MTS Multipurpose Elite Test - Manual (Page 33)

The Hardware Interface file represents all of the hardware resources available to your test system. When
you connect to a station with MPE, the Controller Resources shown on the Resources tab pertain only to
the connected controller.
Note:
You use the Station Builder application (one of the applications included with MTS Series 793 controller
software) to define station configuration files by allocating some or all of the resources listed in the .hwi
file.
4.5.0 Resource Mapping
A resource map aligns test resources with controller resources. When you create a test while MPE is connected
to a controller and save the test, MPE saves the resource map with the test definition. The resource map
saved in the test definition is an inventory of resources the MPE application expects to find the next time it
connects to a controller.
Before you can load and run the test procedure on a controller, the test resources must either be automatically
or manually mapped to controller resources. Resources are stored with the test definition and validated against
the available controller resources the next time the application connects to a controller.
Automatic mapping example
Suppose you design a test online while MPE is connected to a controller. As part of your test, you add a
Ramp activity and select a control channel named “Ch 1” and a control mode named “Displacement”. When
you design a test online rather than offline, you are using the test resources that MPE automatically mapped
to the controller when MPE connected to the controller. When you save the test, the names for all of the test
resources in the test definition appear identical to the equivalent controller resources on the Resources tab.
If you disconnect the controller from your test, MPE expects to find the same controller resources for the
current test in whatever station you connect to in the future.
If you reconnect to the same controller, MPE maps the channel and control mode test resources to the
equivalent resources in the controller, and you can run the test immediately.
If you reconnect to a different controller, one of two things may occur:
• If MPE finds a control channel named “Ch 1” and a control mode named “Displacement” in the station
with equivalent functionality, then MPE automatically maps them to the test resources with the same name.
If the remainder of the test resources also map to the controller resources in the new controller, you can
run the test immediately.
• If MPE does not find a control channel named “Ch 1” and a control mode named “Displacement” in the
station, it shows validation error icons. You must resolve these errors (and any other validation errors)
before you can run the test.
Manual mapping example
Suppose you design a test while MPE is connected to a controller, and that the controller has control modes
named “Disp 1” and “Load 1”. Now, suppose you disconnect from the controller and connect to a different
controller that has control modes named “Displacement” and “Force”.
Multipurpose Elite Test Design Guide 33
4.0 Working with Resources