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ACL – An Introduction

Brian HendricksMarch 16, 2012

Accelerator Controls Seminar Series (Part Trois)

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What Does ACL Stand For, Anyway?

• originally, Accelerator Command Language

• also, ACNET Command Language

• sometimes, Accelerator or ACNET Control Language (not by me)

• You can call it anything you like as long as you use it.

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What is ACL?

• “simple” script language– borrows concepts from other languages

• interpreted, not compiled– runtime compilation available

• supports a superset of the ACNET DRF2 device notation

• implemented in ASCII text files and database text files

• accessible from the console programming environment as well as through the web

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Why Was ACL Created?

• needed to implement setting capability in Lex SA for the Antiproton Source

• designed to empower nonprogrammers to implement sophisticated control of the accelerator– pseudo English language interface

• immediately saw its value in extending the Sequencer

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What is ACL Used For?

• Sequencer– eliminates the need for most new commands

• parameter page (also parameter window)– supports complicated settings and displays, etc.

• command line interface (general use) • Lex SA (script object)

– originally to provide control– also supports display scripts

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What People Have Done with ACL

• allowed more sophisticated control of the Recycler and supported quick changes to algorithms – Cons G.

• improved Pbar tuning and transfer times and consistency and provided background monitoring processes – Dave V.

• managed studies, prepared reports, and improved shot operations in the Tevatron – Jerry and Dean

• improved the speed and efficiency of Booster studies – Meghan M.

• used to stress test front ends and to demonstrate/diagnosis data acquisition problems

• used by operators to perform miscellaneous tasks including report generation and device control – Chip, Brian S., etc.

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How Can I Use ACL?

• command line interface (type in ‘acl’)• parameter page and parameter window (acl>)• Sequencer (ACL command)• Program Tools “IDE” (‘ACL Edit/Run’)• web

– http://www-ad.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/acl.pl?acl={insert ACL code here}

• call it from your program using library interface (ul_acl)

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Language Components

• commands (nearly 200)• intrinsic functions (~500)• variables

– expire when the current script ends

• symbols– expire when the calling program ends– names start with a dollar sign

• operators (including device specific ones)• labels

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Simple Example

if I:H100 is off if I:H100 has control reset I:H100 turn I:H100 on if I:H100 is off print ‘Failed to turn I:H100 on…’ endIf endIf endIf

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ACL Variables

• types– variable (destroyed when script ends)– symbol

• name starts with a dollar sign• not destroyed until the calling program exits

• related commands– declare (import)– resize

• data types– double– string– other standard numeric types– date– node– error– event

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ACL Variables (continued)

• qualifiers– constant– dynamic

• automatic creation and resizing of command and intrinsic function output variables– can be overridden by aclOption command

• special initializers (device: and file:)• intrinsic symbols ($_xxx)

– $_value– $_eof– $_error_count– $_error_status– $_error_device– $_error_line

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ACL Program Control Commands

• loop / endLoop– forever– eof

• if / else / elseIf / endIf• while / endWhile

– forever• doWhile / endDoWhile• continue• break• exit• onError / {label}

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ACL Input/Output Commands

• print– defaults to appending a new line (noNewLine)

• output– select active default output destination– commands providing output can select their own output

• input– used with “<{identifier}>” operator

• mail• outputValue

– used primarily to output binary values

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ACL Device Reading Commands

• read – reads live, data logger, save/restore, SDA data• readList – reads devices “simultaneously”• list – lists device attribute information• loggerGet / loggerGetArray – data logger data• saverestoreGet (srGet) – save/restore data• sdaGet – SDA data• ftpRead – Fast Time Plot data• snapRead – snapshot data• show – device database information• compare – compare two different device readings

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ACL Device Setting Commands

• set – sets one device at a time• setList – sets devices “simultaneously”• deltaSet – makes a delta setting• turn (on, off, onList, offList) – turns devices on or off• reset (resetList) – resets devices• digitalControl – sends digital control commands to devices• copy – copies one device to another• enable/bypass – enable/bypass alarms• dbSet – sets device setting records

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ACL Miscellaneous Commands

• run – runs another program– other ACL scripts– console applications (with or without scripts)

• including remote methods• wait

– time interval– clock event– state event– absolute time– device (in particular range or having particular status)– devices at the same value– user response– console program start / end– network message

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ACL Special Device Commands

• timerEvent – reads/sets timer trigger events

• stepMotor – sets a stepper motor

• tableDevice – handles all ramp cards

• bpmData – reads supported BPM systems

• blmData – reads supported BLM systems

• gpib – sends commands to GPIB devices

• camac – sends CAMAC commands

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System Information Commands

• settingLog – reads setting history• alarmLog – reads alarm history• errorLog – reads device error history• auditLog – reads the device edit history log• nodeAuditLog – reads the node edit history log• eventLog – reads clock event history• stateLog – reads state event history• programInfo – reads program/library information• nodeInfo – reads node information• consoleInfo – reads console information• userInfo – reads system user information• downtimeLog – reads downtime log entries

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A Word About ACL Dates

• supports different standard formats– default is “dd-MMM-yyyy hh:mm:ss”– also “Www Mmm dd hh:mm:ss yyyy” and “yyyy-mm-

dd hh:mm:ss” and “Month dd, yyyy hh:mm:ss”• current time interval

– today, thisHour, thisMinute, thisWeek, thisYear• last time interval

– yesterday, lastHour, lastMinute, lastWeek• interval from now

– 10minutesAgo, 1hourAgo, etc.

