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1. 60 65 10 Built In Step Properties Steps have a number of built in properties that the user can specify using the various tabs on the Step Properties dialog box These built in step properties include Preconditions allow the user to specify the conditions that must be true for the test executive to execute the step during the normal flow of execution in a sequence Load Unload Options allow the user to control when the test executive loads and unloads the code modules or subsequences that each step invokes Run Mode allows the user to skip a step or to force it to pass or fail without executing the step module Record Results allow the user to specify whether the test executive stores the results of the step in a list This is discussed further below with respect to Results Collection Step Failure Causes Sequence Failure allows the user to specify whether the test executive sets the status of the sequence to Failed when the status of the step is Failed Ignore Run Time Errors allows the user to specify whether the test executive continues execution normally after the step even though a run time error occurs in the step Post Actions allows the user to execute callbacks or jump to other steps after executing the step depending on the pass fail status of the step or any custom condition Loop options allow the user to cause a single step to execute multiple times before executing the next step The user can specify the condi
2. In step 324 filtering information may optionally be received Filtering information may specify criteria to use in deciding whether or not to load a property variable value from a database For example the filtering information may specify that values should only be imported from the data base if a particular column value is set to a specified value or satisfies a specified Boolean expression Otherwise for example default values may be used for the properties variables It is noted that in embodiments which do not utilize Property Loader steps information such as shown with reference to FIG 5 may be associated with the test executive sequence but may not be associated with a particular step FIGS 6 12 Examples FIGS 6 12 illustrate graphical user interface dialogs associated with a particular embodiment of a test executive application that supports the dynamic loading of property and variable values from a database As discussed below the user interface also comprises menu options enabling a user to import or export property variable values from to a data base at edit time For example sequence steps may first be configured with desired property values and these property values may then be automatically exported to a database so that they can be imported later for the same sequence or for another sequence that uses a Property Loader statement to import the values For more information on the embodiment shown in FIGS 6 12
3. invention FIG 3 illustrates one embodiment of a test executive application interfacing with a database FIG 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method that utilizes a Property Loader step to dynami cally configure a test executive sequence FIG 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for specifying information for configuring a 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 Property Loader step to load desired property and or vari able values from a database and FIGS 6 12 illustrate graphical user interface dialogs associated with a particular embodiment of a test executive application that supports dynamic runtime loading of prop erty and variable values from a database and supports edit time importing and exporting of property and variable values from to a database While the invention is susceptible to various modifica tions and alternative forms specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail It should be understood however that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed but on the contrary the intention is to cover all modifications equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS I
4. please refer to the above incorporated TestStand docu mentation In the examples of FIGS 6 12 values to be loaded from a database are stored in the database in a table format and are US 6 507 842 B1 17 imported via a SQL statement As shown in FIG 6 each row in the table pertains to a particular sequence step or to a variable scope The column headings are the names of properties or variables in the steps or scopes Not all columns apply to each row Each row has values only for the columns that define properties or variables that are actually in the step or variable scope for the row The Property Loader step can filter the data the SQL statement returns so that only values from rows that contain specific column values are loaded For example for FIG 6 only rows having a value of Phone Test seq in the SEQUENCE NAME column may be loaded An Edit Property Loader dialog box may be used to specify configuration information for a Property Loader step FIG 7 shows the Properties tab of the Edit Property Loader dialog box The Properties tab contains the following controls Data Link Name Contains the name of the data link that the dialog box uses to populate the Step Name Column ring control and to create columns described below The Select Data Link button may be used to select a predefined data link from a list The data link may specify information regarding the database such as a name of a server a name of a
5. FIG 2 the test executive includes three run time operator interfaces 202 provided to the end user in both source and executable form Each run time operator interface 202 is preferably a separate application program The operator interfaces 202 differ primarily based on the language and application develop ment environment in which each is developed In FIG 2 run time operator interfaces developed in LabVIEW LabWindows CVI and Visual Basic are included Although the user can use the sequence editor 212 at a production station the runtime operator interfaces 202 are simpler and are fully customizable Like the sequence editor 212 the run time operator interfaces 202 allow the user to start multiple concurrent executions set breakpoints and single step Unlike the sequence editor 212 however in the present embodiment the run time operator interfaces 202 do not allow the user to modify sequences and they do not US 6 507 842 B1 7 display sequence variables sequence parameters step properties and so on The user can customize one of the run time operator interfaces 202 by modifying the source code for the program and the source documents for the manual If the user desires to write his her own run time operator interface 202 the source code of one of the run time operator interfaces 202 is used as a starting point Test Executive Engine The test executive engine 220 is used for creating editing executing and debugging se
6. applications Text execu tive software typically includes various features such as test sequencing based on pass fail results logging of test results and report generation among others Test executives include various general concepts The following comprises a glossary of test executive nomencla ture Code Module A program module such as a Windows Dynamic Link Library dll Java class file LabVIEW VI vi etc that contains one or more functions that perform a specific test or other action Test Module A code module that performs a test Step Any action such as calling a test module to per form a specific test that the user can include within a sequence of other actions Step Module The code module that a step calls Sequence A series of steps that the user specifies for execution in a particular order Whether and when a step is executed can depend on the results of previous steps Subsequence A sequence that another sequence calls The user specifies a subsequence call as a step in the calling sequence Sequence File A file that contains the definition of one or more sequences Sequence Editor A program that provides a graphical user interface for creating editing and debugging sequences Run time Operator Interface A program that provides a graphical user interface for executing sequences on a pro duction station A sequence editor and run time operator interface can be separate application prog
7. database a user ID a password etc Statement Handle Number Specifies the name of the variable or property that contains the SQL statement handle the step uses to import values at run time The variable or property is of the Number data type SQL SELECT Statement Specifies the SQL statement the dialog box uses at edit time to create columns and populate ring controls that contain column names The SQL SELECT Statement ring control contains a list of steps of type Open SQL Statement in the current sequence file Open SQL Statement steps are used to select data from a database The selected SQL statement step must use a string literal or an expression that is valid at edit time Step Name Column Specifies the name of the SQL statement column that contains the names of the sequence steps and variable scopes that define the rows of data e g the STEPNAME column of FIG 6 Properties List Source Specifies the name of a variable or property in which to store the property mappings the step performs The variable or property must be an array of type DatabasePropertyMapping Properties Specifies the mapping of column names to variables or properties that the step loads The section contains two lists of variables and properties The first list contains the properties and variables that are available but not selected The second list contains the properties and variables select by the user Asingle property can be moved from one li
8. different types of code modules Test executive sequences can call sub sequences through the common adapter interface 232 The test executive may use a special type of sequence called a process model to direct the high level sequence flow The test executive engine 220 exports an ActiveX Automation API used by the sequence editor 212 and run time operator interfaces 202 Test Executive Sequence Editor The sequence editor 212 is an application program in which the user creates modifies and debugs sequences The sequence editor 212 provides the user easy access to the test executive features such as step types and process models The sequence editor 212 includes debugging tools found in application development environments such as LabVIEW LabWindows CVI and Microsoft Visual C C These include breakpoints single stepping stepping into or over function calls tracing a variable display and a watch window In the sequence editor 212 the user can start multiple concurrent executions Multiple instances of the same sequence can be executed and different sequences can be executed at the same time Each execution instance has its own execution window In trace mode the execution win dow displays the steps in the currently executing sequence When execution is suspended the execution window dis plays the next step to execute and provides single stepping options Test Executive Run Time Operator Interfaces In the example illustrated in
