NI TestStand 4.

0 Quick Start Guide

™

This document provides NI TestStand system requirements, installation

instructions, descriptions of the TestStand licensing options, and
suggestions for learning to use TestStand.

Installing TestStand
TestStand installs in approximately 30 minutes. Refer to the NI TestStand
Release Notes for additional installation information.

Recommended System Requirements

National Instruments recommends the following system requirements to
run TestStand 4.0. Minimum system requirements follow in parentheses.
• Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or Windows XP Service Pack 2
• Pentium 4/M or equivalent processor (Pentium III, Celeron 866 MHz,
or equivalent minimum)
• 1 GB of memory (256 MB minimum)
• 1.8 GB of free hard disk space
– 1 GB of free hard disk space for TestStand
– Additional 260 MB (x86) or 610 MB (x64) of free hard disk space
for Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 if not already installed
– Additional 580 MB of free hard disk space for device drivers from
the National Instruments Device Drivers CD
• SVGA resolution or higher video adapter (800 × 600 minimum video
resolution for small fonts or 1024 × 768 minimum video resolution for
large fonts)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 Service Pack 1 or later
(version 5.5 minimum)
• Microsoft-compatible mouse
 Use the following National Instruments application development
environments (ADEs) with TestStand 4.0:
• NI LabVIEW 7.1.1 or later. You must use LabVIEW 8.2.1 or later to
create custom sequence editors.
• LabWindows™/CVI™ 7.1.1 or later. You must use
LabWindows/CVI 8.1 or later to create custom sequence editors.
• Measurement Studio 7.1 (or later) Enterprise Edition for integration
with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 or later and
Measurement Studio 8.0.1 (or later) for integration with Microsoft
Visual Studio 2005 or later. TestStand supports Microsoft Visual
Studio Standard but does not support Microsoft Visual Studio Express.
The .NET and MFC examples use projects and solutions created in
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. If you are using an earlier version of
Microsoft Visual Studio, create new projects and solutions from the
source files TestStand provides.

Installation Instructions
Note If you saved LabVIEW VIs that call the TestStand API with a version of LabVIEW
earlier than 5.1.1, you must compile and save the VIs in LabVIEW 7.1.1 or later before you
install TestStand 4.0. If you do not compile and save the VIs in LabVIEW 7.1.1 or later,
the VIs do not load correctly after you install TestStand 4.0.

You must install TestStand in a directory where users of the software have
write privileges. Unless you specify another location during installation,
the TestStand installation program copies files to <Program Files>\
National Instruments\TestStand 4.0.

National Instruments recommends that you exit all programs before

running the TestStand installer. Applications that run in the background,
such as virus scanning utilities, might cause the installer to take longer than
average to complete.

Complete the following steps to install TestStand:

1. Log on as an administrator or as a user with administrator privileges.
2. Insert the TestStand 4.0 installation CD and follow the instructions that
appear on the screen.

National Instruments recommends that you install the complete TestStand

program. If you perform a custom installation and do not install all the
TestStand features, you can run the installation program again later to
install additional features.

NI TestStand 4.0 Quick Start Guide 2 ni.com

Activating TestStand Licenses
After you install TestStand, you must use the NI Activation Wizard to
activate the software.

Note When you activate TestStand 4.0, you need the product serial number and the
name of the product for that serial number. You can find both of these items on the
proof-of-ownership and registration card that you received with the product.

Refer to the Activating Your Software topic in the NI TestStand Help for
more information about how to activate TestStand. Access the NI TestStand
Help by selecting Start»All Programs»National Instruments»
TestStand 4.0»Online Help»NI TestStand Help.

National Instruments offers a variety of TestStand licenses for the different

ways you can use TestStand in development and deployment applications.
In general, you can select from the following types of licenses:
the TestStand Development System License, the TestStand Custom
Sequence Editor License, the TestStand Debug Deployment Environment
License, and the TestStand Base Deployment Engine License.

In most cases, when you first install TestStand, you activate a TestStand
Development System License. Use the other licenses to activate TestStand
on machines to which you deploy TestStand custom sequence editors or
operator interfaces that you develop.

