Updated Support for Delta-Tau Controllers

The existing support for the Delta-Tau PMAC motor controller on an ISA bus has been updated for PMAC2 controllers over socket (Ethernet) interfaces.

Open-Loop Mode Fix for New Focus 8750/53

A problem with position discrepancy messages appearing after aborting a move when using the New Focus 8750/53 controllers with open-loop motors has been fixed. The problem did not appear with closed-loop motors.

Home Search For New Focus 8750/53 Updated

The home search feature for the New Focus model 8750/53 has been updated to implement the FIN, RIN, FLI and RLI commands included with the controller version 1.5.4 firmware. The first two search for the index mark on actuators so equipped in the forward and reverse directions. The second two search for the limit switches.

Fix For PI E710 Motor Controller

An old bug in the code for the Physik Instrumente E710 where the configuration choice of serial vs. GPIB was not always correctly detected has been fixed.

Additional Updates For AI Solutions DAQ Modules

Bugs in the new code for the AI Solutions DAQ modules (formerly KISIM), which could lead to segmentation faults when switching the configuration between 1D and 2D mode in the configuration file or switching out of emulation mode via mca_par(), have been fixed.

Support For Tsuji Model SPM8C-01 Motor Controller

This spec release includes support for the Tsuji Model SPM8C-01 motor controller over a socket interface.

Support For Huber 9300 Motor Controller

This spec release has preliminary support for the Huber 9300 motor controller over serial and socket interfaces.

Fixes For Amptek Pocket MCA

A bug in the code for the Amptek Pocket MCA 8000/8000A that prevented reading back the correct data from other than group zero has been fixed. Also, a bug where the value returned by the mca_par() "battery_type" argument was incorrect has been fixed.

Fix For ESRF/TACO Serial Device Timeouts

A bug, where the RPC timeouts for connections to the ESRF/TACO serial device server were set to 1000 times the requested value (usually 2000 seconds instead of 2 seconds), has been fixed.

More Updates For AI Solutions DAQ Modules

A bug in the new code for the AI Solutions DAQ modules (formerly KISIM), which prevented setting the "offset_x" parameter in MCA mode with the mca_par() function, has been fixed. In addition, the internal clock parameter is now reprogrammed, if necessary, for time presets larger than approximately 4.7 hours. Also, when counting to fixed count presets or with no presets, spec will keep track of overflows in the elapsed-time register by using the computer's system clock, thus making the returned elapsed-time value correct for indefinitely long count times.

Fix For Mac Science (now Bruker) MXC Instrument

A bug (introduced three years ago in spec release 5.02.04-1), which broke control of the rslit motor for the then Mac Science, now Bruker, MXC controller, has been fixed.

Fix For sleep()

A bug that has been present for at least several years, where a call to the built-in sleep() function with an argument between -1 and zero would cause spec to become stuck, has been fixed.

Fix For _plotconfig() Macro

An old bug in the internal _plotconfig() macro, which resulted in an "Array access SCAN_D[...][] is out of bounds" error message on start up or with the plotselect macro, has been fixed. The error would occur if the scaler channels were rearranged in the config file such that an existing scaler's number (as returned by the cnt_num() function) became greater than or equal to the value of the global variable PLOT_CNTRS_MAX (default value of 10). The previous work around for this bug of increasing the value of PLOT_CNTRS_MAX is no longer necessary.

Updated Code For AI Solutions DAQ Modules (Formerly KISIM)

The support for the HANARO KISIM USB modules has been rewritten for redesigned modules, now produced by the Korean company, AI Solutions. See the updated kisim or aisolutions help file for information on the new support.

Fix For config Issues When Changing Limits

A rare problem, where motor limits would revert to their prior values when reentering spec after using the config macro and configuration editor to change them, has been fixed. The problem only occurred when motor position discrepancies were resolved (either silently or with user intervention) in favor of the hardware causing the settings file to be updated during the built-in motor synchronization call that occurs just before possibly modified config and settings files are reread.

Fix For OMS MAXv Controller When Moving Off Limits

A timing problem with the new Oregon Micro Systems MAXv VME motor controller firmware that sometimes made it impossible for spec to move a motor off a limit switch has been worked around.

Fix For Ortec MCS PCI Initialization

A problem with spec's presence test and initialization of the Ortec MCS PCI multi-channel analyzer hardware that could occur if the board was actively acquiring during spec's hardware configuration procedure has been fixed by making sure acquisition is off before testing the board's memory.

Fixed the Updated Support For EPICS Serial Record

The updated support for the EPICS serial record that was included in release 5.06.06-1 had many problems which should now be fixed.

Newport NSC200 Support Updated

The preliminary support for the Newport NSC200 motor controller has been updated to fix a few problems.

Updated Support For EPICS Serial Record

This spec release includes updated support for the EPICS serial record. In particular, the new asyn record is supported. Support for the older Hideos-based generic serial record is still included, and many bugs with the older support have been fixed. spec automatically sorts out which serial record is being used.

