NI TestStand

TM

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows /CVI with TestStand

TM TM TM

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand

May 2009
375070A-01
Support

Worldwide Technical Support and Product Information

ni.com

National Instruments Corporate Headquarters

11500 North Mopac Expressway Austin, Texas 78759-3504 USA Tel: 512 683 0100

Worldwide Offices
Australia 1800 300 800, Austria 43 662 457990-0, Belgium 32 (0) 2 757 0020, Brazil 55 11 3262 3599,
Canada 800 433 3488, China 86 21 5050 9800, Czech Republic 420 224 235 774, Denmark 45 45 76 26 00,
Finland 358 (0) 9 725 72511, France 01 57 66 24 24, Germany 49 89 7413130, India 91 80 41190000,
Israel 972 3 6393737, Italy 39 02 41309277, Japan 0120-527196, Korea 82 02 3451 3400,
Lebanon 961 (0) 1 33 28 28, Malaysia 1800 887710, Mexico 01 800 010 0793, Netherlands 31 (0) 348 433 466,
New Zealand 0800 553 322, Norway 47 (0) 66 90 76 60, Poland 48 22 328 90 10, Portugal 351 210 311 210,
Russia 7 495 783 6851, Singapore 1800 226 5886, Slovenia 386 3 425 42 00, South Africa 27 0 11 805 8197,
Spain 34 91 640 0085, Sweden 46 (0) 8 587 895 00, Switzerland 41 56 2005151, Taiwan 886 02 2377 2222,
Thailand 662 278 6777, Turkey 90 212 279 3031, United Kingdom 44 (0) 1635 523545

For further support information, refer to the Technical Support and Professional Services appendix. To comment
on National Instruments documentation, refer to the National Instruments Web site at ni.com/info and enter
the info code feedback.

© 2009 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

Important Information
Warranty
The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions, due to defects
in materials and workmanship, for a period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National
Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute programming instructions if National Instruments receives
notice of such defects during the warranty period. National Instruments does not warrant that the operation of the software shall be
uninterrupted or error free.
A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and clearly marked on the outside of the package before any
equipment will be accepted for warranty work. National Instruments will pay the shipping costs of returning to the owner parts which are covered by
warranty.
National Instruments believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has been carefully reviewed for technical accuracy. In
the event that technical or typographical errors exist, National Instruments reserves the right to make changes to subsequent editions of this document
without prior notice to holders of this edition. The reader should consult National Instruments if errors are suspected. In no event shall National
Instruments be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in it.
EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN, NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMER’S RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES CAUSED BY FAULT OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF NATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER. NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING
FROM LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, USE OF PRODUCTS, OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF. This limitation of
the liability of National Instruments will apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract or tort, including negligence. Any action against
National Instruments must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. National Instruments shall not be liable for any delay in
performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty provided herein does not cover damages, defects, malfunctions, or service
failures caused by owner’s failure to follow the National Instruments installation, operation, or maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the
product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure or surges, fire, flood, accident, actions of third parties, or other events outside
reasonable control.

Copyright
Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National
Instruments Corporation.
National Instruments respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other
intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only
to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.

Trademarks
National Instruments, NI, ni.com, NI TestStand, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use
section on ni.com/legal for more information about National Instruments trademarks.
Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Members of the National Instruments Alliance Partner Program are business entities independent from National Instruments and have no agency,
partnership, or joint-venture relationship with National Instruments.

Patents
For patents covering National Instruments products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software,
the patents.txt file on your media, or the National Instruments Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.

WARNING REGARDING USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS

(1) NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING FOR A LEVEL OF
RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN
ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT
INJURY TO A HUMAN.
(2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE
IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY,
COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS
AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS, MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL DEVICES,
TRANSIENT FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE), UNANTICIPATED USES OR MISUSES, OR
ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE HEREAFTER
COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK OF
HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY
UPON ONE FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO AVOID DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH,
THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS. BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS
CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS' TESTING PLATFORMS AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION
DESIGNER MAY USE NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT
EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY
RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER
NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN, PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.
Conventions

The following conventions are used in this manual:

» The » symbol leads you through nested menu items and dialog box options
to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to
pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options
from the last dialog box.

This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information.

bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click in the software, such
as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes parameter
names.

italic Italic text denotes variables, emphasis, a cross-reference, or an introduction

to a key concept. Italic text also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word
or value that you must supply.

monospace Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the
keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.
This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives, paths, directories,
programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,
variables, filenames, and extensions.

monospace italic Italic text in this font denotes text that is a placeholder for a word or value
that you must supply.

Platform Text in this font denotes a specific platform and indicates that the text
following it applies only to that platform.
Contents

Chapter 1
Role of LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI in a TestStand-Based System
Code Modules ................................................................................................................1-1
Custom User Interfaces..................................................................................................1-2
Custom Step Types ........................................................................................................1-2
LabVIEW Adapter .........................................................................................................1-2
LabWindows/CVI Adapter ............................................................................................1-3

PART I
Using LabVIEW with TestStand

Chapter 2
Calling LabVIEW VIs from TestStand
Required LabVIEW Settings .........................................................................................2-1
LabVIEW Module Tab ..................................................................................................2-2
Creating and Configuring a New Step Using the LabVIEW Adapter ...........................2-3

Chapter 3
Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabVIEW VIs from TestStand
Creating a New VI from TestStand ...............................................................................3-1
Editing an Existing VI from TestStand..........................................................................3-2
Debugging a VI..............................................................................................................3-3

Chapter 4
Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand
Calling VIs with String Parameters ...............................................................................4-4
Calling VIs with Cluster Parameters .............................................................................4-4
Specifying Each Cluster Element Individually ...............................................4-5
Passing Existing TestStand Container Variables to LabVIEW.......................4-5
Creating a New Custom Data Type.................................................................4-6
Creating TestStand Data Types from LabVIEW Clusters.............................................4-8

© National Instruments Corporation v Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand

Contents

Chapter 5
Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter
Selecting a LabVIEW Server ........................................................................................ 5-1
Using a LabVIEW Run-Time Engine or Other Executable Server ................ 5-2
Using a LabVIEW 8.6.x or Later Development System................................. 5-4
Per-Step Configuration of the LabVIEW Adapter.......................................... 5-4
Reserving Loaded VIs for Execution ............................................................................ 5-4
Code Template Policy ................................................................................................... 5-5
Legacy VI Settings ........................................................................................................ 5-7

Chapter 6
Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW
TestStand User Interface Controls................................................................................. 6-1
TestStand VIs and Functions......................................................................................... 6-1
Creating Custom User Interfaces................................................................................... 6-2
Configuring the TestStand UI Controls .......................................................... 6-3
Enabling Sequence Editing ............................................................................. 6-4
Handling Events .............................................................................................. 6-4
Starting and Shutting Down TestStand ........................................................... 6-6
Menu Bars and Menu Event Handling............................................................ 6-7
Localization..................................................................................................... 6-8
Other User Interface Utilities ........................................................................................ 6-8
Making Dialog Boxes Modal to TestStand..................................................... 6-8
Checking for Suspended or Stopped Executions within Code Modules ........ 6-9
Running User Interfaces ................................................................................................ 6-9

Chapter 7
Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand
Using LabVIEW 8.0...................................................................................................... 7-1
LabVIEW 8.0 Real-Time Module Incompatibility......................................... 7-1
Projects............................................................................................................ 7-1
Project Libraries .............................................................................................. 7-2
Network-Published Shared Variables ............................................................. 7-2
Deploying Variables ......................................................................... 7-2
Using an Aliases File ........................................................................ 7-3
NI-DAQmx Tasks, Channels, and Scales in LabVIEW Projects ................... 7-3
Conditional Disable Structures and Symbols.................................................. 7-4
64-Bit Integer Data Type ................................................................................ 7-4
XControls ........................................................................................................ 7-4
Remote Execution ........................................................................................... 7-4
Building a TestStand Deployment with LabVIEW 8.0 .................................. 7-5
LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming .................................................................... 7-7

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand vi ni.com

 Contents

Chapter 8
Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote Computers
Configuring a Step to Run Remotely.............................................................................8-1
Configuring the LabVIEW VI Server to Run VIs Remotely.........................................8-2
Configuring a LabVIEW RT Server to Run VIs ...........................................................8-3
User Access to VI Server...............................................................................................8-4

Chapter 9
Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW
Invoking Methods ..........................................................................................................9-1
Accessing Built-In Properties ........................................................................................9-1
Accessing Dynamic Properties ......................................................................................9-2
Releasing ActiveX References ......................................................................................9-3
Using TestStand API Constants and Enumerations.......................................................9-4
Obtaining a Different Interface for TestStand Objects ..................................................9-5
Acquiring a Derived Class from the PropertyObject Class ...........................................9-5
Duplicating COM References in LabVIEW Code Modules .........................................9-6
Setting the Preferred Execution System for LabVIEW VIs ..........................................9-7
Handling Events.............................................................................................................9-8

Chapter 10
Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs
Format of Legacy VIs ....................................................................................................10-1
Test Data Cluster .............................................................................................10-2
Error Out Cluster .............................................................................................10-3
Input Buffer String Control .............................................................................10-4
Invocation Info Cluster....................................................................................10-4
Sequence Context Control...............................................................................10-5

PART II
Using LabWindows/CVI with TestStand

Chapter 11
Calling LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand
Required LabWindows/CVI Settings ............................................................................11-1
LabWindows/CVI Module Tab .....................................................................................11-1
Source Code Buttons .......................................................................................11-3
Creating and Configuring a New Step Using the LabWindows/CVI Adapter ..............11-4

© National Instruments Corporation vii Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Contents

Chapter 12
Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabWindows/CVI Code Modules
from TestStand
Creating a New Code Module from TestStand ............................................................. 12-1
Editing an Existing Code Module from TestStand........................................................ 12-3
Debugging a Code Module............................................................................................ 12-3

Chapter 13
Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand
Calling Code Modules with String Parameters ............................................................. 13-2
Calling Code Modules with Object Parameters ............................................................ 13-3
Calling Code Modules with Struct Parameters ............................................................. 13-3
Creating TestStand Data Types from LabWindows/CVI Structs.................................. 13-4
Creating a New Custom Data Type ................................................................ 13-4
Specifying Structure Passing Settings............................................................. 13-5
Calling a Function With a Struct Parameter ................................................... 13-5

Chapter 14
Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter
Showing Function Arguments in Step Descriptions ..................................................... 14-2
Setting the Default Structure Packing Size ................................................................... 14-2
Selecting Where Steps Execute ..................................................................................... 14-2
Executing Code Modules in an External Instance of LabWindows/CVI ....... 14-2
Debugging Code Modules ................................................................ 14-3
Executing Code Modules In-Process .............................................................. 14-3
Object and Library Code Modules ................................................... 14-3
Source Code Modules....................................................................... 14-5
Debugging DLL Code Modules ....................................................... 14-5
Loading Subordinate DLLs............................................................................. 14-5
Per-Step Configuration of the LabWindows/CVI Adapter............................. 14-6
Code Template Policy ................................................................................................... 14-7

Chapter 15
Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI
TestStand User Interface Controls................................................................................. 15-1
Creating and Configuring ActiveX Controls .................................................. 15-1
Programming with ActiveX Controls ............................................................. 15-1
Creating Custom User Interfaces................................................................................... 15-3
Configuring the TestStand UI Controls .......................................................... 15-4
Enabling Sequence Editing ............................................................................. 15-4

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand viii ni.com

 Contents

Handling Events ..............................................................................................15-4

Handling Variants............................................................................................15-5
Starting and Shutting Down TestStand ...........................................................15-6
Menu Bars .......................................................................................................15-7
Localization .....................................................................................................15-8
Other User Interface Utilities.........................................................................................15-8
Making Dialog Boxes Modal to TestStand .....................................................15-8
Checking for Suspended or Stopped Execution within Code Modules ..........15-8

Chapter 16
Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI
Using ActiveX Drivers in LabWindows/CVI................................................................16-1
Invoking Methods ..........................................................................................................16-2
Accessing Built-In Properties ........................................................................................16-3
Accessing Dynamic Properties ......................................................................................16-4
Adding and Releasing References .................................................................................16-5
Using TestStand API Constants and Enumerations.......................................................16-7
Handling Events.............................................................................................................16-8

Chapter 17
Adding Type Libraries To LabWindows/CVI DLLs
Generating Type Library Information ...........................................................................17-1

Chapter 18
Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules
Prototypes of Legacy Code Modules.............................................................................18-1
tTestData Structure..........................................................................................18-2
tTestError Structure .........................................................................................18-3
Updating Step Properties.................................................................................18-4
Example Code Module ..................................................................................................18-5

Appendix A
Technical Support and Professional Services

Index

© National Instruments Corporation ix Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand

Role of LabVIEW and
1
LabWindows/CVI in a
TestStand-Based System
You can use the NI TestStand test management environment to organize
and execute code modules written in a variety of languages and application
development environments (ADEs), including LabVIEW and
LabWindows™/CVI™. TestStand handles core test management
functionality, including the definition and execution of the overall testing
process, user management, report generation, database logging, and more.
TestStand can work in a variety of different testing scenarios and
environments because it allows extensive customization of components,
such as process models, step types, and user interfaces. You can use
LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI in the following ways to accomplish
much of this customization:
• Create code modules, such as tests and actions, that TestStand can call
using the LabVIEW Adapter or the LabWindows/CVI Adapter
• Create custom user interfaces for test systems
• Create custom step types

Code Modules
TestStand can call LabVIEW virtual instruments (VIs) with a variety of
connector pane configurations. TestStand can call VIs that reside on the
same computer as TestStand or on other network computers, including
computers running the LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) module. TestStand can
call LabWindows/CVI code modules with a variety of function prototypes.

TestStand can also pass data to the VIs and code modules it calls and store
the data the VI or code module returns. Additionally, the VIs and code
modules TestStand calls can access the complete TestStand application
programming interface (API) for advanced applications.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 1 Role of LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI in a TestStand-Based System

Custom User Interfaces

You can use the LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI development
environment to build custom user interfaces for test systems and for
creating custom sequence editors. Typically, custom user interfaces are
designed for use in production test systems. With the LabVIEW Full or
Professional Development System and with LabWindows/CVI, you can
also create user interfaces using the TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls
and the TestStand API. Refer to Chapter 9, Creating Custom User
Interfaces, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more information
about creating custom user interfaces.

Custom Step Types

You can use LabVIEW to create VIs and LabWindows/CVI to create code
modules you call from custom step types. These VIs and code modules can
implement editable dialog boxes and other features of custom step types.
Refer to Chapter 13, Custom Step Types, of the NI TestStand Reference
Manual for more information about custom step types.

LabVIEW Adapter
The LabVIEW Adapter offers advanced functionality for calling VIs from
TestStand. You can use the LabVIEW Adapter to perform the following
tasks:
• Call VIs with arbitrary connector panes
• Call VIs on remote computers
• Run VIs in the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine
• Call VIs from versions of TestStand earlier than 3.0 and LabVIEW
Test Executive VIs
• Create and edit VIs from TestStand
• Debug VIs (step in/step out) from TestStand
• Run VIs using the LabVIEW development system or a LabVIEW
executable

Refer to the Using LabVIEW with TestStand part of this manual for
information about using LabVIEW with TestStand.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 1-2 ni.com

 Chapter 1 Role of LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI in a TestStand-Based System

LabWindows/CVI Adapter
The LabWindows/CVI Adapter offers advanced functionality for
calling code modules from TestStand. You can use the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter to perform the following tasks:
• Call code modules with arbitrary function prototypes
• Create and edit code modules from TestStand
• Debug code modules (step in/step out) from TestStand
• Run code modules in-process or out-of-process using the
LabWindows/CVI development system

Refer to the Using LabWindows/CVI with TestStand part of this manual for
information about using LabWindows/CVI with TestStand.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
 Part I

Using LabVIEW with TestStand

Use this section of this manual to learn how to use LabVIEW with
TestStand.
• Chapter 2, Calling LabVIEW VIs from TestStand—Use the LabVIEW
Adapter to call VIs from TestStand.
• Chapter 3, Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabVIEW VIs
from TestStand—Use the LabVIEW Adapter to create new VIs to call
from TestStand and to edit and debug existing VIs.
• Chapter 4, Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand—TestStand
provides number, string, Boolean, and object reference built-in data
types. TestStand also provides several standard named data types,
including Path, Error, LabVIEWAnalogWaveform, and others. You
can create container data types to hold any number of other data types.
• Chapter 5, Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter—Configure the
LabVIEW Adapter to select a LabVIEW server, reserve loaded VIs for
execution, establish a code template policy, and change legacy VI
settings.
• Chapter 6, Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW—You can
create custom user interfaces and create user interfaces for other
components, such as custom step types.
• Chapter 7, Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand—TestStand supports
LabVIEW 8.x features, with some limitations. Additional
requirements exist for building a TestStand deployment system that
includes LabVIEW 8.x VIs.
• Chapter 8, Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote Computers—You can
directly call VIs on remote computers, including computers that run
the LabVIEW development system or a LabVIEW executable and PXI
controllers that run the LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) module.

© National Instruments Corporation I-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Part I Using LabVIEW with TestStand

• Chapter 9, Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW—You can

use the TestStand API or TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls from
LabVIEW test and user interface VIs.
• Chapter 10, Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs—In versions of TestStand
earlier than 3.0, you could call VIs only with a specific set of controls
and indicators. Using TestStand 3.0 or later, you can call VIs with a
wide variety of connector panes, including VIs with legacy
configurations.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand I-2 ni.com

Calling LabVIEW VIs from
2
TestStand
Use the LabVIEW Adapter to call VIs from TestStand.

Required LabVIEW Settings

All the tutorials in this manual require you to have the LabVIEW
development system and TestStand installed on the same computer. In
addition, you must configure the LabVIEW Adapter to run VIs using the
LabVIEW development system. Refer to Chapter 5, Configuring the
LabVIEW Adapter, for more information about configuring these settings
for the adapter.

Confirm the following settings in LabVIEW:

• To edit or run a VI from TestStand, you must include the VI in the
VI Server: Exported VIs list. By default LabVIEW allows access to
all VIs. To view the VI Server: Exported VIs list, select Tools»
Options and select the VI Server: Exported VIs category in the
Options dialog box.
• If you use LabVIEW 8.0.1 or earlier, select Tools»Options»
Performance and Disk to confirm the Run with multiple threads
checkbox includes a checkmark to avoid errors when running VIs.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 2 Calling LabVIEW VIs from TestStand

LabVIEW Module Tab

Use the LabVIEW Module tab in the TestStand Sequence Editor to
configure calls to VIs. Select a step that uses the LabVIEW Adapter to
view the LabVIEW Module tab on the Step Settings pane, as shown in
Figure 2-1.

2 3 4

1 5

1 VI Parameter Table 4 Source Code and Help Buttons

2 Parameters Table Control 5 VI Context Help Image and Description
3 Express VI Buttons

Figure 2-1. LabVIEW Module Tab

Use the LabVIEW Module tab in the TestStand Sequence Editor to specify
the VI the step executes and to specify if LabVIEW shows the front panel
of the VI when TestStand calls the VI. The Module tab includes
Source Code buttons for selecting an Express VI and converting an Express
VI to a standard VI.

The LabVIEW Module tab also contains the following specific information
about the VI to call:
• VI Parameter Table—Contains the following information about each
control and indicator, also called the parameters of the VI, wired to the
connector pane of the VI:
– Parameter Name—The caption text for the control or indicator.
When no caption exists, this field contains the label text.
– Type—The LabVIEW data type for the control or indicator. Refer
to Chapter 4, Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand, for
more information about how LabVIEW data types map to
TestStand data types.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 2-2 ni.com

 Chapter 2 Calling LabVIEW VIs from TestStand

– In/Out—Specifies whether the parameter is an input (control) or

an output (indicator).
– Default—Specifies if TestStand uses the default value for the
parameter, cluster element, or array element. When the terminal
on the VI is marked as Required, this option is not available.
– Value—A TestStand expression. For input parameters, TestStand
passes the result of this expression to the VI unless you enable the
checkbox in the Default column. For output parameters, TestStand
stores the data the VI returns in the location this expression
specifies.

Note Parameters are listed in the VI Parameter Table according to their order in the VI
context help image.

• Source Code and Help Buttons—Use these buttons to create or edit

a VI in LabVIEW, refresh the parameter information for the VI, open
the LabVIEW Advanced Settings window, display the help associated
with the VI if available, and undock the LabVIEW Help.
• VI Context Help Image and Description—Displays the context help
image of the VI as shown in the LabVIEW Context Help window and
displays the description of the VI from the Documentation page in the
LabVIEW VI Properties dialog box. When you click a label or
terminal of the VI icon, TestStand highlights the parameter in the
VI Parameter Table.

Click the Help or Help Topic button on the Help toolbar to access
the NI TestStand Help, which provides additional information about the
LabVIEW Module tab.

Creating and Configuring a New Step Using the

LabVIEW Adapter
Complete the following steps to insert a new step that uses the
LabVIEW Adapter and configure the step to call a test VI.
1. Launch the TestStand Sequence Editor and select the LabVIEW
Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
2. Open a new Sequence File window if one is not already open.
3. Select File»Save As and save the sequence file as <TestStand
Public>\Tutorial\Call LabVIEW VI.seq. The <TestStand
Public> directory is located at C:\Documents and Settings\

© National Instruments Corporation 2-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 2 Calling LabVIEW VIs from TestStand

All Users\Documents\National Instruments\

TestStand x.x on Windows 2000/XP and at C:\Users\Public\
Documents\National Instruments\TestStand x.x
on Windows Vista.
4. Insert a Pass/Fail step in the Main step group of the Sequence File
window and rename the new step LabVIEW Pass/Fail Test.
5. On the LabVIEW Module tab of the Step Settings pane, click the
Browse for VI button, select <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
LabVIEW Pass-Fail Test.vi, and click Open. TestStand reads the
description and connector pane information from the VI and updates
the LabVIEW Module tab so you can configure the data to pass to and
from the VI.
6. In the VI Parameter Table, enter Step.Result.PassFail in the
Value column of the PASS/FAIL Flag output parameter and enter
Step.Result.ReportText in the Value column of the Report Text
output parameter.

