Privacy and Security Notice

Archived Messages for CLAS_SLOW_CONTROL_1996@cebaf.gov: Device Survey

Device Survey

jessica r crawford (jrc2u@turing.urich.edu)
Sat, 04 May 1996 18:09:17 -0400 (EDT)

Once the hall becomes operational, EPICS will be accessed through the Alarm
Handler software. In order for the Alarm Handler to be able to monitor
all the appropriate devices, certain information about those devices must
be specified in a configuration file the Alarm Handler looks at when it
starts up. We are responsible for setting the Alarm Handler up
and writing the configuration files for it, so we need everyone
who is constructing devices and/or device drivers to send us some basic
device information we need to configure the Alarm Handler. Listed below
is required and optional information to be specified for each device.

Thank you,

Jessica Crawford and Dr. Phil Rubin

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following information is required in order for the Alarm Handler to
monitor a device:

1. Device Name (30 characters or less, no spaces)

2. Channel(s) associated with the device. Channel names must be defined
in the IOC database. A mask may be specified for each channel. The
masks consist of any combination of <CDATL>.
C - IOC will not send an alarm even to the Alarm Handler
for this channel
D - Alarms from this channel will be ignored, but may
still be logged
A - Alarm status and severity will be displayed, but the
operator will not be required to acknowledge alarms
T - The operator will not be required to acknowledge alarms
L - Alarms will not be logged

Optional information:

1. Related Process - This can be any valid UNIX command, exactly as it
would be typed in a UNIX shell. When the user clicks on the "P" button
beside a device name in the Alarm Handler, this command will be executed
to start the related process. A typical related process would be the GUI
for the device driver.

2. Guidance Text - The guidance text appears in a message box when the
user clicks on the "G" button beside a device name in the Alarm Handler.
It may consist of ASCII text of any length. Typically, guidance text
will convey of information a non-expert person might need, such as a
sequence of procedures to be performed to diagnose a problem.

3. Severity Process Variable Name, and associated Channel Name(s) - The
severity process variable name must be declared in the IOC database. The
severity value of the channel or group of channels will be written to the
process variable. Any time the severity value of the channel or group
changes, the process variable will be updated.

4. Force Process Variable Name, associated Channel Name, Force Mask,
Force Value, and Reset Value - The force process variable must be
declared in the IOC database. The specified channel's mask will be made
to depend on the value of the force process variable. When the force
process variable equals the force value, the channel's mask is set to the
force mask. When the force process variable equals the reset value, the
channel mask is set to its default mask.