General Tab

The General tab contains the following options:

• Automatically Merge Types —TestStand automatically resolves type conflicts when loading sequence files and type palette files. Disable this option when you want to see type differences when you compare two files. When you compare three files, the utility always resolves types, so this option does not apply. When you enable this option, the following options also become available:
  • Load Type Palettes —The utility loads the type palettes before loading any files to compare. Use this option to merge any changes in the type palettes into the types the files contain. This is the same behavior as opening a file in the TestStand Sequence Editor or in a TestStand User Interface . If you do not enable this option, the types in the files might not be up to date and might result in a type conflict.
  • Load Process Model —The utility loads the process model associated with each sequence file before comparing the files. Use this option to merge any changes in the process model into the types the sequence files contain. This is the same behavior as opening a file in the sequence editor or in a user interface. If you do not enable this option, the types in the files might not be up to date and might result in a type conflict.
  • Allow Automatic Type Conflict Resolution —Specifies when you want TestStand to automatically resolve type conflicts. TestStand normally resolves type conflicts when it loads a file with a version of a type that differs from the version of the type currently in memory and when you enable the Use the definition that has the highest version number option on the Version tab of the Type Properties dialog box or on the Version tab of the Step Type Properties dialog box for both versions of the type. In this case, TestStand updates the file with the lower version of the type to use the higher version. The Allow Automatic Type Conflict Resolution ring control contains the following options:
    • Always (same as TestStand 4.0.x or earlier) —Always allows automatic type conflict resolution by using version numbers, which can cause unintended propagation of types between files. For example, if you open a sequence file with a version of a type later than the version of the type currently in a type palette file, TestStand updates the type palette file and every file you subsequently open to use the later version. The updated type propagates to other files without warning or notifying you.
    • Only if Type Palette Files will not be Modified (default) —Disallows automatic type conflict resolution when the outcome of the resolution modifies a type palette file. This ensures that the application never uses a version of a type that is different than the version of the type in the type palette file without an explicit confirmation through the Type Conflict in File dialog box.
    • Only if a Type Palette File has the Higher Version —Further restricts automatic type conflict resolution. This option includes the same restrictions as the Only if Type Palette Files will not be Modified (default) option and includes the restriction that the type must be in a type palette file for automatic type conflict resolution to occur. Effectively, this option allows automatic type conflict resolution only in the case in which a type palette file has the later version of the type and a non-type palette file has the earlier version of the type. For example, this option does not allow automatic type conflict resolution between two sequence files for types that are not in type palette files. The Only if Type Palette Files will not be Modified (default) option does allow this.
    • Never —Disallows all automatic type conflict resolution . When TestStand loads two different versions of a type, TestStand always prompts you or reports a type conflict error. When you select this option, opening files from TestStand versions earlier than the current version almost always results in type conflict prompts. Use this option only for debugging purposes or to ensure that all files have exactly the same version of every type.
  Note If you change the Automatically Merge Types, Load Type Palettes, or Allow Automatic Type Conflict Resolution options after you load and compare files and you then click OK to close the File Differ Options dialog box, the utility reloads and recompares the files. When you compare three files, recomparing the files recreates the merged file but without the edits you previously specified.
• Allow Editing of Read-Only Files —When you enable this option, you can make changes to files in memory that are marked as read-only on disk. You cannot save changes to a read-only file. You must save the file with a new name to preserve any changes.
• Require Step IDs To Match (Requires Rediffing Files) —This option is disabled by default. When comparing steps, by default the utility compares the steps by comparing the unique step IDs and step names and uses the comparison that returns the most matches. Enable this option to override the default behavior and specify that the utility compares the unique step IDs when matching two steps from two different files.
  Note If you make changes to this option after you load and compare files and you then click OK to close the File Differ Options dialog box, the utility reloads and recompares the files. When you compare three files, recomparing the files recreates the merged file but without the edits you previously specified.
• Include Values In Property Names —Includes the value for properties of basic types in the property name.
• Show Underlying Property Names —Shows the real name of a property instead of its display name. This option applies only to NI-installed types.
• When Diffing Two Files, Treat First File As The Base File —When you compare two files, the utility regards the first file as the base file. When you enable this option, the first file does not show any differences, and all differences appear in the second file.
• Ignore Differences in Sequence Order —When you enable this option, you sort the sequences in the sequence file into alphabetical order before they are diffed. This allows you to see the differences in the sequences when a sequence changes location in the other file.
• File Background Color —The background color to use for each file in the File list and Differences table in the utility. Click the Change File Background Color button or double-click a file to launch the Microsoft Windows Color dialog box, in which you can select a new color. To reset to the default color, select the first color available in the Custom colors section of the Color dialog box.

See Also

Managing Type Revisions

Step Type Properties dialog box

Type Conflict in File dialog box

Type Properties dialog box