You can password-protect types so that other TestStand users cannot modify the types in the TestStand Sequence Editor.

In the Types window, select one or more types you want to password-protect, right-click, and select Password Protect from the context menu to launch the Password Protect Type Definitions dialog box, in which you can enable or disable password protection and change the password settings for the selected types. Enable the Password Protection option to enable password protection for the types, enter a password in the New Password control, and verify the password in the Re-enter Password control.

After you enable password protection for the types, the types remain unlocked so you can continue to edit the types. TestStand automatically locks password-protected types when TestStand first loads the types. For example, when you restart TestStand or close and reopen all the files that reference the password-protected types, TestStand locks the types. When you restart TestStand, TestStand locks all password-protected types. You can also select one or more password-protected types, right-click, and select Lock from the context menu to explicitly lock the types.

To unlock types, select the types you want to unlock, right-click, and select Unlock from the context menu to launch the Unlock Type Definitions dialog box, in which you can enter the correct password to unlock any selected types to which the password applies. TestStand ignores any selected types that are already unlocked or for which you have not enabled password protection. If the password you enter does not apply to all of the selected types, TestStand launches the Unlock Failed for Some Type Definitions dialog box, which gives you the option to return to the Unlock Type Definitions dialog box and enter another password to unlock the remaining types.

TestStand also launches the Unlock Type Definitions dialog box when you attempt to edit a locked type. You must enter the correct password to unlock the type before you can edit the type.

The locked or unlocked state of a type is not a saved state but is instead an in-memory state that indicates whether TestStand currently permits editing of the password-protected type.

Note
  • TestStand supports password-protecting types to deter unauthorized users from editing the types in the sequence editor. However, any TestStand user can continue to programmatically edit a locked type by using the TestStand PropertyObject API. NI does not recommend password-protecting types as the only way of protecting intellectual property.
  • If you lock at least one type in an INI-formatted sequence file, the entire contents of the sequence file become protected and unreadable.