Long Output Record (longout)
The normal use for the long output or “longout” record type is to store long
integer values of up to 32 bits and write them to hardware devices. The Soft Channel
device support layer can also be used to write values to
other records via database or channel access links. The OUT field determines how
the record is used. The record supports alarm limits and graphics and control
limits.
Parameter Fields
The record-specific fields are described below, grouped by functionality.
Scan Parameters
The longout record has the standard fields for specifying under what circumstances it will be processed. These fields are listed in Scan Fields.
Desired Output Parameters
The record must specify where the desired output originates, i.e., the 32 bit
integer value it is to write. The output mode select (OMSL) field determines
whether the output originates from another record or from database access. When
set to closed_loop
, the desired output is retrieved from the link
specified in the Desired Output Link (DOL) field (which can specify either a
database or channel access link) and placed into the VAL field. When set to
supervisory
, the desired output can be written into the VAL field via
dpPuts at run-time.
A third type of value for the DOL field is a constant in which case, when the record is initialized, the VAL field will be initialized with this constant value.
The VAL field’s value will be clipped within limits specified in the fields DRVH and DRVL if these have been configured by the database designer:
DRVL <= VAL <= DRVH
Note: These limits are only enforced as long as DRVH > DRVL. If they are not set or DRVH <= DRVL they will not be used.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOL |
Desired Output Link |
INLINK |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
OMSL |
Output Mode Select |
MENU menuOmsl |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
DRVH |
Drive High Limit |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
DRVL |
Drive Low Limit |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VAL |
Desired Output |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Write Parameters
The OUT link field determines where the record is to send its output. For records that write values to hardware devices, the OUT output link field must specify the address of the I/O card, and the DTYP field must specify the name of the corresponding device support module.
For soft records, the OUT output link can be a constant, a database link, or a
channel access link. If the link is a constant, the result is no output. The
DTYP field must then specify the Soft Channel
device support routine.
See Address Specification for information on the format of hardware addresses and database links.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OUT |
Output Specification |
OUTLINK |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
DTYP |
Device Type |
DEVICE |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
OOPT |
Output Execute Opt |
MENU longoutOOPT |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
OOCH |
Output Exec. On Change (Opt) |
MENU menuYesNo |
Yes |
1 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Changes in OUT field when OOPT = On Change
The OOCH field was added in EPICS 7.0.8.
If OOCH is YES
(its default value) and the OOPT field is On Change
,
the record will write to the device support the first time the record gets
processed after its OUT link is modified, even when the output value has
not actually changed.
Operator Display Parameters
These parameters are used to present meaningful data to the operator. They display the value and other parameters of the long output either textually or graphically.
EGU is a string of up to 16 characters describing the units that the long output
measures. It is retrieved by the get_units
record support routine.
The HOPR and LOPR fields set the upper and lower display limits for the VAL,
HIHI, HIGH, LOW, and LOLO fields. Both the get_graphic_double
and get_control_double
record support routines retrieve these fields.
See Fields Common to All Record Types for more on the record name (NAME) and description (DESC) fields.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EGU |
Engineering Units |
STRING [16] |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
HOPR |
High Operating Range |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
LOPR |
Low Operating Range |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
NAME |
Record Name |
STRING [61] |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
DESC |
Descriptor |
STRING [41] |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Alarm Parameters
The possible alarm conditions for long inputs are the SCAN, READ, INVALID, and limit alarms. The SCAN and READ alarms are not configurable by the user because their severity is always MAJOR. The INVALID alarm is called by the record support routine when the record or device support routines cannot write the record’s output. The IVOA field specifies the action to take in this case.
The limit alarms are configured by the user in the HIHI, LOLO, HIGH, and LOW fields using floating-point values. For each of these fields, there is a corresponding severity field which can be either NO_ALARM, MINOR, or MAJOR.
The HYST field sets an alarm deadband around each limit alarm.
For an explanation of the IVOA and IVOV fields, see Invalid Output Action Fields.
See Alarm Specification for a complete explanation of record alarms and of the standard fields. Alarm Fields lists other fields related to alarms that are common to all record types.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HIHI |
Hihi Alarm Limit |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
HIGH |
High Alarm Limit |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
LOW |
Low Alarm Limit |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
LOLO |
Lolo Alarm Limit |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
HHSV |
Hihi Severity |
MENU menuAlarmSevr |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
HSV |
High Severity |
MENU menuAlarmSevr |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
LSV |
Low Severity |
MENU menuAlarmSevr |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
LLSV |
Lolo Severity |
MENU menuAlarmSevr |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
HYST |
Alarm Deadband |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
IVOA |
INVALID output action |
MENU menuIvoa |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
IVOV |
INVALID output value |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Monitor Parameters
These parameters are used to determine when to send monitors placed on the value field. The monitors are sent when the value field exceeds the last monitored field by the appropriate delta. If these fields have a value of zero, everytime the value changes, a monitor will be triggered; if they have a value of -1, everytime the record is scanned, monitors are triggered. The ADEL field is the delta for archive monitors, and the MDEL field is the delta for all other types of monitors. See “Monitor Specification” for a complete explanation of monitors.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ADEL |
Archive Deadband |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
MDEL |
Monitor Deadband |
LONG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Run-time Parameters
The LALM, MLST, and ALST fields are used to implement the hysteresis factors for monitor callbacks. Only if the difference between these fields and the corresponding value field is greater than the appropriate delta (MDEL, ADEL, HYST)–only then are monitors triggered. For instance, only if the difference between VAL and MLST is greater than MDEL are the monitors triggered for VAL.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LALM |
Last Value Alarmed |
LONG |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
ALST |
Last Value Archived |
LONG |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
MLST |
Last Val Monitored |
LONG |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Simulation Mode Parameters
The following fields are used to operate the record in simulation mode.
