py-teststand-autodoc

py-teststand-autodoc is an automated rich documentation generator from National Instruments TestStand™ sequence files.

Table of contents

• py-teststand-autodoc
  • Table of contents
  • 📖 Overview
  • ⚠️Transparency
  • 🔒 Offline Capability
  • 🚧 Project Status
    • 🤖 AI-Assisted Development
  • 🚀 Installation
    • ⚡ Global installation
    • 📦 Direct execution
  • 💻 CLI usage
    • ⚙️ Generate report from sequence
      • 🎨 Custom CSS
    • 📂 Examples
  • 🔗 Compatibility
    • 🖥️ TestStand™ & Environment
    • 🌐 Static Site Generators
  • 🧰 Technical stack
  • ⚖️ Legal
  • 📄 License

---

📖 Overview

This project was inspired by Wovalab Antidoc Add-on for TestStand, which is built for the LabVIEW-TestStand ecosystem, because I missed option to easly integrate with Markdown static site generators like mentioned in Static Site Generators and easier integration with actual Python-based tooling.

It can be used in two ways:

1. As a CLI tool
2. As a Python library (via API - see examples)

---

⚠️Transparency

This generator does not reverse-engineer or natively parse .seq files: uses my other py-teststand project to interact with TestStand™ COM API. This means you need a valid TestStand™ installation and a proper TestStand™ License on the machine running the code.

🔒 Offline Capability

100% Offline Rendering: To address privacy concerns and support offline environments, all PDF and Markdown generation is performed strictly locally.

• Diagrams: Mermaid.js diagrams are rendered entirely client-side using a bundled [mermaid.min.js](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mermaid@11.15.0/dist/mermaid.min.js_ (stored in the package assets) driving a local headless browser session via Playwright.
• Fonts: The PDF styling uses bundled UbuntuNerdFont-Regular and standard pre-installed Windows system fonts (such as Segoe UI for text and Cascadia Code / Consolas for code elements).

🚧 Project Status

This is a hobby project, maintained on a best-effort basis and not yet under active full-time development ahead of the first release. There is no fixed release schedule or formal support, but feel free to get in touch.

Treat it as experimental: wrapper behaviour may change between releases without notice (like error catching or high level imports).

If you hit a bug or unexpected behavior, open an issue with a reproducible case. That is the best way to get it fixed.

For now i prefer lightweight tags based releases (i protected them in repository settings) instead of fully described ones until reach 1.0.0 release.

🤖 AI-Assisted Development

This project leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to assist with:

• Codebase audits and refactoring.
• Test coverage analysis and generation.
• Documentation drafting.

This is an independent community project. These AI tools are used to optimize productivity and are not an official component of the project, nor do they integrate with or replace the official NIGEL™ AI Advisor provided by National Instruments. All generated code is manually reviewed by the maintainer to ensure it meets the project's quality standards.

---

🚀 Installation

Install py-teststand-autodoc using uv.

⚡ Global installation

Install the tool globally to use its CLI commands:

uv tool install py-teststand-autodoc

For PDF support, include the pdf extra:

uv tool install py-teststand-autodoc[pdf]

ℹ️ PDF generation uses Playwright to drive a headless Chromium browser (Windows 10+ system Edge by default), therefore no separate browser download is required.

📦 Direct execution

Run the tool without installing it globally by using uvx:

uvx py-teststand-autodoc <input_sequence.seq> -o <output_report.md>

To generate a PDF directly, include the pdf dependency:

uvx --with "py-teststand-autodoc[pdf]" py-teststand-autodoc <input_sequence.seq> -o <output_report.md> --pdf

---

💻 CLI usage

Generate reports using the py-teststand-autodoc and py-teststand-autodoc-pdf commands.

⚙️ Generate report from sequence

py-teststand-autodoc <input_sequence.seq> -o <output_report.md> [options]

Options:

• --profile {engineer,business,station}: Documentation profile (default: engineer). The station profile generates a standalone station report with station options, station globals, and search directories.
• --ignore-skipped: Omit skipped steps.
• --models: Include process models.
• --batch: Treat input as a directory and recursively convert all .seq files inside it.
• --variable-scope {Locals,Parameters,FileGlobals,StationGlobals}: Variable scopes for the appendix.
• --station: Include station options.
• --types: Include custom types.
• --types-all: Include all custom types, not just those attached to the file.
• --file-custom-data-types: List custom data types defined in the file.
• --estimate-software-delays: Sum Wait expressions to estimate minimum software delays.
• --detailed-popup-messages: Include MessagePopup step details in Mermaid diagrams.
• --author <name>: Author name for the header (default: Jan Kowalski).
• --company <name>: Company name for the header (default: Yesterday Future Company).
• --email <email>: Author email for the header.
• --version <version>: Document version for the header.
• --pdf: Also render a PDF next to the output file via headless browser.
• --custom-css <path>: Path to a custom CSS file to inject into PDF rendering (can override accent color).
• --browser {msedge,chrome,chromium}: Chromium channel for PDF rendering (default: msedge).

🎨 Custom CSS

The default PDF stylesheet is bundled at src/py_teststand_autodoc/rendering/pdf.css.

📂 Examples

By default, the engineer profile generates all [potentially] useful data (process models, variables by their scope, station options, templates, types) and uses the extended Markdown syntax automatically:

# Generates a comprehensive engineering report with all data included
py-teststand-autodoc <input_sequence.seq> -o <output_report.md>

The examples/ directory contains sample scripts for the CLI and API usage. Check them out to learn how to integrate py-teststand-autodoc into your own scripts!

examples/
├── cli/
│   ├── run_all.bat
│   └── run_station.bat
└── api/
    ├── basic_generation.py
    ├── business_profile.py
    ├── extended_metadata.py
    ├── pdf_rendering.py
    ├── full.py
    ├── batch_workspace_conversion.py
    └── station.py

• cli/run_all.bat: Runs the CLI with different option combinations (including --author and --profile business).
• cli/run_station.bat: Generates a standalone station options report.
• api/basic_generation.py: Shows how to use the Extractor for default markdown.
• api/business_profile.py: Shows how to generate business logic reports.
• api/extended_metadata.py: Shows how to programmatically pass author, version, and revision metadata.
• api/pdf_rendering.py: Shows how to programmatically generate PDFs.
• api/full.py: Demonstrates all generate_documentation parameters in one call.
• api/batch_workspace_conversion.py: Shows how to batch convert entire directories.
• api/station.py: Shows how to generate a station options report via API.

---

🔗 Compatibility

🖥️ TestStand™ & Environment

Component	Versions
Windows	10+
Python	3.11 to 3.14
TestStand™	2016 to 2026

Older TestStand™ engine versions may also work if the underlying COM interfaces have not changed, but they are not explicitly tested.

🌐 Static Site Generators

The generated Markdown output is strictly tested and validated for full compatibility with modern static site generators like:

• Material for MkDocs
• Zensical

Additional Markdown validation using markdownlint-cli2

---

🧰 Technical stack

Tool	Purpose
uv	Python package and project manager
ty	Static type checker for interface validation
ruff	Linter and code formatter
pyrefly	Static type checker
pytest	Unit and integration test runner
Playwright	Headless Chromium browser for PDF rendering

---

⚖️ Legal

TestStand™ is a registered trademark of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to NI's TestStand™ licensing options for information on required licenses to operate the TestStand™ engine.

py-teststand-autodoc is an independent community project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by National Instruments or its parent company Emerson. References to the TestStand™ API are made solely for interoperability purposes.

---

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file and src/py_teststand_autodoc/assets/LICENSE.