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EPICS Record Reference Manual
Preface
This is a new version of the EPICS Record Reference Manual. It replaces
the format and organization of the previous versions. It was rewritten
to make the EPICS database and its records easier to understand, and an
introductory chapter, Chapter
1, has been added to explain basic database concepts, which
will hopefully be very helpful to new EPICS users. The remaining
chapters all discuss each individual record, occasionally referring back
to the introductory chapter when basic concepts are referred to, i.e.,
how monitors work, how database scanning works, etc.
Although this manual has attempted to be as thorough as possible, it is
not yet complete. Hopefully, with more work and additions, it will be
something the user can refer to in order to answer just about any
question on any detail of any particular record.
Organization
This manual consists of an introductory chapter that explains basic
database concepts, (Chapter
1), a chapter which explains fields common to all records, a
third chapter which explains fields common to many records, and chapters
which explain each individual record. The chapter on fields common to
all records summarizes the characteristics of the fields which all
records contain, though all records may not use all of them. The
chapters on the individual records discuss the fields particular to each
record. Of course, there is some overlap because some of the fields
common to all record types function peculiarly within an individual
record; however, this overlap has been kept to a minimum.
Conventions
There are many typeface and font variations intended to help the reader.
The most important is the use of the Courier font to indicate literal
strings, strings which should be entered as they appear in a field. For
instance, some fields have a set menu of choices. When configuring the
database, the choice which the user enters in the field must exactly
match one of the menu choices (at least for those who are use Capfast as
their database configuration tool). These choices appear in Courier
font so that the reader can distinguish them from surrounding text. For
instance, here is a passage from the analog output record explaining the
OMSL field:
The first field that determines where the desired output originates is
the output mode select field (OSML), which can have two possible
values--closed_loop
or supervisory
. If supervisory
is specified, the value in the VAL field can be set externally via
dbPuts at run-time.
Here supervisory
and closed_loop
, the two
possible choices in the OMSL fields, appear in Courier font and must be
entered as is.
Record Tables
The chapter on the fields common to all record types, the chapter on the
fields common to many record types, and the chapters on each record
contain tables which present certain characteristics about each field.
The format of these tables appears similar to the following which comes
from the CPID record:
Field | Summary | Type | DCT | Initial | Access | Modify | Rec
Proc Monitor | PP |
---|
OUT | Output Link | OUTLINK | Yes | 0 | No | No | N/A | No |
ORBL | Output Readback Location | INLINK | Yes | | No | No | No | No |
more fields | . . . | . . . | . . . | .
. . | . . . | . . . | . . . | . . . |
more fields | . . . | . . . | . . . | .
. . | . . . | . . . | . . . | . . . |
The tables present the following information:
- The Field column contains the literal name of the
particular field as it appears in the database.
- The Summary column contains the full name
of the field.
- The Type column gives the EPICS type of the
field. These types are defined in the <dbFldTypes.h>.
- The DCT column indicates whether the field
is configurable prior to run-time.
- The Initial column contains the default
initialization value of the field.
- The Access column indicates whether the
field can be accessed by the database routines for reading purposes.
- The Modify column indicates whether the
field can be changed at run-time, for example, by the operator.
- The Rec Proc Monitor column indicates
whether or not the field is monitored at run-time for changes.
- The PP or process passive column indicates
whether writing to this field will cause the record to process.
Inaccuracies
There may be some inaccuracies when describing each of the records in
Chapters 3-37. Each of these chapters describes an individual record.
Considering the number of record types and support modules now included
in the EPICS release and the rate at which they are updated, it's
certain that some of the information contained in the description of
each of the records either is outdated or was never accurate. In either
case, if an inaccuracy is noted, please bring to the attention of the
author by sending a brief message describing where the inaccuracy is and
what it is (stanley@luke.atdiv.lanl.gov).
-
Organization
-
- Conventions
-
- Record
Tables
-
- Inaccuracies
-
EPICS Record Reference Manual - 19 MAY 1998
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