Epicure Design Note 124.1
Beamline Tuning Graphical Display (BeamTune)
John DeVoy
June 24, 1993
The Beamline Tuning Graphical Display
(BeamTune)
will be an X Window application
that will graphically display loss monitor and SEM readings.
The readings will be displayed as two histograms:
One for the loss monitors and one for the SEM's.
The program is intended to assist
beamline physicists
and
operations personnel
with monitoring and tuning
beam in the experimental areas.
BeamTune will be customizable on a per-user basis;
the user will be able select the
individual loss monitors and SEMS to be displayed,
and will be able to modify the scaling and
normalization factors used to plot the readings.
A particular set of customizations will be referred to
as a
view.
Multiple views may be defined
with the user being able to change the view at any time.
The following discussion is organized according
to the various screens defined by the program.
Each major section is devoted to one screen.
The pull down menus defined by a particular screen
will be described in subsections.
Main screen
The
main screen
will contain the two histograms displaying the
loss monitor and SEM readings,
and assorted control buttons that affect how the data
is displayed.
Drawing
number
one contains a sketch of the proposed main screen layout.
The histogram on the left
will display
the loss monitor readings.
If the display mode is
absolute,
the y-axis will be labeled with a range of
zero to ten volts,
otherwise it will labelled as a percentage
(the display modes are described later).
The height of each bar
will be
proportional to the reading of the corresponding device.
If the reading
is below a certain value,
called the warning threshold,
then the color of the bar will be the
normal color
(the default will be green).
If the reading exceeds the
warning threshold,
the color of the bar will change to
the
warning color
(the default will be yellow).
If the reading exceeds another value,
called the alarm threshold,
the bar will
change to the
alarm color
(the default will be red).
The warning and alarm thresholds
will be individually settable
for each device
using the the
modify loss monitor screen.
If a particular device returns an error status,
(such as LINKABORT)
then
the color of the
corresponding bar will change to black,
and its height will extend to the maximum possible.
The text
of the error message
will be available
on the
loss monitor summary screen.
If a loss monitor saturates,
(i.e. the reading is the maximum the hardware is capable of providing)
a small red triangle will appear above the bar.
Just below the loss monitor histogram
will be a row of toggle buttons.
These buttons will control whether the background
radiation is subtracted from the data before it is displayed.
If the toggle button under a bar is pressed in,
(this will be the default)
then the background radiation is being subtracted.
If the button is out,
then the background is not being subtracted.
Background subtraction will be settable
for each device individually.
These toggle buttons will be made as small
as practically possible in order to minimize the
amount of space they take up.
Below the toggle buttons described above
will be a row of labels identifying the devices
in the histogram.
Each label will contain the name of the device
using sideways text.
The user will be able to
select
a particular loss monitor by clicking the left mouse button
anywhere in the label or bar corresponding to that
loss monitor.
For the remainder of this section,
any reference to the
selected
loss monitor will refer to a loss
monitor selected this way.
To the left and right
of the label buttons will be two arrow buttons.
Pressing the left arrow button will exchange the selected
loss monitor with the loss monitor to the left.
Correspondingly,
pressing the right button will exchange the loss monitor
with the one to the right.
Thus the user may order the loss monitors to taste,
regardless of the order in which they were inserted into the histogram.
Underneath the labels will be an option button allowing the user
to select the loss monitor display modes.
There are three display modes:
absolute,
normalize to SEM
(illustrated in drawing one),
and
normalize to constant.
In
absolute
mode,
the voltage reading of the loss monitor
will be
displayed.
The y-axis
will be
labelled with a range of zero to ten volts.
In
normalize to SEM
mode the value that is
displayed
will be
normalized to a SEM.
The particular SEM to be used,
along with the normalization constant,
will be settable
for each loss monitor
using the
modify loss monitor screen.
The y-axis
will be
labelled with a range of zero to one hundred percent.
In
normalize to constant
mode the value that is
displayed
will be
normalized to a constant.
The constant
will be settable
using the
modify loss monitor screen.
The y-axis
will be
labelled with a range of zero to one hundred percent.
Underneath the display mode option button
will be a push button labelled
summary.
Pushing this button will cause the loss monitor summary screen to pop up.
The histogram on the right will display the SEM readings.
Note that the histogram
will
not
be
constrained to contain only SEMs;
the user may include other devices,
such as scintillation counters or ionization chambers,
as desired.
