Experiment.config Reference Manual

The Experiment.config file is a shell script which defines key features of an instrument's configuration by defining shell variables. It should originate in your source directory and also be added to your .spec file on a line which reads:

	  SCRIPTS = Experiment.config
	

This will cause "make distribution" to copy this file to the GSE directory and/or the flight directory. In real flight configurations where a separate computer is used for data acquisition, Experiment.config must also be copied into the /home/flight directory. (More on that later)

Among other things, Experiment.config may contain the following:

Experiment=abc

HomeDir=/home/abc

These two lines are always required. The HomeDir must not be node-specific, since it should refer to both the GSE directory on the GSE node and the flight directory on the flight node.

FlightNode=3

This is usually not required, since the scripts should be able to locate the flight node via the Experiment name. This may be specified for ad-hoc experiments or simulations. It is very important that this agree with reality if specified.

For QNX6: Since node names are easily configurable, it is required that FlightNode be defined whenever using a dedicated parent loop (usually by invoking 'login flight' from tinit) and must not be defined when running ad hoc operations on a local node. The value is the node's simple hostname, e.g. FlightNode=tilde.

AltDir=//1/pc/home/abc

AltDir specifies an alternate location to find the flight directory. This is used when the flight filesystem is on removable media which might move to a different location for data analysis. The AltDir specification will only be used if the flight node is not found on the network.

Extractions="abcext ctsext"

This line replaces the definition of EXTRACTIONS in earlier versions of the reduce script. If defined, these extractions will be run during a "reduce".

Analysis='anal/crunch.sh $analdir'

Defines an executable (or executable script) to be invoked by reduce after any extractions have been performed. $analdir is a shell variable which defines where the extraction products (e.g. spreadsheets) are located. $directory is another variable which indicates where the raw data is located. If the script requires options, they should be included in the definition.

It is my practice to store Analysis scripts in the anal subdirectory, so a natural definition might be: Analysis='anal/script -f opt $analdir'. Note that single quotes must be used in this definition so the shell variables won't be expanded too early.

FixDisk=no

Referenced by saverun, this option determines whether the QNX chkfsys is run on the flight disk before any file copying is performed. The default is no.

CopyData=yes

Referenced by reduce, this option determines whether logged TM data is copied from the flight node to the GSE node. The default is yes. Specifying no does not disable extractions or analysis which will simply reference the raw data directly on the flight node. The extracted data will be place in the current directory and in subdirectories thereof.

CopyHook='. CopyHook'

If defined, reduce eval's this variable after data is copied.

CopySpace=5000

If defined, specifies the amount of space in KB that should be left on the target device after the data is copied. If the condition cannot be met, the copy is skipped and a warning message is issued, but the rest of the reduce operation continues.

SaveFiles="run.info"

When creating a run directory, saverun automatically copies all files in the HomeDir matching the patterns "*.pcm *.tmc *.prt *.tma *.sol tm.dac VERSION". SaveFiles is a list of additional files which saverun should copy. This is useful if you have custom configuration files which vary from run to run which you would like to save.

LogFiles="*.log"

LogFiles identifies files located in the HomeDir of the flight node that should be moved into the run directory by saverun. The default value of "*.log" will move the standard experiment log file, (and *.log should therefore be part of any LogFiles definition). Any directories which match these patterns will be ignored.

LogDirs="log*"

LogDirs identifies subdirectories that saverun should move into the run directory. Any regular files (non-directories) which match these patterns will be ignored.

RunLog="saverun.log"

RunLog indicates that the specified file should contain text describing the nature of the run. If the file is found in the run directory after all the SaveFiles, LogFiles and LogDirs have been processed, no further action is required. Otherwise, saverun will prompt the user to enter a description of the run which will be written to this file.

Dircksum=maybe

If set to "yes", specifies that dircksum should be run on all new run directories after all the files are moved and/or copied into it. If set to "no", dircksum will never be run. If set to "maybe", the user will be prompted to determine whether a dircksum is warranted unless the run has been designated a 'flight' run, in which case the "maybe" is promoted to "yes". If Dircksum is undefined, dircksum will be run for flight data only and not for any other run type.