Note All expression fields support typeahead and autocomplete with drop-down lists and
context-sensitive highlighting. At any point while editing an expression, you can press
<Ctrl-Space> to show a drop-down list of valid expression elements.

When TestStand calls the VI, it places the value the VI returns
in the PASS/FAIL Flag and Report Text indicators into the
Result.PassFail and Result.ReportText properties of the step,
respectively.
7. Notice that TestStand automatically fills in the Value column of the
error out output parameter with the Step.Result.Error property.

Note By default, when a VI uses the standard LabVIEW error out cluster as an output
parameter, TestStand automatically passes that value into the Step.Result.Error
property for the step. You can also update the value manually.

8. Select File»Save to save the sequence file.

9. Select Execute»Single Pass to run the sequence file using the Single
Pass Execution entry point. When the execution completes, the
resulting report indicates the step passed. The VI always returns True
as the Pass/Fail output parameter.
10. Close the Execution window.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 2-4 ni.com

Creating, Editing, and Debugging
3
LabVIEW VIs from TestStand
Use the LabVIEW Adapter to create new VIs to call from TestStand and to
edit and debug existing VIs.

Creating a New VI from TestStand

Complete the following steps to create a new VI from TestStand.
1. Launch the TestStand Sequence Editor and select the LabVIEW
Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
2. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\Call LabVIEW VI.seq.
You created this sequence file in the Creating and Configuring a New
Step Using the LabVIEW Adapter section of Chapter 2, Calling
LabVIEW VIs from TestStand.
3. Insert a Numeric Limit Test step after the LabVIEW Pass/Fail Test step
and rename it LabVIEW Numeric Limit Test.
4. Select the LabVIEW Numeric Limit Test step and use the LabVIEW
Module tab to complete the following steps.
a. Click the Create VI button to create a new VI.
b. In the File dialog box, browse to the <TestStand Public>\
Tutorial directory, enter LabVIEW Numeric Limit Test.vi
in the File Name control, and click OK. TestStand creates a new
VI based on the available code templates for the TestStand
Numeric Limit Test and opens the VI in LabVIEW.

Note The TestStand Numeric Limit Test step type requires code modules to store a
measurement value in the Step.Result.Numeric property, and the step type performs a
comparison operation to determine whether the step passes or fails. Code modules can
update step properties by passing step properties as parameters to and from the module or
by using the TestStand API in the module. When you use a default code template from
National Instruments to create a module, TestStand creates the parameters needed to access
the step properties for you.

© National Instruments Corporation 3-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 3 Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabVIEW VIs from TestStand

c. In LabVIEW, select Window»Show Block Diagram to open the

block diagram.
d. Right-click the Numeric Measurement indicator terminal, select
Create»Constant from the context menu, and enter 10.0.
e. Save and close the VI.
5. Return to the TestStand Sequence Editor and click the
LabVIEW Module tab. Notice that TestStand automatically updates
the output parameters for the VI based on the information stored in the
code template for the Numeric Limit Test step type.
6. Save the sequence file as <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
Call LabVIEW VI 2.seq.
7. Select Execute»Single Pass to run the sequence file using the Single
Pass Execution entry point. When the execution completes, the
resulting report indicates the step passed with a numeric measurement
of 10.0.
8. Leave the sequence file open so you can use it in the next tutorial.

Refer to the Code Templates Tab section of Chapter 13, Custom Step
Types, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more information about
creating code templates for step types.

Editing an Existing VI from TestStand

Complete the following steps to edit an existing VI from TestStand.
1. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
Call LabVIEW VI 2.seq if it is not already open. You created this
sequence file in the Creating a New VI from TestStand section of this
chapter.
2. Right-click the LabVIEW Pass/Fail Test step and select Edit Code
from the context menu. LabVIEW becomes the active application in
which the LabVIEW Pass-Fail Test VI is open.
3. Open the block diagram for the VI and change the PASS/FAIL Flag
Boolean constant to False.
4. Save and close the VI.
5. In the TestStand Sequence Editor, select Execute»Single Pass to run
the sequence file using the Single Pass Execution entry point. When
the execution completes, the resulting report indicates the step failed,
and the VI returns False in the PASS/FAIL Flag indicator.
6. Close the Execution window.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 3-2 ni.com

 Chapter 3 Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabVIEW VIs from TestStand

Debugging a VI
Complete the following steps to debug a VI you call from TestStand using
the LabVIEW Adapter.
1. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\Call LabVIEW VI.seq.
2. Place a breakpoint on the LabVIEW Pass/Fail Test step.
3. Save the sequence file and select Execute»Run MainSequence to
start an execution of MainSequence.
4. When the execution pauses, click the Step Into button on the sequence
editor toolbar. LabVIEW becomes the active application, in which the
LabVIEW Pass-Fail Test VI is open and in a suspended state.
5. Open the block diagram of the suspended VI.
6. Click the Step Into button or the Step Over button on the LabVIEW
toolbar to begin single-stepping through the VI. You can click the
Continue button at any time to finish single-stepping through the VI.
7. When you finish single-stepping through the VI, click the Return to
Caller button on the LabVIEW toolbar to return to TestStand. The
execution pauses at the next step in the sequence.
8. Select Debug»Resume or click the Resume button on the Debug
toolbar in TestStand to complete the execution.
9. Close the Execution window.

You can run the VI multiple times before returning to TestStand. However,
LabVIEW passes the results only from the last run to TestStand when you
finish debugging.

© National Instruments Corporation 3-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Using LabVIEW Data Types
4
with TestStand
TestStand provides number, string, Boolean, and object reference built-in
data types. TestStand also provides several standard named data types,
including Path, Error, LabVIEWAnalogWaveform, and others. You can
create container data types to hold any number of other data types.
TestStand container data types are analogous to LabVIEW clusters.
You can use references to external objects, such as ActiveX (Microsoft
ActiveX) objects or VISA sessions, between different types of code
modules.

LabVIEW includes a greater variety of built-in data types than TestStand

does, so TestStand converts LabVIEW data types in certain ways when
calling VIs, as shown in Table 4-1.

Table 4-1. TestStand Equivalents for LabVIEW Data Types

LabVIEW Data Type TestStand Data Type

Real number (U8, U16, U32, I8, I16, I32, Number
SGL, DBL, or EXT)
TestStand does not support extended-precision,
(EXT) floating-point numbers. TestStand
converts any EXT numbers from LabVIEW into
double-precision (DBL) numbers.
64-bit integer numeric TestStand does not support calling VIs with
64-bit integer numeric indicators or controls.
Fixed-point numeric TestStand does not support calling VIs with
fixed-point numeric indicators or controls.
Complex number (CSG, CDB, or CXT) Number
TestStand maps each part of the complex
number to separate TestStand Number
properties. Refer to the previous information
about how TestStand converts EXT numbers.

© National Instruments Corporation 4-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

Table 4-1. TestStand Equivalents for LabVIEW Data Types (Continued)

LabVIEW Data Type TestStand Data Type

Enum (U32, U16, or U8) Number
For input parameters, the Value column on the
LabVIEW Module tab shows a ring control that
contains the items in the LabVIEW
enumeration.
At edit time, TestStand stores the numeric value
and string label value of the enum you select.
When you pass an enum value to TestStand at
run time, TestStand stores only the numeric
value.
String String
Refer to the Calling VIs with String Parameters
section of this chapter for more information
about using the string data type.
Path Path or string
ActiveX Control or Automation Refnum Object reference
.NET Refnum Object reference
You cannot pass references to .NET objects you
create outside of LabVIEW, such as with the
TestStand .NET Adapter, to VIs. You can store
references to .NET objects you create in
LabVIEW within TestStand properties and then
pass them to other VIs. If you use
LabVIEW 7.1.1, the objects must be
marshalable by reference.
Waveform LabVIEWAnalogWaveform
Digital waveform LabVIEWDigitalWaveform
Digital data LabVIEWDigitalData
Picture String
You must select Binary String on the LabVIEW
Module tab. Refer to the Calling VIs with String
Parameters section of this chapter for more
information about using the string data type.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 4-2 ni.com

 Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

Table 4-1. TestStand Equivalents for LabVIEW Data Types (Continued)

LabVIEW Data Type TestStand Data Type

Refnum (File I/O, VI, Menu, Queue, Number
TCP connection, and so on)
You cannot use references to internal LabVIEW
objects inside TestStand or in other types of
code modules. You can store only references to
LabVIEW objects in TestStand properties and
then pass the properties to other VIs.
Timestamp String
Refer to the Calling VIs with String Parameters
section of this chapter for more information
about using the string data type.
Error I/O Error
When a VI contains the standard error out
cluster as an output parameter, TestStand
automatically detects it and maps the output to
Step.Result.Error.

Array of x Array of TestStand (x)

Variant Any TestStand data type
LabVIEW Object TestStand does not support calling VIs with
LabVIEW Object indicators or controls.
Cluster Container
Refer to the Calling VIs with Cluster
Parameters section of this chapter for more
information about using the container data type.
I/O data types (DAQmx Task Name, LabVIEWIOControl
DAQmx Channel Name, VISA Resource Name,
Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more
IVI Logical Name, FieldPoint IO Point, or
information about using the DeviceName and
Motion Resource)
SessionNumber properties of the
LabVIEWIOControl data type.

© National Instruments Corporation 4-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

Table 4-1. TestStand Equivalents for LabVIEW Data Types (Continued)

LabVIEW Data Type TestStand Data Type

IMAQ Session Number
Other I/O data types (DAQmx Physical Channel String
Name, Terminal Name, Analog Trigger Source,
Refer to the Calling VIs with String Parameters
Scale Name, Device Name, or Switch Name)
section of this chapter for more information
about using the string data type.

Calling VIs with String Parameters

When you configure calls to VIs that use strings as parameters, you can
specify to escape the string data when reading the data from the VI or
unescape the string data when passing the data to the VI. This option is
necessary because LabVIEW strings can contain binary data, including
NUL characters, but TestStand strings cannot contain NUL characters.

For string parameters, use the ring control in the Type column of the
VI Parameter Table on the LabVIEW Module tab to select ASCII String
or Binary String. The default value is ASCII String. TestStand does not
modify the values of ASCII strings it passes to or from VIs.

Select Binary String in the Type column to store a LabVIEW string that
contains binary data in a TestStand property. TestStand escapes the string
before storing it and substitutes hexadecimal codes for the unprintable
characters, such as the NUL character, in the string.

To pass a string escaped to a VI, select Binary String in the Type column.
TestStand unescapes the string before passing it to the VI and substitutes
the correct character values for the hexadecimal values in the escaped
string.

Calling VIs with Cluster Parameters

When you configure calls to VIs that use clusters as parameters, you can
specify that each cluster element maps to a different TestStand expression
or that the entire LabVIEW cluster maps to a TestStand data type.

You can create a custom data type that matches a LabVIEW cluster. For
input parameters, you can pass the default value for the entire cluster or the
default values for specific elements of the cluster control on the front panel
of the VI.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 4-4 ni.com

 Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

For output parameters, you can optionally specify where TestStand stores
the cluster value or specific elements of the cluster value.

When you use several VIs with a complex array of clusters that is not
used in TestStand, you can use the LabVIEWClusterArray data type,
which adapts to the array of clusters as needed. First, use the
LabVIEWClusterArray data type as an output expression that TestStand
uses to adapt the data type to fit the array of clusters. Then, you can pass
the data type to the remaining VIs as an input.

Specifying Each Cluster Element Individually

To configure each cluster element individually, specify a different
TestStand expression for each element of the cluster. Figure 4-1 illustrates
a VI Parameter Table in which the data source for the Number element of
Input Cluster is a local variable. TestStand passes the default value for the
String element of Input Cluster.

Figure 4-1. Input Cluster Data Sources

Passing Existing TestStand Container Variables to LabVIEW

Instead of passing each cluster element individually, you can create a
TestStand custom data type that maps to the entire LabVIEW cluster.

Use the LabVIEW Cluster Passing tab of the Type Properties dialog box for
the new custom data type to specify how TestStand maps subproperties to
elements in a LabVIEW cluster. Then, when you specify the data to pass
for a cluster parameter, use a variable that is an instance of the new custom
data type. Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more information about the
Type Properties dialog box.

© National Instruments Corporation 4-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

Figure 4-2 shows how the data passed to the Input Cluster parameter is a
local variable called ContainerData with a type of InputData. Figure 4-3
shows the custom InputData data type.

Figure 4-2. ContainerData Local Variable

Figure 4-3. TestStand Custom InputData Data Type

Creating a New Custom Data Type

Use the Create Custom Data Type From Cluster dialog box to create a
TestStand custom data type, such as a container, that matches an existing
LabVIEW cluster. Click the Create Custom Data Type button, shown at
left, located in the Type column of the VI Parameter Table on the
LabVIEW Module tab to launch the Create Custom Data Type From
Cluster dialog box, as shown in Figure 4-4.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 4-6 ni.com

 Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

Figure 4-4. Create Custom Data Type From Cluster Dialog Box

• Type Name—Specify the name of the TestStand custom data type you
want to create.
• Property Type—Specify the TestStand data type to use for cluster
elements that are variants.
• Property Name—Specify the names of the subproperties that map to
the elements of the cluster.
• Create Custom Data Type In File—Specify where TestStand creates
the type.

When you update a strict type definition in LabVIEW, you must also update
all instances of the custom data type you created in TestStand from that
LabVIEW strict type definition. TestStand does not automatically update
custom data types with changes you make in LabVIEW.

Refer to Chapter 11, Type Concepts, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual

for more information about where TestStand stores custom data types.
Refer to Chapter 12, Standard and Custom Data Types, of the NI TestStand
Reference Manual and to the NI TestStand Help for more information
about custom data types. Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more
information about the Create Custom Data Type From Cluster dialog box.

© National Instruments Corporation 4-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

Creating TestStand Data Types from LabVIEW Clusters

Complete the following steps to create a TestStand data type that matches
a LabVIEW cluster.
1. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
Call LabVIEW VI 2.seq if it is not already open. You created this
sequence file in the Creating a New VI from TestStand section of
Chapter 3, Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabVIEW VIs
from TestStand.
2. Select the LabVIEW Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
3. Insert a new Pass/Fail Test step in the Main step group of
MainSequence after the LabVIEW Numeric Limit Test step
and rename the step Pass Container to VI.
4. On the LabVIEW Module tab, click the Browse for VI button
and select <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
VI with Cluster Input.vi. The Report Text output parameter
of this VI returns a string that contains the number and string elements
of the Input Cluster parameter.
5. Click the Create Custom Data Type button in the Type column of
the Input Cluster parameter to launch the Create Custom Data Type
From Cluster dialog box. TestStand maps the cluster elements to
subproperties in a container called Input_Cluster, which is a new
TestStand custom data type. You can rename the data type and
subproperties as necessary and specify where TestStand stores the
new data type.
6. In the Create Custom Data Type From Cluster dialog box, change the
type name to InputData and click the Create button to accept the
automatically assigned values and to create the data type in the current
sequence file.
7. On the LabVIEW Module tab, remove the checkmark from the Default
column for the Input Cluster input parameter, click the Expression
Browse button in the Value column to launch the Expression Browser
dialog box, and complete the following steps.
a. Right-click Locals in the Variables/Properties tab and select
Insert Types»InputData to create a local variable of type
InputData. Rename the local variable ContainerData.
b. Right-click the Number subproperty of ContainerData and
select Properties from the context menu to launch the
Number Properties dialog box.
c. Enter 23 in the Value field and click OK.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 4-8 ni.com

 Chapter 4 Using LabVIEW Data Types with TestStand

d. Right-click the String subproperty of ContainerData

and select Properties from the context menu to launch the
String Properties dialog box.
e. Enter My String Data in the Value field and click OK.
f. Enter Locals.ContainerData in the Expression field and
click OK. The Value column for the Input Cluster parameter now
contains Locals.ContainerData.String.
8. Enter Step.Result.ReportText in the Value column for the
ReportText output parameter. When TestStand calls the VI, it passes
the values in the ContainerData local variable to the Input Cluster
control on the VI and returns the Number and String elements of the
Input Cluster parameter to the ReportText property of the step.
9. Save the changes.
10. Select Execute»Single Pass to run the sequence file using the Single
Pass Execution entry point. When the execution completes, the
resulting report shows the text the VI with Cluster Input VI returns.
11. Close the Execution window.

© National Instruments Corporation 4-9 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Configuring the LabVIEW
5
Adapter
Configure the LabVIEW Adapter to select a LabVIEW server, reserve
loaded VIs for execution, establish a code template policy, and change
legacy VI settings.

Selecting a LabVIEW Server

The LabVIEW Adapter can run VIs using the LabVIEW development
system, the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine (RTE), or a LabVIEW executable
built with an ActiveX Automation server enabled.

Select Configure»Adapters to launch the Adapter Configuration dialog

box, select LabVIEW in the Adapter column, and click the Configure
button to launch the LabVIEW Adapter Configuration dialog box, as
shown in Figure 5-1. Use this dialog box to select the server you want
TestStand to use,

Figure 5-1. LabVIEW Adapter Configuration Dialog Box

© National Instruments Corporation 5-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 5 Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter

• LabVIEW Run-Time Engine—Provides optimal performance

when calling VIs by running VIs in the same process as TestStand.
When you select this option, you cannot create or edit VIs from
TestStand or debug VIs TestStand calls. You must install and select the
LabVIEW RTE version that matches the version of the VIs that
TestStand executes.
• Development System (Active Version: X.X)—Creates or edits VIs
from TestStand and debugs VIs TestStand calls in LabVIEW. The VIs
execute in the LabVIEW development system process. You must have
the LabVIEW development system installed on the same computer as
TestStand to use this option.
• Other Executable—Uses a LabVIEW executable you build with
the Build Executable functionality in LabVIEW 8.0 or later or the
Build Application or Shared Library (DLL) functionality in
LabVIEW 7.1.1. When you select this option, you cannot create or edit
VIs from TestStand or debug VIs TestStand calls. The version of
LabVIEW that built the executable must match the version of the VIs
that TestStand executes.
To use this option, enter the ActiveX server name associated with the
LabVIEW executable. The executable must be installed and registered
on the same computer as TestStand. Launch the executable once to
register it as an ActiveX server. Refer to the <TestStand Public>\
Components\RuntimeServers\LabVIEW directory for an example
server VI and application build script for LabVIEW 8.0 or later and for
LabVIEW 7.1.1.

Note (Windows Vista) Windows Vista requires you to log in as a user with administrator
privileges to register a server. LabVIEW cannot register ActiveX servers on Windows
Vista when building executables without elevation. When you use TestStandLVRTS.exe
with Windows Vista to run VIs and you receive an error because the server is not registered,
run TestStandLVRTS.exe as an administrator to register the server.

Using a LabVIEW Run-Time Engine or Other Executable Server

When you select LabVIEW Run-Time Engine or Other Executable as a
server in the LabVIEW Adapter Configuration dialog box, you must ensure
that the server can locate the complete hierarchy of VIs, including any
subVIs, that TestStand executes. The version of the VIs that TestStand
executes must match the version of the LabVIEW RTE or the version of
LabVIEW that built the executable. Refer to Chapter 14, Deploying
TestStand Systems, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more
information about deploying VIs for use with TestStand and about

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 5-2 ni.com

 Chapter 5 Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter

including a LabVIEW RTE in a deployment installer. Refer to Chapter 7,

Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand, for more information about calling
and deploying LabVIEW 8.x VIs.

When you select LabVIEW Run-Time Engine as the server on a

development system, TestStand might report that it cannot load some VIs
in the LabVIEW RTE, even though the VIs run successfully using the
LabVIEW development system as the server, because TestStand cannot
load a subVI that was saved in a different version of LabVIEW than the
LabVIEW RTE. This discrepancy occurs most often when a top-level VI
uses a subVI or controls located in the vi.lib\addons\TestStand
directory and that subVI was saved in a different version of LabVIEW than
the LabVIEW RTE. Mass compiling the vi.lib\addons\TestStand
directory usually resolves the discrepancy. You can also mass compile
top-level VIs, which in turn compiles any subVIs. When you use the
TestStand Version Selector to activate a different version of TestStand,
TestStand copies new versions of the VIs to the
vi.lib\addons\TestStand directory. Mass compile the VIs located
in this directory after you activate the new version of TestStand.

This behavior can also occur in the following situations:

• When you try to run a VI you save in the <TestStand>\API directory
and the <TestStand Public>\Examples directory
• When the directories contain VIs with the same names as the subVIs
the VI uses
• When the VIs were saved with a different version of LabVIEW

Save VIs in a working directory instead of using the TestStand directories

to work around this issue.

