Teststand 2013 is losing .seq extension in sequence editor.

[Cimteker]

Hi,

After I load my *.seq file and perform a couple of editing tasks and run it a few times it loses its extension and saves it as just file name, no extension. Then I am getting all sorts of error messages that my file was edited outside of the environment etc.

I fix it by forcing Save As and saving it manually. A little annoying. I thought it was related with creating a link to my seqeunce on my desktop, so I started running TestStand and then opening the sequence but that did not help. Any ideas?

Thanks

CT

[Edna-S]

Hi Cimteker,

Can you make sure that there is no duplicate directory where the file gets saved. Like you have mentioned on the desktop. Can you delete that, and keep only one directory, and try again. What happens?

Also maybe deleting and rebuilding the ini file might fix the problem. See below:

If you have already seen a error -17500, and are unable to open any of the TestStand pop-up menus by right-clicking, the easiest way to fix the errors is to delete the <TestStand>\Cfg\TestExec.ini file. Note that this fix will not work if you saved your type palettes after seeing the -17500 errors. For best results, always shut down TestStand without saving files when you encounter this error.

Repair:
Since the TestExec.ini file contains all of the information that the application uses to build menus, removing this file will erase the source of the error. When TestStand cannot find this file at start-up, it will rebuild it using the default menu setup. You will see a fresh copy of the file located in the Cfg folder. Once this file is rebuilt you should be able to navigate your menus as before. Once you have restarted TestStand, you may see that your custom step types are missing from the MyTypes.ini file. To get the file to refresh itself, browse to the <TestStand>\Cfg\TypePalette folder and open the MyTypes.ini file in any text browser. Save the file without making any changes. TestStand detects the type file again and loads it into memory. Your custom types will be as they were last saved, so you may need to look for them in their original group locations.

Prevention: 
The simplest way of avoiding this error is to make use of the Submenu Display Name Expression. You can access the Submenu Display Name Expression field by right-clicking on a step type in the Type Palette window and selecting Step Type Menu Editor. This field is only available when you have selected a group rather than a type. When you create new groups, this expression is blank by default. This expression is used by TestStand in order to sort groups by name when writing them to the TestExec.inifile and generating menus. Therefore, if there are several groups named "" (essentially groups with no name) then TestStand may be unable to distinguish among them. Enter any unique name in the Submenu Display Name Expression for every group before renaming or moving it to a new location.

[dug9000]

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@Cimteker wrote:

Hi,

After I load my *.seq file and perform a couple of editing tasks and run it a few times it loses its extension and saves it as just file name, no extension. Then I am getting all sorts of error messages that my file was edited outside of the environment etc.

I fix it by forcing Save As and saving it manually. A little annoying. I thought it was related with creating a link to my seqeunce on my desktop, so I started running TestStand and then opening the sequence but that did not help. Any ideas?

Thanks

CT

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I've never heard of such a problem. I suspect the cause is that you have custom code in your sequence or process model that is modifying the sequence file's path and/or filename incorrectly.

-Doug

[Cimteker]

I can't see what there would be a duplicate directory. About the desktop I just copied a link to my seq file so I was starting TestStand through association.

I'll review my sequence again. As far as rebuilding TestExec.ini I'll give it a try.

[Cimteker]

I found the problem. It was me.

Passing RunState.SequenceFile.Path to my CVI code and then operating on this as if it was a local buffer. Will not do that again:)

Thanks all

CT