Fix For Server Motor and Counter Properties

An old coding bug that may have caused generally insignificant problems with the spec server when motor or counter properties were received from a client, with the most noticeable being incorrect command serial numbers, has been fixed.

Support For Inel PEM Motor Controller

This spec release supports the Inel PEM motor controller over a serial interface.

Insure User-Units Mode Is Off For OMS Controllers

spec will now send the "UF" (user off) command to each axis of an OMS motor controller during hardware configuration to make sure user units are off to accommodate at least one site that switches control between spec and software that turns user-units mode on.

Initial Support For Newport XPS Motor Controller

This spec release contains initial support for Newport's XPS motor controller. This motor controller communicates exclusively via sockets and contains its own computer and operating system. Motor parameters must be configured by downloading and uploading the XPS configuration files by ftp. spec mnemonics must match the XPS motor names in the XPS system.ini file. spec will send slew rate and acceleration parameters, as set in spec's config file, but those parameters will only be accepted by the XPS if the values are not greater than the maximum values set in the XPS stages.ini file. Although the value of spec's steps-per-degree parameter is ignored for calculating positions for these motors, the value is used in spec's code for rounding motor positions to their intrinsic resolution. Thus, set the parameter to a value the same order of magnitude as the value in the stages.ini file. (Unfortunately, there is no command in the XPS protocol to retrieve the value, other than retrieving and parsing the configuration files, which is beyond spec's scope.)

Fixes For Compumotor 6K Motor Controller

A couple of problems with the support code for the Compumotor 6K motor controller have been fixed. Unnecessary AXSDEF calls, which could lead to lost positions, are now avoided for all models, including those with eight motors. A problem, where the final position of a motor was sometimes not read at the end of a move when multiple motors were active, has been fixed.

Preliminary Support For Newport NSC200 Motor Controllers

Preliminary support for the Newport NSC200 motor controller is included with this spec release.

New Option To Set Stop Bits For Generic Serial Devices

A new ser_par() option "stop_bits" can be used to set the number of stop bits for generic serial devices. The default value of one works for almost all serial devices. A value of two can be set when needed. See the serial help file for details.

New Option To Test For Motor Limits

New motor_par() options "high_lim_hit" and "low_lim_hit" return nonzero if the associated motor limit is active (for most supported motor controllers).

Further Update for OMS VME MAXv Support

Problems with the support code for the OMS MAXv motor controller that weren't fixed in release 5.06.05-4 have now been fixed with the help of OMS support engineers.

New sixc Mode

A new chi-fixed, phi-fixed, mu-fixed mode is available with the standard sixc geometry.

Fixes For Compumotor 6K With Encoders and With Servos

The spec support for the Compumotor 6K motor controller now uses relative moves (rather than absolute moves) if the axis is configured for an encoder. Also, when starting up, the initial configuration commands now work correctly if servo motors are configured, avoiding unnecessary AXSDEF calls, which could lead to lost positions.

Update For ESRF TACO LeCroy 1151 Counter Support

The spec support for the LeCroy 1151 counters via the ESRF TACO facility now allows more than one such counter module to be configured.

Update For OMS VME MAXv Support

The code for the Oregon Micro Systems VME model MAXv controller has been modified to be a bit more robust in the face of communication errors.

Longer Count Times Implemented For NI 660x Cards

The code for the National Instruments 6601/6602 PCI counter/timer card will now automatically select the slower time base when necessary to allow for longer counter times, now up to nearly 12 hours.

Fix For Amptek PX4 Attenuation

The recently added support for the Amptek PX4 MCA should have set a bit in the configuration buffer but didn't, which resulted in the input signal being attenuated by fifty percent. The bit is now set.

Fix For Comment Parsing On Macro Invocation Line

Since the earliest versions of spec (ca. 1986), the $# and $* symbols in ordinary macro definitions (replaced by the number of arguments and all the arguments, respectively) have always inappropriately included any # prefixed comments on the invocation line. Consider the macro definition

1.SPEC> def test '{print $#, " $* ", $*}'

Prior behavior was:

2.SPEC> test 1 2 3 # 4 5 6
7  1 2 3 # 4 5 6  123

(Since the second $* isn't in quotes, the comment is effective after the argument substitution.) New behavior is:

2.SPEC> test 1 2 3 # 4 5 6
3  1 2 3  123

Not sure why this problem went unnoticed and unfixed all this time.

Fix For ESRF VCT6 Timer Polling

The polling of the counting/busy status for the ESRF VCT6 timer now also checks for the status bit that indicates the unit is preparing to start counting. Previously, not checking this bit wasn't a problem, but with faster computers, spec's polling for busy status can occur before counting has actually started.

Fix For Amptek PX4 Parameter Display

A bug in the new code for the Amptek PX4 where an incorrect high-voltage setting was displayed with the mca_par("pars") command has been fixed.