Normally, the LabVIEW RTE can execute top-level VIs only when you
save the VI with the entire VI hierarchy or when the LabVIEW RTE can
locate the subVIs using the LabVIEW search directories. By default, the
LabVIEW RTE does not search for required subVIs within the LabVIEW
development system, such as files in vi.lib. However, when TestStand
loads a LabVIEW RTE on a computer where you also installed the
LabVIEW development system, TestStand automatically adds directories
from the development system to the search paths for the LabVIEW RTE.
Therefore, when TestStand executes a top-level VI saved without its
hierarchy, the LabVIEW RTE attempts to find subVIs by first searching the
directory of the top-level VI and then searching the directories TestStand
added. When the LabVIEW RTE finds a subVI saved by a different version
of LabVIEW first, the LabVIEW RTE cannot load the subVI and does not
load the top-level VI.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 5 Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter

Using a LabVIEW 8.6.x or Later Development System

When you install a version of LabVIEW later than LabVIEW 8.6.x and you
want to use that version of LabVIEW with TestStand, you must complete
the following steps to update TestStand - Default Values 86.llb
to allow the LabVIEW Adapter to retrieve the default parameter values
of the VIs.
1. Create a copy of TestStand - Default Values 86.llb.
2. Rename the copy TestStand - Default Values xx.llb, where
xx indicates the version of LabVIEW, with out a revision number, you
want to use with TestStand.
3. Mass compile TestStand - Default Values xx.llb using the
version of LabVIEW you want to use with TestStand.

Per-Step Configuration of the LabVIEW Adapter

You can direct TestStand to always use the LabVIEW RTE to execute a
step. Click the Advanced Settings button on the LabVIEW Module tab and
enable the Always Run VI in LabVIEW Run-Time Engine option in the
Advanced Settings window.

When you enable the Always Run VI in LabVIEW Run-Time Engine

option, TestStand selects the appropriate version of the LabVIEW RTE
according to the version of LabVIEW in which you last compiled the VI.
This setting overrides the global setting in the LabVIEW Adapter
Configuration dialog box. Use this option when you do not want the global
settings for the adapter to affect the tools and step types you create.

Reserving Loaded VIs for Execution

Enable the Reserve Loaded VIs for Execution option in the LabVIEW
Adapter Configuration dialog box to reserve any VIs TestStand loads for
calling with the LabVIEW Adapter. Use this option to reduce the amount
of time required for TestStand to call the VIs and makes references you
create in a VI you call from TestStand—such as I/O, ActiveX, and
synchronization references—persist across calls to other VIs. You can store
these references in a TestStand property and pass them to subsequent VIs
you call from TestStand.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 5-4 ni.com

 Chapter 5 Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter

Although reserving VIs with this option reduces the amount of time
required for TestStand to call the VIs, it also blocks other applications from
using any VIs TestStand loads, including subVIs of the VIs TestStand calls
directly.

When you open a reserved VI in LabVIEW, the Run arrow, shown at left,
indicates the VI is reserved, and you cannot edit the VI. To edit a VI
TestStand has reserved, click the Edit Code button, shown at left, on the
LabVIEW Module tab or right-click the step and select Edit Code from the
context menu to open the VI in TestStand. You can also select File»Unload
All Modules in the sequence editor before you open the VI in LabVIEW.

You must close any references you create to VIs. When TestStand loads and
reserves VIs, LabVIEW does not automatically close the references until
TestStand unloads the VIs that created the references. Failing to close the
references could result in a memory leak in the test system.

Code Template Policy

Use the Code Template Policy section in the LabVIEW Adapter
Configuration dialog box to allow the use of old, or legacy, VI templates
when you create new test VIs. The legacy VI templates are VIs you can call
from previous versions of TestStand. Refer to Chapter 10, Calling Legacy
LabVIEW VIs, for more information about legacy TestStand VIs.

When you enable the Allow New and Legacy Templates option and create
a new VI using the LabVIEW Module tab, TestStand launches the Choose
Code Template dialog box, in which you can select the template to use.
Enable the Show Legacy Templates in List option to show the legacy
templates. When you select a legacy template, you enable the Optional
Parameters for Legacy Templates section in the Choose Code Template
dialog box, in which you can select the optional parameters you want to
include as input parameters for the VI, as shown in Figure 5-2.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 5 Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter

Figure 5-2. Choose Code Template Dialog Box

When you enable the Allow Only Legacy Templates option and create a
new VI using the LabVIEW Module tab, TestStand launches the Optional
Parameters dialog box, in which you select the optional parameters, such as
Input Buffer, Invocation Info, or Sequence Context ActiveX Pointer,
you want to include as input parameters for the VI.

When you enable the Allow Only New Templates option and create a new
VI using the LabVIEW Module tab, TestStand creates a new VI based on
the code template for the specified step type. When the step type has
multiple code templates available, TestStand launches the Choose Code
Template dialog box, as shown in Figure 5-2, in which you can select the
code template to use for the new VI.

Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more information about the Choose
Code Template dialog box.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 5-6 ni.com

 Chapter 5 Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter

Legacy VI Settings
Click the Legacy VI Settings button in the LabVIEW Adapter
Configuration dialog box to launch the Legacy VI Settings dialog box, in
which you can configure settings relevant to calling legacy test VIs. The
Legacy VI Settings dialog box contains expressions the LabVIEW Adapter
evaluates to generate values to pass to the VI in the various Invocation Info
cluster fields. Legacy VIs can use the Invocation Info cluster as an
optional input. Refer to the Invocation Info Cluster section of Chapter 10,
Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs, for more information about the Invocation
Info cluster.

© National Instruments Corporation 5-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Creating Custom User Interfaces
6
in LabVIEW
You can create custom user interfaces and create user interfaces for other
components, such as custom step types. Refer to Chapter 9, Creating
Custom User Interfaces, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more
information about the TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls.

TestStand User Interface Controls

Use the TestStand UI Controls on the Controls»TestStand palette to
develop a custom user interface application, including custom sequence
editors.

When you place the TestStand UI Controls on the front panel of a VI, you
can use the LabVIEW ActiveX functionality to program the controls. You
can also configure the controls interactively using the LabVIEW Property
Browser or control property pages if available. Right-click the control and
select Property Browser from the context menu to open the LabVIEW
Property Browser. Right-click the control and select Properties from the
context menu to open the property page.

Refer to Chapter 9, Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW, for

more information about programming the TestStand API from LabVIEW.

TestStand VIs and Functions

The TestStand VIs and functions on the Functions»TestStand palette are
the LabVIEW versions of the functions in the TestStand Utility (TSUtil)
Functions Library.

Use the TestStand VIs and functions for the following tasks:
• Inserting menu items that automatically execute commands the
TestStand UI Controls provide
• Localizing the strings in a user interface
• Making dialog boxes VIs launch modal to TestStand applications

© National Instruments Corporation 6-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

• Determining whether an execution that calls a code module VI has

stopped
• Pausing the calling execution thread when a lengthy operation
suspends a code module VI
• Setting and getting the values of TestStand properties and variables

Right-click the VI on the Functions palette or on the block diagram and

select Help from the context menu to access the help for the VI.

Creating Custom User Interfaces

User interfaces that use the TestStand UI Controls typically perform the
following basic operations:
• Configure connections, commands, and other control settings
• Register to handle events the controls generate
• Start TestStand
• Wait in a main event loop until you close the application
• Shut down TestStand

User interfaces can also include a menu bar that contains non-TestStand
items and items that invoke TestStand commands.

Refer to the example user interfaces included with TestStand for more
information about creating a user interface using the TestStand UI Controls
in LabVIEW. Begin with the simple user interface example, <TestStand
Public>\UserInterfaces\Simple\LabVIEW\TestExec.llb\
Simple OI - Top-Level VI.vi. Refer to the full-featured example,
<TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces\Full-Featured\
LabVIEW\TestExec.llb\Full UI - Top-Level VI.vi, for a more
advanced sequence editor example that includes menus and localization
options.

TestStand installs the source code files for the default user interfaces
in the <TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces and
<TestStand>\UserInterfaces directories. To modify the installed
user interfaces or to create new user interfaces, modify the files in the
<TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces directory. You can use
the read-only source files for the default user interfaces in the
<TestStand>\UserInterfaces directory as a reference. When you
modify installed files, rename the files after you modify them if you want
to create a separate custom component. You do not have to rename the files

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 6-2 ni.com

 Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

after you modify them if you only want to modify the behavior of an
existing component. If you do not rename the files and you use the files in
a future version of TestStand, changes National Instruments makes to the
component might not be compatible with the modified version of the
component. Storing new and customized files in the <TestStand
Public> directory ensures that new installations of the same version of
TestStand do not overwrite the customizations and ensures that uninstalling
TestStand does not remove the files you customize.

TestStand no longer includes example user interfaces that use the

TestStand API. These examples contained a large amount of complex
source code, and they provided less functionality than the simpler examples
that use the TestStand UI Controls. National Instruments recommends
using the examples that use the TestStand UI Controls as a basis for new
development.

Note When you place a TestStand UI Control on the front panel of a VI, you must set the
Preferred Execution System to user interface for the VI. In addition, National Instruments
recommends that when a TestStand User Interface performs ActiveX operations that can
process messages or performs TestStand operations that can call back into LabVIEW, the
application must perform these operations in a LabVIEW execution system other than user
interface, such as standard or other 2. Performing these operations in the user interface
execution system can result in hang conditions.

Configuring the TestStand UI Controls

Refer to the following example user interface VIs for examples of
configuring connections, commands, and other settings for the TestStand
UI Controls:
• Simple OI - Configure Application Manager
• Simple OI - Configure SequenceFileView Manager
• Simple OI - Configure ExecutionView Manager
• Full UI - Configure StatusBar
• Full UI - Configure SequenceFileView Manager
• Full UI - Configure ListBar
• Full UI - Configure ExecutionView Manager

© National Instruments Corporation 6-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

Enabling Sequence Editing

The TestStand UI Controls support Operator Mode and Editor Mode. Set
the ApplicationMgr.IsEditor property to True for the Application
Manager control to allow users to create and edit sequence files. You can
also use the /editor command-line flag to set the property.

Handling Events
TestStand UI Controls generate events to notify the application of user
input and application events, such as the completion of an execution.
To handle an event in LabVIEW, you register a callback VI, which
LabVIEW automatically calls when the control generates the event.

Complete the following steps to use the Register Event Callback function,
available in the LabVIEW Full or Professional Development System.
1. Wire the reference of the control that sends the event you want to
handle to the Event input of the Register Event Callback function.
2. Use the Event input terminal drop-down list to select the specific event
you want to handle.
3. When you want to pass custom data to the callback VI, wire the custom
data to the User Parameter input of the Register Event Callback
function. The User Parameter input can be any data type.
4. Right-click the VI Ref input of the Register Event Callback function
and select Create Callback VI from the context menu. LabVIEW
creates an empty callback VI with the correct input parameters for the
particular event, including an input parameter for any custom data you
wired to the User Parameter input in step 3.
5. Save the new callback VI. The block diagram that contains the
Register Event Callback function now shows a Static VI Reference
node wired to the VI Ref input of the function. This node returns a
strictly typed reference to the new callback VI.
6. Complete the block diagram of the callback VI to perform the
operation you specify when the control generates the event.
7. When the application finishes handling events for the control, use the
Unregister for Events function to close the event callback refnum
output of the Register Event Callback function.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 6-4 ni.com

 Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

Figure 6-1 shows how to register a callback VI to handle the Break event
for the TestStand Application Manager control.

Figure 6-1. Registering a Callback VI for the Break Event

You can resize the Register Event Callback function node to show multiple
sets of terminals to handle multiple events. Refer to the Simple OI -
Configure Event Callbacks and to the Full UI - Configure Event Callbacks
example user interface VIs for examples of registering and handling events
from the TestStand UI Controls.

You must limit the tasks you perform in a callback VI to ensure that
LabVIEW handles the event in a timely manner to allow the front panel to
quickly respond to user input and prevent possible hang conditions. When
a callback VI performs ActiveX operations that can process messages or
performs TestStand operations that can call back into LabVIEW, the
application must perform these operations outside of the callback VI. You
can define a user event the callback VI generates to defer these types of
operations.

The ReDraw user event in the full example user interface shows how
callback VIs can defer operations to perform outside of the callback VI.
The example user interface performs the following tasks:
• Calls the Full UI - Create LabVIEW Application Events VI to create
the ReDraw user event.
• Callback VIs, such as the Full UI - Resized Event Callback VI,
generate the ReDraw user event when the user interface must resize
and reposition controls on the front panel.
• The ReDraw User Event case in the main event loop of the Full UI -
Top-Level VI sets a global variable while processing the current event
to prevent callback VIs from generating new ReDraw events. The
ReDraw User Event case calls the Full UI - Disable Panel Updates VI
to prevent the front panel from updating, calls the Full UI -
ArrangeControls VI to update the position and size of controls on the
front panel, and calls the Full UI - Re-enable Panel Updates VI to
update the front panel.

© National Instruments Corporation 6-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

Starting and Shutting Down TestStand

Start TestStand by invoking the ApplicationMgr.Start method,
as shown in the Simple OI - Top-Level VI and in the
Full UI - Top-Level VI example user interfaces.

User interface applications wait in a main event loop after starting

TestStand. The main event loop must handle the events that stop the user
interface application. The main event loop can also handle other events,
such as menu selections and LabVIEW control changes.

Typically, you stop a user interface application by clicking the Close box
or by executing the Exit command through a TestStand menu or a Button
control.

When you click the Close box, the Event structure in the main event loop
handles the Panel Close? event. The block diagram that handles the
event invokes the ApplicationMgr.Shutdown method and discards
the event. When the ApplicationMgr.Shutdown method returns True
to indicate TestStand is ready to shut down, the main event loop stops.
When the ApplicationMgr.Shutdown method returns False, the main
event loop waits because TestStand cannot shut down until the executions
complete or you unload sequence files. When TestStand is ready, the
Application Manager control generates the
ApplicationMgr.ExitApplication event.

The callback VI for the ApplicationMgr.ExitApplication event

generates a LabVIEW Quit Application user event, which the example user
interface VIs handle, to inform the main event loop to stop.

Refer to the following example user interface VIs for examples of the main
event loop and how to shut down TestStand. These VIs also provide
examples of creating, generating, and handling the Quit Application event.
• Simple OI - Top-Level VI
• Simple OI - ExitApplication Event Callback
• Full UI - Top-Level VI
• Full UI - Create LabVIEW Application Events
• Full UI - ExitApplication Event Callback

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 6-6 ni.com

 Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

Menu Bars and Menu Event Handling

The TestStand VIs and functions palette contains the following VIs for
creating and handling menu items that execute TestStand UI Control
commands:
• TestStand - Insert Commands in Menu
• TestStand - Cleanup Menus
• TestStand - Remove Commands From Menus
• TestStand - Execute Menu Command

Because maintaining the current state of the menu bar can be difficult,
National Instruments recommends that you handle the menu bar only when
required. The Event structure in a main event loop can include a case to
handle the Menu Activation? event to determine when you open a menu or
select a shortcut key that might be linked to a menu item. The block
diagram that handles this event can then rebuild the menu bar.

The Full UI - Top-Level VI in the example user interface shows how to

rebuild the menu bar. The Menu Activation? case in the main event loop
of the VI determines which control has focus, if the control is a
TestStand UI Control, and calls the Full UI - Rebuild Menu Bar VI to
rebuild the menu bar. When you click the menu bar, LabVIEW does not
automatically return focus to the control after handling a user menu event.
The Menu Activation? case in the Full UI - Top-Level VI passes a
reference for the control with focus to the Menu Selection (User) case so
the application can later restore focus to the control.

You can add a Menu Selection (User) case to the Event structure in a main
event loop to handle user menu selections but limit the tasks you perform
in the Menu Selection (User) case to ensure that LabVIEW handles the
menu selection in a timely manner. When the case performs ActiveX
operations that can process messages or performs TestStand operations that
can call back into LabVIEW, the application must perform these operations
in a LabVIEW execution system other than user interface, such as
standard or other 2.

The Full UI - Top-Level VI in the example user interface shows how to

process user menu events. The VI uses the standard LabVIEW execution
system. The Menu Selection (User) case in the main event loop calls the
Full UI - Add To Menu Queue VI to queue the operation for processing the
menu outside of the main event loop. The Full UI - Process Menu Queue VI
waits for and processes queued operations. For TestStand menu items, the
Full UI - Process Menu Queue VI executes the appropriate TestStand
command by calling the TestStand - Execute Menu Command VI. For

© National Instruments Corporation 6-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

non-TestStand menu items, the VI calls the Full UI - Process User

Menus VI, which you can customize to handle user menu selections.

The LabVIEW application menu items for copy, cut, and paste operate on
LabVIEW controls only and do not operate on TestStand UI Controls. In
addition, the TestStand menu commands operate on TestStand UI Controls
only and not on LabVIEW controls. When you rebuild a LabVIEW menu
in the Menu Activation? event case and you call the TestStand - Insert
Commands in Menu VI to insert CommandKind_Edit_Copy,
CommandKind_Edit_Cut, or CommandKind_Edit_Paste, pass False
to the TestStand UI Control Has Focus control and "Edit" to the
Top-Level Menu to Insert Into control to insert the corresponding
LabVIEW application menu items instead of the TestStand menu
command.

Localization
The TestStand UI Controls and TestStand VIs and functions provide tools
that localize user interfaces based on the TestStand language setting. Use
the following VIs to localize the user interface:
• TestStand - Get Resource String
• TestStand - Localize Menu
• TestStand - Localize Front Panel

Refer to the Full UI - Localize Operator Interface and to the Full UI - About
Box example user interface VIs for examples of localizing user interfaces.

Other User Interface Utilities

You can also launch dialog boxes modal to TestStand application windows
and enable VIs to check for stopped executions.

Making Dialog Boxes Modal to TestStand

The VIs that TestStand calls can launch dialog boxes modal to TestStand
application windows, such as the TestStand Sequence Editor or custom
user interfaces.

Use the TestStand - Start Modal Dialog and the TestStand - End Modal
Dialog VIs to make a dialog box modal to TestStand application windows.
Refer to the <TestStand Public>\Examples\ModalDialogs\
LabVIEW directory for examples of how to use these VIs.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 6-8 ni.com

 Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

Checking for Suspended or Stopped Executions within Code Modules

The VIs that TestStand calls can launch dialog boxes or perform other
time-consuming operations. In these cases, it can be useful for those VIs to
periodically check whether TestStand terminated or aborted their parent
execution so the VIs can stop gracefully and allow the parent execution to
terminate or abort.

Code modules can also allow TestStand to suspend the parent execution
without requiring the code modules to first return to TestStand.

Use the following VIs to enable VIs that TestStand calls to verify whether
the execution that called the VI has stopped:
• TestStand - Initialize Termination Monitor
• TestStand - Get Termination Monitor Status
• TestStand - Close Termination Monitor

Refer to the VIs in the following directories for examples of how to use
these VIs:
• <TestStand Public>\Examples\Demo\LabVIEW\Computer
Motherboard Test
• <TestStand Public>\Examples\Demo\LabVIEW\Auto

Use the TestStand – Set Thread Externally Suspended VI to allow

TestStand to suspend the parent execution thread while still executing code
in the code module.

Use the Execution.GetStates method to determine whether the

execution is suspended.

Running User Interfaces

Consider the following guidelines when running user interfaces:
• You must close all running LabVIEW user interfaces before you exit
Windows. When you shut down, restart, or log off of Windows while
a user interface is running, the user interface cancels the operation and
might exit with an error.
• When you run a LabVIEW user interface in the LabVIEW
development system, you can call remote VIs only when the VI is
the same or earlier version as the LabVIEW development system.
TestStand does not support calling VIs on remote computers when

© National Instruments Corporation 6-9 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 6 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW

you save a VI without the block diagram and the version of the VI is
different than the active version of LabVIEW installed on the
computer.
• By default, you can run only one copy of a LabVIEW-built executable
at a time, which prevents the TestStand /useexisting
command-line option from working. Add the
"allowmultipleinstances = TRUE" option to the INI options file
in the same directory as the LabVIEW built executable to allow more
than one copy to execute at a time.
• A LabVIEW user interface reports object leaks on shutdown when you
pass a TestStand object as the ActiveXData parameter of a UIMessage
in the UIMessage callback VI. LabVIEW does not release the object
reference until LabVIEW unloads the callback VI. Refer to the
National Instruments Web site at ni.com/info and enter the
info code 4H6DULT3 to access the National Instruments
KnowledgeBase article 4H6DULT3 for more information about using
a dynamically called VI to ensure that LabVIEW releases the object.
• To prevent a LabVIEW user interface from hanging while running in
LabVIEW, do not call subroutine VIs from inside a VI used as an
ActiveX callback VI. Instead, change the execution priority of the VIs
to a value other than subroutine.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 6-10 ni.com

Using LabVIEW 8.x with
7
TestStand
Refer to the LabVIEW documentation for more information about the
LabVIEW features included in this chapter.

Using LabVIEW 8.0

LabVIEW 8.0 introduced support for many new features, such as projects,
project libraries, and DAQmx tasks. As a result of some of these changes,
TestStand 3.1 or earlier is not compatible with LabVIEW 8.0. Use
TestStand 3.5 or later to use LabVIEW 8.0 with TestStand.

The following sections include the LabVIEW 8.0 features TestStand

supports, limitations of the TestStand support, and additional requirements
to build a TestStand deployment system that includes LabVIEW 8.0 VIs.

LabVIEW 8.0 Real-Time Module Incompatibility

TestStand is not compatible with the LabVIEW 8.0 Real-Time (RT)
module and cannot download VIs to the LabVIEW 8.0 RT module. Refer
to Chapter 8, Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote Computers, for more
information about executing VIs in the LabVIEW 8.0 RT module.

Projects
When you run a VI in LabVIEW 8.0, the VI runs inside the application
instance for a target in a LabVIEW project or the VI runs without a project
in the main application instance. In TestStand, the LabVIEW Adapter
always runs a VI in the main application instance, and LabVIEW 8.0
project settings do not apply. TestStand does not support LabVIEW project
features or settings unless otherwise noted in the following sections.

