Test resource management

This paper will address Test Resource Management in the form of Test Program programming in an instrument independent environment. It begins with a short history of BASIC and ATLAS language implementations and extends the concepts into the visual programming environment now becoming prevalent. A short discussion of instrument oriented, signal oriented and finally test oriented programming techniques leads into the complexities involved in using the newer generations of test instruments which provide single action controls implementing the equivalent of a block of ATLAS code. Strategies of providing alternate instrumentation for accomplishing the same test are explored and tradeoffs are identified for considering implementation alternatives