9. from one list to the other The Property Name control displays the currently selected property in the Selected list control The Column Name control specifies the name of the column where the step imports or exports the property Append data type to column name Specifies whether to automatically append the name of the data type of a property to the column name for a property when the property is selected from the available list Max size for column names Specifies the maximum number of characters for a column name Many databases limit the size of a column name Use the ring control to select the limits for the DBMS supported by default Create Columns Displays the Create Columns dialog box The dialog box is automatically populated with the list US 6 507 842 B1 21 of any column names specified that the SQL statement does not return The Create Columns dialog box is typically used to add new columns to a database table FIG 12 shows the Additional Columns tab of the Import Export Properties dialog box On export the Additional Columns tab defines the set of column values that are written to the database for each record On import the tab defines the column values that a record must match before values from the record are loaded The checkbox at the top of the tab enables the controls on the Additional Columns tab The Additional Columns tab contains the following controls Column Values Specifies the mappings of column na
10. substeps The edit substep vs the pre and post substeps are similar to the configuration entry point vs execution entry point in the process model The edit substep allows the user to configure the pecu liarities of a particular instance of a step type For instance the edit substep can be configured to display or pop up a message to request user input regarding the number of buttons desired on a dialog This message is displayed at configuration time not run time As discussed above step types can contain custom prop erties in addition to built in step properties The step type specifies the initial values of the step properties The step type can also define standard behavior for each step of the respective step type preferably using sub steps e g an edit sub step pre step sub step and post step sub step In creating the steps in a sequence the user may want to select existing step types which will be common for one or more steps he she is using in his sequences or he she may want to configure new step types for a certain type of step he she will want to habitually use or use a plurality of times in a sequence A step type has similar functionality to a type definition meaning that once the user has configured a step type and used it throughout different steps of the sequence if the user later changes that step type those changes propagate through all of the steps instances which are based on that step type In prior art te
11. task Thus it is desirable to provide a way to automatically configure test executive sequences and steps with appropriate variable and property values In particular it is desirable to enable the values to be stored in a database and automatically loaded as needed SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problems outlined above may in large part be solved by providing a system and method for importing and export ing test executive values from or to a database The test executive values that may be imported and or exported include sequence variable values and step property values As used herein a sequence comprises a series of steps wherein the steps may be executed to perform a test of a unit under test UUT A given step can do many things such as initializing an instrument performing a complex test or making a decision that affects the flow of execution in a sequence Steps can perform these actions through several types of mechanisms including jumping to another step executing an expression calling a sub sequence or calling an external code module etc A test executive may provide the user various places referred to as variables and properties in which data values can be stored These data values may affect execution of the test executive sequence Variables are properties that the user can freely create in certain contexts Variables may be global to a sequence file or local to a particular sequence Each step in a sequence can have p
12. values for the one or more properties associated with the at least one test executive step to the database wherein said importing values for the properties associ ated with the at least one test executive step from a database comprises importing the previously exported values 36 The memory medium of claim 35 wherein said exporting property values to the database comprises automatically creating one or more columns associated with the property values in the database 37 Amethod for dynamically configuring a test executive sequence the method comprising including a plurality of test executive steps in the test executive sequence wherein at least one of the plural ity of test executive steps has one or more associated properties including a property loader step in the test executive sequence and executing the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises executing the property loader step wherein in response to said executing the property loader step the property loader step is operable to import values for the properties associated with the at least one test executive step from a database
13. 232 port USB Universal Serial bus or IEEE 1394 or 1394 2 bus provided by the computer 102 In typical instrumenta tion control systems an instrument will not be present of each interface type and in fact many systems may only have one or more instruments of a single interface type such as only GPIB instruments The instruments are coupled to the unit under test UUT or process 150 or are coupled to receive field signals typically generated by transducers Other types of instru ments or devices may be connected to the system as desired The system 100 may be used in a data acquisition and control application in a test and measurement application a process control application an industrial automation application or a man machine interface application among others The computer system 102 preferably includes a memory medium on which computer programs according to the present invention are stored The term memory medium is intended to include an installation media e g a CD ROM or floppy disks 104 a computer system memory such as DRAM SRAM EDO RAM etc or a non volatile memory such as a magnetic medium e g a hard drive or optical storage The memory medium preferably stores test execu tive software for creating and or controlling an automated test system The host computer CPU executing code and data from the memory medium comprises a means for creating and executing test programs according to the meth ods describ
14. 3 714 33 a sequence which is operable to dynamically i e at run 58 Field of Search 707 5 3 4 1 time load property and or variable values from a database 707 2 102 104 714 33 38 717 128 706 55 The Property Loader step may be placed in a setup group of 324 158 1 the sequence and the step s whose properties are config ured may be placed in a main group of the sequence so that 56 References Cited when the sequence is executed the steps in the main group U S PATENT DOCUMENTS are configured with appropriate property values before run ning The test executive may also enable a user to 5 652 835 A 7 1997 Miller eeeeee 706 55 interactively e g through a user interface menu item 5 737 512 A 4 1998 Proudfoot et al request variable and property values associated with a 5 781 720 A 7 1998 Parker et al sess 7148 sequence to be imported from or exported to a database For DE dx 6 1922 Pron kaner et al example after exporting values to a database the values 5 991 537 A 11 1999 McKeon et al 3 6 002 868 A 12 1999 Jenkins et al may later be used to dynamically configure a test executive 6 047 293 A 4 2000 Blitz sequence 6 249 882 B1 6 2001 Testardi 714 38 B1 6 353 904 3 2002 Be cineres 324 158 1 37 Claims 12 Drawing Sheets create a test executive sequence 300 include a plurality of test executive steps in main group of test executive sequen
15. US006507842B1 a2 United States Patent ao Patent No US 6 507 842 B1 Grey et al 45 Date of Patent Jan 14 2003 54 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPORTING 6 397 378 Bl 5 2002 Grey et al 717A28 AND EXPORTING TEST EXECUTIVE 6 401 220 B1 6 2002 Grey et al c 714 33 VALUES FROM OR TO A DATABASE OTHER PUBLICATIONS 75 Inventors James Grey Cedar Park TX US National Instruments Corporation TestStand User Manual Scott Richardson Cedar Park TX Limit Loader pp 10 21 thru 10 28 dated Dec 1998 US Patrick Williams Cedar Park TX US cited by examiner Primary Examiner Sanjiv Shah 73 Assignee National Instruments Corporation 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Jeffrey C Hood Austin TX US 57 ABSTRACT Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 A system and method for importing and exporting test U S C 154 b by 289 days executive values from or to a database A test executive may provide the user various places referred to as variables and properties in which data values can be stored These data 21 Appl No 09 613 341 values may affect execution of a test executive sequence 22 Filed Jul 10 2000 Variables may be global to a sequence file or local to a 5 particular sequence Each step in a sequence can have 51 Int C1 rag AA AA G06F 17 30 properties The user may include a Property Loader step in 52 US CI eI 707 5 7077
16. base In various embodiments this configuration process may require speci fying various types of information For example the user may specify a particular database from which to load the values The user may also specify a mapping of properties variables to database values For example specifying this mapping may comprise specifying a database table and a mapping of properties variables to columns in the table For other types of databases e g object oriented databases this mapping may be specified in any of various other ways Exemplary user interface dialog boxes for specifying the mapping are discussed The user may also configure the Property Loader step with filtering information specifying criteria which the database values must satisfy in order to be loaded If the filtering criteria are not specified default values for the variables properties may be used instead It is noted that in alternative embodiments a test execu tive sequence may be configured to dynamically load property variable values from a database using methods other than including a Property Loader step in the sequence For example the test executive sequence may maintain information regarding data values to be loaded as a portion of the sequence data wherein this information may be specified by user interface dialogs that may be invoked via a menu item accessible while editing a test executive sequence In other words the data import information is not necessa
17. ber Values and Format String controls specify the settings for the currently selected mapping The New Cut Copy and Paste buttons can be used to create a new item in the list remove items from the list and rearrange the items in the list The Column Name Number Values and Format String controls must contain valid expressions that the test execu tive evaluates at run time To refer to a column by its order in the SQL statement enter a one based number without surrounding quotes in the Column Name Number field The Format String control specifies how to convert a string value when comparing a column value to a string expression Typically this control is used when comparing data from a column that is of the date time or currency type Create Columns Displays the Create Columns dialog box The test executive automatically populates the dialog box with the list of any column names that are specified and that the SQL statement does not return The Create Columns dialog box is typically used to add new columns to a database table The Browse button can be used to display an Expression Browser dialog box for a control that contains a test execu tive expression Custom Properties The Property Loader step type defines the following step properties in addition to the common custom properties Step StatementHandle specifies the name of the variable or property that contains the SQL statement handle the step uses at run time to load value
