Updated the TestStand sequence of measurement examples to make it simpler (DMM, FGEN, SCOPE, SWITCH, VISA DMM)

examples/nidcpower_source_dc_voltage/README.md

@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ This is a MeasurementLink example that sources and measures a DC voltage with an
   `ui_file_paths` array in `measurement.py`
 - Includes a TestStand sequence showing how to configure the pin map, register
   instrument sessions with the session management service, and run a measurement
+  - For the sake of simplicity, the TestStand sequence handles pin map and session 
+    registration and unregistration in the `Setup` and `Cleanup` sections of the main 
+    sequence. For **Test UUTs** and batch process model use cases, these steps should 
+    be moved to the `ProcessSetup` and `ProcessCleanup` callbacks.
 - Uses the NI gRPC Device Server to allow sharing instrument sessions with other
   measurement services when running measurements from TestStand
 

examples/nidmm_measurement/README.md

@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ This is a MeasurementLink example that performs a measurement using an NI DMM.
 - Includes InstrumentStudio and MeasurementLink UI Editor project files
 - Includes a TestStand sequence showing how to configure the pin map, register
   instrument sessions with the session management service, and run a measurement
+  - For the sake of simplicity, the TestStand sequence handles pin map and session
+    registration and unregistration in the `Setup` and `Cleanup` sections of the main 
+    sequence. For **Test UUTs** and batch process model use cases, these steps should
+    be moved to the `ProcessSetup` and `ProcessCleanup` callbacks.
 - Uses the NI gRPC Device Server to allow sharing instrument sessions with other
   measurement services when running measurements from TestStand
 

examples/nidmm_measurement/_helpers.py

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import pathlib
-from typing import Dict, NamedTuple, TypeVar
+from typing import Any, Dict, NamedTuple, TypeVar
 
 import grpc
 
@@ -48,23 +48,25 @@ def __init__(self, *, grpc_channel: grpc.Channel):
             pin_map_service_pb2_grpc.PinMapServiceStub(grpc_channel)
         )
 
-    def update_pin_map(self, pin_map_id: str) -> None:
+    def update_pin_map(self, pin_map_path: str) -> str:
         """Update registered pin map contents.
 
         Create and register a pin map if a pin map resource for the specified pin map id is not
         found.
 
         Args:
-            pin_map_id (str): The resource id of the pin map to register as a pin map resource. By
-                convention, the pin map id is the .pinmap file path.
+            pin_map_path: The file path of the pin map to register as a pin map resource.
 
+        Returns:
+            The resource id of the pin map that is registered to the pin map service.
         """
-        pin_map_path = pathlib.Path(pin_map_id)
+        pin_map_path_obj = pathlib.Path(pin_map_path)
+        # By convention, the pin map id is the .pinmap file path.
         request = pin_map_service_pb2.UpdatePinMapFromXmlRequest(
-            pin_map_id=pin_map_id, pin_map_xml=pin_map_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+            pin_map_id=pin_map_path, pin_map_xml=pin_map_path_obj.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
         )
         response: pin_map_service_pb2.PinMap = self._client.UpdatePinMapFromXml(request)
-        assert response.pin_map_id == pin_map_id
+        return response.pin_map_id
 
