Use the System Source tab and the Distributed Files tab of the TestStand Deployment Utility to specify and customize the files or directories you select to include in the deployment.

Specifying Source Files

When you specify the source files for a test system on the System Source tab of the deployment utility, the deployment utility prompts you to analyze the source files before displaying the files in the Distributed Files list on the Distributed Files tab of the deployment utility. You must manually add certain types of files to the deployment. If you modify files after adding them to the deployment, click the Analyze Source Files button to re-analyze the files.

When you specify a TestStand workspace file on the System Source tab, the Distributed Files list on the Distributed Files tab includes the workspace file, its contents, and the dependencies, which include all the TestStand projects in the workspace, all the sequence files in each of the projects, any code modules sequence files call statically, and any other files in the project. By default, the Distributed Files list does not include code module dependencies. However, when you use the System Source tab to specify a directory from which to deploy files, the Distributed Files list on the Distributed Files tab includes all the files from that directory and the dependencies. If you use the Distributed Files tab to change the file properties of a code module dependency, add the code module dependency to a TestStand project because the Distributed Files list includes all files in a TestStand project.

Excluding Source Files

If the Distributed Files list includes files you do not want to include in the deployment, use the View Source or View Build Preview views to remove the checkmark next to the file or directory you want to exclude from the deployable image when you create a full deployment.

Customizing File Properties

Select a file or directory in the Distributed Files list and use the options in the File Properties section on the Distributed Files tab to customize how to include each file or directory in the deployable image and how the installer you build with the deployment utility for the deployable image operates on the files.

Enable the Include Without Processing Item or Dependencies option in the File Properties section on the Distributed Files tab in the following situations:

  • When you want to include the source files for a user interface without modification but process code module VIs normally
  • When you want to deploy VIs in a different version of LabVIEW from the code modules
  • When you use checksums for strict control of which files to deploy and do not want the deployment utility to make any changes to the files
  • When you want to deploy files that have already been processed, such as third-party step types that use LabVIEW VIs or a LabVIEW User Interface

Enable the Include All Files in LabVIEW Project option in the File Properties section on the Distributed Files tab to add all the files in the selected LabVIEW project to the deployment so you can more easily modify the test system you deploy. LabVIEW packed project libraries the deployment utility creates always include all the files in LabVIEW projects.

Installer Properties

The options in the Installer Properties section on the Distributed Files tab apply only when you use the deployment utility to build an MSI-based installer. These options do not affect the files in the deployable image directory.

LabVIEW Options

Use the LabVIEW VI Options dialog box to customize how the deployment utility saves VIs in the deployable image.

Using Packed Project Libraries

Enable the Output VIs to Packed Project Library option to output packed project libraries instead of VIs in a deployment, which offers the following advantages:

  • Reduces the number of files in the deployment because the packed project library contains all the VIs you select.
  • Occupies less disk space than VIs because packed project libraries are compressed.
  • Simplifies tracking file versions, updating, and installer behavior because packed project libraries use a version resource number, you specify.
  • Ensures that you do not need to recompile calling VIs when VIs inside a packed project library change their inplaceness, or ability to reuse memory. The deployment utility enables by default the Callers adapt at run time to Exported VI connector pane state option on the Connector Pane State page of the Packed Library Properties dialog box in LabVIEW for all packed project libraries it creates so you can update subsets of VIs on a test station computer without mass compiling all the VIs on the test station computer.
  • Simplifies upgrading test systems and preventing code duplication in test systems because packed project libraries are versioned files, which offer the following benefits:
    • Installers can correctly update the files if multiple installers that use the packed project library reside on the same computer.
    • Multiple installers can include the same packed project library, and the installer correctly installs only one copy of the file, which all code within the test system can share.

Use the Packed Project Library Options dialog box to configure options for how the deployment utility builds LabVIEW packed project libraries. You can also use LabVIEW to build packed project libraries.

Excluding VIs

The LabVIEW Development System installs vi.lib. Instrument drivers install VIs in instr.lib. Toolkits and third-party software install VIs in user.lib. Exclude dependencies from vi.lib, instr.lib, or user.lib from deployments when you deploy VIs that you expect others to edit, such as when you deploy VIs to another development computer or to a test station computer that includes the LabVIEW Development System, the TestStand Runtime, a custom user interface, and a TestStand Custom Sequence Editor License so other developers can modify and redeploy test sequences.

Including VIs from vi.lib, instr.lib, or user.lib in a deployment you install on a computer that includes the LabVIEW Development System can cause the following issues:

  • The VIs in the deployment have the same qualified names as the source VIs in vi.lib, instr.lib, or user.lib, which introduces the possibility of cross-linking.
  • The deployment does not reflect changes later versions of LabVIEW make to vi.lib, which can result in broken VIs or VIs that do not run correctly if the VIs do not include the changes that later versions of LabVIEW require.
  • Partial project libraries can cause broken VIs.

LabVIEW Optimizations

Use the Optimizations section of the LabVIEW VI Options dialog box to removed unused VI components and consolidate files projects share if you call VIs in the context of multiple LabVIEW projects.