TestStand ATML and XML Report Viewer Support After Internet Explorer Retirement

Updated Jun 23, 2022

Reported In

Software

  • TestStand

Issue Details

Microsoft has announced the retirement of Internet Explorer (IE). Since the TestStand ReportView UI control uses IE to render XML and ATML reports, how can I view my reports in the TestStand SeqEditor and shipping User Interfaces? Also, how can I view my XML and ATML reports outside TestStand?

Solution

Internet Explorer vs Trident Engine

 

ATML and XML reports are based on an XML file format. To display the XML file as a report, you must apply a stylesheet (XSL) file to it. Internet Explorer (IE) has the capability to apply the stylesheet when opening XML files but other browsers (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) do not. The ReportView UI control used in the TestStand Sequence Editor and shipping User Interfaces (UIs) uses the WebBrowser control and not IE itself. The ReportView UI control will continue to work even after IE is deprecated.


Internet Explorer consists of 2 different components – IE shell and a WebBrowser control (Trident Engine). The IE shell (executable) is how users launch IE in Windows and use it as a browser. The WebBrowser is the heart of IE that does all the work required to render pages. The WebBrowser control is not being depreciated and will be maintained by Microsoft.
 

What to expect in future releases?



TestStand 2021 SP1 and later replaces its use of the WebBrowser control with CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework) to render TestStand’s reports and remove its dependency on the WebBrowser component. Also, TestStand 2021 SP1 made changes to create an HTML report file on disk next to the XML file. Users will be able to view their reports by opening the HTML file in any browser.
 

 

The TestStand Report Viewer Utility



For customers who are using earlier versions of TestStand, NI has released a utility to view ATML and XML reports. Download and unzip the attached TSReportViewer.zip. This viewer allows users to view their ATML and XML reports. The viewer will save the transformed HTML file to disk next to the report. Users can use any browser to open the generated HTML file.

Note: The viewer supports XML reports smaller than 40 MB.
 
Picture1.png



 

Additional Information

You can set the TS Report Viewer as the default application for ATML and XML reports using the following steps:
1. Right-click any ATML or XML report file and select Open With >> Choose another app.

SS91.png
2. Click More Apps, then Look for another app on this PC.

SS02.png
3. Locate TSFileViewer.exe and double-click it. It will show up on the applications selection list. Select TSReportViewer, then select Always use this app to open .xml files.

SS04.png
4. Click Ok. Now, you just need to double-click an XML report to open it on the TS Report Viewer.

Attachments

TSReportViewer.zip

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