Visual Studio Toolbox Shows Errors When Loading TSDotNetSupport.dll

Issue Details

I'm trying to follow the steps in the guide Creating Custom Step Type Edit Tabs in the Sequence Editor. In Step 5 of the "Preparing Visual Studio" section, I'm instructed to load TSDotNetSupport.dll into the Visual Studio Toolbox. For TestStand 2023 Q3 and earlier, this step can be followed successfully. However, when I try to do this with a newer version, I get the following error:

"...TSDotNetSupport.dll targets a platform whose toolbox items cannot be enumerated dynamically"

Using a DLL inspection tool, I found that:

• In TestStand 2023 Q4 and earlier, TSDotNetSupport.dll targets .NET Framework v4.0 and loads into the Toolbox without issue.
• In TestStand 2024 Q1 and later, the DLL now targets .NETCoreApp v8.0, which seems to be causing the problem.

This prevents me from adding TestStand controls to my Visual Studio project as described in the guide. How can I add TestStand controls to the Visual Studio Toolbox now that TSDotNetSupport.dll targets .NET 8 and no longer loads dynamically? 

Solution

Visual Studio 2022 does not support adding .NET Core/.NET 5+ DLLs directly to the Toolbox. To work around this and successfully create Custom Step Type Edit Tabs in TestStand 2024 Q1 and later, follow these steps:

1. Set Up Your Development Environment
   • Open Visual Studio 2022.
   • Create a Windows Forms Control Library project.
   • Set the target framework to .NET Framework 4.8.

2. Add TestStand Controls

   • Locate and reference the TSDotNetSupport.dll file from the TestStand 2023 Q4 (or earlier) Bin directory.
   • Use the referenced DLL to add TestStand controls to the Toolbox.
   • Restart Visual Studio to refresh the Toolbox and ensure the controls are loaded properly.

3. Build the Project

   • Implement your custom control logic.
   • Build the project to generate a DLL.

4. Deploy the DLL

   • Copy only the newly created DLL (excluding TSDotNetSupport.dll and other TestStand assemblies) to a directory on the machine running TestStand 2024 or later.

   • In TestStand, navigate to Configure → Search Directories, and add the path to the DLL.

5. Configure TestStand

   • Open the Sequence Editor.
   • Go to Configure → Station Options → Preferences tab.
   • Enable "Show Hidden Properties" station option.
   • Expand step type properties in the Types window.
   • Increase the size of the NI_Data.EditPanels array property.
   • Add a new element using the format: "<dll name>|<namespace>.<TabInfo classname>"

Additional Information

• TestStand 2024 Q1 and later is built on .NET 8, which supports executing .NET Framework assemblies within the .NET 8 CLR, as long as the classes/functions used exist in .NET 8.
• If you encounter issues loading controls after following the steps above, double-check that you're using the DLL targeting .NET 4.0, not the newer .NET 8 version and ensure your Visual Studio project is targeting .NET Framework, not .NET Core or .NET 5+.