String Resource Files section in Chapter 3, page 6 of the User Manual for more details.
So the strings that you are already referencing are in the IviStepTypes.ini file in the
Components\NI\Language\English directory. You could add your new strings that you require to a sister file that you would create under the Components\User\Language\English directory, or you can remove the call to ResStr and just hardcode the string with your step type if you do not want the ability to translate the string for other languages.
The call that is probably failing is:
ResStr
("IVI_STEP_TYPE", ((Step.Operation==0) ? "CONF FREQUENCY" : ...
Also, right now the call to ResStr("IVI_STEP_TYPE", "Counter", "Counter") is probably failing and just using the default value you supply in the call.
Scott Richardson - NI
Scott Richardson
National Instruments

Max Menu Items Reached in Step Type Palettes

Hi,
I am seeing a greyed out text in some of my step type palettes 'Max Menu Items Reached' which is probably derived from the Resource string SEQ_MAXIMUM_MENU_ITEMS_REACHED.
What defines the maximum number of menu items in the type palettes and can it be changed.
Regards
Ray Farmer

Ray,
The maximum number of menu items for TestStand 2.0.1 is set to be 256. This is pre-defined and cannot be changed. The message "'Max Menu Items Reached" should be displayed once you have inserted 256 menu items.
Hope that helps!
Shannon Rariden
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

How to create programmatically a new step type in TestStand (to myTypes.ini)

I need to create a new step type to myTypes.ini file programmatically. I have tried to do it with following steps:
- Get reference to engine
- Load type palette files
- creating new step type (engine.NewSteptype() )
- Inserting new type using TypeUsageList.InsertType method. Problem with this is the first parameter. It excpects it to be in a form of PropertyObject, but engine.NewStepType returns it as a StepType object. If I try to use StepType.AsPropertyObject it returns an error.
How to convert StepType object to a PropertyObject?

And here it is in C++:
TS::IEnginePtr mEngine;
SAFEARRAY * typeList;
TS::TypeUsageListPtr typeUseage;
TS:tepTypePtr stepObj;
mEngine = engine;
mEngine->LoadTypePaletteFiles();
typeList=mEngine->GetTypePaletteFileList();
TS:ropertyObjectFilePtr *rgelems;
SafeArrayAccessData(typeList,(void**)&rgelems);
typeUseage = rgelems[0]->TypeUsageList;
stepObj=mEngine->NewStepType();
TS:ropertyObject *property = stepObj->AsPropertyObject();
property->PutName("TestMe");
typeUseage->InsertType(property, 0, TS::TypeCategory_StepTypes);
rgelems[0]->IncChangeCount();
rgelems[0]->SaveFileIfModified(true);
SafeArrayUnaccessData(typeList);

How do I configure my custom step type to call its Express VI configuration dialog box each time I double click the step?

By double clicking on a step in the TestStand Sequence Editor the Properties dialog box pops up.
How to change this behaviour?
I would like to configure my step type so that each time I double click the step, the Express VI configuration dialog box pops up, instead of the properties.
One Idea is to use custom activeX substeps, for example, Antonio Lie mentioned the substep "OnNewStep" in my last post. Is there also a "OnDoubleClick"?
Does anyone know a list of activeX substep that can be used? Or are there other ideas?
Thanks a lot!!!
- Caribe -

Caribe,
1. Currently it is not possible to change the behavior for double clicking on a step. It is a good idea though, and we will be consider to add it to the next versions of TestStand.
2. "OnNewStep" is the only "special" substep. It was implemented for internal use and it is not documented yet.
3. If you want to know more about substeps you can red the Reference Manual, Chapter 13 is a good place to start.
4. I want to make clear that "OnNewStep" is called every time you insert a new step. The sequnce editor gets the substeps list and if it finds the "OnNewStep" substep in the list It calls it using the API. The substep can use any adapter type, It does not have to be the ActiveX adapter.
Hope it helps.

How to typecast property object to step type?

Hello!
We are doing to tool in Labview which analyses our defined custom step types. For this, we want to query the step type object from the TestStand engine.
Unfortunatly, the IEngine.GetTypeDefinition() method returns a property object. There is an old entry in the forums with the same problem. There was stated just to typecast the object, but it was an VB example. How can this type cast be done in LabView? Using the "To More specific class" node results in broken fires because this polymorphic vi does not support the data type TS.PropertyObject or TS.StepType. So how to aquire a reference to TS.StepType from the return value of IEngine.GetTypeDefinition()?
Best regards,
Helge

Hi, you need to go to the connectivity palette and then to the activex palette. On there is a "to datatype". The top terminal requires the data type you want to convert to - you can use a reference constant and then point it at the appropriate type (right click it and go to select activex class). Here's snippet to work from
Hope that helps
Thanks
Sacha Emery
Systems Engineer (NIUK)
Message Edited by SachaE on 04-23-2009 01:13 PM
// it takes almost no time to rate an answer
Attachments:
cast propertyobject to steptype.JPG ‏18 KB
example cast.vi ‏5 KB

Is binding Mail step one way ? how do i send values to next step type

hi,
Is binding Mail step one way ? how do i send values to next step type. In mail task i calculated few values and sent it as mail i want those values to be sent to an activity how do i do that.
Regards,
Hari

Are you using asend mail task. If so i Think there is no requirement to bind the value from Wflow to task.
If you are using a Method other than send mail task you can bind the container element.
But I could not understand what you are doing in the method of sending mail?
Thanks
Arghadip

How to strongly protect the step types from being modified by others?

how to strongly protect the step types from being modified by others?