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ACL Operators

• arithmetic– +, -, *, /, ^, %, >>, <<, plus, minus, times

• logical– &&, ||, and, or, not

• comparison– <, >, <=, >=, =, ==, !=, equals

• string– +, =, ==, like, notLike, concatenate

• bitwise– &, |, bitwiseAnd, bitwiseOr

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ACL Device Operators

• is (isNot) – device status– on, off, ready, tripped, remote, local, positive, negative,

ramping, dc, good, alarming, enabled, disabled, bypassed, active, inactive, defined, undefined

• has (doesntHave) – database attribute– reading, setting, status, control, analogAlarm,

digitalAlarm, resetControl, onControl, offControl, positiveControl, negativeControl, onStatus, readyStatus, remoteStatus, polarityStatus

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Device Specifications

• supports a superset of DRF2 specification• property specification

– : and ? -> reading, _ -> setting, | -> basic status, & -> basic control, @ -> analog alarm, $ -> digital alarm

– .{property name}• array notation [begin_index:end_index]

– Z:ACLTST[0:3] or Z:ACLTST[]• length/offset notation {offset:length}

– Z:ACLTST{0:16}• alarm block fields (eg. M:OUTTMP.minimum)

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Device Modifiers

• source – data source– accelerator (default), db, sr:{file}, sda:{file}:

{case}:{set}, dl:{date}:{node}

• scaling type– scaled (default), raw, primary

• ftd=(FTD string}– @{data event}

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Device List Specifiers

• name={string} (uses standard SQL wildcards) (also fullName={string})

• description={string} (also fullDescription)• node={node name}• type={device type string or number}• ssdn=‘xxxx/xx42/xxxx/xxxx’/node=MI1• family={family device}• file={file name}• Many more…

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ACL’s Special Characters

• comment– ‘#’ and the dreaded ‘!’– ‘!’ can also be used in ‘!=‘ and ‘!exists(variable)’– comments text to end of line– ‘!’ character can be disabled with the commentChar or aclOption

commands

• end of line – ‘;’– allows multiple commands per line (useful for command line)

• line continuation – ‘\’• execute an ACL file – ‘@’

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Script Arguments

• substitute devices– G:DEV{n}– used anywhere a device expression can be used

• substitute strings– string{n}– literal string substitution

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Documenting Your Script

• add script description– “#+description” marks beginning– “#-description” marks the end

• deviceArg – documents device arguments– description– default value

• stringArg – documents string arguments– description– default value

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Script Repositories

• MECCA project utility_acl– can be modified by anyone but maintains history– parameter page and parameter window– acld

• MECCA project sequencer_acl– Sequencer

• ACL database– only qualified people can edit but no history– parameter page and parameter window– command line– acld

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Modifying Script Repositories

• utility_acl and sequencer_acl– modified like any other MECCA project

• mkdir {utility_acl or sequencer_acl}• cd {utility_acl or sequencer_acl}• mecca –copy {utility_acl or sequencer_acl}• edit your file• mecca –commit {utility_acl or sequencer_acl}• can test in the parameter page, parameter window, and the

Sequencer before committing

• database– modified with D136 or the Program Tools “IDE”

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Help for ACL

• command line interface– ‘help’ for general help– ‘help {command}’ for command help– ‘help function {function name}’ for function help

• Program Tools interface– ‘ACL Help’ for general help– ‘ACL Command Help’ for command help– ‘ACL Function Help’ for function help– Control-e argument expansion

• shift-click on ACL commands in the parameter page, parameter window, and Sequencer

• web document– http://www-bd.fnal.gov/issues/wiki/ACL (on site only)– http://www-bd.fnal.gov/help/ul_acl/intro_acl.html (anywhere)

• me

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Other ACL Tools

• ACL database file editor (D136)– place to edit database scripts– requires special permission to write files (see me)

• spawned_acl (spawn_acl_script_c)– supports asynchronous execution of ACL scripts

• ACL utlities (D132)– monitors spawned ACL scripts

• acld daemon (acld_client)– supports nonconsole environment access to ACL

• ACL file launcher (PA1881)– supports launching a predefined ACL script (S69)

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Some Useful Commands

• reading all devices on a node to find an error:– read node=OODA00

• list attributes for all devices on a node:– list node=MACALC ‘%nm %tx %expr’

• check if all operational nodes are responding:– node/ping/status=operational

• to read M:OUTTMP for the last 10 minutes:– loggerGet/start=10minAgo/node=Mech M:OUTTMP

• to read alarms from I: devices in the last hour:– alarmLog/start=1hourAgo I:%

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ACL Gotchas

• in the command line interface a script is executed when you press “Enter”– any variables that were created by the script have been destroyed– can execute multiple commands at once by separating them with a

semicolon– values can be preserved by using symbols

• device lists may need the “mutable” qualifier• use of synonyms

– make it easy to come up with command and function names but can lead to conflicts with variable names

• use of “!” for negation– can suppress with aclOption or commentChar commands

• error handling

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Future

• support in FSMDEV finite state machine facility (through the use of acld and the ul_acld_protocol library)

• Synoptic ACL objects

• syntax highlighting in nedit

• suggestions from users

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Summary

• utilized in many environments– Sequencer– parameter page and parameter window– testing (front end debugging)– examining the control system

• empowers end users

• has grown to meet the needs of those users

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Error Handlers

• established with the command onError– specifies label that begins the handler

onError myErrorHandler

{body of script}

exit

myErrorHandler: # beginning of error handler

{error handling code}

return

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Always Block

• established by the special label “always:”– will be executed regardless of how script exits– should be at the very end of the script

exit

always: # beginning of always block

{always executed code}