Variant Manager — Documentation

← Documentation

Variant Manager — user guide

Version 1.0.0  ·  Part number BR101-VM-LIC-1

Variant Manager configures product variants for automated tests developed in NI TestStand. One sequence serves several products or part numbers, while each variant carries its own test values. The application keeps the common sequence structure separate from the values that change between variants.

1. Install

Variant Manager is distributed as an MSI installer from the product download page.

1. Download the MSI that matches your TestStand release. Separate packages are published for TestStand 2022 and TestStand 2025. This is the first thing to get right — the wrong package leaves the TestStand integration unusable.
2. Run the installer and follow the instructions.
3. Launch Variant Manager from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.

The installer includes everything needed to work with TestStand, including the TS Var Loader integration. No files have to be copied by hand afterwards.

For reference, the loader is installed alongside the ATE Framework runtime. On a 64-bit Windows with the standard 32-bit TestStand installation:

You do not normally need to open or copy this file. The TestStand integration uses it when a variant is loaded.

2. First login

Variant Manager requires a login. The application ships with a default administrator account:

Change these credentials immediately after the first login. Then create an individual profile for each person on the team instead of sharing the default account — configuration activity is associated with the profile that made it, which is only useful if each person has their own.

3. The workflow in four stages

1. Load a TestStand sequence into Variant Manager.
2. Review the property tree and the supported test parameters.
3. Create variants and assign their values.
4. From TestStand, use TS Var Loader to apply the selected variant during execution.

4. Load a sequence

Create a product and select its TestStand sequence file. Variant Manager reads the sequence structure and builds a property tree organized by sequence, step group, step, container and property, so you can see where each configurable value lives inside the sequence.

The sequence remains the common test definition. Variant Manager manages the values associated with that definition — it does not write to the .seq file.

5. What version 1.0.0 supports

Version 1.0.0 manages the parameter values of two step types:

• Numeric Limit Test
• Multiple Numeric Limit Test

For those steps it resolves and displays four values:

These are the parameters that define how a numeric measurement is evaluated — a different voltage range, current limit, frequency range or temperature limit on the same sequence.

The application also presents supported container and file-global variables when they are enabled for the product. Those typically hold shared sequence settings such as timeouts, retry counts, logging options and safety-related behavior.

6. The property tree

The property tree is the configurable structure extracted from the sequence. Use it to review which properties are available and to select the ones Variant Manager should manage.

The tree is the common model for every variant of that product. Variants do not create separate sequence structures — they share the same tree and store different values for the properties that apply to them.

If the sequence changes, synchronize the product so the property tree reflects the current definitions. Do this after any edit to the .seq, otherwise the configuration can quietly stop matching the test.

7. Create and configure variants

Once the property tree exists, create a variant per part number. Each one holds its own values for the supported properties while preserving the same structure. You can:

• Create a new variant or part number
• Duplicate an existing variant as a starting point
• Rename a variant
• Edit variant-specific parameter values
• Save the configured values
• Delete variants when permitted

A base variant is provided as the initial configuration reference for the product, and it is protected from ordinary rename and delete operations.

A worked example: the same sequence serves three part numbers. Variant A uses a lower current limit, variant B a higher one, and variant C a different voltage range and comparison mode. All three share the property tree; each supplies the values its configuration requires.

8. Review and save

Selecting a variant shows its configurable values in the workspace, across two views:

• Step Parameters — the sequence and step context together with Comp, Low, High and Units.
• Container Parameters — the supported container variables with their data types, values and descriptions.

Changes remain pending until you use Save. Only saved values become available to the TestStand integration — this is the step most often missed when a variant appears to load the wrong data.

9. Use TS Var Loader in TestStand

TS Var Loader is the component that connects the configuration to execution. After a variant is configured and saved, the sequence uses the installed loader to pull that variant's values into the active execution.

The loader can apply values to:

• Supported numeric limit test properties
• Step properties identified in the sequence
• Supported file-global variables

Values are applied according to their data type — numeric, text and Boolean.

The sequence is responsible for selecting the variant and invoking the loader as part of the test workflow. Once invoked, the loader applies the saved values to the active execution context before the relevant tests use them.

10. A typical production case

An engineering team has one sequence for a family of electronic products, with Numeric Limit Test and Multiple Numeric Limit Test steps for power, communication and thermal checks. They:

1. Load the common sequence.
2. Review the extracted property tree.
3. Confirm the Comp, Low, High and Units values to manage.
4. Create a variant per part number.
5. Enter the limits each part number requires.
6. Save the approved configurations.

In production the sequence selects the part number and TS Var Loader applies its values. The sequence runs with the right limits without a separate file per variant.

11. Things to keep in mind

• Variant Manager configures values. TestStand still executes the test.
• The same property tree is shared by every variant of a product.
• Version 1.0.0 covers Numeric Limit Test and Multiple Numeric Limit Test parameters, focused on Comp, Low, High and Units.
• Variant values must be saved before the loader can apply them.
• The TestStand workflow has to identify which variant to load when it invokes the loader.

Licensing and activation

The download includes a 6-day evaluation with the full feature set. To license the station permanently, copy the station ID from the activation screen, purchase a license providing that ID, and paste the key we send back. One license activates one station, forever. If you replace the station, contact us with the new ID and we reissue the key at no cost.