Fix For Kinetic Systems 3388

A bug introduced with implementation of support for multiple CAMAC crates in release 5.06.02-1 that broke support for the Kinetic Systems 3388 CAMAC-to-GPIB controller has been fixed. In addition, the KS 3388 can now be used in other than crate zero, and more than one KS 3388 can be used at a time.

Support For Amptek PX4 MCA

spec now supports the Amptek PX4 Digital Processor MCA over both USB (on Linux and Mac OS X) and serial interfaces. See the new px4 help file for details.

Recent libedit Problem With ^C Handling Fixed

Some obscure problems with signal handling when linking spec with the optional libedit library version included with spec releases since 5.06.03 have been fixed.

USB Support Under Mac OS X

The USB support in spec is now available on Mac OS X platforms in addition to Linux. To enable the USB support on the Mac OS X platform, spec must be linked with the libusb library, available at libusb.sourceforge.net .

Support For Physik Instrumente C-630 Motor Controller

spec now supports the Physik Instrumente model C-630 (Apollo) motor controller. This controller uses a serial interface.

Fix For spec Client's Server Lookup

A bug in the spec client server-lookup algorithm has been fixed. Previously, if a spec client connected to multiple spec servers on the same host using port numbers for some (such as "localhost:7000") and spec process names for others (such as "localhost:fourc"), the code would sometimes direct commands to the wrong server. The bug was probably associated with the updates to the lookup algorithm in spec release 5.06.03-1.

Fix For Unconfigured Optional Motor Parameters

The new motor_par() features introduced in release 5.06.04-1 broke old behavior that allowed setting values for optional motor parameters that were not explicitly assigned values in the config file. With the new features, motor parameters not in the config file can be created (to exist only in the current spec session) using the new motor_par() "add" option. This spec release will restore compatibility with past releases by doing an automatic "add" of any of the standard optional motor parameters not otherwise assigned values in the config file when values are set with motor_par().

Fix For Synchronizing Motor Positions

A bug in the implementation of the new motor_par() features in release 5.06.04-1 that could cause problems with synchronizing motor positions in some situations has been fixed.

New prefix_ADDR Variable For Macro Hardware Functions

The string value of the controller ADDR parameter for macro hardware controllers, as set on the Devices screen of the edconf hardware configuration editor, is now available in the associated macro functions as a local variable with the name prefix_ADDR. See the mac_hdw help file for details.

Fix For Compumotor 6K With Negative Step Size

The spec code that supports the Compumotor 6K motor controllers will no longer supply a negative argument to the DRES command, as was the previous behavior when spec's steps-per-degree motor parameter was negative. (The 6K doesn't accept negative values for that parameter.)

Fix For Broken spec Server Motor Initialization

A bug in the implementation of the new motor_par() features introduced in release 5.06.04-1, which prevented spec clients from connecting to spec server motors that didn't have a configured encoder step-size parameter, has been fixed.

Fix For Server/Client Associative Array-Element Transfers

A coding bug in release 5.06.04-5, where spec server/client transfers for single elements of associative arrays using prop_get() and prop_put() were broken, has been fixed.

New user_scan_plot Hook In Standard Macros

The standard scan_plot macro, called for each point of a scan, now includes a call of user_scan_plot, which local users can define to perform special actions before the standard _plot (normally defined as rplot) macro is called. By default, user_scan_plot is defined as an empty macro using cdef().

Fix For TACO Serial Interface

A bug, where the TACO device-server timeout was not set correctly for baud rates of 38400 and above, has been fixed.

Bug Fix For Out-Of-Bounds Array Access

A bug, where assignment of a value to a data-array element indexed beyond its dimensioned size could cause a segmentation fault on Solaris platforms, has been fixed.

Fix For TACO and EPICS Serial Interface

A bug, which would cause problems only with the Galil Optima, IMS MDrive and New Focus 8753 motor controllers and only when used with the TACO or EPICS serial-line interface, has been fixed.

syms -v Now Escapes Embedded Double Quotes

The built-in command syms has a -v option to list symbols and values in a format that can be used as input to spec. Previously, symbol values with embedded double-quote characters (") were not escaped with a backslash, thus making the syms output not suitable as further input. That problem is fixed. Previous behavior was as follows:

1.FOURC> x[0]="a \"string\""

2.FOURC> syms -v x

x["0"] = "a "string""

New behavior is:

2.FOURC> syms -v x

x["0"] = "a \"string\""

Bug Fix To Allow Macro Functions To Return Arrays

A bug, which prevented certain associative array representations from being used as return values from macro functions, has been fixed. An example of what didn't work before is

def foo2() '{
        local x[]
        x[0]="test"
        return(x)
}'

Associative Array Elements Keep String Value In Server/Client Calls

String-valued associative array elements that represent numbers (of the form "1e6" or "0x123", for example) will now maintain the string representation when passed to and from spec server and clients using the server/client protocol. (See the server help file for details on passing associative arrays.)

Associative Array Initialization Keeps String Value

Associative array initialization of the form

x = [ 0 : "1e6" , 1 : "0x123" ]

will now maintain the string representation of the array elements. Previously, values were converted to numbers.