Use the following descriptions only as a reference for the TestStand

licensing options. Refer to ni.com/activate for more information about
activating TestStand licenses. Refer to ni.com/teststand to purchase a
TestStand license. Contact your local National Instruments representative
for more information or for questions about specific licensing needs.

Note This document does not replace the National Instruments Software License
Agreement installed in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\EULAs\
NIReleased directory.

TestStand Evaluation Package (350863-00)

When you run TestStand in Evaluation Mode, the software expires after
30 days. The software runs as a fully functional Development System for
the first 7 days of the evaluation period. After 7 days, TestStand runs with
the following restrictions:
• Sequence execution time limit of 10 minutes
• Continuous application usage time limit of 1 hour

© National Instruments Corporation 3 NI TestStand 4.0 Quick Start Guide

 You can activate a TestStand license at any point during or after the 30-day
evaluation period.

TestStand Development System License (777777-03)

Activate the TestStand Development System License to develop and edit
test sequences and to save TestStand sequence files within the TestStand
Sequence Editor, within a TestStand Custom Sequence Editor, or
programmatically using the TestStand API. This license also grants the
ability to develop custom sequence editors and operator interfaces.

TestStand Custom Sequence Editor License (777775-01)

Activate this license to develop and edit test sequences and TestStand
sequence files within a TestStand Custom Sequence Editor or
programmatically using the TestStand API.

TestStand Debug Deployment Environment License (900851-01)

The TestStand Debug Deployment Environment License offers the
most flexibility for deploying TestStand and LabVIEW-based,
LabWindows/CVI-based, and Measurement Studio-based systems.

Activate this license to install the development versions of TestStand,

LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, and any
corresponding add-on toolkits on a single test station so you can debug
deployed test applications on the test station. This license grants the ability
to make minor edits to fix bugs in deployed test applications but does not
grant the ability to perform any development tasks using TestStand,
LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, or Measurement Studio on the test station.

TestStand Base Deployment Engine License (777774-09)

The TestStand Base Deployment Engine License is the minimum license
required for all deployed TestStand-based applications. Activate this
license to deploy the TestStand Engine, a TestStand Operator Interface, and
TestStand sequence files to the single test station to which the license
applies. This license does not grant the ability to perform any development
tasks using the TestStand Sequence Editor, a TestStand Custom Sequence
Editor, or the TestStand API.

NI TestStand 4.0 Quick Start Guide 4 ni.com

Learning TestStand
The best way to familiarize yourself with TestStand is to explore the Guide
to TestStand Documentation topic in the NI TestStand Help, which
contains links to all the TestStand documentation in electronic format.
Access the NI TestStand Help by selecting Start»All Programs»National
Instruments»TestStand 4.0»Online Help»NI TestStand Help or by
selecting Help»NI TestStand Help in the TestStand Sequence Editor.

National Instruments recommends completing the following tasks to get

started with TestStand:
• Review the NI TestStand System and Architecture Overview Card to
familiarize yourself with the various system components and the flow
and structure of sequences, process models, and executions.
• Read the NI TestStand Release Notes to familiarize yourself with the
new features in TestStand, upgrade information, behavior changes, and
documentation resources.
• Read Chapter 1, Introduction to TestStand, of the Using TestStand
manual to familiarize yourself with TestStand concepts and features,
then complete the tutorials in Using TestStand.
• Read Chapter 1, TestStand Architecture, of the NI TestStand Reference
Manual and familiarize yourself with the other chapters in that manual.
• Refer to the Using LabVIEW with TestStand manual and the Using
LabWindows/CVI with TestStand manual to learn how to use
TestStand with National Instruments ADEs.

© National Instruments Corporation 5 NI TestStand 4.0 Quick Start Guide

National Instruments, NI, ni.com, NI TestStand, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments
Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use section on ni.com/legal for more information about
National Instruments trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are
trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. For patents covering National Instruments
products, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on
your CD, or ni.com/patents.

© 2003–2007 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved. 373374D-01 Apr07