Real-time sequence console out

[Frisbee]

[Edited on 8/28/2014 by moderator Diego Carvajal (dcarvaja)] [Image included in original post as requested] To help debug medium and large real-time test sequences, it would be very useful if there was a sequence step that allowed the user to specify a console message.

Much like the Print Debug String VI helps debug issues when building custom devices, this step would allow the developer to insert specific console flags and see what part of his/her real-time sequence is executing.

[Thør]

I made a mockup of what I envision this feature looking like.  As it stands, debugging RT Sequences can be an extremely difficult undertaking.  I think being able to print to the console would help this process immensely.

[timtamslam]

I'd be concerned with the incurred hit on determinism that adding a print to console would have on the sequence... but otherwise I really like this idea. 

What kind of information within the RT sequence would you be interested in displaying to the console during its execution? I am trying to get a list of troubleshooting points that we're looking to expose in the event that maybe we can expose it in a different way than printing to console.

[timtamslam]

Also, Cameron, you should add Thors image to your original post so that it is more clear when others view it from the Idea list page 🙂

[Frisbee]

Being able to output to the console would give the user a way of seeing what part of his sequence is executing. For example, you could have a step where you say "Increasing motor torque" before your ramp your duty cycle. That way you would be able to see the different stages of your program natively on your controller's display.

Presently, you could use the real-time sequence to update a parameter to a value that corresponds to a different section of your code, but that seems less than ideal.

(oh and idea exchange posts lock once you upload them, so the picture is stuck in the comments)

[h_yong]

This is a feature that'd be very handy for me too. But even better yet, my colleague and I were just talking today that we'd prefer the debug output to go to the VeriStand gateway where we can read it in Windows or put it into a dialog box popup.

[Thør]

I thought about this while making the mockup, and I think having the ability to print a string and some numbers would probably be all you need.  It probably doesn't need to be much fancier than that.

[Krid]

This is an excellent idea. Not being able to print status messages from realtime sequences (and the missing support for a string-datatype in general) has always been a major problem for us. This would definitely solve many problems for us.

[RavensFan]

If it is an excellent idea, then be sure to click the kudoes button to help build the vote up.  The number of kudoes is what stands out for when determining an idea is worthy of consideration, not words so much.

[rajamodol]

Smart Idea! It would offer more flexibility and more robust. Kudo sent!