18. ce 302 include a Property Loader step in setup group of test executive sequence 304 configure the Property Loader step 306 execute the test executive sequence 308 Property Loader step imports property and or variable values from database 310 test executive steps in main group execute using dynamically loaded values 312 US 6 507 842 B1 Sheet 1 of 12 Jan 14 2003 U S Patent 1043002 ETA UO 0N lt gt BEL Oujuoja ouo J uo 3Isjinb y ous P 2000 ger IS o zel vel el eil spuvog UOIHISINbIY 03 0d u 8nd AMOR JOS S1UBWNAYSUI pesog J4a3 nduo pe 440K aN U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 2 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 FK D PI Process Madel Tesh Execud ve Engine 77 p3 ek p Adapter Interfaces Load Unload Execute Step Into Creste Code Edit Cade 4497 90 Adapters LabVIEW Th i Standard Prototype Adapter Sequence Adapter BEE Flexible Prototype 5 Adapter Gi Standard Protetype 3 Adapter 3 Figure 2 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 3 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 FIG 3 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 4 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 create a test executive sequence 300 include a plurality of test executive steps in main group of test executive sequence 302 include a Property Loader step
19. e 136 is coupled to the computer 102 through the motion control interface card 138 The data acquisition board 114 is coupled to the computer 102 and optionally interfaces through signal conditioning circuitry 124 to the UUT The signal conditioning circuitry 124 preferably comprises an SCXI Signal Conditioning eXten sions for Instrumentation chassis comprising one or more SCXI modules 126 The GPIB card 122 the image acquisition card 134 the motion control interface card 138 and the DAQ card 114 are typically plugged in to an I O slot in the computer 102 such as a PCI bus slot a PC Card slot or an ISA EISA or MicroChannel bus slot provided by the computer 102 However these cards 122 134 138 and 114 are shown external to computer 102 for illustrative purposes The cards 122 134 138 and 114 may also be implemented as external devices coupled to the computer 102 such as through a serial bus US 6 507 842 B1 5 The VXI chassis or instrument 116 is coupled to the computer 102 via a serial bus MXI bus or other serial or parallel bus provided by the computer 102 The computer 102 preferably includes VXI interface logic such as a VXI MM or GPIB interface card not shown which interfaces to the VXI chassis 116 The PXI chassis or instrument is preferably coupled to the computer 102 through the com puter s PCI bus A serial instrument not shown may also be coupled to the computer 102 through a serial port such as an RS
20. e step was unable to update properties or variables 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 20 Importing Exporting Properties at Edit Time A user may use an Import Export Properties command interactively to import values from a database into step properties or variables or to export values from step prop erties or variables to a database The Import Export Prop erties command displays the Import Exports Properties dia log box The dialog box contains three tabs Select Record Set Properties and Additional Columns The Import Export Properties dialog box contains the following controls below the three tabs Export Exports the properties and variables specified on the Properties tab and Additional Columns tab to the data base The ring control to the left of the Export button specifies whether to create new records in the database or to overwrite any previously written records for the step or variable group If the Additional Columns tab specifies column values that match a record only the records that match these specified values are overwritten Import Imports the properties and variables specified on the Properties tab and Additional Columns tab from the database Done loses the Import Export Properties dialog box The Select Record Set tab specifies the Data Link and SQL Statement the dialog box uses when importing and exporting properties FIG 10 shows the Select Record Set tab of the Impor
21. ed below The test executive software allows the user to create configure and or control test sequence execu tion for various test applications such as production and manufacturing test applications As described below the test executive software is oper able to interact with a database in order to import and or export property and or variable values from to a database The TestStand test executive software available from National Instruments includes features such as described herein for interacting with databases to import and export test executive values The database may be stored on the memory medium of the computer system 102 and may execute on the computer system 102 or the database may be located on another computer system such as a computer system accessible to the computer system 102 via a network Test Executive Software Components FIG 2 is a block diagram illustrating high level architec tural relationships between elements of one embodiment of a test executive software application In one embodiment the elements of FIG 2 are comprised in the TestStand test executive product from National Instruments It is noted that FIG 2 is exemplary and the present invention may be applied to any of various test executive applications As shown the test executive software includes operator inter face programs 202 for interfacing to various software pro grams The operator interface programs 202 shown in FIG 2 are for interfacing
22. ence Thus when a run time error occurs the test executive engine 220 terminates execution after running all the Cleanup steps of the sequences that are active at the time of the run time error Built in Sequence Properties Sequences have a few built in properties that the user can specify using the Sequence Properties dialog For example the user can specify that the flow of execution jumps to the Cleanup step group whenever a step sets the status property of the sequence to Failed Sequence Files Sequence files can contain one or more sequences Sequence files can also contain global variables Sequence file global variables can be accessed by all sequences in the sequence file Sequences files have a few built in properties that the user can specify using the Sequence File Properties dialog For example the user can specify Load and Unload Options that override the Load and Unload Options of all the steps in all the sequences in the file Sequences contain steps that conduct tests set up instruments or perform other actions necessary to test a UUT Sequence files also contain the definitions for the data types and step types that are used by the sequences in the file The sequence editor is used to create and edit sequence files Sequences can be executed from the sequence editor or from any other test executive operator interface program The various types of sequence files include normal sequence files model sequence files s
23. es dialog box Usually the user can modify the values of custom step properties using a dialog box specific to the step type If the step type does not have a dialog box for the custom properties the user can view the custom properties by selecting View Contents from the context menu for the step Although step modules typically do not modify the values of the built in step properties at run time they often modify and interrogate the values of the custom step prop erties A step type essentially comprises a custom set of prop erties and or operations associated with a step Stated another way a step type defines common operations and or data that are associated with a test module in a similar way that a process model defines functionality associated with US 6 507 842 B1 11 calling the main sequence A step type is also similar to a data type for a variable or property The test module is hard coded and the step type represents operations and or prop erties associated with calling this test module A step type is a modular identifiable unit configured by the user prefer ably through a graphical user interface e g dialogs In a test sequence with a number of steps in many instances the user will desire a number of steps that have some commonality of functionality and or properties A primary purpose of a step type is to define in a single location common properties and or operations associated with a plurality of steps refe
24. g test executive sequences each including separate step instances of a par ticular step type the method comprising creating a first test executive sequence including a first test executive step of a particular step type and a property loader step wherein at least one property is defined by the particular step type creating a second test executive sequence including a second test executive step of the particular step type and the property loader step executing the first test executive sequence executing the second test executive sequence wherein said executing the first test executive sequence comprises executing the property loader step a first time wherein in response to said executing the property loader step the first time the property loader step is operable to import a first set of values for the at least one properties for the first test executive step from a data base wherein said executing the second test executive sequence comprises executing the property loader step a second time wherein in response to said executing the property loader step the second time the property loader step is oper able to import a second set of values for the at least one properties for the second test executive step from the database 10 15 20 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 24 17 A test system for testing one or more units under test UUTs wherein the test system comprises a computer system which st
25. he sequence context change depending on the currently executing sequence and step If the user passes a sequence context object reference to the code module the test executive ActiveX API can be used to access the variables and properties in the sequence context 1 Expressions The values of variables and properties can be used in numerous ways such as passing a variable to a code module or using a property value to determine whether to execute a step Sometimes the user desires to use an expression which is a formula that calculates a new value from the values of multiple variable or properties An expression can be used anywhere a simple variable or property value is used In expressions the user can access all variables and properties in the sequence context that is active when the test executive evaluates the expression The following is an example of an expression Locals MidBandFrequency Step HighFrequency Step LowFre quency 2 The test executive may support all applicable expression operators and syntax that are used in C C Java and Visual Basic The test executive may also provide an expres sion browser dialog box that the user can access if the user is not familiar with expressions in these standard languages The expression browser allows the user to interactively build an expression by selecting from lists of available variables properties and expression operators The expression browser also lists a number of functi
