01-23-2018 10:44 AM
Hi,
I'd like to create custom step type which is practically the same as the standard Wait step except that it has the looping parameters set to a predefined expression.
Is there an easy way to do this (couple steps), or should I really dive deep in the custom step types topic?
thx.
01-23-2018 02:41 PM
Is the purpose of a custom step so that you don't have to type in the expressions every time you drop it down? If so then I'd argue that using templates is a better option.
Otherwise it isn't bad making custom steps. You can create from existing and then tweak some of the properties. The major problem I have with custom steps is that you have to maintain them and they can cause type viruses.
01-23-2018 02:45 PM
I'd also like them to able to change all the instances at once, so kinda like strict typedef is LV. Can templates do that?
01-23-2018 03:11 PM
Templates are more like ctls where they detach from the type def. You are correct that if you wanted the strict type version then you would need to create custom step types. There are some caveats with this though. It's important to understand that when you add a step to a sequence file it copies the type def to the file. So every sequence file stores all of the types that it contains instances for. This allows the sequence file to be independent. Because of this your changes to the type won't propagate to disk copies unless you open them with the typedef already loaded into TestStand (e.g. a palette).
The other problem is that just because you update the type doesn't mean it will go to all instances open unless you have the checkbox checked when you edit the type.
Here are the steps:
Hope this helps,