TS+

Version 2.1 - July 2016

MESULOG TS+ provides a set of high level, custom TestStand steps that simplify product characterization and validation, lowering test development time and cost. With TS+, you can easily create advanced loop structures, record and play datasets, display values dynamically, and include window snapshots in the test report.

MESULOG TS+ is a NI TestStand Product Partner.

The 2.1 version allows the playback of data from external files with TS+ PlayData step (CSV or Excel 2003 XML).

Figure 1: TS+ overview

Advanced loop

With TS+, you can easily create loop structures.

Loop values can be calculated using four methods (start, end, step, number of values) with linear or logarithmic scale. Loop values can also be extracted from a table.

At execution, current loop value can feed a TestStand variable used within an IVI instrument step or in any other step. The unit is managed with automatic conversion according to unit prefix. Any loop can be disabled when editing or executing. If a loop is configured as a list of values, values to be played can be selected before or during the sequence execution, which allows partial re-test. Different loops can be linked and share the same loop index.

The loop value type can be a string which allows looping on ASCII commands or on file names.

The TS+ Loop next step which ends a TS+ LoopStart step is automatically created.

Figure 2: Sequence using TS+ loop steps and IVI instrument steps

Figure 3: Configuration of a TS+ LoopStart step

Figure 4: Re-played values selection of a TS+ LoopStart step

Datasets

Record Datasets
With TS+, you can easily make records of TestStand variables.

Each time a TS+ RecordData step is executed, the current values of the selected items are recorded in a dataset.

Items can be TestStand variables or calculated values. Dataset values can be displayed dynamically using TS+ Display steps or exported to an ASCII file (LVM or TXT format) or TDMS using TS+ ExportData step. Exported data can be reused into any spreadsheet or NI DIAdem^TM.

Figure 5: Configuration of a TS+ RecordData step

Play Datasets
You can feed TestStand variables using a TS+ PlayData step.

Each time the step is executed, the internal step index is incremented and values at index row are sent to the selected TestStand variables. If no value is defined, the variable remains unchanged. Value type can be Boolean, Numeric, or String.

A TS+ PlayData step is now able to playback data from a CSV file ou Excel XML 2003 file, including formula, without the installation of MS Excel.

Figure 6: Values Edition of a TS+ PlayData step

Display

Display Dataset content dynamically as XY Graph or 2D spreadsheet
Datasets recorded with a TS+ RecordData step can be displayed dynamically at execution with a TS+ PlotData step (XY Graph) or a TS+ BrowseData step (2D spreadsheet).

The window title, position and size can be memorized. The graph plot attributes (scales, colors, formats) can be specified as well as the spreadsheet cells attributes (width, font, color). The TS+ PlotData or BrowseData window can be closed manually or automatically when the sequence is released or ended.

Figure 7: Sequence using different TS+ steps

Figure 8: TS+ BrowseData window

Figure 9: TS+ PlotData window

Test Report

Include Window Snapshots into Test Report
Any TS+ BrowseData or TS+ PlotData window can be saved as a PNG bitmap file and included into a HTML or XML test report. So, it is very easy to include live displayed data into TestStand report.

Prerequisites

NI TestStand 2012 or above (32 bits)
LabVIEW 2012 run-time
Microsoft Office Web Components 2003 (installed with MS Office 2003 or downloadable on Microsoft website)

Integration with NI TestStand
Each TS+ step is configured through a specific panel. A step parameter can be defined as a constant or as a TestStand variable (see figure 3). The browse button makes the TestStand context window appear and allows creation or selection of TestStand variables. The description field of each TS+ step outlines the main parameters, which improves sequence editing and maintainability (see figures 2 and 6).

Compatibility with Microsoft Excel^TM
The tables containing values of a TS+ LoopStart or TS+ PlayData steps, are 1D or 2D spreadsheet tables (see figure 5). TS+ embeds an editor which enables data input, including formulas, fully compatible with MS Excel for convenient copy and paste.