Organizing LabVIEW-Based TestStand Systems

A LabVIEW-based TestStand system can utilize TestStand workspaces, sequence files, and sequences to organize and represent the architecture of the application in LabVIEW. TestStand sequences contain steps, which can call LabVIEW VI code modules. Depending on the architecture of the test system, these code module VIs can call utility VIs, which can in turn utilize VIs stored in vi.lib or other LabVIEW libraries.

TestStand supports the following LabVIEW organizational options for the VIs you create and use in a test system:

  • LabVIEW projects (.lvproj)
  • LabVIEW packed project libraries (.lvlibp)
  • Stand-alone LabVIEW VIs (.vi)
  • LabVIEW libraries (.llb)
  • LabVIEW project libraries (.lvlib)
  • LabVIEW-built shared libraries (.dll)

Consider the test system requirements when choosing an organizational approach for LabVIEW code module VIs and utility VIs. The approaches vary in impact on the maintenance, performance, robustness, and deployment of the test system.

Note
  • NI recommends using a single version of LabVIEW to compile all the VIs for a test system.
  • NI does not recommend using LabVIEW-generated .NET assemblies to develop a TestStand system.