New motor_par() Option for Macro Motors

The new read-only parameter "chan0" returns the motor number of the motor associated with channel zero of the unit and module of the specified motor. This feature allows for simplified implementation of general-purpose calculational pseudomotors.

New Configuration Parameter Available for Macro Hardware

The configuration editor now allows entry of an arbitrary string in the ADDR field for macro motors and counters. The contents of this field can be retrieved with the motor_par() and counter_par() option "address". All macro-hardware motor and counter channels associated with the controller will return the parameter.

Fix For Recently Broken counter_par()

A coding bug in release 5.06.04-1 that broke counter_par() for device-dependent parameters has been fixed.

Update For timescan, loopscan Macros

The _timescan macro used by both timescan and loopscan has been modified to take into account the duration of the optional sleep times when calculating the range of the x-axis for plotting.

String-Valued Mnemonics Now Work With motor_par() and counter_par()

Previously, the motor_par() and counter_par() functions only accepted number-valued symbols as the first argument. Now, string-valued symbols containing the string representing the motor mnemonic are recognized. That is, the following syntax will now work as expected:

{
   local s
   s = "chi"
   p motor_par(s, "step_size")
}

Another Bug Fix For Recent motor_par() Changes

Another bug associated with recent changes for the motor_par() function, which would result in a segmentation fault only in server mode and only with string-valued optional motor parameters in the config file, has been fixed.

Update for ESRF DC Motor Device Server Support

The previous limit of four motors per controller for the ESRF (TACO) DC Motor device server has been removed.

Fixes For Negative Step Size For Several Motor Controllers

Possible problems when using a negative step size with the Newport ESP300, the Newport 4000 series and the Compumotor SX motor controllers have been addressed.

Bug Fix For Recent motor_par() Changes

A programming bug associated with changes in the previous spec release that could cause a segmentation fault and could prevent the setting of a number of optional motor parameters has been fixed.

Fix For PSD-50M Number Of Channels

An oversight in the original code for the MBraun PSD-50M MCA, where the number of channels could not be changed from the default 1024, has been fixed. The "npts" option to mca_par() can now be used to set or retrieve the number of channels. Note, the number of channels is only relevant to data read out and the clear command.

New Motor Parameter and Counter Parameter Features

Site-defined motor and counter parameters may now be included in the config file. These parameters will be accessible in spec via the standard motor_par() and counter_par() functions. Currently, the configuration editor edconf will read and save the parameters, but the parameters are not viewable or editable with edconf. Thus the parameters must be added manually.

In addition, arbitrary, temporary run-time motor and counter parameters may be created using

motor_par(mne,  s,  v, "add")

where s is the parameter name and v is the initial parameter value. The same syntax works for counter_par(). These temporary parameters disappear when spec exits and after a reconfig command. This feature might be useful with calculational macro pseudomotors (see the mac_hdw help file).

New "timeout" Parameter For data_pipe()

By default, calls to the user code embedded in the data_pipe() functions are expected to return within one second. This release includes a configurable time-out parameter to accommodate special user needs. The command

data_pipe("timeout", sec)

changes the timeout to sec seconds for all subsequent newly created data_pipe() processes. The command

data_pipe(program, "timeout",  sec)

changes the timeout to sec seconds just for the named data-pipe process. For both calls, if the sec argument is missing, the current timeout is returned.

Enhanced Sectors Scheme For psic Geometry

The sector transformations for the psic geometry have been rewritten to perform an exhaustive search of possible angle transformations. The new search algorithm makes additional angle settings available, usually in situations where one or more of the diffractometer angles are at special positions, such as multiples of pi over 2. In addition, transformations that violate motor limits are eliminated in the preference ranking schemes. See the psic help file for details.

New Theta-Fixed Mode For zaxis

A new theta-fixed mode for use near 00L scattering vectors is implemented for the zaxis geometry. See the geo_zaxis.c file included in the spec distribution for implementation details.

Fix For Theta-Fixed Mode In fourc

A bug in the recently introduced theta-fixed mode for the fourc geometry has been fixed.

New "initialize" Option For XIA DXP Devices

A new "initialize" mca_par() option is available for the XIA DXP devices. This option will reload the firmware and execute all the initialization functions associated with startup and the reconfig command.

Fix For XIA DXP Devices

Users have reported from time to time that the XIA DXP libraries return the error "must stop run before beginning a new run". To avoid this message and resulting error, spec now always calls the dxp_stop_run() DXP library function before calling the dxp_start_run() function.

More Updates For Struck SIS 3820 Scalers

Another new counter_par() option, "test_pulse_mask", is implemented for the Struck SIS 3820 scalers. The value of the argument is used to program register 0x218 (part of Struck's firmware release 1.0A). This register allows the 25 MHz internal test pulse train to be routed to any channel. If a nonzero value is written to this register, spec will enable counter test mode and the 25 MHz test pulses in the operation register (register 0x000) during counting. It is then necessary to mask the channels that are to count external signals using the mask written with this command. Note, spec will always mask channel 0 on the master unit, as spec uses that channel to measure elapsed time based on the 50 MHz internal signal.

