Re: Naming bits in an mbbiDirect record

[André Favoto via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>]

@Ralph Lange, given all considerations discussed on this (long!) thread, I agree that making info() accessible is the best and impact-free approach. Thanks for the discussion.

I could not find a issue or WIP PR related to that, is there one?

@Rolf Keitel, for what is worth:

•  I wouldn't want to see the introduction of  <device>.<signal>  alternatives.

Me neither! The proposal was to have fixed fields that carry strings with your <signal> name, such as .B0NM, .B1NM, etc, not making "signal" itself the field. It would be a nightmare indeed. 

Best Regards,

André Favoto

---

From: Tech-talk <tech-talk-bounces at aps.anl.gov> on behalf of Rolf Keitel via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>
Sent: Monday, 07 September 2026 17:23:08
To: tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>
Subject: Re: Naming bits in an mbbiDirect record

 

IMHO, adding descriptive fields for he B... bits in the mbbiDirect records and use them as PVs would make it more difficult to maintain a consistent naming convention.

We use throughout  something like <device>:<signal> and - where required - use bi records linked to the .B..  bits to establish the <signal> part.  I wouldn't want to see the introduction of  <device>.<signal>  alternatives.

- rolf -

On 2026-09-07 7:48 a.m., Ralph Lange via Tech-talk wrote:

We're on the same page, good!

Back to the labeling topic.

I have nothing against labels, in fact: I like them, because they make things clearer.

However, I really prefer the "remote access to info() fields" idea, as it doesn't add per-instance memory footprint unless used and it provides a single solution, valid for all records types (including locally developed ones and all those to come).

Once we add labels to mbbiDirect, I can immediately see them in the request pipeline for mbboDirect (labeling command bits), calc (describing the inputs), scalc (same), seq (labeling the steps), select (labeling the inputs), etc etc.

With info() fields remotely accessible, that would all be possible from day one.

Cheers,
~Ralph

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Rolf Keitel, Ph.D.(he/him, er/ihm, il/lui, él/él, lui/lui, 彼/彼)
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