When you specify the files to include in the deployment on the System Source tab of the TestStand Deployment Utility, the deployment utility automatically includes all the files and the statically referenced dependencies in the deployment. You must manually add to the deployment dynamically referenced files, implicitly referenced files, and . You can also filter and exclude files from the deployment.

Dynamic References

The deployment utility automatically resolves statically referenced files, which are files that have a fixed path, but cannot resolve dynamically referenced files, which are files you specify using an expression. Files you specify using an expression might evaluate to different values depending on the values of other variables during execution because TestStand evaluates expression values only at run time after specifying the values of dependent variables. You must manually add dynamically referenced files to the TestStand workspace or to the directory from which you create the deployment. Do not add files that TestStand, the operating system, or other applications install.

The following are common sources of dynamically referenced files:

• Sequence Call steps that use an expression to specify the sequence file path
• Property Loader steps that use an expression to specify the path of the file that contains the property values to use
• VIs that use the Open VI Reference function to load other VIs
• DLLs that dynamically load other DLLs
• .NET assemblies that dynamically load other assemblies

Implicit References

Implicitly referenced files are files that are not code module dependencies or referenced explicitly but that are required for the test system to execute correctly. For example, a test system can include an external calibration file in the same directory as the user interface, but no TestStand steps or code modules reference the calibration file. Common implicitly referenced files include documentation, images, and operator instructions. You must manually add implicitly referenced files to the TestStand workspace or to the directory from which you create the deployment.

Servers

The deployment utility does not automatically deploy .NET or ActiveX/COM code modules because not enough information exists to include all the necessary files to ensure that the .NET assembly or ActiveX/COM server runs correctly. For example, the deployment utility can determine that a step automates Microsoft Excel as a server using the ActiveX steps in TestStand, but the deployment utility cannot determine which files in the Microsoft Office directory Excel requires to execute correctly. To ensure that the test system executes successfully on the test station computer, use custom commands to run the installer for the code module on the test station computer or add the code module and required support files to the TestStand workspace from which you create the deployment.

NI recommends that you use an installer for the code module and its dependencies to install the required files on the test station computer instead of including the files in the installer you build with the deployment utility because the existing installer might perform additional actions required for the correct functioning of the file at install time, such as creating registry keys, running other installers, or installing and starting required Microsoft Windows services.