Use the pin and channel map editor to view, create, modify, and save pin and channel map files, which define the relationships among pins, sites, channels, and digital pattern instruments in the test system. If you change the pin and channel map file, you must manually update any other references to pins in levels, time sets, and patterns.

Select File » New or click the Add button Add Item on the Project Explorer window toolbar to create a new pin and channel map file. Double-click a .pinmap file in the Project Explorer window or right-click the file and select Open from the context menu to launch the pin and channel map editor.

Outside of the pin and channel map editor, you can use the System View or the tooltip for the Pin selector in the Pin View pane to display the instrument and channel that correspond to each pin.

Note By default, the Digital Pattern Editor automatically connects and resets instrument sessions when you open a project with an active pin and channel map or when you edit or add an active pin and channel map to a project. The editor disconnects all instrument sessions when you close the project or delete, exclude, or deactivate the active pin and channel map in the project.

When you close the pin and channel map editor with the Cancel button and the pin map file has been edited since you opened it in the editor, a dialog box prompts you to discard changes or return to the editor. When you close the pin and channel map editor with the OK button, the file updates on disk with the changes you made in the editor, and the instrument sessions close and re-open as needed to reflect the changes to the pin and channel map file.

Errors and Warnings

The pin and channel map editor uses a red error icon in the Errors and Warnings window to indicate that the file does not conform to the pin and channel map file format, or schema. Click the error icon or double-click the error message to highlight the error on the XML tab. The Errors and Warnings window displays a warning in orange text when the file conforms to the pin and channel map schema but will generate an error at run time.
Note The Pin Map Editor might report errors or warnings if the pin map file was created in a newer version of NI TestStand Semiconductor Module™ or the Digital Pattern Editor and contains elements or attributes that the current version of the editor does not know about. However, in most cases the editor will still be able to use the pin map as the active pin map. All other functionality in the editor that depends on the pin map will still work because the editor ignores the elements and attributes it does not know about. NI recommends you use the Pin Map Editor of the newer version of NI TestStand Semiconductor Module™ or the Digital Pattern Editor to edit pin maps that contain such elements or attributes.

Configuring the Pin and Channel Map

The pin and channel map editor includes the following options and tabs:

  • Pin Map File — Displays the pin and channel map file path.
  • Undo — Removes the last edit made.
  • Redo — Reinstates the last edit removed.
  • Pin Map tab — Displays an editable, hierarchical view of the instruments, pins, pin groups, relays, relay groups, relay configurations, sites, and connections in the pin map file. For each item, you can edit the attributes of the item, insert new items, or insert comments in the file. Refer to the Pin Map Tab for more information.
  • XML tab — Displays the pin and channel map file in a text format that you can edit.
  • Errors and Warnings window — Displays issues to resolve. Click the Goto Error in XML error icon to highlight the error on the XML tab.