© National Instruments Corporation 7-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 7 Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand

Project Libraries
LabVIEW project libraries are collections of VIs, type definitions, palette
menu files, and other files, including other project libraries. In TestStand,
you can call public VIs in a project library, but you cannot call private VIs.
To call a VI in a project library, you must specify the path to the VI file.
TestStand does not use qualified paths that include the project library path
and name.

Network-Published Shared Variables

LabVIEW 8.0 supports network-published shared variables so VIs on
distributed systems can share data across the network. LabVIEW identifies
shared variables through a network path that includes the computer name
(target name), the project library name(s), and the shared variable name.

Deploying Variables
You must deploy a project library that contains the shared variables to
which you want to connect from within a VI. LabVIEW automatically
deploys shared variables from a library when you execute a VI that reads
or writes shared variables and the project library that contains the shared
variables is open in the current LabVIEW project.

Because TestStand executes VIs without a project, LabVIEW cannot

automatically deploy shared variables. Therefore, you must deploy shared
variables to the local computer in one of the following ways:
• Manually deploy the shared variables in the LabVIEW development
environment using a project.
• Use the LabVIEW Utility Deploy Library step type in TestStand to
deploy a project library that contains shared variables. The project
library can contain only shared variables and cannot contain any VI
files. You must install Remote Execution Support for NI TestStand to
use the LabVIEW Utility Deploy Library step type. Refer to the
NI TestStand Help for more information about the LabVIEW Utility
Deploy Library step type.

Note TestStand does not support calling a VI or DLL that programmatically deploys
shared variables using the LabVIEW Deploy Library method on a LabVIEW Application
reference or using the LabVIEW Deploy Items method on a LabVIEW Project reference.
When you programmatically deploy shared variables, the TestStand or LabVIEW
application might return an error and terminate. You can use the Deploy Library method
from within a standalone executable without adverse effects on TestStand.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 7-2 ni.com

 Chapter 7 Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand

Using an Aliases File

When you deploy a project library or execute a VI in TestStand that
accesses a shared variable, LabVIEW must determine how to resolve the
target name stored in the network path for the variable. When you configure
a target in a LabVIEW project, LabVIEW stores the IP address for the
target in an aliases file located in the same directory as the project. The
aliases file uses the same base name as the project and a .aliases file
extension.

The server you configured the LabVIEW Adapter to use in the LabVIEW
Adapter Configuration dialog box determines the aliases file LabVIEW
uses in the following ways:
• LabVIEW Run-Time Engine—LabVIEW looks for an aliases file
with the same name and location as the TestStand application. For
example, SeqEdit.aliases for the TestStand Sequence Editor and
TestExec.aliases for a user interface. You must quit and restart
the TestStand application after you copy the aliases file from the
project directory to the application directory.
• Development System—LabVIEW looks for an aliases file,
LabVIEW.aliases, located in the same directory as the LabVIEW
development system executable. You must quit and restart LabVIEW
after you copy the aliases file from the project directory to the
LabVIEW directory.
• Other Executable—LabVIEW looks for an aliases file with the same
name and location as the LabVIEW executable server. For example,
TestStandLVRTS.aliases for TestStandLVRTS.exe and
TestExec.aliases for a user interface. You must quit and restart
the executable after you copy the aliases file from the project directory
to the executable directory.

NI-DAQmx Tasks, Channels, and Scales in LabVIEW Projects

TestStand does not support VIs that use NI-DAQmx tasks, channels, and
scales defined in a project. You must define NI-DAQmx tasks, channels,
and scales in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX).

© National Instruments Corporation 7-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 7 Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand

Conditional Disable Structures and Symbols

LabVIEW 8.0 includes the Conditional Disable Structure, which contains
one or more subdiagrams, or cases. Depending on the configuration,
LabVIEW uses one of the subdiagrams for the duration of the execution.
You can specify conditions for the structure based on custom symbols
defined in a project. Because TestStand executes VIs in the main
application instance, any conditions that use custom symbols always
evaluate to False.

64-Bit Integer Data Type

TestStand does not support calling VIs that contain terminals connected to
64-bit integer numeric controls or indicators.

XControls
TestStand supports calling VIs that use XControls on Windows systems.

Remote Execution
To execute VIs on a remote LabVIEW computer, TestStand requires a
version of the Remote Execution Support for NI TestStand component that
matches the version of LabVIEW with which you saved the VIs on the local
computer. LabVIEW installs and enables this component only when
TestStand is present. When you install TestStand after you install
LabVIEW, TestStand installs a version of the component that might not
match the version of LabVIEW on the computer. In this case, you might
need to rerun the LabVIEW installer.

Also, you must install a version of the Remote Execution Support for
NI TestStand component that matches libraries that you deploy using the
LabVIEW Utility Deploy Library step type.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 7-4 ni.com

 Chapter 7 Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand

Building a TestStand Deployment with LabVIEW 8.0

TestStand 4.0 or later supports deploying LabVIEW 8.0 VIs and VIs from
project libraries. However, the following restrictions exist that do not apply
to earlier versions of LabVIEW:
• National Instruments does not recommend editing packaged VIs on a
deployed system because unexpected errors can occur. TestStand
includes only required VIs from a project library in a deployment.
When you attempt to add new VIs from a project library to the
deployment image, LabVIEW might not be able to find all the VIs it
needs when you run the new VIs. National Instruments recommends
rebuilding and redeploying the deployment image in this situation.
Analysis and instrument drivers are examples of VIs that use project
libraries.
• National Instruments does not recommend deploying VIs that were
previously deployed using the TestStand Deployment Utility. When
the TestStand Deployment Utility packages VIs, the utility includes all
subVIs and creates partial project libraries that contain only the
required VIs from the project libraries.
When you attempt to redeploy VIs, the build in the TestStand
Deployment Utility can fail when you attempt to include a partial
project library and the original complete project library or when you
attempt to include two copies of the same VI on the system. When you
deploy custom LabVIEW-based step types to a development system
and then attempt to include the step types in a new deployment, the
build might fail.
To work around this limitation, you must remove the duplicate VIs and
partial project libraries from the system and relink the VIs to the
original VIs and complete project libraries on the system before you
build a new deployment.
Complete the following steps to resolve any duplicate VIs from
previously deployed files.
1. Build the deployment and review the VIs the utility reports as
duplicates in the status log.
2. Review the SupportVIs LLB or directory in the previously
deployed files to determine which VIs and project libraries
conflict with VIs located on the development system. Typically,
a SupportVIs LLB or directory contains duplicate VIs and project
libraries from vi.lib and user.lib.
3. Remove any duplicate VIs and partial project libraries the
Deployment Utility reports and duplicate VIs in a SupportVIs
LLB or directory.

© National Instruments Corporation 7-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 7 Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand

4. Load all top-level VIs included in the previously deployed files

and resave the VIs. LabVIEW prompts you to browse for any
missing subVIs.
5. When the previously deployed files contain sequence files with
steps that call Express VIs or any duplicate VI, you must
reconfigure the Express VI steps and update the VI pathname for
steps that call the VIs.
Select Tools»Update VI Calls to run the Update VI Calls tool to
update the Express VIs a LabVIEW step instance calls and to
check or update a standard VI call prototype. Use this tool when
you want to run the Express VIs a LabVIEW step instance calls in
a later version of the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine. Also, use the
Update VI Calls tool to update existing Express VI instances with
any changes made to the Express VI. Refer to the
NI TestStand Help for more information about
the Update VI Calls tool.
6. Repeat step 1 to determine if duplicate VIs still exist.
• National Instruments does not recommend distributing two VIs with
the same name to different locations on a target computer. When a VI
with the same name from a different location is in memory, LabVIEW
uses the VI in memory when attempting to load a subVI. However,
LabVIEW reports an error when you attempt to load a top-level VI
with the same name as a VI in memory even when the similarly named
VI in memory is an exact copy of the one you want to load.
• TestStand no longer supports distributing duplicate DLLs that VIs call.
TestStand 4.0 or later supports—but National Instruments does not
recommend—distributing duplicate DLLs that steps in a sequence file
call.
• TestStand does not support deploying duplicate project libraries. You
receive an error when you attempt to include two project libraries with
the same name.
• TestStand no longer supports including two VIs with the same name in
a deployment unless the VIs are in different project libraries.
• To ensure that windows messages are handled during the execution of
a LabVIEW DLL you build for use with TestStand, National
Instruments recommends that you disable the Delay operating system
messages in shared library option on the Advanced Page of the Shared
Library Properties dialog box in the LabVIEW Professional
Development System.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 7-6 ni.com

 Chapter 7 Using LabVIEW 8.x with TestStand

• When you build a TestStand deployment that calls VIs that use shared
variables, you must complete the following tasks:
– Add project library files that contain shared variables to the
workspace you use to create the deployment. While processing
sequence files, the TestStand Deployment Utility automatically
includes project library files in the deployment when a LabVIEW
Utility Deploy Library step references the project library.
– Add an aliases file to the deployment and configure the
deployment to install the aliases file to the proper location on the
destination system so LabVIEW can resolve network paths. Refer
to the Using an Aliases File section of this chapter for more
information about the correct location for the files.
– Include the NI Variable Engine component in the installer to
ensure that the destination system can use the shared variables.
– Deploy shared variables to the local computer by executing a
LabVIEW Utility Deploy Library step in a TestStand sequence.
You can also manually deploy shared variables to the local
computer using a project in the LabVIEW development
environment.

LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming

LabVIEW 8.2 or later includes support for Object-Oriented Programming.
TestStand cannot directly call a VI that wires a LabVIEW object to its
connector pane. However, you can wire the LabVIEW object to the Flatten
to String function, return the data string to TestStand as a binary string, and
store the flattened LabVIEW object in a string property or variable in
TestStand.

You cannot access the properties or invoke the methods on the flattened
LabVIEW string object in TestStand. To access the properties or invoke the
methods on the LabVIEW object, you must pass the flattened LabVIEW
object as a binary string to a VI and wire the string to the Unflatten From
String function along with the object constant of the correct type to create
the LabVIEW object.

© National Instruments Corporation 7-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote
8
Computers
You can directly call VIs on remote computers, including computers that
run the LabVIEW development system or a LabVIEW executable and PXI
controllers that run the LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) module. TestStand
supports downloading VIs to systems that run the LabVIEW 7.1.1 RT
module but does not support downloading VIs to systems that run the
LabVIEW 8.0 or later RT module. To use the LabVIEW 8.0 or later RT
module, you must call a VI on the local system and the local VI must then
call the VI on the LabVIEW RT module, or you must manually download
the VI to the LabVIEW RT module and call the VI by remote path or by
name if the VI is already in memory.

Because TestStand uses the LabVIEW VI Server to run VIs remotely, the
remote computers can use any operating system LabVIEW supports,
including Linux, Solaris (LabVIEW 7.1.1 only), and Mac OS.

To call a VI remotely, you must configure the TestStand step to specify that
the call occurs on a remote computer. In addition, you must configure the
remote computer to allow TestStand to call VIs located on the computer.
You must also configure the computer running TestStand to have network
access to the remote computer running the LabVIEW VI Server.

Configuring a Step to Run Remotely

Complete the following steps to configure a step to run remotely. The VI
must be present on the local computer so TestStand can configure and run
the VI.
1. Click the Advanced Settings button on the LabVIEW Module tab to
launch the LabVIEW Advanced Settings window, in which you can
specify the name or an expression that evaluates to the name of the
remote computer on which you want to run the VI.
2. If the remote computer is running the LabVIEW development system
or a LabVIEW executable, use the Remote VI Path text box to specify
the path to the VI on the remote computer.

© National Instruments Corporation 8-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 8 Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote Computers

If the remote computer is a PXI controller running LabVIEW 7.1.1 RT,

TestStand downloads the VI to the remote computer or loads the VI
using the Remote VI Path you specified in the LabVIEW Advanced
Settings window. TestStand skips this step when the VI is already
present in memory on the controller at the time TestStand loads the
code module for the step.
If the remote computer is a PXI controller running LabVIEW 8.0 RT
or later, TestStand does not download the VI to the remote computer.
You can use the LabVIEW 8.0 development system to download VIs
to the PXI controller. You can also use the TestStand FTP Files step
type to download files from and upload files to a remote computer.
Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more information about the FTP
Files step type.

Note Refer to the Getting Started with the LabVIEW Real-Time Module manual in the
<LabVIEW>\manuals directory for more information about downloading VIs to a PXI
controller.

You can also use FTP to download VIs to the PXI controller. Use the
LabVIEW development system to create a Source Distribution with all
the VIs to ensure that you include all the dependencies of the VIs to
transfer to the hard drive of the LabVIEW RT target. Disable the
options to exclude VIs from vi.lib, instr.lib, and user.lib.
Then, use FTP to transfer the source distribution output to the hard
drive of the LabVIEW RT target.
After you download the VIs to the PXI controller running the
LabVIEW 8.0 or greater RT module, you can use the Remote VI Path
option in the LabVIEW Advanced Settings window to call the VIs.

Configuring the LabVIEW VI Server to Run VIs Remotely

The LabVIEW development system or built executable must be running on
the remote computer, and you must configure the development system or
built executable to allow VI calls through the TCP/IP protocol of the VI
Server.

In LabVIEW 7.1.1, select Tools»Options and navigate to the

VI Server: Configuration settings to enable the TCP/IP protocol and
the VI calls options. You can also specify the TCP/IP port the server uses.
The port you specify in LabVIEW must be the same port you specify in
TestStand in the LabVIEW Advanced Settings window, which you can
access on the LabVIEW Module tab.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 8-2 ni.com

 Chapter 8 Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote Computers

Use the VI Server: TCP/IP or Machine Access settings to allow specific

computers access to the LabVIEW VI Server. You can also specify certain
computers or entire domains that can call VIs on the server computer.

Use the VI Server: Exported VIs settings to configure the VIs you want to
call through the LabVIEW VI Server. You must export all VIs you want to
call remotely from TestStand. The default setting in LabVIEW is to export
all VIs, indicated by an asterisk (*).

In LabVIEW 8.0 or later, you can make changes to the LabVIEW VI Server
settings using LabVIEW projects. You must enable the TCP/IP Protocol
and specify the Machine Access, User Access, and Exported VIs settings.

Refer to the LabVIEW Help for more information about configuring

VI Server options.

Configuring a LabVIEW RT Server to Run VIs

You can configure a LabVIEW RT Server to run VIs remotely.

For a LabVIEW 7.1.1 RT Server, launch LabVIEW on the host computer,

select the appropriate RT target, and select Tools»RT Target
<IP Address/Host Name> Options. Configure the VI Server settings to
specify which VIs can run remotely and which computers can access the
RT target remotely.

When you finish configuring the RT target, set the execution target back the
to the local computer before you attempt to use TestStand to call VIs on the
RT target.

In addition, you must also configure the RT target to allow access to the
computer running TestStand when you want TestStand to download VIs to
the RT target.

For a LabVIEW 8.0 or later RT Server, launch LabVIEW on the host

computer, right-click the appropriate RT target in the Project Explorer
window, and select Properties from the context menu to launch the target
properties dialog box. Configure the VI Server settings to specify which
VIs can run remotely and which computers can access the RT target
remotely.

© National Instruments Corporation 8-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 8 Calling LabVIEW VIs on Remote Computers

Refer to the Configuring RT Target Properties section of the Getting

Started with the LabVIEW Real-Time Module manual in the
<LabVIEW>\manuals directory or to the LabVIEW Help for more
information about configuring VI Server settings.

User Access to VI Server

TestStand does not support user-based VI security for executing VIs on
remote computers. You must use the VI Server Machine access list to
protect a VI server on a remote computer.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 8-4 ni.com

Using the TestStand ActiveX
9
APIs in LabVIEW
You can use the TestStand API or TestStand UI Controls from LabVIEW
test and user interface VIs. Refer to the LabVIEW documentation for more
information about ActiveX concepts and how to use LabVIEW as an
ActiveX client.

Invoking Methods
TestStand objects have methods you invoke to perform an operation or
function. In LabVIEW, use the Invoke Node to invoke methods.
The block diagram in Figure 9-1 shows how to invoke the
Sequence.UnloadModules method to unload all code modules in the
sequence.

Figure 9-1. Invoking the UnloadModules Method

Accessing Built-In Properties

TestStand defines a number of built-in properties that are always present
for objects, such as steps and sequences. Nearly every kind of TestStand
object has built-in properties that are static with respect to the TestStand
API, which you can use to access the properties in the programming
language you specify. Examples of built-in properties are the
Sequence.Name property and the SequenceContext.Sequence
property.

© National Instruments Corporation 9-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

In LabVIEW, use the Property Node to access built-in properties. The

block diagram in Figure 9-2 shows how to obtain the value of the
Sequence.Name property.

Figure 9-2. Obtaining the Value of the Name Property from a Sequence Object

The block diagram in Figure 9-3 shows how to obtain a reference to a step
of a sequence that a Sequence object references.

Figure 9-3. Obtaining a Reference to a Step of a Sequence

that a Sequence Object References

Accessing Dynamic Properties

In TestStand, you can define custom step properties, sequence local
variables, sequence file global variables, and station global variables.
Because the TestStand API is independent of the variables and custom step
properties you define, these variables and properties are dynamic with
respect to the TestStand API. The TestStand API provides the
PropertyObject class so you can access dynamic properties and
variables from within code modules, where you use lookup strings to
identify specific properties by name.

To access dynamic properties of an object, you must first use the

AsPropertyObject method of the object to convert the specific
object reference to a PropertyObject reference. Then, use the
PropertyObject interface to access custom properties of the object
by using a lookup string to specify the specific custom property.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 9-2 ni.com

 Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

The block diagram in Figure 9-4 shows how to use the GetValString
method on the PropertyObject interface of a Step object to obtain the
error message value for the current step.

Figure 9-4. Using the GetValString Method to Obtain the Error Message Value
for the Current Step

You can use the TestStand - Get Property Value VI or the TestStand - Set
Property Value VI to access dynamic properties of a SequenceContext
object. The block diagram in Figure 9-5 shows how to use the TestStand -
Get Property Value VI to obtain the error message value for the current step.

Figure 9-5. Using VIs to Obtain the Error Message Value for the Current Step

Releasing ActiveX References

When a method or property returns an ActiveX reference, you must use the
Automation Close function in LabVIEW to release the reference.

Note If you do not release the ActiveX reference, LabVIEW does not release it for you
until the VI hierarchy finishes executing. Repeatedly opening references to objects without
closing them can cause the computer to run out of memory.

© National Instruments Corporation 9-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

Using TestStand API Constants and Enumerations

Some TestStand API methods require string and numeric constant input
arguments. The acceptable values of these arguments are organized into
groups that correspond to different properties and methods. For example,
the PropertyObject.SetValNumber method includes an options input
argument that accepts many different numeric constants.

It can be difficult to remember all the available string and numeric

constants for the TestStand API properties and methods. To facilitate
programming with the TestStand API within VIs, TestStand provides
two enumerated constant VIs—the TestStand API String Constants VI
and the TestStand API Numeric Constants VI.

Use the TestStand API String Constants VI to locate and select the string
constant arguments you can use with TestStand API properties and
methods. Use the TestStand API Numeric Constants VI to locate and select
the various numeric constant arguments you can use with TestStand API
properties and methods. Use both of these VIs in conjunction with the
constants associated with the TestStand API methods and properties. Refer
to the NI TestStand Help for more information about using constants with
the TestStand methods and properties.

Use the OR function in LabVIEW to combine more than one numeric

constant. When you need to combine more than two constants, use the
Compound Arithmetic function and set the mode to OR.

The block diagram in Figure 9-4 shows how to use the TestStand
API Numeric Constants VI to obtain the value of the
PropOptions_NoOptions constant.

Some methods in the TestStand API require enumeration input arguments.

For these methods, right-click the input parameter on the Invoke Node
in LabVIEW, select Create»Constant from the context menu to create a
LabVIEW ring constant, and select the value you want in the resulting
constant.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 9-4 ni.com

 Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

Obtaining a Different Interface for TestStand Objects

In some cases, you might need to obtain a different interface for a
TestStand object than the current interface. In ActiveX/COM terminology,
this action is called a QueryInterface. For example, when you have a
Module reference to a LabVIEWModule object and need to access the
LabVIEWModule interface instead, perform a QueryInterface on the
Module object to obtain the LabVIEWModule interface. In LabVIEW, use
the Variant To Data function with the reference to accomplish this task.

The block diagram in Figure 9-6 shows how to obtain the

LabVIEWModule interface of a Module object to get the VIDescription
property of the object. Notice that you must release the reference the
Variant To Data function returns when you are finished with it.

Figure 9-6. Converting a Module Reference to a LabVIEWModule Reference

Acquiring a Derived Class from

the PropertyObject Class
In some cases, you might need to use the PropertyObject class methods
to obtain a reference to a TestStand object. You might then want to access
one of the static properties of the TestStand object, such as the run mode
for the third step in the Main step group of the currently executing
sequence. For methods in the PropertyObject class that can return
objects derived from PropertyObject, you must acquire the derived
interface for the object to access the built-in properties and methods of the
derived class. Use the method described in the Obtaining a Different
Interface for TestStand Objects section to acquire the derived interface for
an object.

© National Instruments Corporation 9-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

The block diagram in Figure 9-7 shows how to use a lookup string to obtain
a reference to a Step object from a SequenceContext object.

Figure 9-7. Using a Lookup String to Obtain a Reference to a Step Object

from a SequenceContext Object

Duplicating COM References in LabVIEW Code Modules

When TestStand passes an ActiveX reference to a LabVIEW code module,
the reference automatically closes when the called VI completes executing
and returns to TestStand. Wiring the reference to a global variable or to a
shift register in another VI does not prevent the reference from closing.
Consequently, any subsequent use of the original reference within
LabVIEW fails.