Initial Support For ESRF MUSST As MCA

The Multipurpose Unit for Synchronization, Sequencing and Triggering (MUSST) from the the ESRF Control Electronics group is now supported as an MCA device in spec. The interface is GPIB.

Update For ESRF/TACO Serial Device Server

Previously, ^C aborts would turn off reading from the ESRF/TACO serial device server, thus preventing macro-hardware implementation of calls such as "abort_one" from working. That problem has been fixed. (Similar behavior for the standard serial support and the EPICS serial support was corrected in spec release 5.02.03.)

Macro-Function Argument Precision Increased

All number values passed to macro-hardware macro functions are now sent with nine-digit precision. Previously, six-digit precision was used for most calls.

Macro-Function counter_par() Support Enhanced

The macro-hardware counter macro functions now fully support the counter_par() facility.

Nonfatal Bug In MVP-2001 Support

A bug in the support for the MicroMo MVP-2001 (present since the code was created for spec release 5.05.01-3), where spurious error messages of the sort "serial device X isn't configured" could be displayed during device configuration, has been fixed.

New reconnect Option For esrf_io()

A new "reconnect" option is available with the esrf_io() function. The option is also available directly for the ESRF/TACO camera devices via image_par(). Such an option allows remaking the connection without the disruption caused by the complete hardware reinitialization associated with reconfig. The command closes the connection to the device via the dev_free() TACO function and reopens the connection to the same device using the same timeout and UDP/TCP protocol via dev_import().

New Theta-Fixed Mode For fourc

A new theta-fixed mode is available with the four-circle geometry code. Currently, though, the sectors transformations are not implemented for this mode. Only sector 0 is available.

Server/Client spec Motor Version Incompatibility Fixed

A problem where spec clients from releases 5.06.02-2 through 5.06.03-9 are not compatible with spec motor servers from prior releases has been addressed with this release. Clients in the above range did work with spec motor servers in the same range and will now work with servers from this and later releases. Clients from this release onward will work with all previous spec motor server releases.

debug Macro Fix

A syntax error introduced in the debug macro in release 5.06.03-8 has been fixed.

Mclennan Motor Fix

A programming error introduced in the code that supports the Mclennan PM301/381, PM600 and PM608 motor controllers in release 5.06.03-2 that would produce a segmentation fault when an attempt was made to move a motor associated with one of the above controllers has been fixed

Updates For Struck SIS3820 Scalers

New counter_par() options "invert_inputs", "invert_outputs", "input_mode" and "veto_inhibits" are available to allow additional flexibility in configuring the Struck SIS3820 VME Scaler module. If passed with nonzero arguments, the "invert_inputs" and "invert_outputs" will have corresponding bits set in the module's operation-mode register when the device is programmed for counting. The "input_mode" option can be set to values from 0 through 6 to override the default input mode 2. A value can be passed using the "veto_inhibits" option that will be written to register 0x214 of the module (only available with firmware 1.9 and greater). Currently, options are reset to default values after every start up and reconfig.

The "disable" motor_par() Option Now Passed To Macro Motors

The _par() function for macro motors will now be called when the "disable" option to motor_par() is called to change the disabled status of a motor. See the mac_hdw help file for details.

String-Valued Generic Motor Parameters Passed to Macro Motors

Previously, if the value of a generic motor parameter (one named misc_par_N were N is from 1 to 6), was set to a string, the string value was not passed to the _par() function of an associated macro motor. That problem has been fixed.

Support For Tsuji PM4C-05A Motor Controller

spec now supports the Tsuji model PM4C-05A motor controllers. The controller can be used with spec over GPIB or serial interfaces. The controller is selected as TSUJI4C on the Motor screen of the configuration editor. The optional "misc_par_1" motor parameter, if set, will enable the controller's hold-off mode for the associated axis.

Support For New Focus 8751 Closed-Loop Picomotors

The support for the New Focus 87XX Picomotor Controller has been extended to include support for the 8751 closed-loop controllers. Such support requires New Focus firmware version 1.5.4 or higher in the model 8752 ethernet controller. spec will automatically detect the presence of the closed-loop controllers.

New Debugging Level For Server-Client Socket I/O

The new debugging bit 0x800000 will print only the socket I/O transactions associated with spec server and client communications. That output will no longer be displayed with debugging bit 0x40 (64).

New Option To remote_stat()

If a second argument of "?" is used with the remote_stat() function on a spec client, the return value is a string indicating the status of the connection specified by the first argument. Possible return strings are "up", "trying", "lost" and "no connection". See the server help file for details.

New Tracking Option For X19C surf Geometry

The X19C variation of the surf geometry now includes an option to turn off sample height and detector height tracking with the incident angle motions. This is the same option that has been available with the X22B and CMC surf variations. Tracking is generally turned off to speed alignment of the motors associated with the incident angle. The settrack macro can be used to turn tracking on or off. By default, tracking is on.

