The TestStand Deployment Utility can make changes to VIs, projects, and project libraries when you create a deployment.

VIs

The deployment utility uses the active version of the LabVIEW Development System on the build computer to process code module VIs for a deployment. The deployment utility also builds a list of dependencies to include in the deployment. However, if you use the VI Server to call VIs dynamically, you must manually add the VIs to the deployment because the deployment utility cannot automatically include VIs you call dynamically.

Code module dependencies can include subVIs, VIs in vi.lib, non-operating system DLLs, external subroutines, amd run-time menus. The deployment utility includes these dependencies in the deployment to ensure that the code modules execute correctly on test station computers. For example, test station computers typically use only the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine (RTE), which does not include vi.lib. Deploying code module VIs that call vi.lib VIs to a test station computer with only the LabVIEW RTE installed without using the deployment utility to first process the code module VIs results in broken VIs on the test station computer.

You can also configure the deployment utility to change other aspects of VIs, such as changing the destination of code module VIs and subVIs. Use the LabVIEW VI Options dialog box to modify the behavior of VIs in the deployment in the following ways:

  • Output VIs to packed project libraries
  • Remove block diagrams for all VIs
  • Apply a new password to all VIs
  • Check for broken VIs
  • Remove unused polymorphic VIs
  • Consolidate VIs that different LabVIEW projects share
  • Exclude dependent VIs located in vi.lib, user.lib, or instr.lib

LabVIEW Projects

If a TestStand sequence file executes VIs in the context of a LabVIEW project, the deployment utility applies the following changes to the copy of the LabVIEW project it includes in the deployment:

  • Updates file path references in the LabVIEW project to correspond to the deployable image file paths
  • Removes files from the LabVIEW project that the test system does not use
  • Converts folders that LabVIEW automatically populates into static folders

LabVIEW Project Libraries

The deployment utility minimizes the size of the deployable image by creating a partial project library that does not include VIs from LabVIEW project libraries the test system does not use.

VIs that Call DLLs

You can use the deployment utility to build an installer that contains VIs that call into DLLs with dependencies, such as other DLLs or configuration files. Alternatively, you can call DLLs from a TestStand step.

For DLLs that VIs and TestStand steps call, the deployment utility automatically includes in the deployment the DLLs and the statically referenced dependencies of the DLLs. The deployment utility does not automatically include dynamically referenced dependencies or implicitly referenced dependencies. You can manually add the DLLs, the dynamically referenced dependencies, and the implicitly referenced dependencies to the TestStand workspace or to the directory from which you create the deployment to maintain the same file and directory structure on the test station computer so the DLL can correctly locate the dependencies in the test system you deploy.