Hi Jacky,
You can make a property of a step uneditable by changing the property
flags for the step. First, you want to be able to view the hidden
properties so that you can change the flags for these properties as
well. You do this by going to Configure>>Station Options
and selecting the Preferences tab. Check the box for Show Hidden
Properties. Once you have done this you can select the step type
from the types palette. In the window to the left, you can expand
the tree for the type to see all the properties of that step.
Right click on the property that you do not want users to be able to
edit, select Properties. Then click the Advanced button.
Here you will see a list of the setable flags. Check the box for
PropFlag_NonEditable. You can then do this for all the properties
of the step that you do not want users to edit.
Thanks,
Caroline Tipton
Data Management Product Manager
National Instruments

How do I make Step Types in the Type palette be "master" versions which all sequence files on a particular should use? (since this only seems to "half work")

The situation I would like is to have a library of step types which sequence developers can use. Therefore if new step types need to be added, or existing ones modified - all that needs to be done is to roll out a new MyTypes.ini (for example), and the code modules/substeps.
Scenarios:
If I create types in MyTypes.ini (make sure "Attach to this file" is checked, so they get saved here). I can then create a sequence file using these step types. No problem so far.
I can open the type palette, modify the step properties, and save. When I go back to my sequence file an asterisk appears (saying it needs to be saved, even if I have opened it from scratch). The properties have been updated to reflect what is in the Type Palette. Still no problem (Type versions are the same in the sequence file and type palette).
This is where the problem appears:
If I change a step type (in the Type Palette) from using a code module to using a Post-Step substep instead (changing the module adaptor to "None") - any instances do NOT update when you open sequence files. (The same happens vice versa also).
Please note that the "Type version" listed in the sequence file DOES match that listed in the Type Palette - the properties are the same but the manner in which the code modules are called is DIFFERENT! This then can lead to to runtime errors if the old code module has been deleted for example.
The only way around this is to open EVERY sequence file that contains an instance of the step type, and make sure that you have "Apply changes to all loaded instances of this type" checked in the step type properties dialog. This is is not a good solution since files could be missed, and is very time consuming if you have hundreds of sequence files!
What I need is that the Type Palette on any particular station contains the MASTER copies of each type. These are loaded whenever a sequence file is loaded and NOT retreived from the sequence file. As discussed above this seems to work when you modify properties - but doesnt work fine if you change the way in which code modules are called.
Am I doing something wrong or is this a limitation?

I had a system recently containing seven sequence files, approx 20 subsequences in each, and around 10-20 steps in each sub-sequence. Every step (except for the NI non-code module types) was an instance of a step type.
Each one of these steps had an Edit sub-step and a code module called through the code module adapter.
In order to make these into "wrapped up" step types it was decided to move the code module to a Post-Step substep (as also done in the NI-IVI step types) - so that developers cannot fiddle with the code prototype or module.
In order to do this I had to open all 7 of the sequence files, make the changes and then ensure that "Apply changes in this dialog to a loaded instances" was checked. This seems to sort of work, but some steps started causing Error 17502 (System Error) when you configure them (call the Edit substep). Over the course of the past few months I have had to effectively check every instance of a type to see if it works (deleting the step and replacing it when it doesnt). Other strange things happened like some of the step type instances now have the "None" (adapter) icon associated with them - but both still work.
The idea of creating a type-def of a step type is a good one, but frustrating that it doesnt seem to fully work. Why should the sequence file also store a version of the step-type - which is what is effectively causing this problem - why not make it so that if you dont have the step types installed in the type palette - TOUGH! Message Edited by RichM on 03-15-2005 06:55 AM

How can I include multiple limits in the sequence file documentation for custom step type?

Hi,
I have a custom Step Type that contains Measurements property under Results. Its type is Array of NI_LimitMeasurement.
I would like to see the values in the sequence file documentation like NI_MultipleNumericLimitTest type.
Is there any trick to do that?
Thanks,
Andras

Hi Andras,
I have made a slight change to the sequencefile 'docgen_txt.seq'.
In the Sequence 'Step Doc' is a section which handles MultipleNumericLimit step type. There is a precondition check on the step 'Add Multiple Numeric Limits' if the step is of type 'NI_MultipleNumericLimit'. As your step type is based on the MultipleNumeric Limit type, I have just removed this precondition and just relied on the existence of Parameters.Step.Result.Measurement. Equally you could add a new section in this sequence to handle your Custom Step Type which is only called when the precodition match your type name.
Now when you run the DocGen tool it handles your custom step type.
Find attached my modified sequencefile 'docgen_txt.seq'.
Just copy the contents of '..\National Instruments\TestStand 3.5\Components\NI\Tools\DocGen' to the User folder. Then place the attached file in the User\Tools\DocGen overwritting the version that is in that folder.
Then launch TestStand and try it out on your sequence file.
If you are using the html version, then you will have to make the same change into Step Doc sequence of the docgen_html sequence file.
Hope this helps
Regards
Ray Farmer
Message Edited by Ray Farmer on 05-19-2007 05:28 PM
Regards
Ray Farmer
Attachments:
docgen_txt.seq ‏184 KB

Step Type Menu Distribution. How to?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for