diff --git a/matlab/run_gdat_tests.m b/matlab/run_gdat_tests.m
index 1d865c4328e63a6021ed8c17fb1413f1a6eca4e8..facc81f43299147dea56a03c482eba6e6a6da7e5 100644
--- a/matlab/run_gdat_tests.m
+++ b/matlab/run_gdat_tests.m
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ switch test_case
     import matlab.unittest.selectors.HasParameter;
     import matlab.unittest.selectors.HasName;
     import matlab.unittest.selectors.HasTag;
-
     import matlab.unittest.constraints.ContainsSubstring;
     
     s1 = HasName(ContainsSubstring('TCV')) & ...
diff --git a/matlab/tests/test_requestnames.m b/matlab/tests/test_requestnames.m
index b793dcd014b3ab71707b707959463f2d142636a5..e64a4bc998b6609f1a0e1b0397934444d68d8cf1 100644
--- a/matlab/tests/test_requestnames.m
+++ b/matlab/tests/test_requestnames.m
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ classdef (SharedTestFixtures={...
     test_requestnames < matlab.unittest.TestCase
   
   properties (Abstract)
-    machine;
+    Machine;
+    Skiplist; % tests to skip
   end
   
   properties(TestParameter,Abstract)
@@ -17,151 +18,22 @@ classdef (SharedTestFixtures={...
       testCase.assertTrue(isnumeric(str2double(shot)));
       testCase.assertTrue(ischar(request));
       
-      machine = testCase.machine;
+      testCase.assumeFalse(ismember(testCase.Skiplist,request),...
+        'Skipped request %s since it is on the skiplist for %s',request,testCase.Machine);
+      
       % gdat call
-      gdat_call = sprintf(['gdat_' lower(machine) '(%s,''%s'')'],shot,request);
+      gdat_call = sprintf(['gdat_' lower(testCase.Machine) '(%s,''%s'')'],shot,request);
       
       % logging
-      testCase.log(sprintf('gdat_call: %s\n',gdat_call));
+      fprintf('Testing gdat call: %s\n',gdat_call);
       
-      gdat_out = eval(gdat_call);
+      gdat_out = eval(gdat_call); %#ok<NASGU>
       
       % in some future: check for warnings
-      
       %gdat_out = verifyWarningFree(testCase,eval(gdat_call),...
       %  'Warning issued from gdat call:\n   %s\n',gdat_call);
       