Running dircksum can add a considerable amount of time to the processing of flight data, but experimenters should definitely consider enabling this option as one of the best methods of safeguarding the quality of their data as it is propogated from system to system.

RunType=raw/flight

Specifies the subdirectory under which new runs should be saved by saverun. The specified directory must be one of 'raw/flight', 'raw/preflt', 'raw/cal', 'raw/data', 'raw/junk' or 'ask'. In the case of 'ask', the user will be prompted for where to save the data. If RunType is unspecified, the runs are saved directly under the run directory.

SaverunHook='. SaveHook'

If defined, saverun eval's this variable after it is determined that there are log files worth saving and before the RunType has been determined.

QNX6 Script Selection Variables

These variables define what instrument operation script is run by the flight.sh script.

SCRIPT_OVERRIDE=/net/$FlightNode$HomeDir/script

EXP_NODES="hci hcigse"

SCRIPT_OVERRIDE allows a “doit” script to specify which startup script to run on the flight computer or to prevent any script from running. As such, it is strongly recommended for any instrument, and the value specified here is a useful default. The value of this variable is the name of a file that may contain the name of a script. If the file exists, the name of the script is read from the file, and the file is deleted.

As of flight-2.5.36, SCRIPT_OVERRIDE works in conjunction with the EXP_NODES variable to specify a script file location on any one of multiple nodes. If SCRIPT_OVERRIDE is not an absolute path (does not start with a slash), it is assumed to be a file name relative to the $HomeDir directory on any one of the nodes specified in the EXP_NODES variable. When using EXP_NODES, it is reasonable to set SCRIPT_OVERRIDE=script with no additional path information required.

EXP_NODES is also used by the distribute convenience command. When given no arguments, distribute runs make distribution with TGTNODE specified correctly for each node in $EXP_NODES.

PICKFILE='eval echo runfile.`sbswitch`'

If SCRIPT_OVERRIDE is not defined or the file it specifies does not exist and PICKFILE is defined, PICKFILE is eval'ed, and the output is the name of a script file.

RUNFILE=interact

If neither of the previous two cases apply and RUNFILE is defined, it is the name of the script to run. Otherwise the script name is runfile.dflt.

SUBBUSD=serusb

Since subbus access may be required by PICKFILE before the RUNFILE is executed, we need a place to start subbusd. If this variable is defined and /dev/huarp/subbus is not present, flight.sh will launch subbusd_$SUBBUSD before deciding what script to run. The currently available options are serusb and sc104.

SUBBUSD_DELAY=3

If SUBBUSD and SUBBUSD_DELAY are both defined, SUBBUSD_DELAY specifies the number of seconds to sleep before launching the specified subbusd driver. This may be necessary if the flight computer boot up time is shorter than the subbus device initialization.

NETWORK_DELAY=0

Specifies the number of seconds to sleep during instrument startup before checking for script files on the network. The default is 3 seconds. If set to 0, no delay will occur. It may make sense to defeat or reduce this delay if SUBBUSD_DELAY is defined.

LOOP_ON_FILE=saverun.log

If the named file exists after the instrument shuts down, flight.sh will automatically run reduce and then restart the instrument. The LOOP_ON_FILE should probably be the same file as that defined by RunLog. Also make sure that RunType is defined so saverun will not hang waiting for interaction.

RESTART_FILE=restart.txt

If the named file exists after the instrument shuts down, flight.sh will delete the file and automatically restart the instrument without running reduce.

OSUPDATEREQ

This is not a variable defined in Experiment.config at all. If flight.sh discovers a file named OSUPDATEREQ in the current directory during instrument startup, it will sleep until the file is deleted. This can make it easier to interrupt normal processing to update operating system or instrument files.

LOOP_START_FILE=loopstart.txt

This variable defines the name of a temporary file created and deleted by flight.sh as part of the looping control architecture. The default name is loopstart.txt and should rarely if ever need to be redefined.

LOOP_STOP_FILE=loopstop.txt

This variable defines the name of a temporary file created and deleted by flight.sh as part of the looping control architecture. The default name is loopstop.txt and should rarely if ever need to be redefined.

Additional definitions may be added over time and should be documented here when added. Ambitious experimenters are encouraged to add their own experiment-specific configuration information to this file. I will be happy to help implement such an approach.

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