EPICURE Design Note 97.0<P> <b> RADSA: Radiation and Security Application</b>

EPICURE Design Note 97.0

RADSA: Radiation and Security Application

S. A. RamseyMost of this document came from a proposal by Jack Schmidt, RDCS

Fermilab Research Division

E.E. & E. Dept. Controls Group

MS 220 P,O. Box 500 Batavia, IL 60510

Fri Mar 29 09:16:56 CST 1996

Abstract

Purpose of this document

This document is a design specification for the EPICURE Radiation Interlock Safety Application program. It specifies a proposed user interface and the major functions of the application.

Intended audience

The Interlocks group, Operations, and the Controls Software group are the anticipated audience of this document.

For further information or questions

More information about the EPICURE control system can be found in EPICURE User's Guide Volume III: Application Programmer's Guide . A list of EPICURE consultants can be found by typing at the DCL prompt on the WARNER LAVC:
	HELP @USERGUIDE CONSULTANTS
	

Comments and questions pertaining to this document should be referred to the author by sending VAXMail to WARNER::RAMSEY.

Objective

At present, the data-aquisition system makes available data from a number of devices in the Radiation Safety and Interlocks system. These are: RUN MODE, CDC, SECURITY, MESS, RAD, and HIRAD. There is a need for a facility which will display status information for Radiation Safety and Interlock System devices in an organized fashion. Such a facility should take advantage of the EPICURE Alarm Reporting System (EARS) in order to receive alarm reports from the Interlocks system devices.

Project Overview

The RADiation safety and Security Applicatioon (RADSA) is proposed as a solution to these needs. At this point, we anticipate that the primary function of RADSA will be to display status information for interlocks system devices in screens that are unique to each device type: RUN MODE, CDC, SECURITY, MESS, etc. RADSA is envisioned as an interactive ESM-based application that will run on character-cell terminals and workstations in the EPICURE environment. The project area INTERLOCK has been set up for the development of this application. The first version of this project will provide status information only. Support for alarm reports may be added in the future as an enhancement to the application.

User interface

The user-interface to RADSA is divided into a main screen and a screen for each type of device that RADSA monitors. Thus, there will be a CDC screen, a RUN MODE screen, a MESS screen, and so forth. The device screens will be defined as static field maps in the application and are not expected to change. Examples of what the screens might look like are shown at the end of this document.

The main screen will have a menu bar with a number of functions available. The work area will contain a character-cell diagram of beamline areas for one of the following beamlines: MESON, PROTON, NEUTRINO, and MUON. An example of such a screen is shown in the Appendix.

When RADSA starts up, nothing will be displayed in the work area. When the user selects a beamline from the menu bar, the main screen will be displayed with the appropriate diagram. Each beamline area in the appropriate beamline, say proton, will have a box around it. If the cursor is moved into such a box, say PEAST, and a carriage return is hit, a menu will pop up with a list of Interlock devices in that beamline area. If the user selects a device, then the appropriate screen will pop up; i.e. when a CDC device is selected, a CDC screen will be displayed. The status information for the device will be displayed on the screen, and it will update every 10 seconds or so. Examples of what these screens look like are included in the Appendix. RUN MODE and RAD modules are an exception to this scheme, and will be handled differently by RADSA. See Section for more information on how RUN MODE modules will be supported in RADSA. RAD and HIRAD modules are discussed in Section .

A help screen indicating what features are available and what keys they correspond to will also be available. The help screen can be accessed by hitting the HELP key. If a device status screen is being displayed when the help key is hit, then a help screen will pop up explaining what status bits are displayed where on the screen. These device-specific help screens can be put together from long status bit names from the database.

Users will also have the ability to reset CDC and RUN MODE device when a device status screen for a CDC or a RUN MODE is being displayed (see Section ).

Menu Features

The following menu features will be available on the main screen of the RADSA application: list [Print] Built-in ESM routine to select a print queue and copy the contents of the current work area to a print queue or to a file. [Exit] Exits the application with confirmation. [Bugs] Feature to facilitate the reporting of bugs to the author via VAXMail. Opens an edit window in the work area for typing in the bug report. The report is then VAXMailed to WARNER::RAMSEY. [Help] Get help on this application--explains the keyboard layout [Meson] Show meson beamline screen in the work area. [Proton] Show proton beamline screen in the work area. [Neutrino] Show neutrino beamline screen in the work area. [Muon] Show muon area screen in the work area.