Use the LabVIEW Variant to Data function to create a duplicate reference

for use after calling a VI. Wire the original reference to the type and
variant inputs of the Variant to Data function and wire the data output to
a global variable, as shown in Figure 9-8.

Figure 9-8. Creating Duplicate COM Reference

The reference in the global variable prevents TestStand from releasing the
referenced object until you explicitly close the reference in LabVIEW or
until TestStand unloads the code module into which it passed the reference.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 9-6 ni.com

 Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

Once LabVIEW no longer needs the duplicate reference, close the

reference by reading the global variable and wiring the reference to the
LabVIEW Close Reference function. Clear the global variable by wiring
the global variable to the LabVIEW Not A Refnum constant, as shown in
Figure 9-9.

Figure 9-9. Closing Duplicate COM Reference

Setting the Preferred Execution System for LabVIEW VIs

When a VI calls synchronous methods of the TestStand API, you must
correctly set the LabVIEW Preferred Execution System for the VIs.
When you call synchronous methods that do not return until the LabVIEW
server executes a VI on behalf of TestStand, the VI that calls these methods
and the VI that TestStand attempts to run using the LabVIEW VI Server
cannot be set to run in the same LabVIEW execution system. When the VIs
are set to run in the same execution system, a deadlock occurs because the
execution of the synchronous TestStand method consumes the execution
system in which the VI needs to run.

Because LabVIEW handles ActiveX communication through its user

interface execution system, you cannot set either of the VIs in this scenario
to run in the user interface execution system. For example, you can have a
LabVIEW code module that calls the Engine.NewExecution method
followed by the Engine.WaitForEnd method and a new execution that
calls LabVIEW code modules. Deadlock can occur when either VI in this
scenario uses Same As Caller or User Interface as its preferred execution
system. In addition, both VIs in this scenario must use different preferred
execution system settings. Use the VI Properties dialog box for each VI to
configure the LabVIEW execution system.

© National Instruments Corporation 9-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 9 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabVIEW

Handling Events
TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls generate events to notify the
application of user input and application events, such as the completion of
an execution. To handle an event in LabVIEW, use the Register Event
Callback function to register a callback VI and then use the Unregister for
Events function to close the callback before you close the application.

Refer to Chapter 6, Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabVIEW,

for more information about handling events that TestStand UI Controls
generate.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 9-8 ni.com

Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs
10
In versions of TestStand earlier than 3.0, you could call VIs only with a
specific set of controls and indicators. Using TestStand 3.0 or later, you can
call VIs with a variety of connector panes, including VIs with legacy
configurations.

Format of Legacy VIs

All legacy-style VIs must include the Test Data cluster and error out
cluster indicators. The Input Buffer, Invocation Info, and Sequence
Context controls are optional inputs to legacy VIs, which can contain any
combination of these controls.

You must assign each control and indicator of the test VI to a terminal on
the connector pane of the test VI. If these assignments do not exist,
TestStand returns an error when it attempts to call the test VI. TestStand
does not require that you use a particular connector pane pattern, and it does
not require that you assign the controls and indicators to specific terminals.

Although you usually create new VIs using the LabVIEW Module tab for
steps that use the LabVIEW Adapter, TestStand can also create
legacy-style VIs. Refer to Chapter 5, Configuring the LabVIEW Adapter,
for more information about configuring the LabVIEW Adapter to create
new legacy-style VIs.

You can use the following methods to pass data between the code module
and TestStand:
• Use the Test Data cluster
• Use the sequence context ActiveX reference to call the TestStand
ActiveX API functions to set the variables used to store the results of
the test, such as Step.Result.PassFail

Note The values the sequence context ActiveX reference sets take precedence over the
values the Test Data cluster sets. When you use both methods to set the value of the same
variable, TestStand recognizes the values the sequence context ActiveX reference sets and
ignores the values the Test Data cluster sets. You can use the sequence context ActiveX
reference and the Test Data cluster together in the code module if you do not try to set the

© National Instruments Corporation 10-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 10 Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs

same variable twice. For example, when you use the sequence context ActiveX reference
to set the value of Step.Result.PassFail and then use the Test Data cluster to set the
value of Step.Result.ReportText, TestStand sets both values correctly.

Note The specific control and indicator labels described in this chapter are required.
Do not modify them in any way.

Test Data Cluster

The LabVIEW Adapter uses the Test Data cluster to return result data from
the VI to TestStand, which then uses the data to make a PASS/FAIL
determination.

Table 10-1 lists the elements of the Test Data cluster, the data type of the
cluster element, and descriptions of how the LabVIEW Adapter uses each
cluster element.

Table 10-1. Test Data Cluster Elements

Cluster Element Data Type Description

PASS/FAIL Flag The test VI sets this element to indicate whether
the test passed. Valid values are True (PASS)
or False (FAIL). The adapter copies the value
into the Step.Result.PassFail property
when the property exists.
Numeric Measurement Numeric measurement the test VI returns.
The adapter copies this value into the
Step.Result.Numeric property when the
property exists.
String Measurement String value the test VI returns. The
adapter copies this string into the
Step.Result.String property when the
property exists.
Report Text Output message to include in the report. The
adapter copies this message value into the
Step.Result.ReportText property when
the property exists.

The LabVIEW Adapter also supports an older version of the Test Data
cluster from the LabVIEW Test Executive. The LabVIEW Test Executive
Test Data cluster does not contain a Report Text element but instead
contains two string elements, Comment and User Output.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 10-2 ni.com

 Chapter 10 Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs

Table 10-2 lists the elements of the older Test Data cluster, the data type of
the cluster element, and descriptions of how the LabVIEW Adapter uses
each cluster element.

Table 10-2. Old Test Data Cluster Elements from LabVIEW Test Executive

Cluster
Element Data Type Description
Comment Output message to display in the report. The adapter copies
this message value into the Step.Result.ReportText
property when the property exists.
User Output String value the test VI returns. The adapter dynamically
creates the step property Step.Result.UserOutput and
copies the string value to the step property.

Error Out Cluster

TestStand uses the content of the error out cluster to determine when a
run-time error occurs and when to take appropriate action if necessary.
When you create a VI, use the standard LabVIEW error out cluster.

Table 10-3 lists the elements of the error out cluster, the data type of the
cluster element, and descriptions of how the LabVIEW Adapter uses each
cluster element.

Table 10-3. Error Out Cluster Elements

Cluster
Element Data Type Description
status The test VI must set this element to True when an error
occurs. The adapter copies the output value into the
Step.Result.Error.Occurred property when the
property exists.
code The test VI can set this element to a non-zero value when an
error occurs. The adapter copies the output value into the
Step.Result.Error.Code property when the property
exists.
source The test VI can set this element to a descriptive string when
an error occurs. The adapter copies the output value into the
Step.Result.Error.Msg property when the property
exists.

© National Instruments Corporation 10-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 10 Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs

Input Buffer String Control

Use the Input Buffer string control to pass input data directly to the VI.
The LabVIEW Adapter automatically copies the Step.InBuf property
value into the Input Buffer string control when the property exists.

Invocation Info Cluster

Use the Invocation Info cluster to pass additional information to the VI.

Table 10-4 lists the elements of the Invocation Info cluster, the data type
of the cluster element, and descriptions of how the LabVIEW Adapter uses
each cluster element.

Table 10-4. Invocation Info Cluster Elements

Cluster
Element Data Type Description
Test Name The adapter uses the name of the step that invokes the
test VI.
loop # The adapter uses the loop count when the step that invokes
the test VI loops on the step.
Sequence Path The adapter uses the name and absolute path of the
sequence file that runs the test VI.
UUT Info The adapter uses the value from the
RunState.Root.Locals.UUT.SerialNumber
property when the property exists. Otherwise, the adapter
copies an empty string. Refer to the NI TestStand Help for
more information about how to configure the Serial
Number String option in the Legacy VI Settings dialog
box.
UUT # The adapter uses the value from the
RunState.Root.Locals.UUT.UUTLoopIndex
property when the property exists. Otherwise, the adapter
copies an empty string. Refer to the NI TestStand Help for
more information about how to configure the UUT
Iteration Number option in the Legacy VI Settings dialog
box.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 10-4 ni.com

 Chapter 10 Calling Legacy LabVIEW VIs

Sequence Context Control

Use the Sequence Context control to obtain a reference to the TestStand
SequenceContext object. You can use the sequence context to access
all the objects, variables, and properties in the execution. Refer to the
NI TestStand Help for more information about using the sequence context
from a VI.

© National Instruments Corporation 10-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
 Part II

Using LabWindows/CVI with TestStand

Use this section of this manual to learn how to use LabWindows/CVI with
TestStand.
• Chapter 11, Calling LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from
TestStand—Use the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to call
LabWindows/CVI code modules from TestStand.
• Chapter 12, Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabWindows/CVI
Code Modules from TestStand—Use the LabWindows/CVI Adapter
to create new code modules to call from TestStand and to edit and
debug existing code modules.
• Chapter 13, Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with
TestStand—TestStand provides number, string, Boolean, and object
reference built-in data types. TestStand also provides several standard
named data types, including Path and Error. You can create container
data types to hold any number of other data types.
• Chapter 14, Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter—Configure
the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to show function arguments in step
descriptions, set the default structure packing size, select where steps
execute, and establish a code template policy.
• Chapter 15, Creating Custom User Interfaces in
LabWindows/CVI—You can create custom user interfaces and create
user interfaces for other components, such as custom step types.
• Chapter 16, Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in
LabWindows/CVI—You can use the TestStand API or TestStand User
Interface (UI) Controls from LabWindows/CVI code modules and user
interface source code.

© National Instruments Corporation II-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Part II Using LabWindows/CVI with TestStand

• Chapter 17, Adding Type Libraries To LabWindows/CVI

DLLs—When a DLL contains export information or when a
LabWindows/CVI DLL file contains a type library, the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter automatically populates the Function
control on the LabWindows/CVI Module tab with all of the function
names exported from the DLL.
• Chapter 18, Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules—In
versions of TestStand earlier than 3.0, you had to use the DLL Flexible
Prototype Adapter to call functions in LabWindows/CVI DLLs that
did not use a specific prototype. Using TestStand 3.0 or later, you can
call functions with a variety of parameter data types, including code
modules with legacy function prototypes.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand II-2 ni.com

Calling LabWindows/CVI Code
11
Modules from TestStand
Use the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to call LabWindows/CVI code
modules from TestStand.

Required LabWindows/CVI Settings

All the tutorials in this manual require you to have LabWindows/CVI
and TestStand installed on the same computer. In addition, you must
configure the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to execute steps in an external
instance of the LabWindows/CVI development system and to allow
only new code templates. Refer to Chapter 14, Configuring the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter, for more information about configuring these
settings for the adapter.

LabWindows/CVI Module Tab

Use the LabWindows/CVI Module tab in the TestStand Sequence Editor
to configure calls to LabWindows/CVI code modules. Select a step that
uses the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to view the LabWindows/CVI Module
tab on the Step Settings pane, as shown in Figure 11-1.

© National Instruments Corporation 11-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 11 Calling LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

1 2 3

1 LabWindows/CVI Module Tab 3 Parameter Details Table Control

2 Parameters Table Control 4 Source Code Buttons

Figure 11-1. LabWindows/CVI Module Tab

The LabWindows/CVI Adapter supports calling functions in

C source files, object files, static library files, and dynamic link library
(DLL) files. The Module tab includes Source Code buttons for creating and
editing code modules in LabWindows/CVI.

Note National Instruments recommends using DLL files when you develop code modules
using the LabWindows/CVI Adapter. The tutorials in this manual demonstrate creating and
debugging only DLL code modules. Refer to Chapter 14, Configuring the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter, for additional requirements for calling functions in C source
files, object files, and static library files.

You also use the LabWindows/CVI Module tab to specify the function
prototype, which includes the data type of each parameter and the values
to pass for each parameter. The Parameters Table control shows all the
available parameters for the function call and an entry for the return value.
You can insert, remove, or rearrange the order of the parameters. The
Parameters Table control contains the following columns:
• Parameter Name—The symbolic name for the parameter.
• Description—The short description of the parameter type using
C syntax.
• Value Expression—The argument expression to pass.

When you select a parameter in the Parameters Table control, the Parameter
Details Table control contains the specific details about the parameter.
The data type (Numeric, String, Object, C Struct, or Array) determines the
information required for a parameter. As an alternative to specifying the

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 11-2 ni.com

 Chapter 11 Calling LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

function name and the parameter values, you can use the Function Call
control to directly edit the function name and all the function arguments at
once.

Source Code Buttons

Use the Source Code buttons, shown in Figure 11-2, to create or edit
the source code for the function and to resolve differences between the
parameter list in the source code and the parameter information on the
LabWindows/CVI Module tab. You do not have to use the Source Code
buttons for TestStand to call the code module.

1 Source Code Files 3 Edit Code

2 Create Code 4 Verify Prototype

Figure 11-2. LabWindows/CVI Module Tab Source Code Buttons

The Source Code Files button launches the CVI Source Code Files dialog
box, in which you can specify the source file that contains the function the
step calls and to specify the project to use when editing the source code.
When the code module is a DLL or static library, you must enter the name
of the LabWindows/CVI project used to create the DLL or static library
file. When the code module is an object file, you can optionally specify a
project.

When you click the Create Code or Edit Code buttons, the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter launches a copy of LabWindows/CVI
and opens the source file. When you specify a project file using the Source
Code Files button, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter opens the project in
LabWindows/CVI when you click the Create Code or Edit Code buttons.
When you click the Create Code button for a function that already exists
in the file, TestStand uses the function you specified in the Code Template
ring control, and LabWindows/CVI launches the Generate Code dialog
box, in which you can specify to replace the current function or add the new
function above or below the current function.

© National Instruments Corporation 11-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 11 Calling LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

Note If LabWindows/CVI returns a warning when you open a project that some TestStand
API files were not found, remove the files from the project and then add them again from
the <National Instruments>\Shared\CVI\instr\TestStand\API directory for
LabWindows/CVI 8.5 or later or from the <CVI>\instr\TestStand\API\CVI
directory for LabWindows/CVI 8.1.1 or earlier. The <National Instruments>
directory is located at C:\Program Files. The <CVI> directory is located at
C:\Program Files\National Instruments.

Click the Verify Prototype button to check for conflicts between the
parameterlistinthesourcecodeandtheparameterinformationontheModuletab.

Click the Help or Help Topic button on the Help toolbar to access the
NI TestStand Help, which provides additional information about the
LabWindows/CVI Module tab.

Creating and Configuring a New Step Using the

LabWindows/CVI Adapter
Complete the following steps to insert a new step that uses the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter and configure the step to call a code module.
1. Launch the TestStand Sequence Editor and select LabWindows/CVI
Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
2. Open a new Sequence File window if one is not already open.
3. Select File»Save As and save the sequence file as <TestStand
Public>\Tutorial\CallCVICodeModule.seq. The
<TestStand Public> directory is located at
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\
National Instruments\TestStand x.x on Windows 2000/XP
and at C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\
TestStand x.x on Windows Vista.
4. Insert a Pass/Fail step in the Main step group of the Sequence File
window and rename the new step CVI Pass/Fail Test.
5. On the LabWindows/CVI Module tab of the Step Settings pane,
click the File Browse button, select <TestStand Public>\
Tutorial\CallCVICodeModule.dll, and click Open.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 11-4 ni.com

 Chapter 11 Calling LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

6. On the LabWindows/CVI Module tab, select the PassFailTest

function in the Function ring control.

Note When you select a function, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter attempts to read the
export information LabWindows/CVI includes in the DLL or the function parameter
information from the type library in the code module if one exists. When the function
parameter information is not defined, you can select a code template from the Code
Template ring control to specify the function prototype or specify the function prototype
by adding parameters to the Parameters Table control.

7. Select PassFail template for LabWindows/CVI in the Code

Template ring control. The Parameters Table control contains the
default value expressions the code template specifies. When TestStand
calls the code module, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter stores the
returned values for the result and the error details in the specified
properties of the step.
8. Select File»Save to save the sequence file.
9. Select Execute»Single Pass to run the sequence file using the Single
Pass Execution entry point. Because the LabWindows/CVI Adapter is
configured to use an external instance of LabWindows/CVI to execute
code modules, TestStand launches the LabWindows/CVI development
environment to execute the function the step calls. When the execution
completes, the resulting report indicates the step passed. The code
module always returns True as the Pass/Fail output parameter.
10. Select File»Unload All Modules to unload the DLL the step calls so
you can rebuild the DLL in the next chapter.
11. Close the Execution window.

© National Instruments Corporation 11-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Creating, Editing, and
12
Debugging LabWindows/CVI
Code Modules from TestStand
Use the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to create new code modules to call
from TestStand and to edit and debug existing code modules.

Creating a New Code Module from TestStand

Complete the following steps to create a new code module from TestStand.
1. Launch the TestStand Sequence Editor and select the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
2. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule.seq. You created this sequence file in the
Creating and Configuring a New Step Using the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter section of Chapter 11, Calling LabWindows/CVI Code
Modules from TestStand.
3. Insert a Numeric Limit Test step after the CVI Pass/Fail Test step and
rename it CVI Numeric Limit Test.
4. Select the CVI Numeric Limit Test step and use the
LabWindows/CVI Module tab to complete the following steps.
a. For the Module control, click the File Browse button and
select <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule.dll.
b. Enter NumericLimitTest in the Function ring control.
c. Select NumericLimit template for LabWindows/CVI in the
Code Template ring control. Notice that TestStand automatically
updates the function prototype and parameter values based on the
information stored in the code template for the Numeric Limit
Test step type.

© National Instruments Corporation 12-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 12 Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

5. Click the Source Code Files button to launch the CVI Source Code
Files dialog box and complete the following steps.
a. Enter CVINumericLimitTest.c in the Source File Containing
Function control.
b. For the CVI Project File to Open control, click the File Browse
button and select <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule.prj.
c. Click Close.
6. Click the Create Code button to create a code module. When you click
the Create Code button, TestStand launches the Select a Source File
dialog box.
7. Browse to the <TestStand Public>\Tutorial directory
and click OK. TestStand creates a new code module named
CVINumericLimitTest.c based on the available code templates
for the TestStand Numeric Limit Test and opens the code module in
LabWindows/CVI.

Note The TestStand Numeric Limit Test step type requires code modules to store a
measurement value in the Step.Result.Numeric property, and the step type performs a
comparison operation to determine whether the step passes or fails. Code modules can
update step properties by passing step properties as parameters to and from the module or
by using the TestStand API in the module. When you use a default code template from
National Instruments to create a module, TestStand creates the parameters needed to access
the step properties for you.

8. In LabWindows/CVI, uncomment the following code in the

source file:
double testMeasurement = 10.0;
double lowLimit;
*measurement = testMeasurement;
9. Save and close the source file. Leave LabWindows/CVI open.
10. In the LabWindows/CVI project window, select Build»Create
Debuggable Dynamic Link Library to rebuild the DLL.
11. Return to the TestStand Sequence Editor and save the sequence file as
<TestStand Public>\Tutorial\CallCVICodeModule2.seq.
12. Select Execute»Single Pass to run the sequence file using the Single
Pass Execution entry point. When the execution completes, the
resulting report indicates the step passed with a numeric measurement
of 10.0.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 12-2 ni.com

 Chapter 12 Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

13. Select File»Unload All Modules to unload the DLL.

14. Leave the sequence file open so you can use it in the next tutorial.

Refer to the Code Templates Tab section of Chapter 13, Custom Step
Types, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more information about
creating code templates for step types.

Editing an Existing Code Module from TestStand

Complete the following steps to edit an existing code module from
TestStand.
1. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule2.seq if it is not already open. You created this
sequence file in the Creating a New Code Module from TestStand
section of this chapter.
2. Right-click the CVI Numeric Limit Test step and select Edit Code
from the context menu or click the Edit Code button on the
LabWindows/CVI Module tab. LabWindows/CVI becomes the active
application in which the CVINumericLimitTest.c source file is
open.
3. Change the initial value in the declaration for the testMeasurement
variable to 5.0.
4. Save and close the source file.
5. Rebuild the DLL.
6. In the TestStand Sequence Editor, select Execute»Single Pass to run
the sequence file using the Single Pass Execution entry point. When
the execution completes, the resulting report indicates the step failed,
and the code module returns 5 in the Measurement field.
7. Close the Execution window.

Debugging a Code Module

Complete the following steps to debug a code module you call from
TestStand using the LabWindows/CVI Adapter.
1. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule.seq.
2. Place a breakpoint on the CVI Pass/Fail Test step.
3. Select Execute»Run MainSequence to start an execution of
MainSequence.

© National Instruments Corporation 12-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 12 Creating, Editing, and Debugging LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand

4. When the execution pauses, click the Step Into button on the sequence
editor toolbar. LabWindows/CVI becomes the active application, in
which the LabWindows/CVI Pass-Fail Test code module is open and
in a suspended state.

Note If LabWindows/CVI does not launch, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter is not

configured to execute steps in an external instance. To configure the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter, complete all executions and select Configure»Adapters. Select
LabWindows/CVI and click the Configure button. In the Step Execution section, select
Execute Steps in an External Instance of CVI. Click OK to close the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter Configuration dialog box. Click OK again when the adapter displays a warning
that confirms all modules will be unloaded. Begin step 3 again. Refer to Chapter 14,
Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter, for more information about configuring the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter.