26. hen the sequence developer creates a step that calls one sequence from another the developer can specify the values to pass for the parameters of the subsequence If the developer does not specify the value of a parameter the test executive engine 220 passes the default value The user can use the test executive ActiveX API to access sequence parameter values from code modules that steps in the sequence call Sequence Local Variables The user can create an unlimited number of local vari ables in a sequence The user can use local variables to store data relevant to the execution of the sequence The user can use the test executive ActiveX API to access local variables from code modules that steps in the sequence call The user can also pass local variables by value or by reference to any step in the sequence that calls a subsequence or that calls a DLL using the Flexible DLL Prototype Adapter Lifetime of Locals Variables Parameters and Custom Step Properties Multiple instances of a sequence can run at the same time This can occur when the user calls a sequence recursively or when a sequence runs in multiple concurrent executions Each instance of the sequence has it own copy of the sequence parameters and local variables and custom prop erties of each step When a sequence completes the test executive engine 220 discards the values of the parameters local variables and custom properties Step Groups A sequence can contain the follow
27. hile the preferred embodiment of the invention uses a Property Loader step to indicate that property variable values should be loaded from a database it is noted that this may be accomplished using various different methods FIG 5 Configuring the Property Loader Step In various embodiments step 306 of FIG 4 may comprise specifying any of various types of information in order to configure the Property Loader step to load the desired property and or variable values from a database FIG 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of step 306 In step 320 information specifying a particular database from which to load property variable values may be received In one embodiment this step comprises receiving a data link name wherein the data link includes a name of a server a name of a database a user ID and a password The data link may be configured from the test executive environment or from within database client software included on the computer system In step 322 information specifying a mapping of the desired properties and or variables for which to load values to database values is received For example step 322 may comprise specifying a database table and a mapping of properties variables to columns in the table For other types of databases e g object oriented databases this mapping may be specified in any of various other ways Exemplary user interface dialog boxes for specifying the mapping are discussed below
28. iated with a first step in the test executive sequence from a first row of the table importing values for properties associated with a sec ond step in the test executive sequence from a second row of the table 9 The method of claim 8 further comprising associating a set of variables with the test executive sequence wherein a row in the table is associated with the set of variables wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises importing values for the set of variables from the row associated with the set of variables 10 The method of claim 7 wherein the database columns are associated with a particular database table comprising a plurality of rows wherein each row of the table is associated with a par ticular test executive step that may be included in a test executive sequence wherein said configuring the test executive sequence further comprises receiving user input specifying fil tering information wherein the filtering information includes a mapping of database columns to values wherein in order for data to be imported from a particular row during said executing the test executive sequence it is necessary for the following to be true US 6 507 842 B1 23 for each database column specified in the filtering information the column value for the particular row must match the respective value specified by the filtering information 11 The method of claim 1 wherein said importing property values from
29. in setup group of test executive sequence 304 configure the Property Loader step 306 execute the test executive sequence 308 Property Loader step imports property and or variable values from database 310 test executive steps in main group execute using dynamically loaded values 312 FIG 4 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 5 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 specify a database from which to load property variable values 320 specify a mapping from properties variables to database values 322 specify filtering information for database values 324 FIG 5 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 6 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 Voltage at Pin B 8 5 Self Test Output IM E BEN EEN ENE m RE Self Test Output FIG6 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 7 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 gest ades oie d Property wade T est Integer U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Paper Propetyl aadert ext Doubs Sheet 8 of 12 DOUBLE DOUBLE VARCHARQSSI ESTLORDER ESTLOADER ESTLOADER ESTLGADER T T i t US 6 507 842 B1 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 9 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 Budista S ere ef te Pal FIG 8 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 10 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 df Import Export Propasties FIG 10 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 11 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 obals ConnectionString 9 fring e StepinBu Sting amp FieGlobals Pri mee String Cannes Heh Nu
30. ing groups of steps Setup Main and Cleanup When the test executive executes sequence the steps in the Setup group execute first The steps in the Main group execute next The steps in the Cleanup group execute last Typically the Setup group contains steps that initialize instruments fixtures or a UUT launches necessary applications etc The Main group usu ally contains the bulk of the steps in a sequence including the steps that test the UUT The Cleanup group contains steps that power down or de initialize the instruments fixtures and UUT or perform software related cleanup if the UUT comprises a software application One of the reasons for having separate step groups is to ensure that the steps in the Cleanup group execute regardless 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 of whether the sequence completes successfully or a run time error occurs in the sequence If a Setup or Main step causes a run time error to occur the flow of execution jumps to the Cleanup step group The Cleanup steps always run even if some of the Setup steps do not run If a Cleanup step causes a run time error execution continues at the next Cleanup step If a run time error occurs in a sequence the test executive engine 220 reports the run time error to the calling sequence Execution in the calling sequence jumps to the Cleanup group in the calling sequence This process continues up through the top level sequ
31. is an instance of a particular step type defining the one or more associated properties 25 The system of claim 17 wherein the test executive program is further executable to prior to said executing the test executive sequence receive a user command to export property values for the test executive sequence to the database export property values for the test executive sequence to the database in response to said receiving the user command wherein said exporting property values for the test execu tive sequence comprises exporting property values for the one or more properties associated with the at least one test executive step to the database wherein said importing values for the properties associ ated with the at least one test executive step from a database comprises importing the previously exported values 26 The system of claim 25 wherein said exporting property values to the database comprises automatically creating one or more columns associated with the property values in the database 27 Amemory medium comprising program instructions executable to create a test executive sequence comprising a plurality of test executive steps wherein at least one of the plurality of test executive steps has one or more associated properties and execute the test executive sequence wherein said execut ing the test executive sequence includes importing values for the properties associated with the at least one test executive s
32. ith the at least one test executive step from the database 5 The method of claim 4 wherein the test executive sequence includes a setup group and a main group each group being capable of including one or more steps wherein during an execution of the test executive sequence steps in the setup group execute before steps in the main group wherein the property loader step is included in the setup group wherein each of said plurality of test executive steps is included in the main group 6 The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring the test executive sequence with information regarding the values to be loaded from the database wherein said configuring the test executive sequence comprises receiving user input specifying a particular database from which to import property values 7 The method of claim 6 wherein said importing values from the database com prises importing the values from database columns wherein said configuring the test executive sequence further comprises receiving user input specifying a mapping from the properties to the database columns 8 The method of claim 7 wherein the database columns are associated with a particular database table comprising a plurality of rows wherein each row of the table is associated with a par ticular test executive step that may be included in a test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises importing values for properties assoc
33. its data type In some cases a simple data type such as a number or a Boolean is used In other cases the user can define his her own data type by creating a named data type in which subproperties are added to create an arbitrarily complex data structure When a named data type is created the user can reuse the named data type for multiple variables or properties Although each variable or property that the user creates with a named data type has the same data structure the values they contain can differ The test executive may define certain standard named data types The user can add sub properties to the standard data types but cannot delete any of their built in sub properties The standard named data types are Path Error and Com monResults The user can define his her own custom named data types The user must choose a unique name for each of the custom data types Sub properties in each custom data type can be added or deleted without restriction For example the user might create a Transmitter data type that contains sub properties such as NumChannels and Power Level When the user creates a variable or property the user can select from among the simple property types and the named data types Built In and Custom Properties The test executive defines a number of properties that are always present for objects such as steps and sequences An example is the step run mode property The test executive normally hides these p