If SIMM (fetched through SIML) is YES, the record is put in SIMS severity and the value is written through SIOL. SSCN sets a different SCAN mechanism to use in simulation mode. SDLY sets a delay (in sec) that is used for asynchronous simulation processing.
See Output Simulation Fields for more information on simulation mode and its fields.
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SIML |
Sim Mode Location |
INLINK |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
SIMM |
Simulation Mode |
MENU menuYesNo |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
SIOL |
Sim Output Specifctn |
OUTLINK |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
SIMS |
Sim mode Alarm Svrty |
MENU menuAlarmSevr |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
SDLY |
Sim. Mode Async Delay |
DOUBLE |
Yes |
-1.0 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
SSCN |
Sim. Mode Scan |
MENU menuScan |
Yes |
65535 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Record Support
Record Support Routines
init_record
This routine initializes SIMM if SIML is a constant or creates a channel access link if SIML is PV_LINK. If SIOL is PV_LINK a channel access link is created.
This routine next checks to see that device support is available. The routine next checks to see if the device support write routine is defined.
If either device support or the device support write routine does not exist, an error message is issued and processing is terminated.
If DOL is a constant, then VAL is initialized to its value and UDF is set to FALSE. If DOL type is a PV_LINK then dbCaAddInlink is called to create a channel access link.
If device support includes init_record()
, it is called.
process
See next section.
get_units
Retrieves EGU.
get_graphic_double
Sets the upper display and lower display limits for a field. If the field is VAL, HIHI, HIGH, LOW, or LOLO, the limits are set to HOPR and LOPR, else if the field has upper and lower limits defined they will be used, else the upper and lower maximum values for the field type will be used.
get_control_double
Sets the upper control and the lower control limits for a field. If the field is VAL, HIHI, HIGH, LOW, or LOLO, the limits are set to HOPR and LOPR, else if the field has upper and lower limits defined they will be used, else the upper and lower maximum values for the field type will be used.
get_alarm_double
Sets the following values:
upper_alarm_limit = HIHI
upper_warning_limit = HIGH
lower_warning_limit = LOW
lower_alarm_limit = LOLO
Record Processing
Routine process implements the following algorithm:
Check to see that the appropriate device support module exists. If it doesn’t, an error message is issued and processing is terminated with the PACT field still set to TRUE. This ensures that processes will no longer be called for this record. Thus error storms will not occur.
If PACT is FALSE and OMSL is CLOSED_LOOP recGblGetLinkValue is called to read the current value of VAL. See “Output Records” for more information. If the return status of recGblGetLinkValue is zero then UDF is set to FALSE.
Check alarms. This routine checks to see if the new VAL causes the alarm status and severity to change. If so, NSEV, NSTA and LALM are set. It also honors the alarm hysteresis factor (HYST). Thus the value must change by more than HYST before the alarm status and severity is lowered.
Check severity and write the new value. See Invalid Output Action Fields for information on how INVALID alarms affect output records.
If PACT has been changed to TRUE, the device support write output routine has started but has not completed writing the new value. In this case, the processing routine merely returns, leaving PACT TRUE.
Check to see if monitors should be invoked:
Alarm monitors are invoked if the alarm status or severity has changed.
Archive and value change monitors are invoked if ADEL and MDEL conditions are met.
NSEV and NSTA are reset to 0.
Scan forward link if necessary, set PACT FALSE, and return.
Device Support
Fields Of Interest To Device Support
Each long output record must have an associated set of device support routines. The primary responsibility of the device support routines is to output a new value whenever write_longout is called. The device support routines are primarily interested in the following fields:
Field |
Summary |
Type |
DCT |
Default |
Read |
Write |
CA PP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PACT |
Record active |
UCHAR |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
DPVT |
Device Private |
NOACCESS |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
NSEV |
New Alarm Severity |
MENU menuAlarmSevr |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
NSTA |
New Alarm Status |
MENU menuAlarmStat |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
OUT |
Output Specification |
OUTLINK |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Device Support Routines
Device support consists of the following routines:
long report(int level)
This optional routine is called by the IOC command dbior
and is passed the
report level that was requested by the user.
It should print a report on the state of the device support to stdout.
The level
parameter may be used to output increasingly more detailed
information at higher levels, or to select different types of information with
different levels.
Level zero should print no more than a small summary.
long init(int after)
This optional routine is called twice at IOC initialization time.
The first call happens before any of the init_record()
calls are made, with
the integer parameter after
set to 0.
The second call happens after all of the init_record()
calls have been made,
with after
set to 1.
init_record
init_record(precord)
This routine is optional. If provided, it is called by the record support
init_record()
routine.
get_ioint_info
get_ioint_info(int cmd,struct dbCommon *precord,IOSCANPVT *ppvt)
This routine is called by the ioEventScan system each time the record is added
or deleted from an I/O event scan list. cmd
has the value (0,1) if the
record is being (added to, deleted from) an I/O event list. It must be
provided for any device type that can use the ioEvent scanner.
write_longout
write_longout(precord)
This routine must output a new value. It returns the following values:
0: Success.
Other: Error.
Device Support For Soft Records
The Soft Channel
module writes the current value of VAL.
If the OUT link type is PV_LINK, then dbCaAddInlink is called by
init_record()
.
write_longout calls recGblPutLinkValue to write the current value of VAL.
See “Soft Output” for a further explanation.