5. Click the Step Into button or the Step Over button on the
LabWindows/CVI toolbar to begin single-stepping through the code
module. You can click the Continue button at any time to finish
single-stepping through the code module.
6. When you finish single-stepping through the code module, click the
Finish Function button on the LabWindows/CVI toolbar to return to
TestStand. The execution pauses at the next step in the sequence.
7. Select Debug»Resume in TestStand to complete the execution.
8. Select File»Unload All Modules to unload the DLL.
9. Close the Execution window.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 12-4 ni.com

Using LabWindows/CVI
13
Data Types with TestStand
TestStand provides number, string, Boolean, and object reference built-in
data types. TestStand also provides several standard named data types,
including Path and Error. You can create container data types to hold any
number of other data types. TestStand container data types are analogous
to C structures in LabWindows/CVI.

LabWindows/CVI includes a greater variety of built-in data types than

TestStand does, so TestStand converts LabWindows/CVI data types
in certain ways when calling code modules, as shown in Table 13-1.

Table 13-1. TestStand Equivalents for LabWindows/CVI Data Types

LabWindows/CVI C Data Type TestStand Data Type

char, unsigned char, short, unsigned short, Number
long, unsigned long, float, or double
TestStand stores all numeric C data types as
double-precision, floating-point numbers.
TestStand does not set the format for a number
property when assigning a value.
const char*, char[], const wchar_t*, Path, String, or Expression
const unsigned short*, wchar_t[], or
Refer to the Calling Code Modules with String
unsigned short[]
Parameters section of this chapter for more
information about using the string data type.
enum Number
IDispatch *pDispatch, IUnknown *pUnknown, Object reference
or CAObjHandle objHandle
Refer to the Calling Code Modules with Object
Parameters section of this chapter for more
information about using the object reference
data type.

© National Instruments Corporation 13-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 13 Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand

Table 13-1. TestStand Equivalents for LabWindows/CVI Data Types (Continued)

LabWindows/CVI C Data Type TestStand Data Type

Array of x Array of TestStand (x)
struct Container
Refer to the Calling Code Modules with Struct
Parameters section of this chapter for more
information about using the container data type.

Note The LabWindows/CVI Adapter supports return values of type void and numeric,
which includes 32-bit doubles and 8-, 16-, and 32-bit integers.

Calling Code Modules with String Parameters

When you configure calls to code modules that use strings as parameters,
you specify whether to pass the string as a constant or as a buffer and
whether to pass the string as a C string or a unicode string.

When you pass the string as a constant, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

passes the address of the actual string directly to the function without
copying it to a buffer. The code module must not change the content of the
string.

When you pass a string as a buffer, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter copies

the content of the string argument and a trailing NUL character into a
temporary buffer before calling the function. You specify the minimum
size of the temporary buffer. When you pass a string value that is longer
than the buffer size you specify, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter resizes the
temporary buffer so it is large enough to hold the content of the string
argument and the trailing NUL character. After the function returns, the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter copies the value the function writes into the
temporary buffer back to the string argument. The LabWindows/CVI
Adapter copies only data from the beginning of the temporary buffer up to
and including the first NUL character.

You can pass NULL to a string pointer parameter by passing an empty object
reference or the constant Nothing.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 13-2 ni.com

 Chapter 13 Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand

Calling Code Modules with Object Parameters

You can configure calls to code modules that use an ActiveX Automation
IDispatch Pointer (IDispatch *), ActiveX Automation IUnknown Pointer
(IUnknown *), or a LabWindows/CVI ActiveX Automation Handle
(CAObjHandle) as a parameter.

You can use these types to pass a reference to a built-in or custom

TestStand data type in a code module function. You can also use these
types to pass the value of an object reference property to a code module
function.

When you specify an object reference property as the value of an object

parameter, TestStand passes the value of the property. Otherwise,
TestStand passes a reference to the property object you specify.

The function the step calls can invoke methods and access the properties
on the object. You can pass the object parameter by value or by reference.
When the function stores the value of the object for later use after the
function returns, the function must properly add an additional reference
to the ActiveX Automation IDispatch Pointer or ActiveX Automation
IUnknown Pointer or duplicate the LabWindows/CVI ActiveX
Automation Handle. When you pass the object by reference and the
function alters the value of the reference, the function must release the
original reference.

Calling Code Modules with Struct Parameters

When you configure calls to code modules that use structs as parameters,
you specify that a TestStand data type maps to the entire C struct. TestStand
can help you create a new custom data type that matches a C struct.

Use the Struct Passing tab of the Type Properties dialog box for a custom
data type to specify how TestStand maps subproperties to members in
a C struct. When you specify the data to pass for the struct parameter on
the Module tab of the Step Settings pane, you only need to specify an
expression that evaluates to data with the data type.

Refer to Chapter 11, Type Concepts, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual

for more information about where TestStand stores custom data types.
Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more information about the Type
Properties dialog box.

© National Instruments Corporation 13-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 13 Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand

Creating TestStand Data Types from

LabWindows/CVI Structs
Complete the following steps to create a TestStand data type that matches
a LabWindows/CVI struct and call a function in a DLL that has the struct
as a parameter.

Creating a New Custom Data Type

Complete the following steps to create a new container data type that
contains numeric and string subproperties.
1. Open <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule2.seq if it is not already open. You created this
sequence file in the Creating a New Code Module from TestStand
section of Chapter 12, Creating, Editing, and Debugging
LabWindows/CVI Code Modules from TestStand.
2. Select the LabWindows/CVI Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
3. Right-click in the Sequence File window and select View»Types from
the context menu. Make sure the CallCVICodeModule2.seq
sequence file is selected in the View Types For pane.
4. Select the Custom Data Types item in the Types window.
5. Right-click the Custom Data Types item and select Insert Custom
Data Type»Container from the context menu to insert a new data
type. Rename the new container data type CVITutorialStruct.
6. Expand the CVITutorialStruct item.
7. Right-click inside the Types window under the CVITutorialStruct
item and select Insert Field»Number from the context menu to insert
a new field in the data type. Rename the new field Measurement.
8. Right-click inside the Types window under the CVITutorialStruct
item and select Insert Field»String from the context menu to insert
another new field in the CVITutorialStruct container data type.
Rename the new field Buffer.
9. Leave the sequence file open and continue to the next tutorial.
Refer to the NI TestStand Help and to Chapter 12, Standard and
Custom Data Types, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more
information about custom data types and the Types window.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 13-4 ni.com

 Chapter 13 Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand

Specifying Structure Passing Settings

Complete the following steps to specify the structure passing properties for
the CVITutorialStruct container data type.
1. Right-click the CVITutorialStruct item in the Types window and
select Properties from the context menu to launch the Type Properties
dialog box. The name of the Type Properties dialog box is specific to
the name of the property you select.
2. Click the C Struct Passing tab of the Type Properties dialog box.
3. Enable the Allow Objects of This Type to be Passed as Structs
option on the C Struct Passing tab. The Property ring control lists the
two fields in the CVITutorialStruct container data type. Notice
that the Numeric Type control for the Measurement property defaults
to 64-bit Real Number (double).
4. Select the Buffer property.
5. Make sure the String Type control is set to C String Buffer to allow
the C function to alter the value of the structure field.
6. Click the Version tab of the Type Properties dialog box and disable the
Modified option.
7. Select OK to close the Type Properties dialog box.
8. Leave the sequence file open and continue to the next tutorial.

Calling a Function With a Struct Parameter

Complete the following steps to use the CVITutorialStruct container
data type as a parameter to a function a step calls.
1. Click the CallCVIModule2.seq tab in the Sequence File window.
2. Click the Variables pane.
3. Right-click the Locals item on the Variables pane and select Insert
Local»Type»CVITutorialStruct from the context menu to insert an
instance of the container data type. Rename the new variable
CVIStruct.
4. Select the Steps: MainSequence pane.
5. Select the LabWindows/CVI Adapter on the Insertion Palette.
6. Insert a new Action step into the Main step group of MainSequence
after the CVI Numeric Limit Test step. Rename the step Pass Struct
Test.
7. Click the LabWindows/CVI Module tab on the Step Settings pane.

© National Instruments Corporation 13-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 13 Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand

8. Click the File Browse button next to the Module control and select the
<TestStand Public>\Tutorial\CallCVICodeModule.dll
file.
9. Enter PassStructTest in the Function control.
10. Click the Add Parameter button, shown at left, to insert a new
parameter and enter the following information in the Parameter Details
Table control:
a. In the Name field, rename the parameter cviStruct.
b. In the Category field, select C Struct.
c. In the Type field, select CVITutorialStruct.
11. Enter Locals.CVIStruct in the Value Expression field for the
parameter in the Parameters Table control.
12. Click the Source Code Files button to launch the CVI Source Code
Files window. Complete the following steps to select the source file
and project file to use when inserting the function.
a. In the Source File Containing Function control,
enter CVIStructPassingTest.c.
b. Click the File Browse button next to the CVI Project File to Open
option and select the <TestStand Public>\Tutorial\
CallCVICodeModule.prj file.
c. Click Close.
13. Click the Create Code button to create a code module. TestStand
launches the Select a Source File dialog box.
14. Browse to the <TestStand Public>\Tutorial directory and
click OK. TestStand creates a new source file named
CVIStructPassingTest.c with an empty function.
15. In LabWindows/CVI, complete the following steps.
a. Add the following type definition before the first function:
struct CVITutorialStruct {
double measurement;
char buffer[256];
};
b. Add the following code to the PassStructTest function:
if (cviStruct)
{
cviStruct->measurement = 10.0;
strcpy(cviStruct->buffer, "Average Voltage");
}

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 13-6 ni.com

 Chapter 13 Using LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand

c. Add the following statement to the top of the source file to include
the declaration of the strcpy function:
#include <ansi_c.h>
16. Save and close the source file.
17. In the LabWindows/CVI project window, select Build»Create
Debuggable Dynamic Link Library to rebuild the DLL.
18. Return to the TestStand Sequence Editor.
19. Place a breakpoint on the new Pass Struct Test step.
20. Save the sequence file.
21. Select Execute»Run MainSequence to start a new execution of
MainSequence.
22. Single-step through the sequence and review the values in the
Locals.CVIStruct variable before and after executing the new step.
23. Select File»Unload All Modules to unload the DLL.
24. Close the Execution window.

© National Instruments Corporation 13-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Configuring the
14
LabWindows/CVI Adapter
Configure the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to show function arguments in
step descriptions, set the default structure packing size, select where steps
execute, and establish a code template policy.

Select Configure»Adapters to launch the Adapter Configuration dialog

box, select LabWindows/CVI in the Adapter column, and click the
Configure button to launch the LabWindows/CVI Adapter Configuration
dialog box, as shown in Figure 14-1.

Figure 14-1. LabWindows/CVI Adapter Configuration Dialog Box

© National Instruments Corporation 14-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 14 Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

Showing Function Arguments in Step Descriptions

Enable the Show Function Arguments in Step Description option to
include the parameters with the function in the description for a step in the
sequence editor and user interfaces. When you disable this option, the
description displays only the function and module name.

Setting the Default Structure Packing Size

The LabWindows/CVI Adapter can call functions in code modules that
have structure parameters. Use the Default Struct Packing control to
specify the default setting for how the LabWindows/CVI Adapter packs
structure parameters it passes. The following options are available: 1-, 2-,
4-, 8-, and 16-byte boundaries.

The compatibility mode of the LabWindows/CVI development

environment you use to create DLLs determines the structure packing
value. For LabWindows/CVI, the default structure packing can be
1- or 8-byte. For example, in Microsoft Visual C++ compatibility mode,
LabWindows/CVI has a default of 8-byte packing. Refer to the Calling
Code Modules with Struct Parameters section of Chapter 13, Using
LabWindows/CVI Data Types with TestStand, for more information about
calling code modules with struct parameters.

Selecting Where Steps Execute

The LabWindows/CVI Adapter can run code modules out-of-process using
an external instance of the LabWindows/CVI development environment
or run code modules in the same process as the sequence editor or user
interface you are running without using the LabWindows/CVI
development environment. Use the Step Execution section in the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter Configuration dialog box to select where steps
execute.

Executing Code Modules in an External Instance of LabWindows/CVI

To execute tests in an external instance of LabWindows/CVI, the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter launches a copy of the LabWindows/CVI
development environment and loads an execution server project. You can
specify the execution server project to load in the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter Configuration dialog box. The default project is <TestStand
Public>\AdapterSupport\CVI\tscvirun.prj.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 14-2 ni.com

 Chapter 14 Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

When a TestStand step calls a function in an object, static library, or DLL

file, the execution server project automatically loads the code module and
executes the function in an external instance of LabWindows/CVI. When
you want a TestStand step to call a function in a C source file, you must
include the C source file in the execution server project before you run
the project. You must also include any support libraries other than
LabWindows/CVI libraries the object, static library, or C source file
requires.

Debugging Code Modules

You can debug C source and DLL code modules when the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter executes tests in an external instance of
LabWindows/CVI. To debug DLL code modules, you must create a
debuggable DLL in LabWindows/CVI. LabWindows/CVI honors all
breakpoints you set in the source files for the DLL project.

When you execute tests in an external instance of LabWindows/CVI,

you do not need to launch the sequence editor or user interface application
from LabWindows/CVI to debug DLL code modules you call with the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter.

When you click Step Into in the TestStand Sequence Editor while the
execution is suspended on a step that calls into the DLL code module,
LabWindows/CVI suspends on the first statement in the called function.

Executing Code Modules In-Process

When executing code modules in the same process as the sequence editor
or user interface, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter loads and runs code
modules directly without using the LabWindows/CVI development
environment.

Object and Library Code Modules

When the LabWindows/CVI Adapter loads an object or static library file,
the LabWindows/CVI Run-Time Engine resolves all external references in
the file. When running code modules in-process, the adapter must load the
support libraries on which the object file or static library file depends
before loading the code module file.

To configure a list of support libraries for the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

to load, manually copy the support libraries to the <TestStand
Public>\AdapterSupport\CVI\AutoLoadLibs directory. You can
also click the Configure Auto-Loading of Support Libraries Needed for

© National Instruments Corporation 14-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 14 Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

Linking .objs and .libs button in the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

Configuration dialog box to launch the Auto-Load Library Configuration
dialog box, as shown in Figure 14-2.

Figure 14-2. Auto-Load Library Configuration Dialog Box

You can configure the support libraries by performing one of the following
actions in the Auto-Load Library Configuration dialog box:
• Click the Add Default CVI Libraries button to search for an
installation of the LabWindows/CVI development environment and
copy the LabWindows/CVI static library files to the auto-load library
directory.
• Click the Add Other Libraries button to search for files to copy to the
auto-load library directory.
• Click the Delete Selected Files button to remove the selected files
from the auto-load library directory.

Note Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a Windows security feature that prevents an
application from executing dynamically loaded code. TestStand does not support calling
LabWindows/CVI object and static library files from an executable with DEP enabled,
such as a custom user interface, and returns an error.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 14-4 ni.com

 Chapter 14 Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

Source Code Modules

When TestStand executes code modules in-process, the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter cannot directly execute code modules that exist in C source files.
Instead, the adapter attempts to find an object file with the same name.
When the adapter finds the object file, it executes the code in the object file.
When the adapter cannot find the object file, it prompts you to create the
object file in an external instance of LabWindows/CVI. When you decline
to create the object file, the adapter reports a run-time error.

Debugging DLL Code Modules

You can debug in-process code modules, but the code modules must exist
in DLLs enabled for debugging in LabWindows/CVI at the time they were
built. To debug a DLL in-process, you must launch the sequence editor or
user interface from LabWindows/CVI. Select Run»Specify External
Process in the LabWindows/CVI project window to identify the executable
you want to launch. Select Run»Debug Project to launch the executable
and begin debugging.

When you click Step Into in the TestStand Sequence Editor while the
execution is suspended on a step that calls into a LabWindows/CVI DLL
you are debugging, LabWindows/CVI suspends on the first statement in the
DLL function.

Refer to the LabWindows/CVI documentation for more information about

debugging DLLs.

Loading Subordinate DLLs

TestStand directly loads and runs the DLLs you specify on the
LabWindows/CVI Module tab for the LabWindows/CVI Adapter. Because
code modules most likely call subsidiary DLLs, such as instrument drivers,
you must ensure that the operating system can find and load any DLL you
specify.

The LabWindows/CVI Adapter first attempts to load subordinate DLLs

using the following search directory precedence:
1. The directory that contains the DLL the adapter calls directly
2. (Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP1 or earlier) The current working
directory of the application
3. The Windows\System32 and Windows\System directories
4. The Windows directory

© National Instruments Corporation 14-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 14 Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

5. (Windows XP SP2 or later) The current working directory of the

application
6. The directories listed in the PATH environment variable

For backward compatibility, when the LabWindows/CVI Adapter fails to

load a DLL, the adapter temporarily sets the current working directory to
the directory of the DLL and attempts to load subordinate DLLs using the
following deprecated search directory precedence:
1. The directory that contains the application that loaded the adapter
2. (Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP1 or earlier) The current working
directory of the application, which the adapter sets to the directory that
contains the DLL it calls directly
3. The Windows\System32 and Windows\System directories
4. The Windows directory
5. (Windows XP SP2 or later) The current working directory of the
application, which the adapter sets to the directory that contains the
DLL it calls directly
6. The directories listed in the PATH environment variable

Note National Instruments does not recommend placing subordinate DLLs in the
directory that contains the application that loaded the adapter because TestStand might not
support loading DLLs from this location in future versions.

Refer to Chapter 14, Deploying TestStand Systems, of the NI TestStand

Reference Manual for more information about deploying code modules and
subsidiary DLLs for use with TestStand.

Per-Step Configuration of the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

You can direct TestStand to always run steps that use the
LabWindows/CVI Adapter in-process. Enable the Always Run In Process
option on the LabWindows/CVI Module tab to override the global setting
in the LabWindows/CVI Adapter Configuration dialog box. Use this option
when you do not want the global settings for the adapter to affect the tools
and step types you create for use with the LabWindows/CVI Adapter.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 14-6 ni.com

 Chapter 14 Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter

Code Template Policy

Use the Code Template Policy section in the LabWindows/CVI Adapter
Configuration dialog box to allow the use of old, or legacy, code module
templates when you create new test code modules. The legacy code module
templates are files you can call from previous versions of TestStand. Refer
to Chapter 18, Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules, for more
information about legacy code module templates.

The Code Template ring control on the LabWindows/CVI Module tab

contains different values based on the code template policy setting. When
you enable the Allow Only New Templates option, the ring control contains
only the new code templates associated with the step type. When you
enable the Allow Only Legacy Templates option, the ring control contains
only the legacy code templates associated with the step type. When you
enable the Allow New and Legacy Templates option, the ring control
contains all the code templates associated with the step type.

When you use the Edit LabWindows/CVI Module Call dialog box to create
code, such as in a Custom Sequence Editor, and multiple code templates are
available based on the step type and the code template policy settings,
TestStand launches the Choose Code Template dialog box, in which you
can select the code template to use for the new code module, as shown in
Figure 14-3.

Figure 14-3. Choose Code Template Dialog Box

Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more information about the Choose
Code Template dialog box.

© National Instruments Corporation 14-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Creating Custom User Interfaces
15
in LabWindows/CVI
You can create custom user interfaces and create user interfaces for other
components, such as custom step types. Refer to Chapter 9, Creating
Custom User Interfaces, of the NI TestStand Reference Manual for more
information about the TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls.

TestStand User Interface Controls

Use the TestStand UI Controls in the LabWindows/CVI development
environment to develop a custom user interface application, including
custom sequence editors.

Creating and Configuring ActiveX Controls

In the LabWindows/CVI User Interface Editor, select Create»ActiveX and
select a user interface control whose name begins with TestStand UI to
add a TestStand UI Control to a panel. Double-click the control to launch
the standard LabWindows/CVI Edit Control dialog box, in which you can
configure the control. Right-click the control and select Properties from
the context menu to open the property pages the UI control supports.

Programming with ActiveX Controls

To access the methods, properties, and events specific to an ActiveX
control, you need to use the ActiveX driver for the control. The TestStand
UI Controls driver and additional support instrument drivers are located in
the <TestStand>\API\CVI directory. TestStand copies these files to the
<National Instruments>\Shared\CVI\instr\TestStand\API
directory for LabWindows/CVI 8.5 or later and to the <CVI>\instr\
TestStand\API\CVI directory for LabWindows/CVI 8.1.1 or earlier.

© National Instruments Corporation 15-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

Add the following function panel files to the LabWindows/CVI project for
your TestStand application:
• TestStand UI Controls (tsui.fp)—Functions for dynamically
creating controls, calling methods and accessing properties on
controls, and handling events from the controls.
• TestStand UI Support Library (tsuisupp.fp)—Functions for
various collections the TestStand UI Controls driver uses.
• TestStand Utility Functions (tsutil.fp)—Utility functions for
managing menu items that correspond to TestStand commands,
localizing strings in user interfaces, making dialog boxes associated
with LabWindows/CVI code modules modal to TestStand
applications, and checking if an execution that calls a code module has
stopped.
• TestStand API (tsapicvi.fp)—Provides low-level access to
TestStand objects.

For each interface the ActiveX control supports, the driver contains a
function you can use to programmatically create an instance of the ActiveX
control. The ActiveX driver also includes functions you can use to register
callback functions for receiving events the control defines.

When you store ActiveX controls in .uir files, you do not need to use the
creation functions the driver includes because the control is created when
you load the panel from the file using the LoadPanel function. You
identify the control in subsequent calls to User Interface Library functions
with the constant name you assigned to the control in the User Interface
Editor.