34. load the property and or variable values speci fied in step 306 In step 312 the test executive steps included in the Main group execute The Property Loader step is preferably configured in step 306 to load database values for properties associated with one or more of these steps Thus the values loaded from the database in step 310 may affect the execu tion of the test executive sequence Also one or more values for variables associated with the sequence may be loaded in step 310 which may also affect the execution of the sequence It is noted that in alternative embodiments a test execu tive sequence may be configured to dynamically load property variable values from a database using methods other than including a property loader step in the sequence For example the test executive sequence may maintain information regarding data values to be loaded as a portion 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 16 of the sequence data wherein this information may be specified by user interface dialogs that may be invoked via a menu item accessible while editing a test executive sequence In other words the data import information is not necessarily included in a sequence step but may be associ ated with the sequence in any of various ways and when the sequence is executed the test executive engine may be operable to use the information to load the specified property variable values from a database Thus w
35. mber FleGlobals Data ableN ame String 1 Step Limits Low Number FileGlobals DateFieldN ame String FieGlobais DBMS String FileGlobals DB Types Boolean String FileGlobals DB Types Counter String FieGlobais DB oem Currency Sting FIG 11 U S Patent Jan 14 2003 Sheet 12 of 12 US 6 507 842 B1 S NA Overwrite Existing Records FIG 12 US 6 507 842 B1 1 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPORTING AND EXPORTING TEST EXECUTIVE VALUES FROM OR TO A DATABASE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to test executive software for organizing and executing test sequences e g to measure and or control instrumentation systems and more particu larly relates to a system and method for importing exporting test executive properties from to a database DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Atest executive is a program that allows a user to organize and execute sequences of reusable test modules to automati cally control a test such as a test involving one or more instruments or devices or software applications The test modules often have a standard interface and typically can be created in a variety of programming environments The test executive software operates as the control center for the automated test system More specifically the test executive software allows the user to create configure and or control test sequence execution for various test applications such as production and manufacturing test
36. mes to variables or properties The list control displays the mappings The Column Name Number Values and Format String controls specify the settings for the currently selected mapping Use the New Cut Copy and Paste buttons to create a new item in the list remove items from the list and rearrange the items in the list The Column Name Number Values and Format String controls must contain valid expressions evaluated at run time When exporting values the Value control can contain a literal value or an expression that is evaluated at run time When importing values the Value control must contain the name of a variable or property The Format String control specifies how to convert a string value when comparing a column value to a string expression Typically this control is used when comparing data from a column that is of the date time or currency type Create Columns Displays the Create Columns dialog box The dialog box is automatically populated with the list of any column names are specified and that the SQL statement does not return The Create Columns dialog box is typically used to add new columns to a database table Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such varia tions and modifica
37. n step types the user can define standard reusable classes of steps that apply specifically to the user s application For example the user might define a Switch Matrix Configuration step or a Trans mitter Adjacent Channel Power Test step The sequence developer creates a new step by selecting the Insert Step item in the context menu that appears when US 6 507 842 B1 13 the user right click on a sequence window The Insert Step item brings up a hierarchical submenu containing the step types available on the computer When the user creates a new step type the user specifies its name and position within the submenu Source Code Templates When the user creates a step type the user can also define source code templates for that step type When the sequence developer creates a new step of that type the developer can use a source code template to generate source code for the step module For a particular step type the user can specify different source code templates for the different module adapters Sequences In one embodiment a sequence may comprise Any number of local variables Any number of parameters A main group of steps A group of setup steps A group of cleanup steps Built in sequence properties Sequence Parameters Each sequence has its own list of parameters The user can specify the number of parameters and the data type of each parameter The user can also specify a default value for each parameter W
38. ncorporation by Reference The TestStand product user documentation available from National Instruments Corporation is hereby incorpo rated by reference as though fully and completely set forth herein FIG 1 Instrumentation System FIG 1 illustrates an example instrumentation control system 100 FIG 1 is exemplary only and the present invention may be used in any of various systems as desired The system 100 comprises a host computer 102 which connects to one or more instruments The host computer 102 comprises a CPU a display screen memory and one or more input devices such as a mouse or keyboard as shown The computer 102 connects through the one or more instru ments to analyze measure or control a unit under test UUT or process 150 The one or more instruments may include a GPIB instru ment 112 and associated GPIB interface card 122 a data acquisition board 114 and associated signal conditioning circuitry 124 a VXI instrument 116 a PXI instrument 118 a video device 132 and associated image acquisition card 134 a motion control device 136 and associated motion control interface card 138 and or one or more computer based instrument cards 142 among other types of devices The GPIB instrument 112 is coupled to the computer 102 via a GPIB interface card 122 provided by the computer 102 In a similar manner the video device 132 is coupled to the computer 102 via the image acquisition card 134 and the motion control devic
39. nterfaces to a specific ODBC driver for the DBMS Specific databases shown in FIG 3 include Oracle Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access US 6 507 842 B1 15 FIG 4 Using Property Loader Steps The test executive preferably supports a built in step type referred to as a Property Loader step which is operable to load the values for properties and variables from a database dynamically at run time As an example a user may develop a common sequence that can test two different models of a device where each model requires unique limit values for each step If step properties are used to hold the limit values then the user may include a Property Loader step in the sequence to import the correct limit values into the step properties from a database The Property Loader step would typically be placed in the Setup step group of a sequence In this way the Property Loader step initializes the property and variable values before the steps in the Main step group execute FIG 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method that utilizes a property loader step to dynami cally i e at run time configure a test executive sequence In step 300 the user creates a test executive sequence For example this may comprise opening or creating a sequence file receiving a user interface command to create the test executive sequence displaying a user interface enabling the user to edit the sequence etc In step 302 the
40. ons that the user can use in expressions The expression browser has help text for each expression operator and function Categories of Properties A property is a container of information A property can contain a single value an array of values of the same type or no value at all A property can also contain any number of sub properties Each property has a name A value is a number a string or a Boolean Values are not containers and thus cannot contain sub properties Arrays of values can have multiple dimensions The following are examples of categories of properties in one embodiment according to the kinds of values they contain A single valued property contains a single value e g Number properties String properties and Boolean proper ties US 6 507 842 B1 9 An array property contains an array of values e g Number Array properties String Array properties and Bool ean Array properties A property array property contains a value that is an array of subproperties of a single type In addition to the array of sub properties property array properties can con tain any number of subproperties of other types An object property contains no values Typically object properties contain multiple sub properties Object properties are analogous to structures in C C and to clusters in LabVIEW Standard and Custom Named Data Types When the user creates a variable or property the user specifies
41. ores a test executive program for configuring the test system a database accessible from the computer system at least one unit under test coupled to the computer system wherein the test executive program is executable to create a test executive sequence comprising a plurality of test executive steps wherein at least one of the plurality of test executive steps has one or more associated properties and execute the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence includes importing values for the properties associated with the at least one test executive step from a database 18 The system of claim 17 wherein said executing the test executive sequence further comprises executing the plurality of test executive steps wherein said executing the plurality of test executive steps results in performing a test of the at least one unit under test 19 The system of claim 17 wherein the test executive program is further executable to associate at least one variable with the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises importing values for the at least one variables from the database 20 The system of claim 17 wherein the test executive program is further executable to include a property loader step in the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises executing the property loader step wherein in response to said executing the
