Solenoid Cycle Definitions v3.0

Contents

• Introduction
• Tutorial
• Reference
• .sol File Syntax
• .sft File Format

Introduction

Tutorial

        solenoid A 22 23 14
        solenoid B 24 25 15

Next, we specify the time resolution we want:

        resolution = 1/4

        mode 0 {
          A: OOOO:OO__:____:__OO
          B: ____:_OOO:____:____
        }

        mode 0 {
          A: OOOO:OO__:____:__OO
          B: ____:_OOO:____:____

          A: OOOO:OO__:___O:_O_O
          B: ____:_OOO:OOO_:O_O_
        }

        open = '<open character>'
        close = '<close character>'

        DtoA C 0E10 { L:50 M:1000 H:4000 }

        mode 1 {
          C: LLLL:LLMM:MHHM:MMLL
          C: LLLL:LLMM:HMML:MLML
        }

        Proxy D { L:3 M:4 H:7 }

Proxies are used on the ER-2 OH experiment to drive the laser on and off line. The laser is actually controlled by the indexer control program. That program must register the appropriate proxies with soldrv before the laser can be cycled.

There is one other significant character on a cycle definition line. This is the "switch character" which is permanently defined as the caret (^). The switch character is used to identify good points for mode changes. By carefully placing switch characters within your solenoid cycles, you can guarantee that each cycle will run to completion before an alternate mode is selected.

You may add any other characters as desired to make the text more readable. In the above examples, I used colons to designate whole seconds. The main limitation on the mode specification is that the cycles specified for each of the solenoids must be of the same length.

Solenoids which are not being cycled may be set to defined positions by use of the initialize command. If at the beginning of Mode 0 above we typed:

        initialize A:O

There are an arbitrary number of possible modes. Each mode consists of initializations and/or cycle definitions. An undefined mode performs neither initializations nor cycles. Conversely, a mode that does neither is considered undefined. A mode with no cycle defined performs any specified initializations and then waits for another mode to be selected. Hence, initializations may be considered the "d.c. component" of a mode definition.

In addition to initializations and cycle definition lines, a mode may contain the command:

        select <MODE-NUMBER>

Reference

solenoid <solenoid name> <open> <close> <status>

This command identifies a solenoid by giving it a name and defining the discrete commands which will open and close it and the status bit which will report its current position. < open> and <close> are the respective discrete command numbers. <status> is the status bit number, usually a non-negative integer less than 32.

DtoA <DtoA name> <address> { <Set Points> }

DtoA defines a digital to analog converter for set point selection. Like the solenoids, each D/A channel is given a name and the subbus address is specified. Unlike the solenoids, the D/A channels may have more than two states. Each entry within the curly braces defines a single set point by specifying a character and a value (C:<value>). The value is an unsigned decimal integer within the range of the D/A converter. The set point characters defined with this statement are local to a particular D/A channel and may be reused in other D/A channels as desired.

Proxy <Proxy name> { <Set Points> }

Proxy defines a device which is controlled through proxies. Each state of the device has a proxy ID associated with it. When a state is specified, the associated proxy is triggered. Proxy IDs must be less then 256. (see Tutorial for an example.)

open = '<open character>'

close = '<close character>'

These two commands define the characters which are used in all the solenoid mode definitions to indicate opened and closed solenoids. The default character for open is `O' and for closed is `_'.

status_bytes { <addresses> }

This command allows for the specification of the addresses of the status bytes. The addresses are hexadecimal integers. The default addresses are 408, 40A, 411, and 413 which correspond to the status input ports on the digital input board used on the ER-2 ClO and ABLE-3A experiments. These are not the addresses used on ABLE-3B which uses the new digio board. Any functionality associated with this command is purely imaginary. The syntax is maintained for compatibility alone.

resolution = <number>/<number>

Resolution defines the time quantum for the following modes in fractions of a second.

mode <number> { <mode defs> }

routine <routine name> { <valving defs> }

Mode and routine define the actual solenoid cycles which will be executable. The numbers associated with a mode are the numbers which will actually be used to invoke a particular mode long after all the mnemonics have been stripped away. Routines are a simple form of subroutine useful in mode definitions. Solfmt produces an in-line compilation of routines within modes and does not allow for any nesting of routines or recursion.

select <mode number>

This command is used within a mode or routine to indicate that soldrv should switch immediately to the indicated mode. This is useful for calibration modes which do not need to cycle, but can automatically switch over to the operational mode upon completion.