When you use other functions in the driver, you must identify the
control with a unique object handle that LabWindows/CVI then associates
with the control. You obtain this handle when you call the
GetObjHandleFromActiveXCtrl function using the constant name for
the control. This handle is cached in the control, and you do not need to
discard the handle explicitly.

LabWindows/CVI requires you to initialize a thread as apartment threaded

before you can use ActiveX controls in a program. When you do not
initialize the thread before creating an ActiveX control or before loading a
panel containing an ActiveX control from a .uir file, LabWindows/CVI
automatically initializes the thread to apartment threaded. When you use
the CA_InitActiveXThreadStyleForCurrentThread function
to initialize the thread yourself, you must use
COINIT_APARTMENTTHREADED as the threading model.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 15-2 ni.com

 Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

Refer to Chapter 16, Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in

LabWindows/CVI, for general information about programming the
TestStand API from LabWindows/CVI.

Creating Custom User Interfaces

User interfaces that use the TestStand UI Controls typically perform the
following basic operations:
• Configure connections, commands, and other control settings
• Register to handle events the controls generate
• Start TestStand
• Wait in a main event loop until you close the application
• Shut down TestStand

User interfaces can also include a menu bar that contains non-TestStand
items and items that invoke TestStand commands.

Refer to the example user interfaces included with TestStand for more
information about creating a user interface using the TestStand UI Controls
in LabWindows/CVI. Begin with the simple user interface example,
<TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces\Simple\
CVI\TestExec.prj. Refer to the full-featured example, <TestStand
Public>\UserInterfaces\Full-Featured\CVI\TestExec.prj,
for a more advanced sequence editor example that includes menus and
localization options.

TestStand installs the source code files for the default user interfaces
in the <TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces and
<TestStand>\UserInterfaces directories. To modify the installed
user interfaces or to create new user interfaces, modify the files in the
<TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces directory. You can use
the read-only source files for the default user interfaces in the
<TestStand>\UserInterfaces directory as a reference. When you
modify installed files, rename the files after you modify them if you want
to create a separate custom component. You do not have to rename the files
after you modify them if you only want to modify the behavior of an
existing component. If you do not rename the files and you use the files in
a future version of TestStand, changes National Instruments makes to the
component might not be compatible with the modified version of the
component. Storing new and customized files in the <TestStand
Public> directory ensures that new installations of the same version of
TestStand do not overwrite the customizations and ensures that uninstalling
TestStand does not remove the files you customize.

© National Instruments Corporation 15-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

TestStand no longer includes example user interfaces that do not use the
TestStand UI Controls. These examples contained a large amount of
complex source code, and they provided less functionality than the simpler
examples that use the TestStand UI Controls. National Instruments
recommends using the examples that use the TestStand UI Controls as a
basis for new development.

Configuring the TestStand UI Controls

Table 15-1 lists the functions in the example user interface files that
demonstrate configuring connections, commands, and other settings for the
TestStand UI Controls.

Table 15-1. Functions in Examples for Configuring the TestStand UI Controls

Source File Functions

<TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces\ SetupActiveXControls
Simple\CVI\TestExec.c
<TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces\ GetActiveXControlHandles
Full-Featured\CVI\TestExec.c RegisterActiveXEventCallbacks
ConnectTestStandControls
ConnectStatusBarPanes
RebuildMenuBar

Enabling Sequence Editing

The TestStand UI Controls support Operator Mode and Editor Mode. Set
the ApplicationMgr.IsEditor property to True for the Application
Manager control to allow users to create and edit sequence files. You can
also use the /editor command-line flag to set the property.

Handling Events
TestStand UI Controls generate events to notify the application of user
input and application events, such as the completion of an execution. To
handle an event in LabWindows/CVI, you register a callback function,
which LabWindows/CVI automatically calls when the control generates
the event. Use the Event Callback Registration functions in the
TestStand UI Controls driver to perform event registration.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 15-4 ni.com

 Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

For example, the following statement registers a callback function for the
OnExitApplication event sent from the Application Manager control:
TSUI__ApplicationMgrEventsRegOnExitApplication (
gAppMgrHandle, AppMgr_OnExitApp, NULL, 1, NULL);

The callback function can contain the following code, which verifies
whether the TestStand Engine is in a state where it can shut down:
HRESULT CVICALLBACK AppMgr_OnExitApp(
CAObjHandle caServerObjHandle, void *caCallbackData)
{
VBOOL canExitNow;
if (!TSUI_ApplicationMgrShutdown(gAppMgrHandle,
&errorInfo, &canExitNow) && (canExitNow))
QuitUserInterface(0);
return S_OK;
}

Handling Variants
Several functions in the TestStand API return variants. If the return
value of these functions is a reference to an ActiveX/COM object, you
must cast these variants to a valid handle type. To do this properly in
LabWindows/CVI, you must create a temporary variable to hold the value
and then convert the value to the correct type of handle.

Use the following function call to convert an IUnknown reference to a

CAObjHandle:
CA_CreateObjHandleFromInterface (IUnknownReference,
&IID_IUnknown, 0, LOCALE_NEUTRAL, 0, 0,
&CAObjToCreate);

Use the following function call to convert a variant to a CAObjHandle:

CA_VariantConvertToType(&VariantReference,
CAVT_OBJHANDLE, &CAObjToCreate);

© National Instruments Corporation 15-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

A common situation where you need to use this technique is when

you handle UIMessages. The following example shows how you can
accomplish this by extracting the ActiveXData parameter of the custom
user message as a property object:
HRESULT CVICALLBACK ApplicationMgr_OnUserMessage(
CAObjHandle caServerObjHandle, void *caCallbackData,
TSUIObj_UIMessage uiMsg)
{
int error = 0;
ErrMsg errMsg = "";
ERRORINFO errorInfo;
LPUNKNOWN tempPropObject = 0;
CAObjHandle PropObject = 0;

tsErrChk(TS_UIMessageGetActiveXData(uiMsg, NULL,
&tempPropObject));
CA_CreateObjHandleFromInterface (tempPropObject,
&IID_IUnknown, 0, LOCALE_NEUTRAL, 0, 0,
&PropObject);

//TODO: Implement your code here

Error:
//free resources
if (PropObject)
CA_DiscardObjHandle(PropObject);
return error;
}

Starting and Shutting Down TestStand

When you initialize the user interface application, use the
TSUI_ApplicationMgrStart driver function to invoke the
ApplicationMgr.Start method, which starts the TestStand Engine
and logs in a user.

LabWindows/CVI applications typically wait for user input by calling the

RunUserInterface() function after loading and displaying the main
user interface panel. The RunUserInterface() function handles all
events, such as menu selections, control value changes, and ActiveX
control events.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 15-6 ni.com

 Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

Typically, you stop a user interface application by clicking the Close box
or by executing the Exit command through a TestStand menu or a Button
control. For user interface events that request the user interface to close, the
user interface must call the TSUI_ApplicationMgrShutdown function
to unload sequence files, log out, and trigger an OnApplicationCanExit
event. When the function determines that the TestStand Engine can shut
down, the canExitNow output parameter returns True. The user interface
application then calls the QuitUserInterface() function, which causes
the preceding RunUserInterface() call to return. After the application
exits the function call to RunUserInterface(), the user interface
application must call TSUI_ApplicationMgrShutdown a second time to
complete the cleanup process and shut down the TestStand Engine.

Menu Bars
The TestStand Utility Functions provide the following set of functions for
creating and handling TestStand-specific menu items without requiring any
additional code:
• TS_InsertCommandsInMenu
• TS_RemoveMenuCommands
• TS_CleanupMenu

Use the TS_InsertCommandsInMenu function to create new menu items

that execute commands you specify. To create menu items, you specify an
array of command types, and the menu bar and menu IDs determine where
to insert the commands. Each command type specifies a menu item or
group of menu items to insert. You must also specify a handle to the
Application Manager control, ExecutionView Manager control, or
SequenceFileView Manager control to which the new menu items apply.
TestStand uses a manager control to determine whether the menu item is
visible or dimmed. TestStand installs a callback for each menu item that
automatically invokes the associated command when the user selects the
menu item.

Call the TS_InsertCommandsInMenu function when the application

rebuilds the menu bar in a MenuDimmerCallback function to populate the
menu bar with commands that apply to the current state of the application.
Before you call this function, you can call TS_RemoveMenuCommands to
remove any menu items you previously inserted.

Refer to the RebuildMenuBar function in the <TestStand Public>\

UserInterfaces\Full-Featured\CVI\TestExec.c source file for
an example of rebuilding the menu bar.

© National Instruments Corporation 15-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

Localization
The TestStand UI Controls and TestStand Utility Functions drivers provide
tools that localize user interfaces based on the TestStand language setting.
Use the following functions to localize the user interface:
• TS_LoadPanelResourceStrings
• TS_LoadMenuBarResourceStrings
• TSUI_ApplicationMgrLocalizeAllControls

Refer to the <TestStand Public>\UserInterfaces\

Full-Featured\CVI\TestExec.c source file for an example of
localizing user interface panels.

Other User Interface Utilities

You can also launch dialog boxes modal to TestStand application windows
and enable functions to check for stopped executions.

Making Dialog Boxes Modal to TestStand

Code modules that TestStand calls can launch dialog boxes modal to
TestStand application windows, such as the TestStand Sequence Editor or
custom user interfaces.

Use the following functions the TestStand Utility Functions driver provides
to make a dialog box modal to TestStand application windows:
• TS_StartModalDialogEx
• TS_EndModalDialog

Refer to the <TestStand>\Components\StepTypes\MsgBox\

msgbox.c source file to see how to use these functions.

Checking for Suspended or Stopped Execution within Code Modules

Code modules TestStand calls can launch dialog boxes or perform other
time-consuming operations. In these cases, it can be useful for those code
modules to periodically check whether TestStand terminated or aborted
their parent execution so the code modules can stop gracefully and allow
the parent execution to terminate or abort.

Code modules can also allow TestStand to suspend the parent execution
without requiring the code modules to first return to TestStand.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 15-8 ni.com

 Chapter 15 Creating Custom User Interfaces in LabWindows/CVI

Use the TS_CancelDialogIfExecutionStops function the TestStand

Utility Functions driver provides to enable code modules that display
dialog boxes to verify whether the execution that called the function has
stopped.

Refer to the dialog box code in the following example source files for
examples of how to use this function:
• <TestStand Public>\Examples\Demo\C\computer.c
• <TestStand Public>\Examples\Demo\C\auto.c

Use the Execution.InitTerminationMonitor and

Execution.GetTerminationMonitorStatus methods to monitor
whether an execution is terminating or aborting.

Use the Thread.ExternallySuspended method to allow TestStand to

suspend the parent execution thread while still executing code in the code
module.

Use the Execution.GetStates method to determine whether the

execution is suspended.

© National Instruments Corporation 15-9 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Using the TestStand ActiveX
16
APIs in LabWindows/CVI
You can use the TestStand API or TestStand UI Controls from
LabWindows/CVI code modules and user interface source code.

The ActiveX Library topic of the LabWindows/CVI Online Help contains

fundamental information about ActiveX concepts and how to access
ActiveX servers from LabWindows/CVI.

Using ActiveX Drivers in LabWindows/CVI

LabWindows/CVI creates and accesses ActiveX objects using functions in
a LabWindows/CVI-generated driver. This driver uses function panels to
define C functions for all the methods and properties available for each
object. For servers that define events, the driver contains functions for
registering callbacks for events.

The driver functions you use to invoke methods and properties have a
special naming convention in which function names start with a prefix,
such as TS_. Methods are followed by the class name and the method name.
Properties are followed by Get or Set and the property name. In some
cases, the class, method, and property names are abbreviated to keep the
function name within the constraints of the .fp file format.

The LabWindows/CVI ActiveX Automation Library uses the

CAObjHandle data type for handles to ActiveX objects. The TestStand
ActiveX drivers also follow this convention, so you can use the
CAObjHandle data type for all handles to TestStand objects. However,
one drawback of using the same data type for all TestStand objects is that
the compiler cannot flag calls to methods in which you pass a handle for the
wrong kind of object.

© National Instruments Corporation 16-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

Objects can support more than one interface. For example, a

SequenceContext object has a SequenceContext interface and a
PropertyObject interface. When using handles in LabWindows/CVI
to invoke methods or access properties of an object, you do not have to
convert a specific reference for one interface to a specific reference for
another interface. The ActiveX driver always queries the handle for the
proper interface before invoking the method or accessing the property.

When you receive an object handle as the result of calling a method or

getting the handle from a property, you must release the handle when you
are finished with it. Refer to the Adding and Releasing References section
of this chapter for more information about the CA_DiscardObjHandle
function.

Some TestStand ActiveX API methods include output parameters that

return strings. You must use the CA_FreeMemory function in the
LabWindows/CVI ActiveX Automation Library to free these strings
when you are done with them.

Invoking Methods
TestStand objects have methods you invoke to perform an operation or
function. In LabWindows/CVI, you invoke methods on TestStand objects
using the functions defined in the ActiveX driver for those objects.

The following function shows how to access the number of steps in a

sequence:
int GetNumSteps(CAObjHandle sequence)
{
int error = 0;
ErrMsg errMsg = "";
ERRORINFO errorInfo;
CAObjHandle engine = 0;
long numSteps = 0;
tsErrChk(TS_SequenceGetNumSteps (sequence,
&errorInfo, TS_StepGroup_Main, &numSteps));
Error:
return error;
}

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 16-2 ni.com

 Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

The errorInfo variable is a structure the LabWindows/CVI ActiveX

Automation Library defines to hold information about errors that can occur
in the operation of the function. The tsErrChk macro determines whether
the function return value or the errorInfo variable indicates an error
occurred and continues execution at the Error label when True.

Note The functions, constants, and enumerations in the tsapicvi.fp driver begin
with the unique prefix TS_. This prefix is not included in the function, constant, and
enumeration names in the NI TestStand Help.

Accessing Built-In Properties

TestStand defines a number of built-in properties that are always present
for objects, such as steps and sequences. Nearly every kind of TestStand
object has built-in properties that are static with respect to the
TestStand API, which you can use to access the properties in the
programming language you specify. The Sequence.Name and
SequenceContext.Sequence properties are examples of built-in
properties.

In LabWindows/CVI, you access built-in properties using a property

function in the ActiveX driver. The following code obtains the value of
the Sequence.Name property:
int GetSequenceName(CAObjHandle sequence)
{
int error = 0;
ErrMsg errMsg = "";
ERRORINFO errorInfo;
char *sequenceName = NULL;
tsErrChk(TS_SequenceGetName (sequence, &errorInfo,
&sequenceName));
Error:
// Free Resources
if (sequenceName)
CA_FreeMemory(sequenceName);
return error;
}

© National Instruments Corporation 16-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

The following function obtains a reference to a step named

CVI Pass/Fail Test from a Sequence object:
int GetStepInSequence(CAObjHandle sequence)
{
int error = 0;
ErrMsg errMsg = "";
ERRORINFO errorInfo;
CAObjHandle step = 0;
tsErrChk(TS_SequenceGetStepByName (sequence,
&errorInfo, "CVI Pass/Fail Test", StepGroup_Main,
&step));
Error:
// Free Resources
if (step)
CA_DiscardObjHandle(step);
return error;
}

Accessing Dynamic Properties

In TestStand, you can define custom step properties, sequence local
variables, sequence file global variables, and station global variables.
Because the TestStand API is independent of the variables and custom step
properties you define, these variables and properties are dynamic with
respect to the TestStand API. The TestStand API provides the
PropertyObject class so you can access dynamic properties and
variables from within code modules, where you use lookup strings to
identify specific properties by name.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 16-4 ni.com

 Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

The following example illustrates setting a local variable by calling a

method of the PropertyObject class on a handle to a
SequenceContext object:
int SetLocalVariable(CAObjHandle seqContextCVI)
{
int error = 0;
ErrMsg errMsg = "";
ERRORINFO errorInfo;
VBOOL propertyExists;
// Set local variable NumericValue to a random number
tsErrChk(TS_PropertyExists(seqContextCVI,
&errorInfo, "Locals.NumericValue", 0,
&propertyExists));
if (propertyExists)
tsErrChk(TS_PropertySetValNumber(seqContextCVI,
&errorInfo, "Locals.NumericValue", 0,
rand()));
Error:
return error;
}

Adding and Releasing References

LabWindows/CVI automatically maintains an object reference for each
handle you obtain for an object. When you assign the handle to another
variable, LabWindows/CVI does not add a reference to the object. Use the
CA_DuplicateObjHandle function in the LabWindows/CVI ActiveX
Automation Library to obtain a new handle to an existing object, which
adds a reference to the object.

LabWindows/CVI automatically releases the object reference for each

handle you obtain when you call the CA_DiscardObjHandle function
from the LabWindows/CVI ActiveX Automation Library.

© National Instruments Corporation 16-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

The following example shows how to obtain a handle to the TestStand

Engine from the SequenceContext object, how to call a method on the
engine to acquire a version string, and how to release the handle to the
engine and the string.
int GetEngineVersion(CAObjHandle seqContextCVI)
{
int error = 0;
ErrMsg errMsg = "";
ERRORINFO errorInfo;
CAObjHandle engine = 0;
char *versionString = NULL;
tsErrChk(TS_SeqContextGetEngine(seqContextCVI,
&errorInfo, &engine));
tsErrChk(TS_EngineGetVersionString (engine,
&errorInfo, &versionString));
Error:
// Free Resources
if (engine)
CA_DiscardObjHandle(engine);
if (versionString)
CA_FreeMemory(versionString);
return error;
}

Note If you do not release the handle, LabWindows/CVI does not release the object for
you. Repeatedly opening references to objects without closing them can cause the
computer to run out of memory.

While many of the functions specified in the tsapicvi.fp library are

simple wrappers to API methods that require no storage of information,
there are several functions, especially those containing Get or New, where
TestStand is actively allocating new memory to hold the information. In
any instance where you are using a function of this type, you must release
the allocated memory at the end of the code using calls to
CA_FreeMemory, CA_DiscardObjHandle, or similar functions.

When you are concerned about a function returning a piece of data that
must be manually released, refer to the LabWindows/CVI Help or to the
NI TestStand Help for that function. Both of these resources explicitly state
if the function is allocating memory and often contain additional code
fragments explaining how to use the function.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 16-6 ni.com

 Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

The following are examples of functions that allocate memory:

TS_PropertyGetValString()
TS_PropertyGetValIDispatch()
TS_PropertyGetPropertyObject()
TS_NewEngine()
TS_SeqFileNewEditContext()
TS_EngineNewSequence()

The following example uses one of the previous functions and then releases
the memory:
char *stringVal = NULL;
TS_PropertyGetValString (propObj, &errorInfo,
"Step.Limits.String", 0, &stringVal);
...
CA_FreeMemory (stringVal);

Using TestStand API Constants and Enumerations

Some TestStand API methods require string and numeric constant input
arguments. The acceptable values of these arguments are organized into
groups that correspond to different properties and methods. For example,
the PropertyObject.SetValNumber method includes an options input
argument that accepts many different numeric constants.

The header file for the ActiveX driver defines all constants and
enumerations the methods and properties require. The constant
and enumeration names start with a prefix, such as TS_, followed by
the constant or enumeration name.

Note The functions, constants, and enumerations in the tsapicvi.fp driver begin
with the unique prefix TS_. This prefix is not included in the function, constant, and
enumeration names in the NI TestStand Help.

For example, the ActiveX driver defines the RunModes constant as

follows:
#define TS_RunMode_Normal "Normal"
#define TS_RunMode_Skip "Skip"
#define TS_RunMode_ForceFail "Fail"
#define TS_RunMode_ForcePass "Pass"

© National Instruments Corporation 16-7 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 16 Using the TestStand ActiveX APIs in LabWindows/CVI

The ActiveX driver defines the StepGroups enumeration as follows:

enum TSEnum_StepGroups
{
TS_StepGroup_Setup = 0,
TS_StepGroup_Main = 1,
TS_StepGroup_Cleanup = 2,
TS_StepGroupsForceSizeToFourBytes = 0xFFFFFFFF
};

For parameters of functions of type enumeration, the LabWindows/CVI

function panel displays the list of enumerations in a ring control.

For parameters of functions that specify a numeric constant, use the

bitwise-OR operator to specify multiple options. For example, the
following code sets a local variable only when the variable does not
already exist:
int options = PropOption_DoNothingIfExists |
PropOption_InsertIfMissing;
tsErrChk (TS_PropertySetValNumber(seqContext,
&errorInfo, "Locals.NumericValue", options,
rand()));

Handling Events
TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls generate events to notify the
application of user input and application events, such as the completion of
an execution. To handle an event in LabWindows/CVI, you must register a
callback function using the event callback registration functions in
the instrument driver for an ActiveX control and then use the
CA_UnregisterEventCallback function to close the callback before
you close the application.

Refer to Chapter 15, Creating Custom User Interfaces in

LabWindows/CVI, for more information about handling events that
TestStand UI Controls generate.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 16-8 ni.com

Adding Type Libraries To
17
LabWindows/CVI DLLs
When a DLL contains export information or when a LabWindows/CVI
DLL file contains a type library, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter
automatically populates the Function control on the LabWindows/CVI
Module tab with all the function names exported from the DLL.

In addition, when you select a function in the DLL, the adapter queries the
export information or the type library for the parameter list information and
adds it in the Parameters Table control on the LabWindows/CVI Module
tab.

You must enter the parameter information manually in the Parameters

Table control for DLLs created with LabWindows/CVI 6.0 or earlier and
for DLLs that do not have type library information.

