last update 28 aug 98 / greg goebel / public domain / vwv_2_0
* This document provides the introduction notes for the VEE 2.0 release in late 1992. Note that VEE 2.0 for Sun, initial Sun release, followed this release in April 1993; and then VEE 2.0 for Win3, the initial PC release, was shipped in September 1993.
* HP VEE 2.0 (B.02.00) is on the November, 1992 CPL. Major new features include:
The Sequencer is a VEE icon that controls the order of a series of tests based on the results of those tests. For example, if you have 10 tests and test 2 fails, you might want to repeat test 2, go on to test 3, or jump to test 9. The Sequencer gives you simple menus or dialog boxes to establish your test parameters and control flow conditions; it is the key building block for a test executive.
You may now create user-defined, mixed data types in VEE as in Pascal and C. These so-called "records" can then be stored in a single array as a "dataset". VEE 2.0 offers ways to read, write, sort and search these datasets providing the customer with a personal data management system. Note that you can automatically log all test results from the Sequencer in datasets, making them very easy to retrieve and investigate.
A UserFunction operates like a function in a textual programming language. Instead of having to clone a VEE UserObject many times, you can now call the same UserFunction from different places in the program. This capability reduces program size, shortens load time, and cuts editing time, since there is only one master copy for each UserFunction.
This means you can load a function from disk at runtime, which has two advantages: (1) you can load and run only the parts of a program you need, or (2) you can spread out load time in a large test.
HP VEE 2.0 on the V/382 will support message-based VXI backplane access through instrument drivers or via the "Direct I/O" object. You can access register-based cards only through Direct I/O. This backplane control will yield higher throughput compared to HP-IB communications. Furthermore, you can save the cost of a slot 0 command module.
You can now integrate your test programs in C, C++, Pascal, Fortran, and Assembly into VEE without the overhead of starting a separate process in HP-UX. This dynamic link capability greatly increases throughput and makes VEE a better package for manufacturing. (You can still integrate HP BASIC/UX programs using HP-UX escapes or BASIC/UX pipes. HP BASIC/WS programs can also be run using SRM/UX.)
This is the same popular driver writing tool that ships with ITG II. You can create customized drivers in a short time for instrumentation without pre-written drivers.
Through VEE-to-VEE remote procedure calls you can run a UserFunction on another computer. For example, when you're running a qualification test suite, you might want to access a bay of instruments on a test stand across the factory floor.
The combination of these features, with a significant set of smaller enhancements (such as importing pictures, string functions, global variables, and so on) will offer customers strong manufacturing capabilities. Now with HP VEE 2.0 they can leverage tests between R&D and manufacturing to reduce time to market.