For convenience,
all of the devices in the SEM histogram will be referred to as
SEMs,
with it being understood that some may actually be other types of devices.
There is no relationship between the number of SEMs in the SEM
histogram and the number of
loss monitors in the loss monitor histogram.
The user
may
select as many or as few devices
as are necessary to provide the needed information.
Like the loss monitor histogram,
the bars of the SEM histogram will be color coded,
with the user able to set alarm and warning thresholds
independently for each device.
To allow for the fact that too little beam is as much a reason for concern as too much,
the user will also be able to set alarm and warning thresholds
for
readings
that
go too low.
Saturation
indicators
will not be available on the SEM histogram.
The
labels,
arrow buttons,
background subtraction toggle buttons,
and
summary buttons
are
all
similar to the corresponding features of the loss monitor histogram.
A SEM may be
selected
in a manner similar to
that of
the loss monitors.
The display mode option button will allow the user to select one of two display modes:
absolute,
and
normalize to request.
In
absolute
mode,
the logarithm of the reading from the SEM will be displayed.
The y-axis will be labelled with a range of nine to fourteen.
In
normalize to request,
mode the reading will be normalized to the requested value for a
particular beamline.
The y-axis will be labelled with a percentage,
with the user able to specify the maximum and minimum values.
On the very bottom of the main screen,
a time stamp
will be displayed indicating
the time that the last round of data was collected
(to the nearest second).
Thus,
if the user gets a screen dump,
the printout
will be
automatically dated.
A set of
pull down menus will be available on the menu bar of the main screen.
In order,
from left to right,
they are:
File menu
The file menu will contain a single item:
``Exit''.
Selecting exit will quit the program.
The user may be asked for confirmation if unsaved changes have been made.
Edit menu
The edit menu will contain items allowing the user to
add,
modify,
and delete
devices from the loss monitor and SEM histograms.
View menu
The view menu will contain a list of views that the user has saved.
By selecting one of the views listed
the user can restore a view that was previously saved
(the options menu subsection describes what is contained in a view
and how to save a view).
The name of the view will be used in the title bar of the main screen;
the string used will be of the form
``BeamTune: <view name>''.
Devices menu
The devices menu will contain items that allow the user to
pop up windows containing lists of various types of devices.
The user may then use the mouse to paste the name of the device into a text field.
For example:
let us say that
the user has popped up the modify loss monitor screen for a particular
loss monitor,
and wants to specify that the loss monitor should be normalized to a particular SEM.
The user could just type the name of the SEM into the appropriate text field.
But,
if the user has forgotten the name of the SEM,
he could use the devices menu to pop up a list of all the SEMs
that are
currently defined in the database.
The user may now either cut and paste the name of the SEM into the text field,
or type it directly.
Initial plans are to include lists of
loss monitors,
SEMs,
ionization chambers,
and scintillation counters.
Options menu
The options menu will contain items that allow the user to
customize the application.
The following,
will be included:
- Data FTD:
-
Selecting this item will allow the user to set the time at which the data
should be
collected.
A typical time might be T6 plus some offset.
The time specified will be used for all of the devices;
it will not
be specifiable on a per device basis.
- Background FTD:
-
Selecting this item will allow the user to set the time at which the background reading
of the devices is determined.
If enabled for a particular device,
the reading returned at this time will be subtracted from the reading returned at the above time.
A typical time might be T4.
The time specified will be used for all of the devices;
it will not
be specifiable on a per device basis.
- Colors:
-
Selecting this item will allow the user to set the
normal,
alarm,
warning,
and
error colors.
This item will not be available if the program is being displayed on a monochrome screen.
- Replay:
-
Selecting this item will cause BeamTune to redisplay
(at one second intervals)
the last five data sets collected.
- Save View:
-
Selecting this item will allow the user to save the current view.
All of the views will be saved in the file
``DECW$USER_DEFAULTS:BT$PROFILE.BT$DAT''.
The user will be presented with a list of the views that have already been created.
The user may select one of these views,
or type the name of a new view.
If an existing view is selected,
it will be overwritten.
Otherwise,
a new view will be created and added to the file.
The data that make up a view will include the following:
- Location of the main screen on the user's workstation screen.
- The devices that have been selected for display in the loss monitor and SEM histograms.
- The thresholds at which each device goes into warning or alarm.
