Re: iocLogServer change?

[Matthias Clausen <Matthias.Clausen@desy.de>]

Allison, Stephanie wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> We're looking at upgrading iocLogServer so that it either writes messages to a file, like it does now, or forwards the messages to the cmlogServer (which would make iocLogServer be a cmlog client).  We think it's easier to do this than to port the CMLOG client and daemon, and particularly ACE, to our RTEMS IOCs.  Part of this effort would also be to add support for messages that contain both ASCII text and other ASCII "tags" like facility, status, severity, and task name.
>
> Any comments?  Dumb idea?  Anybody interested in something like this?  Should it be done in such a way that it can go into some future EPICS base version with the new features enabled via some configure file?  Or left unbundled?
>
> Thanks,
thanks from my side to bring this point up.

What about a general message service?
What about using some existing message service?
Looking into the future we will need message services also in many other places. So - if we can get the message service down to the IOC, into the client applications (EPICS Office) and use it for alarm messages ...

There's a 'standard' in Java - namely JMS Java Message Service which runs over several protocols and provides (in OpenJMS) access to databases and files etc. as your storage. (cmlog might be another store - if you prefer it)
We are looking into it for alarm messages, mails as messages and message filters. 
Currently running is:
Mail-Server -> JMS to -> JMS Server -> JMS-Client subscribes -> JMS-Client -> SMS applications -> GSM-(phone) modem -> send SMS to GSM phones.
The JMS Sever can be fed from various places with messages. Clients can subscribe (i.e. JMS->cmlog forwarder)

We have not yet looked into an implementation on the IOC. But it could well replace all different kind of message services and their individual protocols to use only one.
We are envisioning to actually push any alarm via a message service to a central alarm server. Alarm clients would subscribe to the alarm server and not to the IOC.
The JMS MAP message type can be used to send 'structured' messages which contain several properties which we might want to get instead of a long string which we have to parse afterwards.


Comments?

> Stephanie Allison
> SLAC/SSRL, SLAC/LCLS
>  


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthias Clausen                         Cryogenic Controls Group(MKS-2)
phone:  +49-40-8998-3256                Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron
fax:    +49-40-8994-3256                                    Notkestr. 85
e-mail: Matthias.Clausen@desy.de                           22607 Hamburg
WWW-MKS2.desy.de                                                 Germany
------------------------------------------------------------------------