42. parameter list C CVI Standard Prototype Adapter Allows the user to call any C function that has the test executive standard C parameter list The function can be in an object file library file or DLL The C function can also be in a source file that is in the project that the user is currently using in the LabWindows CVI development environment Sequence Adapter Allows the user to call subsequences with parameters The module adapters 240 contain other important infor mation besides the calling convention and parameter lists If the module adapter 240 is specific to an application devel opment environment ADE the adapter knows how to bring up the ADE how to create source code for a new code module in the ADE and how to display the source for an existing code module in the ADE The DLL Flexible Pro totype Adapter can query a DLL type library for the param eter list information and display it to the sequence developer Test Executive Building Blocks The following sections provide an overview of features and building blocks that are used to create test sequences and entire test systems in one embodiment of a test executive application It is noted that these sections describe one specific embodiment but the ideas and features may be applied to or are altered for many other test executive applications Variables and Properties The test executive application provides the user various places referred to as variables and propertie
43. property loader step the property loader step is operable to import values for the properties associated with the at least one test executive step from the database 21 The system of claim 20 wherein the test executive sequence includes a setup group and a main group each group being capable of including one or more steps wherein during an execution of the test executive sequence steps in the setup group execute before steps in the main group wherein the property loader step is included in the setup group wherein each of said plurality of test executive steps is included in the main group 22 The system of claim 16 wherein the test executive program is further executable to configure the test executive sequence with information regarding the values to be loaded from the database wherein said configuring the test executive sequence comprises receiving user input specifying that the test executive sequence should import property values from said database accessible from the computer system 23 The system of claim 22 wherein said importing values from the database com prises importing the values from database columns wherein said configuring the test executive sequence further comprises receiving user input specifying a mapping from the properties to the database columns US 6 507 842 B1 25 24 The system of claim 17 wherein the at least one of the plurality of test executive steps having one or more associated properties
44. quences In one embodiment the test executive engine 220 comprises a set of DLLs that export an object based or component based API preferably an ActiveX Automation API The sequence editor 212 and run time operator interfaces 202 use a Test Executive Engine API Engine API The user can call the Engine API from any programming environment that supports access to ActiveX Automation servers Thus the user can call the Engine API from test modules including test modules that are written in LabVIEW and LabWindows CVI Module Adapters Most steps in a test executive sequence invoke code in another sequence or in a code module When invoking code in a code module the test executive must know the type of the code module how to call it and how to pass parameters to it The different types of code modules may include LabVIEW VIs C functions in DLLs and C functions in source object or library modules that are created in LabWindows CVI or other compilers The test executive also must know the list of parameters that the code module requires In the preferred embodiment the test executive uses module adapters 240 to obtain this knowledge In one embodiment the test executive provides the following mod ule adapters DLL Flexible Prototype Adapter Allows the user to call C functions in a DLL with a variety of parameter types LabVIEW Standard Prototype Adapter Allows the user to call any LabVIEW VI that has the test executive standard G
45. rams or different aspects of the same program Test Executive Engine A module or set of modules that provide an API for creating editing executing and debug ging sequences A sequence editor or run time execution operator interface uses the services of a test executive engine Application Development Environment ADE A pro gramming environment such as LabVIEW LabWindows CVI or Microsoft Visual C in which the user can create test modules and run time operator interfaces 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 Unit Under Test UUT A device or component that is being tested may include software and or hardware ele ments In many cases it is useful to provide users with the ability to define variables and properties which affect the execution behavior of a test executive sequence For example a particular step may be used in testing a group of different devices but the step may need to use different limit values for each device In this example properties for the limit values may be defined for the step and the property values may be changed as necessary for each device without requiring any modifications to the code module that the step calls As test executive sequences grow larger and more com plex and as the number of different units under test requiring different test behavior grows configuring sequences and steps with correct variable and property values becomes a difficult
46. rily included in a sequence step but may be associ ated with the sequence in any of various ways and when the sequence is executed the test executive application may be operable to use the information to load the specified property variable values from a database In addition to dynamically loading values at runtime in various embodiments the test executive may also enable a user to interactively e g through a user interface menu item request variable and property values to be imported from or exported to a database For example after interac tively setting desired variable and property values for a sequence and steps in the sequence respectively the user may request the test executive to automatically export the values to a database The exported values may for example later be used to dynamically configure a test executive sequence as described above Exporting values to a data base may comprise automatically creating any necessary database structures such as tables columns etc BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment is considered in conjunction with the following drawings in which FIG 1 illustrates an instrumentation control system according to one embodiment of the present invention FIG 2 illustrates a test executive application software architecture according to one embodiment of the present
47. roperties For example a step might have an integer error code property In one embodiment individual steps may be instances of step types which have associated properties Values that are stored in variables and properties can be passed to code modules When executing sequences the test executive may maintain a sequence context that contains references to global variables and local variables and step properties in active sequences The contents of the sequence context change depending on the currently executing sequence and step According to one embodiment of the present invention the user may include a Property Loader step in a sequence which is operable to dynamically ie at run time load property and or variable values from a database For example it may be desirable to automatically configure a particular step with two different property values affecting operation of the step depending on which of two different devices are currently under test The Property Loader step may be placed in a setup group of the sequence and the step s whose properties are configured may be placed in a main group of the sequence so that when the sequence is US 6 507 842 B1 3 executed the steps in the main group are configured with appropriate property values before running After including the Property Loader step in a sequence at edit time the user may configure the step to load the desired variable and or property values from the data
48. roperties in the sequence editor although it allows the user to modify some of them through dialog boxes Such properties are called built in properties The user can define new properties in addition to the built in properties Examples are high and low limit prop erties in a step or local variables in a sequence Such properties are called custom properties Steps A sequence comprises a series of steps A step can do many things such as initializing an instrument performing complex test or making a decision that affects the flow of execution in a sequence Steps can performs these actions through several types of mechanisms including jumping to another step executing an expression calling a sub sequence or calling an external code module The term step module is used to refer to the code module that a step calls Steps can have custom properties For steps that call code modules custom step properties are useful for storing parameters to pass to the code module for the step They also serve as a place for the code module to store its results The test executive ActiveX API can be used to access the values of custom step properties from code modules Not all steps call code modules Some steps perform standard actions that the user configures using a dialog box In this case custom step properties are useful for storing the configuration settings that the user specifies 10 15 20 25 30 40 45 50 55
49. rred to as the step type thereby eliminating the need for the user to define these common properties and or operations with each of the respective steps The user can thus incorporate this common function ality and or properties in a step type rather than requiring the user to hard code that functionality and or properties in each step The functionality and or properties defined by a step type is generally peripheral or associated with the actual test or the step being performed For example it may be desirable to handle the return data a certain way and the user desires this return data handling functionality for a number of different steps According to the present invention the user has the ability to create a step type which defines this commonality i e defines a standard way that that step type will handle the data Therefore the step type makes it easier to reuse return data handling code for all the steps that will have that same common function ality of handling data Thus steps instances of this type are easier to configure since the common functionality does not need to be re coded for each step The user also may want to define properties around a class of steps to provide more configurability This is done by creating or configuring a step type for the class of steps wherein the step type defines the common properties As discussed below step types define common function ality by defining an edit substep and pre and post