- Whether each device has its background value subtracted.
- The current display mode for each histogram.
- The data FTD, background FTD and colors described above.
- Unsave View:
-
Selecting this item will allow the user to delete a view from the file
``DECW$USER_DEFAULTS:BT$PROFILE.BT$DAT''.
The user will be presented with a list from which to choose.
- Default View:
-
Selecting this item will allow the user to select the view that should
be shown when the program starts.
The user will be presented with a list from which to choose.
Help menu
The help menu will contain items that allow the user to pop up a context sensitive help screen.
All of the screens created by BeamTune will have either a help button,
or a help menu.
Loss Monitor Summary Screen
The loss monitor summary screen
will be popped up by pressing the summary button under the loss monitor histogram on the main screen.
It
will
contain the exact readings of each of the loss monitors
being
displayed.
Drawing number two contains a sketch of the proposed layout.
Each loss monitor
will be
displayed in one row containing the following data:
- A small red triangle if the loss monitor is saturated.
- The name of the loss monitor.
- The current (absolute) reading.
- The current reading as normalized to a SEM,
expressed as a percentage.
The name of the SEM in question follows in parentheses.
- The current reading as normalized to a constant value,
expressed as a percentage.
The constant follows in parentheses.
If a particular loss monitor is returning an error code,
or if it is in one of the normalization modes and no SEM or constant has been specified,
then
the text corresponding to the error will be displayed instead of the reading.
Between the first loss monitor and the menu bar is a region
containing the name of the view on the main screen and a time stamp.
As data is updated on the main screen,
the readings shown in the summary screen will be updated as well.
There is no reason that the user could not keep the summary screen popped up indefinitely.
The user may
select
a loss monitor by clicking the left mouse button
anywhere on the row containing the loss monitor.
The following pull down menus will be available on the menu bar:
File menu
The file menu will contain a single item:
``Close''.
Selecting close will make the loss monitor summary screen go away.
The user may pop it up again at any time.
View menu
The view menu will contain two items:
``expand''
and
``collapse''.
Selecting expand will cause five new rows to be added to the display under the
selected loss monitor
(see above for how to
select
a loss monitor).
The loss monitors that were under the selected loss monitor will be moved down to make room
(if there isn't room in the window,
scroll bars will be added).
The five new rows will contain the five previous readings for that loss monitor.
More than one loss monitor may be expanded at once.
Selecting collapse will cause the reverse to happen:
the selected loss monitor will once again display only its current value.
Help menu
The help menu will contain items that allow the user to pop up a context sensitive help screen.
SEM Summary Screen
The
SEM
summary screen
will be popped up by pressing the summary button under the
SEM
histogram on the main screen.
Drawing number three contains a sketch of the proposed layout.
The data shown on the
SEM
summary screen
will be
very similar
to the
data on the
loss monitor summary screen.
Modify Loss Monitor Screen
The modify loss monitor screen
will allow the user to modify
the
parameters
(thresholds, normalization constants, etc.)
associated with a loss monitor.
Drawing number four contains a sketch of the proposed layout.
It
will be popped up if the user selects
the menu item
``add loss monitor''
from the edit menu on the main screen,
or if the users selects a particular loss monitor
and then selects
``modify device''
from the edit menu.
This screen will not have a menu bar;
instead, it will have
a row of push buttons in a row along the bottom of the screen.
The buttons are as follows:
- OK:
-
Pressing this button will cause any changes the user may have made to take effect,
and will cause the screen to go away.
- Apply:
-
Pressing this button will cause any changes the user may have made to take effect,
but will leave the screen popped up.
- Reset:
-
Pressing this button will undo any changes the user has made since
the screen was popped up, or since the user pressed the apply button.
- Cancel:
-
Pressing this button will cause the screen to go away,
without applying any changes the user may have made
(unless the user has already pressed the apply button.)
- Help:
-
Pressing this button will cause a help screen to pop up.
The modify loss monitor screen
will be
divided
into three sections.
The first section will contain the following fields and buttons:
- Loss Monitor:
-
A text field containing
the name of the loss monitor.
If the
modify loss monitor screen
was popped up in order to add a device,
this field will be blank,
and the user will
be
expected to type in the name of a device.
If the user is modifying a loss monitor that is being displayed
on the main screen,
then typing a new name will replace the existing loss monitor with the new one.
