Re: autosave -- NOWRITE pvs request

["Mooney, Tim M. via Tech-talk" <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>]

Hi Kristi,

This is one reason that we use autosaveBuild, instead of info fields, to allow a database developer to specify a default set of PVs for each instance of that database.  In some cases, it's essential for a database developer to be able to specify autosaved PVs, because the database depends on those PVs to restore its internal state.  In other cases a new version of a database needs a new version of the request file, and it's helpful for those files to be released together in a module version.  But sometimes an end user needs to override those choices, and autosaveBuild supports this with a directory list.

For each database, we have an autosave-request file, and this will be used if no user-written request file is found.  But request files are searched for in the order that directories that might contain request files were specified.  We often specify the IOC boot directory as one place request files might be found, and list it first so a file there will override the database developers default request file.

For example, these two commands:

    set_requestfile_path(startup, "")

    set_requestfile_path(area_detector, "ADApp/Db")

tell autosave to look in the IOC directory before looking in the areaDetector directory for request files, and this allows you to copy the request file from areaDetector, edit it to meet your needs, and place it in the IOC directory.

I did not answer your question about a NOWRITE option because I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean, and I haven't thought of a good place to put such an option.

Tim Mooney (mooney at anl.gov) (630)252-5417
Beamline Controls Group (www.aps.anl.gov)
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Lab

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From: Tech-talk <tech-talk-bounces at aps.anl.gov> on behalf of Luchini, Kristi L. via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2021 6:17 PM
To: tech-talk at aps.anl.gov <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>
Subject: RE: autosave -- NOWRITE pvs request

 

Hi,

 

I’m having the following issue using autosave, where my ioc application  includes a number of epics modules/driver, which use the info field on many pvs.  This means that the ioc application does not have  control over what is being saved, unless I override the pvs in my application.  Now in my application, I could save local pvs  in a manually generated  req file, and initially auto-generate the standard autosave files, edit those files and give them unique filenames and load these manually, not using the auto-generate feature. However, numerous application are going to use these modules/driver and will have the same issues and will need to duplicate this work. So I’d  like some way to turn off the save feature for some pvs in the “req” list.  

 

For example:

If a “NOWRITE” option that could be set per pvs is available, then I could turn off the “info” field for select pv fields, so that the “req” file auto-generated would not include these pvs or would include them but comment them out, so that the monitor would skip those pvs.

 

Is this feature or is there another method that other have used to solve this same problem?

 

Thanks,

-          Kristi Luchini