Bug In Handling of SV_ABORT Fixed

Deficiencies in the original implementation of the handling of SV_ABORT protocol command (which is intended to mimic a ^C action from the keyboard) by a spec server have been addressed. Previously, reception of an SV_ABORT packet could cause the server to become stuck in a loop on reads of the input socket stream and/or to fail to carry out the abort actions on subsequent SV_ABORT packets.

Recently Introduced spec Client Bugs Fixed

The release 5.06.03-1 update that was intended to allow servers to be interchangeably specified by port number or spec version name had problems that could cause a spec client to crash or not properly recognize an existing connection. Those problems have been fixed.

Bug Fix For Compumotor 6K

A programming bug that could cause bad positions to be reported for the Compumotor 6K motor controller has been fixed.

Fix For XIA X10P Support

The changes in release 5.06.02-1 to add support for multiple CAMAC crates inadvertently broke the support for XIA X10P parallel port MCA device. That problem has been fixed. (Note, the X10P support in spec does work with the Radiant Vortex X-ray detector.)

Fix For Compumotor 6K Encoder Support

spec now sends the ENCCNT command to the Compumotor 6K motor controllers, which is needed to enable encoder position read back. spec now also properly uses the configured encoder step-size parameter to determine the user angle associated with the encoder position.

Fix For FAST ComTec MCDLAP ISA Board MCA Support

A bug in the recently introduced support for the FAST ComTec MCDLAP that prevent the "soft_preset" mode from working has been fixed.

Fix For Compumotor 6K Support

A problem that prevented spec from recognizing certain eight-motor Compumotor 6K controller configurations has been fixed.

Updated For GCC Release 4

The spec code has been updated to compile cleanly with gcc 4.x, as used with Fedora Core 4 Linux, Mac OS 10.4, etc.

Pseudocounters Now Ignore Scale Factor

For pseudocounters (those counters with controller type NONE in the config file), spec shouldn't change the value assigned to the corresponding element of the S[] scaler array. However, in prior releases, spec would divide the value in S[] by the config-file scale factor on every call of getcounts. Since the scale factor is normally set to one, this was seldom an issue. In any case, with this release, spec will ignore the scale factor for pseudocounters. The configured scale factor can be retrieved, though, via the "scale" option to counter_par().

Two Issues With the spec Client Addressed

Previously, if a spec client configured to use spec server hardware was started before the server was started, and if a user-level call, such as remote_cmd(), was also issued before the server started, when the server finally did come up, the client would not connect to the server for the configured hardware. That problem has been fixed.

Also previously, if a server was specified by both a symbolic name, such as host:fourc, and a port number, such as host:6510, spec would attempt to create two connections, even if the first was using the same port number as the second. The two connections were problematic in some situations. Now the spec client will check if the two specifications refer to the same server and use the same connection when appropriate.

Support For FAST ComTec MCDLAP ISA Board MCA

Initial support for the FAST ComTec MCDLAP ISA Board MCA is now included with spec.

Fix For Mclennan Motor Controllers

Previously, errors were sometimes generated when changing base and slew rates on a multiplexed Mclennan motor channel on a Model 381 or 608 controller if the new base rate was higher than the old slew rate. spec now makes sure the slew rate is reprogrammed first, when necessary.

Fix For IMS Motor Controllers

A problem, where a failed serial communication link to an IMS motor controller could lead to endless looping in spec, has been addressed.

Support For Scientific Solutions GPIB Controllers Updated

The Scientific Solutions IEEE-488-CL/PCI GPIB controller is now supported by spec on Linux. The support is entirely built into the spec code and no kernel driver is required. The support shares code with the register-compatible ISA GPIB controllers from Scientific Solutions (formerly Tecmar). Also, the code has also been updated to allow multiple boards of this type (both ISA and PCI) to be used with spec simultaneously. In addition, the timing in the polling loops of the code has been improved.

Support For Scientific Solutions Labmaster PCI Timer/Counter

The Scientific Solutions Labmaster DPCI with Am9513-based timer/counter functionality is now supported by spec.

Update For Am9513-Type Counter/Timers

A number of updates have been made to the Am9513 code. Multiple PC cards with Am9513 chips may now be used. An improved gating system is implemented, although it requires adding an additional jumper between two connector pins. However, boards without the jumper will still work. See the am9513 help file for details.

Fix For Hecus ASA-32 MCA Card

Missing code in the Hecus ASA-32 MCA card support needed to set the time preset when the MCA "soft_preset" mode is active has been put in place.

Fix For newfile Macro

An old bug in the newfile macro where a typo in a variable name resulted in a harmless but unintended reset of the EPOCH variable when an existing file was reused, has been fixed.

