Implement "Administrator Override" option

[Raydur]

When I get called to look at an issue that has occurred with a test, the account logged into TestStand is typically a restricted user (i.e. Operator). Since the Operator account has very limited options, in order to really do much immediate troubleshooting I need to stop the test and re-run it in the Administrator account. At best this is inconvenient and inefficient if the spot the error occurred is late in the test. However, it is extremely frustrating when it's an intermittent run-time error and I can't do any real-time debug because Operator is logged in. The only real alternative I can think of (when the problem is intermittent) is to leave it logged in as Administrator so I can debug whenever it happens to occur. This is not really an acceptable practice in most cases.

It would be fantastic if there were an override that let's an Administrator provide the proper credentials to perform the desired task that would normally be off-limits to the Operator. The basic premise of this suggestion is similar to the functionality within Windows; if you try to connect to a secured location or perform a task that requires administrator privileges, a dialog box pops up asking you to enter authorized credentials.

I run into many situations where I wish this feature was present. The issue is not always within TestStand (could be a database connection issue, etc.), but it is TestStand that throws the error and in Operator mode the only option is "Run Cleanup". Significant time, effort, frustration, and efficiency could be saved if I could simply enter my credentials as an administrator to perform the tasks I need to do.

Regards

On an unrelated side note, I find it humorous that "TestStand" is considered a misspelled word when using the forum spell checker.  🙂

[paulmw]

I'd like to just mention that you can change the user that is logged on while the sequence is executing.  I think the issue you are having, and I agree with fixing, is that the error dialog box is modal and you can't access the "Login..." menu until you continue which as you mention is too late because the sequence is already running the cleanup.

One work around is to give your operators the "ControlExecFlow" privilege and then there is the option to change what happens when the error dialog happens (break, for example) but it could lead to abusive use (but at least they are not administrators!)

[Raydur]

Yes, I should have been more specific in that the main issue is the error dialog box is modal and prevents the ability to switch which user account is logged in. I can see why it would need to be modal, but this then prevents the ability to switch users to be able to effectively debug the error.

Giving the operators ControlExecFlow privilege is not a valid option (at least for me), as that provides additional capabilities to the operator that I do no want to give them.

[NIExpert]

You can implement your own error handling code that provides a login option.  You would over ride the default error handler

[Elaine_R.]

I would agree that the issue is the dialog box, not the login. maybe NI can add login feature to their error handler, but surely for the sake of the operator it'd be better to override the error dialog to make it simpler and as a perk add the features you want... (make it non modal perhaps)