Solenoid File Syntax

The solenoid file consists of any number of commands:

    commands
      : [ command ... ]

    command
      : solenoid <SOL-NAME> <NUMBER> <NUMBER> <NUMBER>
      : DtoA <SET-NAME> <ADDRESS> { Set-Point [ Set-Point ... ] }
      : Proxy <SET-NAME> { Set-Point [ Set-Point ... ] }
      : open = '<open-character>'
      : close = '<close-character>'
      : status_bytes { [ <ADDRESS> ... ] }
      : resolution =  <NUMBER>/<NUMBER>
      : mode <MODE-NUMBER> { mode-defs }
      : routine <routine-name> { routine-defs }

    mode-defs
      :  null
      :  <routine-name> mode-defs
      :  valving-def mode-defs
      :  select <MODE-NUMBER>

    routine-defs
      :  null
      :  valving-def routine-defs
      :  select <MODE-NUMBER>

    valving-def
      :  initialize <SOL-NAME> : solenoid-character
      :  initialize <SET-NAME> : set-character
      :  <SOL-NAME> : [ solenoid-character ... ]
      :  <SET-NAME> : [ set-character ... ]

    solenoid-character
      : <open-character>
      : <close-character>
      : <switch-character>
      : <fill-character>

    set-character
      : <set-point-character>
      : <switch-character>
      : <fill-character>

    Set-Point
      : <set-point-character> : <NUMBER>

.sft File Format

        int version;
        char command_set;
        int n_solenoids;
        struct {
          int open_cmd;
          int close_cmd;
          int status_addr;
          int status_mask;
        } solenoids[n_solenoids];
        int n_set_points;
        struct {
          int address;
          int value;
        } set_points[n_set_points];
        int n_proxies;
        unsigned char proxy_ids[n_proxies];
        int n_modes;
        int mode_indices[n_modes];
        int n_bytes;
        char mode_codes[n_bytes];

n_solenoids is the total number of solenoids that have been defined.

For each defined solenoid, the open_cmd, close_cmd, status_addr, and status_mask are recorded. The open_cmd and close_cmd are the numbers for the discrete commands that open and close the solenoid. The associated status bit may be found by anding the status_mask with the contents of subbus address status_addr.

n_set_points is the total number of set points which have been defined. Each set point is defined by a subbus address and the value that should be written out to that address.

n_proxies is the total number of proxies defined. proxy_ids contain the IDs for the proxies.

n_modes is the maximum mode number defined plus one. mode_indices is an array of pointers into the mode_codes array indicating where the program for that mode begins.

n_bytes determines the length of the mode_codes array. The mode_codes array itself is a simple compiled code for operating the solenoid cycles. There are five command codes defined as follows:

SOL_STROBES 0: The following byte is the number of a discrete command to be executed.

SOL_WAIT 1: Wait for a significant event triggered by the timer (which has already been programmed.)

SOL_SET_TIME 2: The next two bytes are a count to be written to the timer. The timer should be programmed using mode three (square wave.)

SOL_GOTO 3: The next two bytes are the index of the next instruction.

SOL_END_MODE 4: No action should be taken until a new mode is selected. Equivalent to a Halt instruction.

SOL_WAITS 5: Wait for n significant events, where n is the value of the next byte.

SOL_SELECT 6: Select mode number n, where n is the value of the next byte.

SOL_MSWOK 7: Indicates that a mode switch is allowable. If a mode switch is pending, it will occur at this point.

SOL_DTOA 8: The following byte is a set point index. The corresponding value should be written out to the corresponding address.

SOL_PROXY 9: The following byte is a proxy index. The index is not the proxy ID, but rather the index into the array defined in the .SFT file. If the appropriate proxy has been registered, it should be triggered.

SOL_MULT_STROBES 10: The remainder of this record matches the format for the SCDC multi-strobe command, allowing simultaneous switching of solenoids.

Throughout the .sft file, all integers are stored as two bytes with the least significant byte stored first.