Fixes For Unit Number Assignment

Previously, for a number of motor controller and counter types, when using more than one controller of the same type, if the device associated with one of the controllers couldn't be opened during hardware configuration, the unit numbers assigned to additional controllers of the same type would be shifted. Although, this behavior was not normally encountered, it was annoying to users when it did occur, which usually happened when spec couldn't connect to controllers interfaced via Ethernet. In this spec release, the code for most of the motor controller types has been changed to avoid the unit number reassignment.

Bug Fix For End-Of-String For Several Socket-Interfaced Controllers

A bug in the end-of-string detection that affected only the Galil, New Focus model 8752/53 and Compumotor 6K motor controllers, and only over socket interfaces, has been fixed. The bug could result in communication problems with the controllers, although only problems with the 6K have so far been reported.

Accommodate TACO Plus TANGO Install For ESRF

The spec installation script now accommodates linking with both TACO and TANGO libraries simultaneously, as is now needed in the ESRF instrument control environment.

New zeta Geometry

A new four-motor geometry for a diffractometer located at NSLS beamline X21 is included. The geometry is called zeta. The geometry motors are called nu, zeta, delta and theta.

Support For OMS MAXv Motor Controller

This spec release supports the new Oregon Micro Systems MAXv VME motor controller module.

Fixes For Compumotor 6K

A problem with setting the axis definition on the Compumotor 6K to stepper or server to reflect the spec hardware configuration file has been fixed. Also, an issue where the unit number assignments would change if configured controllers were unavailable has been addressed.

Fix For Optional Motor Parameters With Linked Configurations

An old bug, where for linked configurations, the MOTPAR optional parameters encountered in the config file for motors not part of the active geometry were assigned to the last motor that was part of the active geometry, has been fixed.

Fix For DAC Motor Timing

Short (< 10 millisecond) sleeps have been added after PCI- and ISA-board DAC motors are set to allow the DACs time to settle, apparently required in some configurations when more than one DAC channel on the same card is to be "moved" at the same time.

Fix For Macro-Hardware Motor Start Command

A bug, where the first parameter sent with the "start_one" key in the call to the macro motor "_cmd" macro function had been inadvertently sent as the final position after a backlash correction was applied, rather than final position for the first part of a two-part move with backlash, has been fixed.

Option Added To OMS Multiplexing

The multiplexing support for the OMS motor controller, where a single channel can be used to drive up to sixteen motors, has a new motor_par() option available. When set, the order in which the multiplexed channels are moved will be reversed. By default, when more than one motor is commanded to move at the same time, the motors are moved in the channel number order. The command

motor_par(mne, "mplex_reverse", 1)

will cause the motors to be moved in reverse channel number order, while

motor_par(mne, "mplex_reverse", 0)

will restore the default order.

Fix For Server-Mode "status/quit" Property

A problem, where the server property "status/quit" was often not sent to registered clients when the server exited, has been fixed.

Support For Parker/Compumotor 6K Motor Controller

This spec release includes support for the Parker/Compumotor 6K motor controller over serial and Ethernet interfaces. The code includes support for encoders, servo motors and home searches, although some details of the implementation of these features may require refinement. The support for these motor controllers includes a new spec feature for detecting an emergency stop. If any of the 6K limit or trigger inputs have been preprogrammed using the LIMFNC or INFNC firmware commands for behavior D (emergency stop), spec will check whether the corresponding bit is set before starting a move and when a move has finished. In the former case, spec will warn the user that the emergency stop is active. In the latter case, spec will print a message that an emergency stop has occurred.

New Motor Property

A new emergency stop motor property has been incorporated into the spec infrastructure. Currently, the only motor controller which can trigger the property is the Compumotor 6K. spec's behavior on receiving an emergency stop is much the same as hitting a limit. However, unlike with an active limit, spec will allow a new move to be started while the emergency stop is active.

New kappa Geometry Variation For Crystalogic Diffractometer

A new kappa geometry variation is included to support Crystalogic kappa diffractometers where the detector angle is controlled by an elevator. The configuration is automatically selected if, in addition to the standard fourc and kappa motors, a motor with mnemonic xlhgt is included in the config file. For such a configuration, the tth motor should be configured with controller type NONE, as it will be a pseudomotor. In addition, two geometry parameters, g_xtalogic_d1 (the vertical distance between the instrument center and the driven point below the detector table) and g_xtalogic_d2 (the horizontal distance between the instrument center and the detector table vertical axis) are included with the standard geometry macro files.

Further Improvements For Struck SIS 1100/3100 V2 Driver

Additional modifications to the recently updated support for Struck's version 2.0 Linux driver for their SIS 1100/3100 PCI-to-VME controller turned out to be needed.

Initial Support For Multiple CAMAC Controllers

This release of spec allows up to four CAMAC crate controllers to be used at the same time, however, with a number of limitations. (Previously, only one crate controller could be used.) Currently, except for the Jorway 73A, the KS3929 and the DSP 6001 controller models, only one instance of a particular type or model of a controller can be used at a time. Also, so far the only CAMAC modules that can be installed in other than the first crate (crate 0) are the XIA DXP-4C/4C2X MCA, KS-3655, KS-3610, QS-450, RTC-018, KS-3112, KS-3116, KS-3195 and E250 modules. In addition, the user-level functions ca_get(), ca_put(), ca_fna() and ca_cntl() currently only work with the first crate. The multiple crate support will be extended for multiple identical controllers, additional modules and to the user-level functions in the future as needed.

