Currently the Bench Profile folder location is fixed to Settings in PWTAs installation folder as I understand. Would it be possible to have the location configurable?
Hi @GoranJohnsson,
Configurable as a user setting or something that can just be set by the test executive app? Could it be an environment variable?
Hi,
I would like to have it as a user setting (similar to Editor/Engine settings). The configured folder location should be visible in the API so the test exec app can get the location. An env. variable would also work but not as user friendly.
Hi,
This is not to say that we wont implement your idea, but there is a certain value to it not being configurable. Currently you can copy the entire deployment folder to get a snapshot of a working (nor not working) configuration. If some of the settings are located outside of that folder, this is no longer the case.
Could you explain a bit the benefits of having it be configurable?
The main benefit would be to have all testsystem PCs on a mfg floor use a file server location for their profiles.
Got it. In that case, I’d actually recommend copying the files from the remote location to the test executive. This can be handled automatically by the test executive app. This way you can inform the user that new settings are available and offer to reload without it happening automatically necessarily. And you can do it at the right time, for example between test plan executions.
I think that would also make it easier to understand if an error occurs because of bad configuration - If the settings suddenly changes in the background you won’t easily be able to know which version of the settings were used when the test plan failed.
What do you think about that kind of solution?
The test exec app could copy the profile files as you suggest but it also involves Test Automation since it is used to create and edit the profile to the remote location.
Ok, thats a good nuance. Would it make sense to have some UI feature that gives you a button to push the settings? We have recently added a callback when the settings dialog closes this would allow you to push automatically or show a popup asking if the settings should be synchronized.
So I understand: the current local profile location remains and a remote location can somehow be added and using the push button the profile is copied to the remote location? How get it back from remote to local?
What I am describing can be implemented as plugins.
- Common Functionality You need a place to store the remote location setting. I’d suggest a plugin that is common between the test station and “developer station”. This plugin can be in charge of the business logic of pushing and pulling settings as well as noticing when remote / local settings are changed.
- Editor UI You’d need a UI plugin for the Editor application running on the “developer station” that presents the user with the options to push and pull as well as showing a notification when remote settings has changed.
- Test Station App You’d need some functionality on the test station that actually calls ‘pull’ but this would probably be quite simple given 1.
For 3. I think this could be implement with a IPromotedMenuItem implementation. This can show a small icon in the right side of the menu bar. In general this is a good place to put functionality that should become active whenever Editor is running. There is also a new API for getting a callback when the settings dialog is closed. I can provide an example of this if needed.