50. s Step SQLStatement specifies the SQL statement the Edit Property Loader dialog box uses to populate ring controls that contain column names US 6 507 842 B1 19 Step StepNameColumn specifies the name of the column in the SQL Statement that contains the names of the steps and variable scopes that define the rows of data Step ColumuListSource specifies the name of the variable or property that stores the list of column comparisons used to filter the rows of SQL data The variable or property must be an array of type DatabaseColumn Value By default the value is Step ColumnList Step ColumnList specifies the column comparisons made on a SQL statement row before loading its values into properties This property must be an array of type DatabaseColumnValue The DatabaseColumn Value custom data type contains the following subproperties ColumnName specifies the name of the column to perform the comparison on ColumnNumber indicates the number of the column in the SQL statement Data specifies the expression evaluated at run time to compare against the column value FormatString specifies an optional format string for dates times and currencies Use an empty string for the default format Step PropertiesListSource specifies the name of the vari able or property that stores the list of variables and properties into which to load data The variable or property must be an array of type DatabaseProperty Mapping By default
51. s in which data 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 values can be stored Variables are properties that the user can freely create in certain contexts Variables can be global to a sequence file or local to a particular sequence The values of station global variables are persistent across different executions and even across different invocations of the sequence editor 212 or run time operator interfaces 202 The test executive engine maintains the value of station global variables in a file on the run time computer Each step in a sequence can have properties For example a step might have an integer error code property or proper ties affecting execution of the step A step may have step specific properties or the type of a step may determine the set of properties that are associated with the step Step types are discussed below Test executive variables can be used to share data among tests that are written in different programming languages even if they do not have compatible data representations Values that are stored in variables and properties can be passed to code modules The test executive ActiveX API is useable to access variable and property values directly from code modules When executing sequences the test executive maintains a sequence context that contains references to all global variables and all local variables and step properties in active sequences The contents of t
52. st executives the functionality performed by the step type of the present invention was hard coded in the test executive itself and was not easily changeable Further 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 this functionality was not in a modular form which could be reused or applied to a plurality of steps The step type of the present invention embodies this functionality e g the pre and post operations in a typical test and places this in a configurable and reusable form Step types of the present invention are modular and user configurable and provide tremendous savings in developer effort There are basically three different types of step types step types that call code modules through any module adapter like CVI or LabVIEW step types that require a particular module adapter and step types that do not call code mod ules Astep type can also define standard behavior for each step of that type The step type does this using a set of substeps Substeps are actions that the test executive engine performs for a step besides calling the step module The substeps of a step type perform the same actions for every step of that type The different types of substeps are as follows Edit substep Pre step substep Post step substep The sequence developer invokes the edit substep by selecting a menu item in the context menu for the step or by clicking a button on the Step Properties dialog for the
53. st to the other by clicking on the single arrow buttons The double arrow buttons move all properties from one list to the other The Property Name control displays the currently selected property in the Selected list control The Column Name Number control specifies the name of the column from which the step loads the currently selected property Append data type to column name Specifies whether the name of the data type of a property is automatically appended to the column name for a property when a property is selected from the Available list Max size for column names Specifies the maximum number of characters for a column name Many databases limit the size of a column name Use the ring control to select the limit for any DBMS supported by default Create Columns Displays the Create Columns dialog box The dialog box is automatically populated with the list 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 18 of column names that are selected by the user but that the SQL statement does not return The Create Columns dialog box is typically used to add new columns to a database table for any newly selected properties The Browse button can be used to display an Expression Browser dialog box for a control that contains a test execu tive expression FIG 8 shows the Create Columns dialog box The Create Columns dialog box contains the following controls Data Link Name Contains the name of the data link to crea
54. step The step type specifies the name of the menu item and the caption of the button The edit substep displays a dialog box in which the sequence developer edits the values of custom step properties For example an edit substep might display a dialog box in which the sequence developer specifies the high and low limits for a test The edit substep might then store the high and low limit values as step properties The engine 220 calls the pre step substep before calling the step module The user can specify an adapter and a module to invoke in the pre step substep For example a pre step substep might call a code module that retrieves measurement configuration parameters into step properties for use by the step module The engine 220 calls the post step substep after calling the step module The user can specify an adapter and a module to invoke in the post step substep A post step substep might call a code module that compares the values that the step module stored in step properties against limit values that the edit substep stored in other step properties The test executive contains a set of predefined step types These include Action Numeric Limit Test String Value Test Pass Fail Test Label Goto Statement Limit Loader Message Popup Call Executable Call Sequence Although the user can create a test application using only the predefined step types the user can also create his her own step types By creating his her ow
55. t Export Properties dialog box The Select Record Set tab contains the following controls Data Link Name Contains the name of the data link the dialog box uses to import and to export Use the Select Data Link button to select a predefined data link from a list SQL Statement to Select Property Columns Specifies the SQL statement the dialog box uses to import and export property and variable values The SQL statement must return a record set that includes the column names that are specified Use the Build button to construct the SQL state ment Use the Browse button to display the Expression Browser dialog box FIG 11 shows the Properties tab of the Import Export Properties dialog box The Properties tab contains the fol lowing controls Sequence Selects the sequence to which to import val ues or from which to export values Step Name Column Specifies the name of the column in the SQL statement that contains the names of the sequence steps and variable scopes that define the rows of data Use the Browse button to display the Expression Browser dialog box Properties Specifies the names of variables and proper ties to import or export and the column names to use for them The section contains a list of available variables and properties and a list of variables and properties that are selected Move a single property from one list to the other by clicking on the single arrow buttons The double arrow buttons move all properties
56. tation callback sequence files and front end callback sequence files Nor mal sequence files contain sequences that test UUTs and these are the most common type Model sequence files contain process model sequences Station callback sequence files contain station callback sequences and front end call back sequence files contain front end callback sequences FIG 3 Exemplary Interface to Database The test executive software may be operable to interface with a database in order to import property or variable values from or export the values to the database In various embodiments the test executive may interface with any of various types of databases including relational and object oriented databases Any of various models or methodologies may be utilized to communicate with the database As described above a database may be located on the same computer system on which the test executive runs or on a different computer system FIG 3 illustrates one particular embodiment in which the test executive uses the ActiveX Data Objects ADO model to interface with a database As shown ADO is built on top of the Object linking and Embedding Database OLE DB Applications that use ADO such as the test executive engine 220 shown in FIG 3 use the OLE DB interfaces indirectly The OLE DB layer interfaces to databases directly through a specific OLE DB provider for the DBMS or through a generic Open Database Connectivity ODBC provider which i
57. te columns with Use the Select Data Link button to select a predefined data link from a list Columns Contains the column names that were selected in the Edit Property Loader dialog box but that are not in the specified SQL statement The Table control specifies the table in which to create the checked columns The Data Type control specifies the column data type The Parameters control specifies any parameter information for the data type For example a size limit for a character data type can be specified by entering a number in the Parameters control Create Columns Creates columns for the checked items in the Columns list control FIG 9 shows the Column Values tab of the Property Loader dialog box The Column Values tab of the Edit Property Loader dialog box allows data the SQL statement returns to be filtered so that only values from rows that contain specific column values are loaded The Column Values tab contains the following controls Column List Source Specifies the name of the variable or property in which to store the list of column value comparisons The variable or property must be an array of type DatabaseColumn Value Only import rows that match the specified column values Specifies whether the step loads only the rows that match the specific column values When this control is not checked the Column Values section is dimmed Column Values Specifies the columns values that each row must match The Column Name Num