-      % add content checks of gdat_out here
+      % (add optional sanity checks of gdat_out here)
     end
   end
-  
-end
-
-
-
-% methods(TestClassSetup)
-%   function getShot(testCase,machine)
-%     switch machine
-%       case 'AUG'
-%         testCase.shot = 30594;
-%       case 'TCV'
-%         testCase.shot = 48836;
-%     end
-%   end
-% end
-%
-% end
-%
-% if nverbose>=2 && nverbose ~= 11
-%   doplot = true;
-% else
-%   doplot = false;
-% end
-%
-% %% get request list
-% if isempty(machine)
-%   [gd0,gp0] = gdat;
-% else
-%   [gd0,gp0] = gdat('machine',machine);
-% end
-% if isempty(machine)
-%   machine = gp0.machine;
-% end
-% request_list = gd0.gdat_request;
-%
-% %% get default test shot for each machine
-%
-%
-% %% possibly skip some since they take too long for a reduced test
-% if iscell(testmode)
-%   skip = setdiff(request_list,testmode);
-%   testmode_not_in_list = setdiff(testmode,request_list);
-%   if ~isempty(testmode_not_in_list)
-%     if nverbose >= 1
-%       disp('***********************************************************************')
-%       warning(['following input requests nt in request_list: ' testmode_not_in_list{:}]);
-%       disp('***********************************************************************')
-%     end
-%   end
-% else
-%   switch testmode
-%    case 'reduced'
-%     skip = skip_list(machine);
-%    case 'full'
-%     skip = ''; % skip none
-%    otherwise
-%     error('invalid testmode, should be ''reduced'' or ''full''');
-%   end
-% end
-%
-% %% init
-% Nreq = numel(gd0.gdat_request);
-% err = zeros(Nreq,1);
-% telaps = zeros(Nreq,1);
-% skipped = false(Nreq,1);
-% gdat_call = cell(Nreq,1);
-%
-% %% call gdat requests in a loop
-% for ireq = 1:Nreq
-%   myrequest = request_list{ireq};
-%
-%   if ~ismember(myrequest,skip)
-%     % build request string
-%     if strcmp(myrequest,'transp')
-%       shotfile_user='PUETTI';
-%       gdat_call{ireq} = sprintf(['gdat_' lower(machine) '(%d,''%s'',''doplot'',%d,''exp_name'',''%s'')'],shot,myrequest,doplot,shotfile_user);
-%     else
-%       gdat_call{ireq} = sprintf(['gdat_' lower(machine) '(%d,''%s'',''doplot'',%d)'],shot,myrequest,doplot);
-%     end
-%
-%     % eval call
-%     [err(ireq),telaps(ireq),gdat_results{ireq}] = do_gdat_call(gdat_call{ireq},nverbose);
-%     skipped(ireq) = false;
-%     pause(0.1)
-%   else
-%     % skip
-%     err(ireq) = 0;
-%     telaps(ireq) = 0;
-%     skipped(ireq) = true;
-%     if nverbose>=11; fprintf('\n skipping gdat request ''%s''\n',myrequest); end
-%   end
-% end
-%
-% pass = all(~err);
-%
-%
-% function [machine,testmode,verbose] = parse_inputs(varargin)
-% p = inputParser;
-% p.addOptional('machine','');
-% p.addOptional('testmode','reduced');
-% p.addOptional('nverbose',1);
-% p.parse(varargin{:});
-%
-% machine  = p.Results.machine;
-% testmode = p.Results.testmode;
-% verbose  = p.Results.nverbose;
-%
-% function skip = skip_list(machine)
-% switch upper(machine)
-%  case 'AUG'
-%   skip = {'cxrs','transp','te_rho','ne_rho','nete_rho','ece_rho','eced_rho','cxrs_rho','eqdsk','equil'};
-%  otherwise
-%   warning('no list to skip defined for machine ''%s''',machine);
-%   skip = '';
-% end
-%
-% function [err,telaps,gdat_result] = do_gdat_call(gdat_call,nverbose)
-% if nverbose >= 11
-%   fprintf('\n calling %s...\n',gdat_call);
-% end
-%
-% tic
-% try
-%   [gdat_result,~,err] = eval(gdat_call);
-% catch ME
-%   err = -1;
-%   gdat_result.data = [];
-%   getReport(ME); %,'extended');
-% end
-% telaps = toc; % elapsed time
-% end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_AUG.m b/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_AUG.m
index 4ed042cd74c500326deb398264bcc86cdd21524b..7760847a986d56e63d6e3de19aa52ca91e2c5b56 100644
--- a/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_AUG.m
+++ b/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_AUG.m
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ classdef test_requestnames_AUG < test_requestnames
   % everything implemented in superclass
   
   properties
-    machine = 'AUG';
+    Machine = 'AUG';
+    Skiplist = {'cxrs','transp','te_rho','ne_rho','nete_rho','ece_rho','eced_rho','cxrs_rho','eqdsk','equil'}; 
+    % skip these equest names
   end
   
   properties(TestParameter)
diff --git a/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_TCV.m b/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_TCV.m
index 4eabc234071e96780946f57ecc370def82fef082..b1aaebfa39f5d6029f3ad801a9b9d31c9e694444 100644
--- a/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_TCV.m
+++ b/matlab/tests/test_requestnames_TCV.m
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ classdef test_requestnames_TCV < test_requestnames
   % everything is implemented in superclass!
   
   properties
-        machine = 'TCV';
+    Machine = 'TCV';
+    Skiplist = {''}; % skip these calls
   end
   
   properties(TestParameter)
@@ -11,5 +12,4 @@ classdef test_requestnames_TCV < test_requestnames
     request = get_all_gdat_requests('TCV');
   end
   
- 
 end
\ No newline at end of file