SystemLink is a great Platform for Testbench Automation/Management
What do you like best?
My favorite feature is the easy extendibility with custom plugins. This allows the realization of custom requirements like monitoring test benches running your own code. The "Tag" feature, which allows uploading data from all kinds of software can be easily used to monitor and document events on different test benches and then compare them afterwards. I also like the alarm system, which can be used to notify users if their equipment is not behaving according to specification.
What do you dislike?
For some advanced features documentation is currently still missing, however can be obtained by contacting NI. This is improving with each release. Third Party hardware support is also still being improved and requires significantly more work from the user.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
When considering Systemlink it is important to note that most features work beste with NI hardware. When using a high percentage of third party hardware (as main test bench control solutions) a significant higher integration workload should be expected. However, most things can be realized using the great http API provided by NI.
What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
Systemlink can be utilized to manage test benches by simplifying deployment to NI hardware products. I particularly like the extendibility of the server with custom plugins to evaluate performance of test benches running custom code. E.g. one can use a test bench to report metrics using "tags" which can then be displayed and evaluated using onboard tools or custom plugins (either built using the NI web module or a third party framework like ReactJS).