Generating Type Library Information

LabWindows/CVI can use the information specified in a function panel file
to generate type library information to include in a DLL. Complete the
following steps to generate a type library resource from a function panel
and add the type library resource to a DLL.
1. Open a new function panel file and create a function panel for each
exported function you want to include in the type library.
2. Add the function panel file to the LabWindows/CVI project.
3. In the LabWindows/CVI project window, select Build»Target
Settings to launch the Target Settings dialog box.
4. In the Target Settings dialog box, click the Type Library button to
launch the Type Library dialog box.
5. In the Type Library dialog box, enable the Add type library resource
to DLL option and enter the path to the file in the Function Panel File
control.

© National Instruments Corporation 17-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 17 Adding Type Libraries To LabWindows/CVI DLLs

6. Click OK to close the Type Library dialog box and to close the Target
Settings dialog box.
7. In the Project window, select Build»Create Debuggable Dynamic
Link Library to build the DLL.

LabWindows/CVI imposes certain requirements on the declaration of the

DLL API in a type library. Use the following guidelines to ensure that
TestStand can use the DLL:
• Use typedefs for structure, union, and enum parameters.
• Do not use structures that require forward references or that contain
pointers.
• Do not use pointer types except when passing parameters by reference.

Refer to the LabWindows/CVI documentation for more information about

adding type libraries to DLLs.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 17-2 ni.com

Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI
18
Code Modules
Versions of TestStand earlier than 3.0 required the DLL Flexible Prototype
Adapter to call functions in LabWindows/CVI DLLs that did not use a
specific prototype. With TestStand 3.0 or later, you can call functions with
a variety of parameter data types, including code modules with legacy
function prototypes.

Prototypes of Legacy Code Modules

TestStand supports standard and extended legacy prototypes. In earlier
versions of TestStand, National Instruments recommended using the
standard prototype. The extended prototype provides backward
compatibility with the LabWindows/CVI Test Executive Toolkit
version 2.0 or earlier and offers an additional string parameter.

The following is the standard prototype:

void TX_TEST StandardFunc(tTestData *data, tTestError
*error)

The following is the extended prototype:

int TX_TEST ExtendedFunc(const char *params, tTestData
*data, tTestError *error)

Although you usually create new code modules using the

LabWindows/CVI Module tab for steps that use the LabWindows/CVI
Adapter, TestStand can also create legacy-style code modules. Refer to
Chapter 14, Configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter, for more
information about configuring the LabWindows/CVI Adapter to create
new legacy-style code modules.

The legacy prototypes contain the tTestData and tTestError structure

parameters, which the LabWindows/CVI Adapter uses to pass values into
and out of the code module.

© National Instruments Corporation 18-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 18 Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules

tTestData Structure
The tTestData structure contains input and output data, as shown in
Table 18-1.

Table 18-1. tTestData Structure Member Fields

In/
Field Name Data Type Out Description

result int Out Set by test function to indicate whether the test passed.
Valid values are PASS or FAIL. The adapter copies this
value into the Step.Result.PassFail property
when the property exists.

measurement double Out Numeric measurement the test function returns.

The adapter copies this value into the
Step.Result.Numeric property when the property
exists.

inBuffer char * In For passing a string parameter to a test function. The

adapter copies the Step.InBuf property value into
this field when the property exists.

outBuffer char * Out Output message to include in the report. The adapter
copies this message value into the
Step.Result.ReportText property when the
property exists.

modPath char * const In Directory path of the module that contains the test
function. The adapter sets this value before executing
the code module.

modFile char * const In Filename of the module that contains the test function.
The adapter sets this value before executing the code
module.

hook void * In Reserved (no longer used).

hookSize int In Reserved (no longer used).

mallocFuncPtr tMallocPtr const In Contains a function pointer to malloc, which a code

module must use to allocate memory for any buffer it
assigns to the inBuffer, outBuffer, and errorMessage
fields.

freeFuncPtr tFreeptr const In Contains a function pointer to free, which a code

module must use to free any buffers to which the
inBuffer, outBuffer, and errorMessage fields point.

seqContextDisp struct IDispatch * In Dispatch pointer to the sequence context. This value is
NULL when you choose not to pass the sequence
context.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 18-2 ni.com

 Chapter 18 Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules

Table 18-1. tTestData Structure Member Fields (Continued)

In/
Field Name Data Type Out Description

seqContextCVI CAObjHandle In LabWindows/CVI ActiveX Automation handle for the

sequence context. This value is 0 when you choose not
to pass the sequence context.

stringMeasurement char * Out String value the test function returns. The adapter
copies this string into the Step.Result.String
property when the property exists.

replaceStringFuncPtr tReplaceStringPtr const In Contains a function pointer to ReplaceString,

which a code module can use to reassign a value to
the inBuffer, outBuffer, and errorMessage fields.
The ReplaceString prototype is as follows:
int ReplaceString(char **destString, char
*srcString);

The function return value is non-zero when successful.

structVersion int In Structure version number. A test module can use this
value to detect new versions of the structure.

Note Use the sequence context to access all the objects, variables, and properties in the
execution. Refer to the NI TestStand Help for more information about using the sequence
context from a LabWindows/CVI code module.

tTestError Structure
The tTestError structure contains only output error information, as shown
in Table 18-2.

Table 18-2. tTestError Structure Member Fields

In/
Field Name Data Type Out Description

errorFlag Boolean (int) Out The test function must set this value to True when an error
occurs. The adapter copies this output value into the
Step.Result.Error.Occurred property when the
property exists.

errorLocation tErrLoc (int) Out Reserved (no longer used).

© National Instruments Corporation 18-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 18 Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules

Table 18-2. tTestError Structure Member Fields (Continued)

In/
Field Name Data Type Out Description

errorCode int Out The test function can set this value to a non-zero value when
an error occurs. The adapter copies the output value into the
Step.Result.Error.Code property when the property
exists and the errorFlag is set.

errorMessage char * Out The test function can set this field to a descriptive string
when an error occurs. The adapter copies the output value
into the Step.Result.Error.Msg property when the
property exists and the errorFlag is set.

Updating Step Properties

You can use the following two methods to pass data between the code
module and TestStand:
• Use the tTestData structure
• Use the sequence context ActiveX reference to call the TestStand
ActiveX API functions to set the variables used to store the results of
the test, such as Step.Result.PassFail

Before calling a code module, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter assigns

values from TestStand to input fields of the tTestData structure. After
calling the code module, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter copies the values
of the output fields of the structures to properties of the step. The
LabWindows/CVI Adapter copies a value into a property when the
following conditions are true:
• The property exists.
• The code module does not change the value of the property directly
through the TestStand API.

In some cases, the LabWindows/CVI Adapter translates the value of a

structure field to a different value in the corresponding property. Table 18-3
lists all the properties the LabWindows/CVI Adapter updates and the value
translation, if any, the adapter makes.

Table 18-3. Step Properties Updated by LabWindows/CVI Adapter

Structure Valid Values Step.Result Step Property

Member Tests Can Return Property Value
result PASS or FAIL PassFail True/False

outBuffer string value ReportText string value

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 18-4 ni.com

 Chapter 18 Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules

Table 18-3. Step Properties Updated by LabWindows/CVI Adapter (Continued)

Structure Valid Values Step.Result Step Property

Member Tests Can Return Property Value
measurement floating-point value Numeric numeric value
stringMeasurement string value String string value
errorFlag True or False Error.Occurred True/False

errorCode integer value Error.Code numeric value

errorMessage string value Error.Msg string value

Note The values the sequence context ActiveX reference sets take precedence over the
values the tTestData structure sets. When you use both methods to set the value of the
same variable, TestStand recognizes the values the sequence context ActiveX reference
sets and ignores the values the tTestData structure sets. You can use the sequence context
ActiveX reference and the tTestData structure together in the code module if you do not
try to set the same variable twice. For example, when you use the sequence context
ActiveX reference to set the value of Step.Result.PassFail and then use the
tTestData structure to set the value of Step.Result.ReportText, TestStand sets both
values correctly.

Example Code Module

When you create a legacy code module for the LabWindows/CVI Adapter,
you must add the stdtst.h header file located in the <TestStand
Public>\AdapterSupport\CVI directory to the source file. The
stdtst.h file includes the type definitions for the tTestData and
tTestError structures.

© National Instruments Corporation 18-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Chapter 18 Calling Legacy LabWindows/CVI Code Modules

The following is an example code module that uses the LabWindows/CVI

standard prototype:
// Simple test example
#include "stdtst.h"
void TX_TEST __declspec(dllexport) FunctionName
(tTestData *testData, tTestError *testError)
{
int error = 0;
double measurement = 5.0;
char *lastUserName = NULL;
testData->measurement = measurement;
if ((error = TS_PropertyGetValString(
testData->seqContextCVI, NULL,
"StationGlobals.TS.LastUserName",
0, &lastUserName)) < 0)
goto Error;
Error:
// FREE RESOURCES
CA_FreeMemory(lastUserName);
// Set the error flag to cause a run-time error
if (error < 0)
{
testError->errorFlag = TRUE;
testError->errorCode = error;
testData->replaceStringFuncPtr(&testError->
errorMessage, "ErrorText");
}
}

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand 18-6 ni.com

Technical Support and
A
Professional Services
Visit the following sections of the award-winning National Instruments
Web site at ni.com for technical support and professional services:
• Support—Technical support at ni.com/support includes the
following resources:
– Self-Help Technical Resources—For answers and solutions,
visit ni.com/support for software drivers and updates,
a searchable KnowledgeBase, product manuals, step-by-step
troubleshooting wizards, thousands of example programs,
tutorials, application notes, instrument drivers, and so on.
Registered users also receive access to the NI Discussion Forums
at ni.com/forums. NI Applications Engineers make sure every
question submitted online receives an answer.
– Standard Service Program Membership—This program
entitles members to direct access to NI Applications Engineers
via phone and email for one-to-one technical support as well as
exclusive access to on demand training modules via the Services
Resource Center. NI offers complementary membership for a full
year after purchase, after which you may renew to continue your
benefits.
For information about other technical support options in your
area, visit ni.com/services, or contact your local office at
ni.com/contact.
• Training and Certification—Visit ni.com/training for
self-paced training, eLearning virtual classrooms, interactive CDs,
and Certification program information. You also can register for
instructor-led, hands-on courses at locations around the world.
• System Integration—If you have time constraints, limited in-house
technical resources, or other project challenges, National Instruments
Alliance Partner members can help. To learn more, call your local
NI office or visit ni.com/alliance.

© National Instruments Corporation A-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Appendix A Technical Support and Professional Services

If you searched ni.com and could not find the answers you need, contact
your local office or NI corporate headquarters. Phone numbers for our
worldwide offices are listed at the front of this manual. You also can visit
the Worldwide Offices section of ni.com/niglobal to access the branch
office Web sites, which provide up-to-date contact information, support
phone numbers, email addresses, and current events.

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand A-2 ni.com

Index

Numerics debugging
DLLs in-process, 14-5
64-bit integer data types in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-4
from TestStand (tutorial), 12-3
in external instances, 14-3
A editing from TestStand (tutorial), 12-3
ActiveX executing
adding references in external instance, 14-2
(LabWindows/CVI), 16-5 in-process, 14-3
API, TestStand legacy, 18-1
LabVIEW, 9-1 loading subordinate DLLs (tutorial), 14-5
LabWindows/CVI, 16-1 object files, 14-3
releasing references object parameters, 13-3
LabVIEW, 9-3 selecting where to execute, 14-2
LabWindows/CVI, 16-5 static library files, 14-3
using LabWindows/CVI drivers, 16-1 stopped, 15-8
ActiveX controls (LabWindows/CVI) string parameters, 13-2
configuring, 15-1 structure parameters, 13-3
creating, 15-1 suspended, 15-8
programming, 15-1 Code Template Policy
adapters. See module adapters LabVIEW, 5-5
aliases file (LabVIEW), 7-3 LabWindows/CVI, 14-7
COM references, duplicating (LabVIEW), 9-6
Conditional Disable Structures and symbols
C (LabVIEW), 7-4
cluster parameters (LabVIEW), 4-4 constants
creating custom data types, 4-6 LabVIEW, 9-4
creating TestStand data types, 4-8 LabWindows/CVI, 16-7
passing as container variable, 4-5 container variables, passing to LabVIEW, 4-5
specifying cluster elements Controls palette (LabVIEW), 6-1
individually, 4-5 conventions used in the manual, iv
code modules (LabWindows/CVI), 1-1
C source files, 14-5
calling from TestStand, 11-1 D
creating from TestStand (tutorial), 12-1 data types (LabVIEW), 4-1
creating custom for clusters, 4-6
creating from clusters (tutorial), 4-8

© National Instruments Corporation I-1 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Index

data types (LabWindows/CVI), 13-1 remote execution in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-4

calling a function with a struct setting preferred execution system
parameter, 13-5 (LabVIEW), 9-7
creating custom (tutorial), 13-4
creating custom for struct parameters
(tutorial), 13-4 F
specifying structure passing settings function arguments, showing in step
(tutorial), 13-5 descriptions, 14-2
deployment, restrictions with
LabVIEW 8.0, 7-5
diagnostic tools (NI resources), A-1 I
directory, 2-3 Input Buffer string control, legacy
DLLs (LabWindows/CVI) (LabVIEW), 10-4
adding type libraries, 17-1 instrument drivers (NI resources), A-1
requirements for declaring in a type interfaces, obtaining for TestStand objects
library, 17-2 (LabVIEW), 9-5
documentation Invocation Info cluster, legacy
conventions used in the manual, iv (LabVIEW), 10-4
NI resources, A-1
drivers (NI resources), A-1 K
KnowledgeBase, A-1
E
Editor Mode, 6-4, 15-4 L
enumerations
LabVIEW
LabVIEW, 9-4
creating custom user interfaces, 6-1
LabWindows/CVI, 16-7
Module tab, 2-2
Error Out cluster, legacy (LabVIEW), 10-3
object-oriented programming, 7-7
events
required settings, 2-1
handling in user interfaces
RT Server, configuring, 8-3
LabVIEW, 6-4
servers, selecting, 5-1
LabWindows/CVI, 15-4, 16-8
LabVIEW 8.6.x or later development
handling menu events in user interfaces
system, 5-4
(LabVIEW), 6-7
LabVIEW Run-Time Engine, 5-2
examples (NI resources), A-1
Other Executable, 5-2
executions
setting preferred execution system, 9-7
checking for suspended or stopped
executions TestStand ActiveX APIs, 9-1
VI Server, configuring (tutorial), 8-2
LabVIEW, 6-9
LabWindows/CVI, 15-8 VIs. See VIs

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand I-2 ni.com

 Index

LabVIEW 8.0, 7-1 legacy VIs, 10-1

64-bit integer data types, 7-4 Error Out cluster, 10-3
aliases file, 7-3 format, 10-1
Conditional Disable Structures and Input Buffer string control, 10-4
symbols, 7-4 Invocation Info cluster, 10-4
deployments, building, 7-5 Sequence Context control, 10-5
network-published shared variables, 7-2 settings, 5-7
aliases file, 7-3 Test Data cluster, 10-2
deploying, 7-2 localization
NI-DAQmx in projects, 7-3 LabVIEW, 6-8
project libraries, 7-2 LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
projects, 7-1
real-time module incompatibility, 7-1
remote execution, 7-4 M
symbols, 7-4 menu bars, user interfaces
XControls, 7-4 LabVIEW, 6-7
LabVIEW Adapter, 1-2 LabWindows/CVI, 15-7
configuring, 5-1 modal dialog boxes, user interfaces
creating and configuring new steps LabVIEW, 6-8
(tutorial), 2-3 LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
per-step configuration, 5-4 module adapters
setting preferred execution system, 9-7 LabVIEW, 1-2
LabWindows/CVI configuring, 5-1
creating custom user interfaces, 15-3 LabWindows/CVI, 1-3
Module tab, 11-1 configuring, 14-1
required settings, 11-1 Module tab
TestStand ActiveX APIs, 16-1 LabVIEW, 2-2
LabWindows/CVI Adapter, 1-3 LabWindows/CVI, 11-1
configuring, 14-2
creating and configuring new steps
(tutorial), 11-4 N
per-step configuration, 14-6 National Instruments support and
selecting where steps execute, 14-2 services, A-1
legacy code modules NI-DAQmx in projects in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-3
(LabWindows/CVI), 18-1
example, 18-5
prototypes, 18-1
O
tTestData structure, 18-2 object parameters (LabWindows/CVI), 13-3
tTestError structure, 18-3
updating step properties, 18-4

© National Instruments Corporation I-3 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Index

P steps
creating and configuring (tutorial)
programming examples (NI resources), A-1
LabVIEW, 2-3
project libraries in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-2
LabWindows/CVI, 11-4
projects in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-1
showing function arguments
properties, accessing
(LabWindows/CVI), 14-2
built-in TestStand properties
updating properties
LabVIEW, 9-1
(LabWindows/CVI), 18-4
LabWindows/CVI, 16-3
stopped executions
dynamic TestStand properties
LabVIEW, 6-9
LabVIEW, 9-2
LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
LabWindows/CVI, 16-4
string parameters
PropertyObject class, acquiring derived class
LabWindows/CVI code modules, 13-2
in LabVIEW, 9-5
VIs, 4-4
prototypes, legacy (LabWindows/CVI), 18-1
struct parameters (LabWindows/CVI), 13-3
calling functions (tutorial), 13-5
R creating custom data types (tutorial), 13-4
real-time module incompatibility in setting default packing size, 14-2
LabVIEW 8.0, 7-1 suspended executions
remote computers (LabVIEW) LabVIEW, 6-9
calling VIs, 8-1 LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
configuring a LabVIEW RT Server, 8-3 symbols in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-4
configuring and running steps
(tutorial), 8-1
remote execution in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-4
T
technical support (NI Resources), A-1
Test Data cluster, legacy (LabVIEW), 10-2
S TestStand
Sequence Context control, legacy ActiveX API
(LabVIEW), 10-5 LabVIEW, 9-1
shared variables (LabVIEW), 7-2 LabWindows/CVI, 16-1
aliases file, 7-3 passing container variables to
deploying, 7-2 LabVIEW, 4-5
software (NI resources), A-1 shutting down in user interfaces
step properties, updating LabVIEW, 6-6
(LabWindows/CVI), 18-4 LabWindows/CVI, 15-6
step types, custom starting in user interfaces
LabVIEW, 1-2 LabVIEW, 6-6
LabWindows/CVI, 1-2 LabWindows/CVI, 15-6
<TestStand Public> directory, 2-3

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand I-4 ni.com

 Index

TestStand API U
accessing
user interfaces
built-in properties
checking for suspended or stopped
LabVIEW, 9-1 executions
LabWindows/CVI, 16-3 LabVIEW, 6-9
dynamic properties LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
LabVIEW, 9-2 creating
LabWindows/CVI, 16-4 LabVIEW, 6-2
acquiring derived class from LabWindows/CVI, 15-3
PropertyObject class in LabVIEW, 9-5
custom
ActiveX drivers for
LabVIEW, 1-2, 6-1
LabWindows/CVI, 16-1
LabWindows/CVI, 1-2, 15-1
constants
Editor Mode, 6-4, 15-4
LabVIEW, 9-4
enabling sequence editing, 6-4, 15-4
LabWindows/CVI, 16-7
handling events
duplicating COM references
LabVIEW, 6-4
(LabVIEW), 9-6
LabWindows/CVI, 15-4, 16-8
enumerations
handling menu events (LabVIEW), 6-7
LabVIEW, 9-4
handling variants
LabWindows/CVI, 16-7
(LabWindows/CVI), 15-5
invoking methods
localization
LabVIEW, 9-1
LabVIEW, 6-8
LabWindows/CVI, 16-2
LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
LabVIEW, 9-1
menu bars
LabWindows/CVI, 16-1
LabVIEW, 6-7
obtaining interfaces for TestStand objects
LabWindows/CVI, 15-7
(LabVIEW), 9-5
modal dialog boxes
TestStand User Interface (UI) Controls
LabVIEW, 6-8
configuring
LabWindows/CVI, 15-8
LabVIEW, 6-3
running in LabVIEW, 6-9
LabWindows/CVI, 15-4
shutting down TestStand
LabVIEW, 6-1
LabVIEW, 6-6
LabWindows/CVI, 15-1
LabWindows/CVI, 15-6
training and certification (NI resources), A-1
starting TestStand
troubleshooting (NI resources), A-1
LabVIEW, 6-6
tTestData structure, legacy
LabWindows/CVI, 15-6
(LabWindows/CVI), 18-2
tTestError structure, legacy
(LabWindows/CVI), 18-3
type libraries, generating in LabWindows/CVI
(tutorial), 17-1

© National Instruments Corporation I-5 Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand
Index

V reserving, 5-4
running VIs remotely with LabVIEW RT
variables, deploying (LabVIEW), 7-2
Server, 8-3
variants, handling in user interfaces
running VIs remotely with VI Server, 8-2
(LabWindows/CVI), 15-5
setting access list for remote access, 8-4
VI Server, configuring (tutorial), 8-2
setting preferred execution system, 9-7
VIs
stopped, 6-9
calling from TestStand, 2-1
string parameters, 4-4
calling on remote computers, 8-1
suspended, 6-9
cluster parameters, 4-4
VIs and Functions palette (LabVIEW), 6-1
code modules, 1-1
configuring LabVIEW Adapter to
run, 2-1 W
creating from TestStand (tutorial), 3-1
Web resources (NI Resources), A-1
debugging from TestStand (tutorial), 3-3
editing from TestStand (tutorial), 3-2
LabVIEW Real-Time module, 8-1 X
legacy, 10-1
XControls in LabVIEW 8.0, 7-4
legacy settings, 5-7

Using LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI with TestStand I-6 ni.com