BeamTune will not check that the device really is a loss monitor;
this implies that the user could select any device that
``looks like''
a loss monitor
(i.e. any device that has a readback of zero to ten volts).
- Subtract Background:
-
A toggle button indicating whether the background reading should be subtracted from this device.
If it is pressed in
(the default),
then the background will be subtracted.
Toggling this button will cause the corresponding button
under the loss monitor histogram
on the main screen to
also
change state
(and vice versa).
- Alarm Threshold:
-
A text field containing
the reading at which the
color of the
bar corresponding to this device in the
loss monitor histogram should turn
should become the alarm color.
The user may type any value between zero and ten volts.
This threshold,
and the warning threshold
(below),
will be
applicable only when the display mode for the loss monitor histogram
is set to
absolute.
- Warning Threshold:
-
A text field containing
the reading at which the
color of the
bar corresponding to this device
should become the warning color.
The user may type any value between zero and ten volts.
The
second
section
will
specify how the loss monitor is to be normalized to a SEM.
This data will be
applicable only when the display mode for the loss monitor histogram
is set to
normalize to SEM.
The following fields
will be defined:
- Normalize to SEM:
-
A text
field
containing the name of the SEM to normalize to.
The user may type the name of any SEM;
the SEM does not necessarily have to be one that is displayed in the SEM histogram.
It will be OK to leave this field blank;
if left blank,
and
the user selects
normalize to SEM as the display mode,
the bar corresponding to the loss monitor will behave as if an error status
has been returned
(i.e. it will go full-scale,
and turn black).
The reason for the apparent error will be shown on the loss monitor summary screen.
- Normalization Constant:
-
A text
field
containing the normalization constant.
The user may type any floating point value.
- Formula:
-
A text
field
containing the formula to be used for normalization.
This field is for the user's information only.
The text that will be displayed will depend on the state of the subtract background
toggle button described above:
If
the
background
value
is being
subtracted from the reading,
then the text will be:
[(LM - BK)/(SEM - BK)] constant;
otherwise,
it will be:
(LM/SEM) constant.
- Alarm Threshold:
-
A text field containing
the
normalized value
at which the
color of the
bar corresponding to this device in the
loss monitor histogram should become the alarm color.
The user may type any value between zero and one hundred percent.
- Warning Threshold:
-
A text field containing
the
normalized value
at which the
color of the
bar corresponding to this device
should become the warning color.
The user may type any value between zero and one hundred percent.
The
third
section
will
specify how the loss monitor is to be normalized to a
constant.
This data will be
applicable only when the display mode for the loss monitor histogram
is set to
normalize to constant.
The following fields
will be defined:
- Normalize to Constant:
-
A text
field
containing the
constant
to normalize to.
The user may type
in any value between zero and ten volts.
It will be OK to leave this field blank;
in that case if the user selects
normalize to constant
as the display mode,
the bar corresponding to the loss monitor will behave as if an error status
has been returned
(i.e. it will go full-scale,
and turn black).
The reason for the apparent error will be shown on the loss monitor summary screen.
- Formula:
-
A text
field
containing the formula to be used for normalization.
This field is for the user's information only.
The text that will be displayed will depend on the state of the subtract background
toggle button described above:
If
the
background
value
is being
subtracted from the reading,
then the text will be:
(LM - BK)/constant;
otherwise,
it will be:
LM/constant.
- Alarm Threshold:
-
A text field containing
the
normalized value
at which the
color of the
bar corresponding to this device in the
loss monitor histogram should become the alarm color.
The user may type any value between zero and one hundred percent.
- Warning Threshold:
-
A text field containing
the
normalized value
at which the
color of the
bar corresponding to this device
should become the warning color.
The user may type any value between zero and one hundred percent.
Modify SEM Screen
The modify
SEM
screen
will allow the user to modify
the data
(thresholds, normalization constants, etc.)
associated with a
SEM.
Drawing number five contains a sketch of the proposed layout.
It
will be popped up if the user selects
the menu item
``add SEM''
from the edit menu on the main screen,
or if the users selects a particular
SEM
and then selects
``modify device''
from the edit menu.
This screen will
not have a menu bar;
instead, it will have
a row of push buttons
similar to those in the
modify loss monitor screen.
The modify
SEM
screen
will be
divided
into
two
sections.