When a device status screen is being displayed, the following menu options will be available. For the MESS, SECURITY, and RAD devices which have no hardware reset, the RESET option will do nothing. list [Reset] Reset the CDC or RUN MODE device. [Help] Device-specific help on where status bits are displayed. [Print] Built-in ESM routine to select a print queue and copy the contents of the current work area to a print queue or to a file. [Exit] Exit the status/alarm screen with confirmation.

Input Files

The RADSA application will need two text files in order to run. RADSA will read these files at startup and will attempt to parse them. If it is unsuccessful, the image will exit with an error status.

The first is a centrally-located, controlled-access file which will define how each of the six or so RUN MODE devices maps its inputs to its outputs. Users will not need to modify this file, because only the people who maintain the RUN MODE modules in the field need to update it. The syntax of this file is `to be defined.'

The other file can be customized by users, and RADSA will look for a logical RADSA_INPUT which users can define to point to a file in their login area. A central default file will also exist which RADSA will use if the user does not specify one. This file will define the beamline area ``trees'' and which devices are in each beamline area. Like the RUN MODE device file, this file will also obey a specified syntax.

A function key may be defined that will direct RADSA to prompt the user for the file specification of a new defaults file of radiation interlocks system devices for RADSA to monitor.

RAD Device Support

Devices of type RAD and HIRAD are already supported in the PAGE application to the extent that their status information is available in PAGE. If a RAD or HIRAD device is selected in RADSA, perhaps RADSA can just spawn a subprocess to call up a page with the appropriate beamline area's RAD and HIRAD devices. The idea of implementing ``goto pages'' for this purpose has been proposed. At this point, it is not expected that RAD and HIRAD devices will be directly supported in the first version of RADSA. Adding code to RADSA enabling it to make RAD and HIRAD status data available will be considered as a possible enhancement to the initial version of the RADSA application.

Alarms Support

At present, the RADSA application is conceived of as employing the standard data-aquisition channels to obtain status data for Radiation safety/Interlocks system devices. At such time as the EPICURE Alarm System comes on-line and the global device alarm categories are rigidly defined, implementing code to utilize alarm reports in the RADSA application may become a possibility. To first order, however, status the author will strive to make status information available. With this goal in mind, it is expected that the first version of RADSA will not utilize EPICURE alarm services.

RUN MODE module support

RUN MODE modules will be supported a bit differently than the CDC, SECURITY, MESS, RAD, and HIRAD devices. Each of the 6 or so anticipated RUN MODE modules in the field will have a unique ``screen'' defined, on which its 32 inputs are mapped to its outputs by a diagram that conforms to the actual equation in the RUN MODE module. At this time, several schemes for RUN MODE support are under consideration. Status bits will definitely be displayed in RADSA, but the format of the bits on the screen, and whether the RUN MODE equations will be displayed, is still being discussed.

Appendix: sample screens

Section of this document describes the different screens of the RADSA application. A main screen displays the beamline areas in a ``tree'' diagram, and the user can select devices by hitting the RETURN key while the cursor is in one of the ``boxes'' of the tree. A list of the devices is then displayed, from which the user can either select a device or exit the sub-menu.

Once the user selects a device, a new screen corresponding to the device type is displayed. Each type of device in the interlocks/radiation safety system has a corresponding RADSA screen: CDC, MESS, RUN MODE, SECURITY, etc. The only exceptions are the RAD and HIRAD devices, which are currently supported in the PAGE application. Each of these ``status'' screens displays thge status data for the selected device. Users can exit a status screen and return to the main screen by hitting the DO key and selecting the EXIT option from the menu.

Examples of each of the screens thus discussed, including the support of RAD and HIRAD devices in PAGE, are shown below.

List of Figures

Main screen

This is the proposed main screen layout for the RADSA application. As an example, several proton beamline areas are shown in the ``tree.''

MESS screen

This is a proposal for how status information for a MESS system will be displayed in the RADSA application.

RUN MODE screen

How the RADSA application will support RUN MODE modules has not yet been fully determined. Status information will be displayed, but the format of the screen is still under discussion. This is an example of how the data might look.

SECURITY screen

This is an example of how the RADSA application might display status information for SECURITY systems.

CDC screen

This is how RADSA will display status information for critical device controllers (CDC's).

RAD screen

Section indicated that C116 module templates for RAD and HIRAD data have been modified to accomodate the display of status bits in PAGE . This is a screen dump of a RAD device page, showing how the various status bits are displayed.

HIRAD screen

This is a screen dump showing how PAGE displays status information for HIRAD devices.

Appendix: keywords and distribution

Keywords EPICURE, RDCS, controls, interlocks system, radiation safety, alarms subsystem.

Distribution

normal.

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