To configure additional controllers from the edconf configuration editor (invoked by the config macro), use ^F or ^B on the CAMAC entry of the Interfaces screen. To configure modules in the additional crates, type C from the CAMAC crate screen to cycle through the crates associated with each controller. For scaler modules installed in other than the first CAMAC crate, the crate number must be entered in the same field as the unit number on the Scaler screen of the configuration editor using the crate/unit notation, as in 1/0 for crate 1, unit 0. For motor modules installed in other than the first CAMAC crate, the crate number is entered as [crate/]unit/channel in the unit/[module/]channel field of the motor screen.

If only one crate is configured, the config file syntax is the same as before. When multiple crates are configured, additional information specifying crate number for each module and controller is added to the config file.

Updated Code For CAMAC DAC Modules

The support for the CAMAC KS-3112, KS-3116, KS-3195 and E250 (used as DAC motors) has been rewritten to use the "new" (as of 1995) motor formalism. This change should be invisible for the most part, but does allow these motors to be accessed via the spec server. Also, the optional unit/channel configuration feature is now available for these motor channels.

Fix For XIA DXP CAMAC Module

A bug that prevented the XIA DXP parameters from being modified using the mca_par() function where spec incorrectly indicated the parameter was "read only", has been fixed.

Improved Memory Mapping For Struck SIS 1100/3100

The Struck SIS 1100/3100 PCI-to-VME controller on Linux has room for sixty-four 4 megabyte memory maps. Previously, if all were used, an attempt to map a new region would fail. In this update, spec will now reuse mapping registers in a circular fashion, thus making it possible to access the entire 4 gigabyte A32 VME address space.

Fix For Extra Echo In Piper Mode

A recent bug (introduced with the piper mode fix in spec release 5.05.05-7), that caused commands to be echoed twice when the file descriptor option to the -p command line option was zero, has been fixed.

Fix For Start-up With No config File

Although there is little reason to start spec with no config file, a bug which would cause spec to crash in that situation has been fixed.

Fix For Hecus ASA-32 MCA Card

A bug in the support for the Hecus ASA-32 MCA ISA card that affected the clear operation has been fixed.

Update For Struck SIS 1100/3100 V2 Driver

Support for the Struck SIS 1100/3100 PCI-to-VME controller on Linux has been updated to work with Struck's new Version 2 driver. The new driver supports Linux 2.6 kernels. When configuring spec to work with the new driver, note the default device name for the first controller has changed from /dev/sis1100 to /dev/sis1100_00remote.

Fix For PI E710 Motor Controller

An adjustment to the code for the Physik Instrumente Model E710 Picomotor Controller has been made to allow it to work with socket-to-serial devices.

More Improvements For Micos Motor Controllers

The Micos VENUS-2 compatible motor controllers on occasion send the same response twice, such that subsequent commands and responses become unsynchronized. spec now examines responses to most commands to make sure the response contains the correct number of arguments. If the number of arguments is incorrect, spec will flush the input buffer for the Micos controller and send the command again in order to reestablish synchronized communication. (This code is considered a work around for a defect in the Micos firmware.)

Enhanced Powder-Mode Macros

The powder-mode macros will now return the rocked motor to its position at the start of the scan, taking into account the backlash correction, if needed. (See the setpowder help file for more information.)

Additions To psic Macros

The standard psic geometry macros now include suitable definitions for the traditional fourc macros an and uan, which move del and eta; pl and upl, which move chi and phi; and th2th, which scans del and eta.

Fix For MicroMo MVP-2001 Motor Controller

A bug in the support for the MicroMo MVP-2001 motor controller that prevented motor channels numbered ten and above from working has been fixed.

Improvements For Micos Motor Controllers

This release includes some new code to address communication synchronization issues with the Micos VENUS-2 compatible motor controllers that have been observed after ^C aborts.

Another Fix For EPICS Motors Powder-Mode Behavior

The renewed attention (see below) to powder-mode behavior for EPICS motors revealed that the backlash parameter for the EPICS powder-mode motor, set to zero during a powder-mode scan, did not get restored at the end of the scan. Such behavior has always been the case, but is now fixed.

Fix For EPICS Motors Powder-Mode Behavior

The recent addition of the new powder-mode motor_par() parameters in spec release 5.05.05-1 adversely affected use of powder mode with EPICS motors. This release should correct the problem.

Fix For spec Exiting On Start Up On Macro Hardware Macro Errors

Previously, during the initial hardware configuration for the case of macro hardware (see the mac_hdw help file), errors in the macro functions associated with the hardware that would normally cause spec to reset to command level would cause spec to exit. Now, spec will continue running, although the particular macro function call that contained the error will exit.