The first section will contain the following fields and buttons:
- SEM:
-
A text field containing
the name of the
SEM.
If the
modify
SEM
screen
was popped up in order to add a device,
this field will be blank,
and the user will expected to type in the name of a device.
If the user is modifying a
SEM
that is being displayed
on the main screen,
then typing a new name will replace the existing
SEM
with the new one.
BeamTune will not check to be sure that the device really is a
SEM;
the user may specify other device types,
such as
scintillation counters
or
ionization chambers.
- Subtract Background:
-
A toggle button indicating whether the background reading should be subtracted from this device.
If it is pressed in,
(the default)
then the background will be subtracted.
Toggling this button will cause the corresponding button
under the
SEM
histogram
on the main screen to
also
change state
(and vice versa).
- Alarm Thresholds:
-
Two alarm thresholds
(both will be text fields):
the upper threshold and the lower threshold.
If the reading of the device exceeds the value specified in the upper
text field,
or is less than the value specified in the lower text field,
then the
color of the
corresponding
bar in the
SEM
histogram
will turn become the alarm color.
The user may type any positive
floating point
value.
These thresholds,
and the warning thresholds
(below)
will be
applicable only when the display mode for the
SEM
histogram
is set to
absolute.
- Warning Threshold:
-
Two text fields
containing the upper and lower warning thresholds.
If the reading of the device exceeds the value specified in the upper
text field,
or is less than the value specified in the lower text field,
then the
color of the
corresponding
bar in the
SEM
histogram
will become the warning color.
The user may type any positive
floating point
value.
The
second
section
will
specify how the loss monitor is to be normalized to a
request.
This data will be
applicable only when the display mode for the loss monitor histogram
is set to
normalize to request.
The following fields
will be defined:
- Normalize to request:
- A text
field.
The user may type any of three types of values into this field:
-
A floating point value.
The SEM will be normalized to this value.
-
The name of a device.
The SEM will be normalized to the reading from this device.
-
The name of a request for a particular beamline.
BeamTune will search the file
``REQUEST.STATUS'',
created by the program CRaP,
to get the value.
The SEM will be normalized to this value.
The file will be read at least once every cycle,
since it is expected that the values stored there may change
as experiments change their requests.
It will be OK to leave this field blank;
in that case if the user selects
normalize to request
as the display mode,
the bar corresponding to the
SEM
will behave as if an error status
has been returned
(i.e. it will go full-scale,
and turn black).
The reason for the apparent error will be shown on the SEM summary screen.
- Normalization Constant:
-
A text
field
containing the normalization constant.
The user may type any floating point value.
- Formula:
-
A text
field
containing the formula to be used for normalization.
This field is for the user's information only.
The text that will be displayed will depend on the state of the subtract background
toggle button described above:
If
the
background
value
is being
subtracted from the reading,
then the text will be:
[(SEM - BK)/request] constant;
otherwise,
it will be:
(SEM/request) constant.
- Alarm Thresholds:
-
Two alarm thresholds
(both will be text fields):
the upper threshold and the lower threshold.
If the
normalized
reading of the device exceeds the value specified in the upper
text field,
or is less than the value specified in the lower text field,
then the
color of the
corresponding
bar in the
SEM
histogram
will become the alarm color.
The user may type any
percentage greater than zero.
- Warning Threshold:
-
Two text fields
containing the upper and lower warning thresholds.
If the
normalized
reading of the device exceeds the value specified in the upper
text field,
or is less than the value specified in the lower text field,
then the
color of the
corresponding
bar in the
SEM
histogram
will turn
yellow.
The user may type any
percentage greater than zero.
- Nominal Value:
-
A text field.
The y-axis of the SEM histogram will be centered at this value.
If this value is not specified,
it will default to one hundred percent.
The user may type any
percentage greater than zero.
- Maximum Value:
-
A text field.
The value specified here will be used as the maximum value on the y-axis of the SEM histogram.
Note that the maximum and minimum
(described below)
values are constrained to be symmetric about the nominal value;
modifying either will cause the other to be
automatically
updated.
The user may type any
percentage greater than zero.
- Minimum Value:
-
A text field.
The value specified here will be used as the minimum value on the y-axis of the SEM histogram.
Coupled to the maximum value as described above.
The user may type any
percentage greater than zero.
Keywords:
RDCS,
Loss Monitor,
SEM,
Beamline,
Tuning,
X
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