 
 class GrpcChannelPoolHelper(GrpcChannelPool):
@@ -108,3 +110,63 @@ def get_grpc_device_channel(self, provided_interface: str) -> grpc.Channel:
                 service_class="ni.measurementlink.v1.grpcdeviceserver",
             ).insecure_address
         )
+
+
+class TestStandSupport(object):
+    """Class that communicates with TestStand."""
+
+    def __init__(self, sequence_context: Any) -> None:
+        """Initialize the TestStandSupport object.
+
+        Args:
+            sequence_context:
+                The SequenceContext COM object from the TestStand sequence execution.
+                (Dynamically typed.)
+        """
+        self._sequence_context = sequence_context
+
+    def get_active_pin_map_id(self) -> str:
+        """Get the active pin map id from the NI.MeasurementLink.PinMapId temporary global variable.
+
+        Returns:
+            The resource id of the pin map that is registered to the pin map service.
+        """
+        return self._sequence_context.Engine.TemporaryGlobals.GetValString(
+            "NI.MeasurementLink.PinMapId", 0x0
+        )
+
+    def set_active_pin_map_id(self, pin_map_id: str) -> None:
+        """Set the NI.MeasurementLink.PinMapId temporary global variable to the specified id.
+
+        Args:
+            pin_map_id:
+                The resource id of the pin map that is registered to the pin map service.
+        """
+        self._sequence_context.Engine.TemporaryGlobals.SetValString(
+            "NI.MeasurementLink.PinMapId", 0x1, pin_map_id
+        )
+
+    def resolve_file_path(self, file_path: str) -> str:
+        """Resolve the absolute path to a file using the TestStand search directories.
+
+        Args:
+            file_path:
+                An absolute or relative path to the file. If this is a relative path, this function
+                searches the TestStand search directories for it.
+
+        Returns:
+            The absolute path to the file.
+        """
+        if pathlib.Path(file_path).is_absolute():
+            return file_path
+        (_, absolute_path, _, _, user_canceled) = self._sequence_context.Engine.FindFileEx(
+            fileToFind=file_path,
+            absolutePath=None,
+            srchDirType=None,
+            searchDirectoryIndex=None,
+            userCancelled=None,  # Must match spelling used by TestStand
+            searchContext=self._sequence_context.SequenceFile,
+        )
+        if user_canceled:
+            raise RuntimeError("File lookup canceled by user.")
+        return absolute_path

examples/nidmm_measurement/teststand_fixture.py

@@ -1,33 +1,49 @@
 """Functions to set up and tear down sessions of NI-DMM devices in NI TestStand."""
+from typing import Any
 
 import nidmm
-from _helpers import GrpcChannelPoolHelper, PinMapClient
+from _helpers import GrpcChannelPoolHelper, PinMapClient, TestStandSupport
 
 import ni_measurementlink_service as nims
 
 
-def update_pin_map(pin_map_id: str) -> None:
+def update_pin_map(pin_map_path: str, sequence_context: Any) -> None:
     """Update registered pin map contents.
 
     Create and register a pin map if a pin map resource for the specified pin map id is not found.
 
     Args:
-        pin_map_id (str): The resource id of the pin map to register as a pin map resource. By
-            convention, the pin_map_id is the .pinmap file path.
-
+        pin_map_path:
+            An absolute or relative path to the pin map file.
+        sequence_context:
+            The SequenceContext COM object from the TestStand sequence execution.
+            (Dynamically typed.)
     """
+    teststand_support = TestStandSupport(sequence_context)
+    pin_map_abs_path = teststand_support.resolve_file_path(pin_map_path)
+
     with GrpcChannelPoolHelper() as grpc_channel_pool:
         pin_map_client = PinMapClient(grpc_channel=grpc_channel_pool.pin_map_channel)
-        pin_map_client.update_pin_map(pin_map_id)
+        pin_map_id = pin_map_client.update_pin_map(pin_map_abs_path)
+
+    teststand_support.set_active_pin_map_id(pin_map_id)
 
 
-def create_nidmm_sessions(pin_map_id: str) -> None:
-    """Create and register all NI-DMM sessions."""
+def create_nidmm_sessions(sequence_context: Any) -> None:
+    """Create and register all NI-DMM sessions.
+
+    Args:
+        sequence_context:
+            The SequenceContext COM object from the TestStand sequence execution.
+            (Dynamically typed.)
+    """
     with GrpcChannelPoolHelper() as grpc_channel_pool:
         session_management_client = nims.session_management.Client(
             grpc_channel=grpc_channel_pool.session_management_channel
         )
 
+        teststand_support = TestStandSupport(sequence_context)
+        pin_map_id = teststand_support.get_active_pin_map_id()
         pin_map_context = nims.session_management.PinMapContext(pin_map_id=pin_map_id, sites=None)
         with session_management_client.reserve_sessions(
             context=pin_map_context,