Many test systems integrate with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that processes test system reports to provide business-critical data to other systems. In some cases, an engineer or technician might process the report for statistical analysis on a separate computer. These post-processing requirements might dictate the report generation format for the test system.

TestStand saves the ATML and XML reports in structured XML file formats that are easily processed using an API for XML (SAX) or DOM parsers. TestStand saves the ASCII and HTML reports in unstructured ASCII file formats that are not as easy to post-process as XML file formats. NI defines the TSR file format, which requires the TestStand Engine and the TestStand Offline Results Processing Utility to generate another file in a format you can process directly.

Recommended Report Options

The following table summarizes the recommended options you configure in the Report Options dialog box when you optimize for interoperating with other processes and systems:

Report Option Value
Format ATML, XML, ASCII, HTML, TSR* (best to worst)
Asynchronous N/A
On-the-Fly Report N/A
Only Display Latest Results N/A
Note *The TSR format generates a compact raw results file and, if used, requires the TestStand Offline Results Processing Utility to generate the final report.

Tradeoffs

Consider the impact to the following requirements when you optimize for interoperating with other processes and systems:

  • Maximize test system throughput
  • Minimize report file size
  • Include all necessary report content
  • Support post-failure information recovery
  • Generate reports immediately for the current UUT before testing the next one
  • Generate multiple reports for each UUT