EPICS: VME Smart Analog Monitor

This page is the home of the EPICS driver and device support for the VME Smart Analog Module (VSAM). This site gives access to the software source code, information on other modules which are needed to install and run it, and documentation on how to include and use this software in your EPICS applications. Please email any comments and bug reports to Stephanie Allison who is responsible for coordinating development and releases.

Hardware Supported

The software can drive the following types of hardware: For hardware assistance, please contact BiRa Systems (current contact name is Phil Biswell).

Make sure the VSAM module has the newest firmware revision (Version 3 or above). BaBar has reported a calibration problem with the older versions. When the voltage is near 0, it sometimes fluxuates negative, and in this case when performing a calibration, the module gets stuck and never exits the calibration cycle.
 

Where to Find it

You can download the software by anonymous ftp  from the links in the table below:
 
 
Module Version EPICS Release Filename Documentation Release Notes Known Bugs
R1.0
R3.13.2
 vsam.tar.gz
See Below
release notes
bugs

Installation and Building

After obtaining a copy of the distribution, it must be installed and built for use at your site. These steps only need to be performed once for the site (unless versions of the module running under different releases of EPICS and/or the other required modules are needed).
  1. Start with an existing EPICS application directory and cd to the src directory.
  2. Unpacking the distribution tar file produces a <vsam> directory.
  3. If you do not have the vmeCardRecord available to your application, comment out references to "devVSAMCard" in vsam/src/Makefile.Vx or download vmeCardRecord.tar.gz and util.tar.gz and unpack them at the same level as vsam.
  4. If using vmeCardRecord, add vmeCardRecord to your src/Makefile.
  5. Next, add vsam to your src/Makefile and run gnumake. Check for any compilation errors.
  6. When using the vsam in your application, you'll want to include devVSAM.dbd along with the normal base.dbd files when building your local applications's database definition file. If you are using vmeCardRecord, also include vmeCardRecord.dbd and devVSAMCard.dbd. See vsam/src/VSAMInclude.dbd for an example. You'll also want to include vsamLib, and vmeCardRecord.o if using vmeCardRecord, in src/Makefile.Vx when building your application's library.
  7. See vsam/html/VSAM_ioc_mods for vxWorks kernel modification to perform A24/D32 accesses.
  8. See vsam/html/VSAM-HOW-TO for adding VSAM_init to your IOC startup script and address switch information.
  9. Example databases and templates reside in vsam/db.
  10. Example DM displays reside in vsam/dl. Old gif images of some of these displays are:
      11. VSAM 0
      Data for Channel 0 of VSAM 0
      Detail Data for Channel 0 of VSAM 0
      VSAM Module.
  11. Please email  Stephanie Allison  so she can keep track of which sites are using this software.

Documentation

The following documentation is available:

In Use

This software was originally developed by Susanna Jacobson (LBL) and is now maintained by the SLAC ESD Software group.  The VSAM software  is currently used at the following EPICS sites:
Stephanie Allison