General Tab

The General tab contains the following options:

• Full Path —The location of the sequence file on disk.
• Size —The size of the sequence file on the disk drive.
• Saved —The time at which you last saved the sequence file.
• File Revision —The sequence file version number. A version number consists of four integer numbers you separate with periods. The numbers from left to right denote the Major, Minor, Revision, and Build version. You can manually specify the version number or select Configure»Station Options and set the Auto Increment Sequence File Version option on the File tab of the Station Options dialog box. This control specifies that the sequence editor increments the version number each time you save the modified sequence file.
• Sequence File Version —The TestStand version in which the sequence file was saved.
• Load Option —Specifies one of the following load option settings for every step in the sequence file.
  • Preload when opening sequence file —Loads the code module when TestStand loads into memory the sequence that contains the step.
    Note TestStand does not preload Sequence Call step code modules that you specify by expression or that call a custom sequence file .
  • Preload when execution begins —Loads the code module when any sequence in the sequence file that contains the step begins executing. This value is the default setting.
  • Load dynamically —Does not load the code module until the step is ready to call it.
  • Use step load option —Specifies whether TestStand loads each code module according to the Load Option for the particular step that calls the code module. Use the Run Options panel on the Step Settings pane in the sequence editor or the Run Options tab of the Step Properties dialog box from a TestStand User Interface to update the Load Option settings.
• Unload Option —Specifies when the steps in the sequence file release the references to code modules. TestStand unloads a code module when all steps that refer to the code module can unload. This option specifies one of the following unload option settings for every step in the sequence file:
  • Unload when precondition fails —Unload the code module when the precondition for the step evaluates to False .
  • Unload after step executes —Unload the code module after the step finishes executing.
  • Unload after sequence executes —Unload the code module after the sequence that contains it finishes executing.
  • Unload when sequence file closes —Unload the code module when TestStand unloads the sequence file that contains the step from memory. This value is the default setting.
  • Use step unload option —Specifies whether TestStand unloads each code module according to the unload option for the particular step that calls the code module. Use the Run Options panel on the Step Settings pane or the Run Options tab of the Step Properties dialog box from a user interface to update the Unload Option settings.
    Note If you enable the Optimize Non-Reentrant Calls to this Sequence option on the General tab of the Sequence Properties dialog box, TestStand maintains a loaded copy of the sequence until the execution is complete and does not unload the code modules for the sequence until after the execution ends, even if you attempt to unload the sequence and regardless of the Unload Option setting for the sequence file or the steps in the sequence. Because you cannot programmatically edit a loaded sequence, disable this option if you need to modify the sequence at run time.
• Sequence File Globals —The lifetime of the sequence file global variables and whether multiple executions share the sequence file global variable values. You can select one of the following settings:
  • Separate File Globals for Each Execution —Specifies whether each execution that runs the file creates a separate run-time copy of the global variables and initializes them to their default values. This command is the default setting. Threads within an execution share the run-time copy for the execution.
  • All Executions Share the Same File Globals —Specifies that the first execution that runs the sequence file creates a run-time copy of the global variables and initializes them to their default values. Any other execution that runs the file concurrently uses the same global variables. When the last execution that uses the file globals completes, TestStand discards the file globals. A common use case for selecting this option might be when you want to share variables between multiple executions you start with the Batch or Parallel process model.
  Note For either setting, if a sequence file unloads from memory and an execution later reloads the file, the execution creates a new run-time copy of the file globals and initializes them to their default values.
• Comment —Places a comment in the documentation TestStand generates for the sequence file.
• File Format —The format of the file.

  Choose from one of the following formats:

  • INI (format available in TestStand 3. x or earlier)
    Note The Sequence File Properties dialog box no longer provides the option to change from another file format to INI. Reading INI files is still supported. Saving files in the INI format will be deprecated in a future release of TestStand.
  • XML (most readable, largest)
    Note National Instruments reserves the right to change the XML file format in future releases to support new features and to improve usability.
  • Binary (fastest and smallest)
  Notice If you change a file you store in an SCC system from XML or INI to binary, you must update the SCC system to set the file type as binary. Otherwise the SCC provider might incorrectly process the binary content of the file that appears to be white space, resulting in a corrupt file.
• Requirements List —Provides a mechanism for notating product and unit requirements the sequence file covers. This control contains a list of strings where each string represents a single requirement. You can also notate requirements information in the Workspace Object Properties and Sequence Properties dialog boxes, the Step Settings pane in the sequence editor, or the Step Properties dialog box in a user interface.
  Note External requirements management packages, such as NI Requirements Gateway, define the format of the values that represent a requirement. A requirements management software package can use the TestStand API to retrieve or specify requirement values for sequence files using the PropertyObjectFile interface.

See Also

PropertyObjectFile

Sequence File Translators

Sequence Properties dialog box

Station Options dialog box

Step Properties dialog box

Step Settings Pane

Workspace Object Properties dialog box