58. tep from a database 28 The memory medium of claim 27 wherein said executing the test executive sequence further comprises executing the plurality of test executive steps wherein said executing the plurality of test executive steps results in performing a test of a unit under test UUT 29 The memory medium of claim 27 wherein the pro gram instructions are further executable to associate at least one variable with the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises importing values for the at least one variables from the database 30 The memory medium of claim 27 wherein the pro gram instructions are further executable to include a property loader step in the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises executing the property loader step wherein in response to said executing the property loader step the property loader step is operable to import values for the properties associated with the at least one test executive step from the database 31 The memory medium of claim 30 wherein the test executive sequence includes a setup group and a main group each group being capable of including one or more steps 15 20 25 40 45 55 60 26 wherein during an execution of the test executive sequence steps in the setup group execute before steps in the main group wherein the property loader step is included in the set
59. the database comprises executing one or more SQL statements 12 The method of claim 11 further comprising configuring the test executive sequence with information regarding the values to be loaded from the database constructing the one or more SQL statements using the configuration information 13 The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one of the plurality of test executive steps having one or more associated properties is an instance of a particular step type defining the one or more associated properties 14 The method of claim 1 further comprising prior to said executing the test executive sequence receiv ing a user command to export property values for the test executive sequence to the database exporting property values for the test executive sequence to the database in response to said receiving the user command wherein said exporting property values for the test execu tive sequence comprises exporting property values for the one or more properties associated with the at least one test executive step to the database wherein said importing values for the properties associ ated with the at least one test executive step from a database comprises importing the previously exported values 15 The method of claim 14 wherein said exporting property values to the database comprises automatically creating one or more columns associated with the property values in the database 16 A method for dynamically configurin
60. the value is Step PropertiesList Step PropertiesList specifies the list of variables and properties into which to load data The list must be an array of type DatabasePropertyMapping Each element of the array defines a mapping between a SQL state ment column and a variable or property The Data basePropertyMapping custom data type contains the following subproperties PropertyName specifies the name of the property or variable to assign a value to PropertyType specifies the scope of the property or variable such as step local file global or station global Valid values include 0 Step 1 Local 2 File Global 3 Station Global DataType specifies the type of the property Valid values include 1 Boolean 2 Number 3 String ColumnName specifies the name of the column to get the value from Step AppendTypeName specifies whether to append the data type name of the property to the column name when selecting a property from the available list Step MaxColumnSize specifies the maximum number of characters for a column name Step FilterUsingColumnList specifies whether the step loads only the rows that match the specific column value Step Result NumPropertiesRead indicates the total number of values that the step loaded from the SQL statement Step Result NumPropertiesApplied indicates the total number of values the step assigned to properties or variables If this number is less than Step Result NumPropertiesRead th
61. tions We claim 1 A method for dynamically configuring a test executive sequence the method comprising creating a test executive sequence comprising a plurality of test executive steps wherein at least one of the plurality of test executive steps has one or more asso ciated properties and executing the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence includes import ing values for the properties associated with the at least one test executive step from a database 2 The method of claim 1 wherein said executing the test executive sequence further comprises executing the plurality of test executive steps wherein said executing the plurality of test executive steps results in performing a test of a unit under test UUT 3 The method of claim 1 further comprising associating at least one variable with the test executive sequence wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises importing values for the at least one variables from the database 4 The method of claim 1 further comprising including a property loader step in the test executive sequence 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 22 wherein said executing the test executive sequence com prises executing the property loader step wherein in response to said executing the property loader step the property loader step is operable to import values for the properties associated w
62. tions under which to terminate the loop The user can also specify whether to collect results for each loop iteration for the loop as a whole or for both Pre Expressions allows the user to specify an expression to evaluate before executing the step module Post Expression allows the user to specify an expression to evaluate after executing the step module Status Expression allows the user to specify an expression to use to set the value of the status property of the step automatically Step Types In the specific embodiment under discussion each step has a step type in a similar manner to which each variable or property has a data type A step type can contain any number of custom properties It is noted that other embodi ments of test executive applications may not support step types but may still allow properties to be associated with individual steps Each step of a step type also referred to as an instance of the step type has the custom step properties in addition to the built in step properties All steps of the same type have the same properties but the values of the properties can differ The step type specifies the initial values of all the step properties When the user creates the step in the sequence editor the test executive sets the initial or default values of the step properties from the values that the step type specifies The user can modify the values of the built in step properties by using the Step Properti
63. to the LabVIEW LabWindows CVI and Visual Basic programs However additional operator interface programs 202 may be included for interfacing to other programs 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 The test executive software also includes a sequence editor 212 for editing sequences The sequence editor 212 and the operator interface programs 202 interface to the test executive engine 220 One or more process models 222 couple to the test executive engine 220 The test executive engine 220 interfaces through an adapter interface 232 to one or more adapters 240 The adapters shown in FIG 2 include the LabVIEW standard prototype adapter the C CVI prototype adapter the DLL flexible prototype adapter and the sequence adapter The LabVIEW standard prototype adapter interfaces to programs having a VI extension i e LabVIEW graphical programs The C CVI prototype adapter interfaces to programs having a dll lib obj or c extension The DLL flexible prototype adapter interfaces to programs having a dll extension The sequence adapter interfaces to sequence file programs As shown in FIG 2 the test executive engine 220 plays a pivotal role in the test executive architecture The test executive engine 220 runs sequences Sequences contain steps that can call external code modules By using module adapters 240 that have the standard adapter interface 232 the test executive engine 220 can load and execute
64. up group wherein each of said plurality of test executive steps is included in the main group 32 The memory medium of claim 27 wherein the pro gram instructions are further executable to configure the test executive sequence with information regarding the values to be loaded from the database wherein said configuring the test executive sequence comprises receiving user input specifying a particular database from which to import property values 33 The memory medium of claim 32 wherein said importing values from the database com prises importing the values from database columns wherein said configuring the test executive sequence further comprises receiving user input specifying a mapping from the properties to the database columns 34 The memory medium of claim 27 wherein the at least one of the plurality of test executive steps having one or more associated properties is an instance of a particular step type defining the one or more associated properties 35 The memory medium of claim 27 wherein the pro gram instructions are further executable to prior to said executing the test executive sequence receive a user command to export property values for the test executive sequence to the database export property values for the test executive sequence to the database in response to said receiving the user command wherein said exporting property values for the test execu tive sequence comprises exporting property
65. user includes a plurality of test executive steps in the test executive sequence The plurality of steps included in step 302 preferably define a series of steps that when executed result in performing a test of the unit under test UUT e g by calling various code modules Thus the plurality of steps may be included in a Main group associ ated with the sequence In step 304 the user includes a Property Loader step in the test executive sequence As discussed above the Property Loader step may be included in a Setup group associated with the sequence In step 306 the user provides configuration information e g via a graphical user interface specifying the desired operation of the Property Loader step such as which prop erty and or variable values to load from the database One embodiment of step 306 is discussed in detail below In step 308 the user may request execution of the test executive sequence The sequence may be executed at some later time after performing steps 302 306 For example after creating and configuring the test executive sequence the user may save and close the sequence file Steps 308 310 may then be performed in order to actually run tests on a unit under test UUT Executing the test executive sequence comprises execut ing the Property Loader step included in the sequence As shown in step 310 when the Property Loader step executes the step is operable to interface with the database and dynamically

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