Operational procedures
This section describes various task-oriented operational procedures. You will learn:
You can start the readout control panel either from the command
prompt or from a shortcut on the desktop.
To start the panel from a command line type:
$ godaq &
To start the panel from the desktop shortcut, locate the shortcut labelled
"Readout" and click it once with the left mouse button.
To set the run title and run number:
- Click in the box labeled Title and edit in the new
title text. The box supports simple editing.
- Clock on the box labeled Run number edit in the new
run number.
Note that the run parameters like the run title and run number only have
meaning for an active run. They may also only be changed when the run
is inactive.
The readout software is a state machine. The set of states it can be in are:
Readout state-machine states
|
State | Description |
|
Inactive | No current run. No data taking |
|
Active | There is a currnet run. Data taking |
|
Paused | There is a current run. No data taking |
|
|
- To start a run (transition to the Active state), Click the Begin button of the control panel. Note that the begin button changes into an End button.
- To end a run in any of the Active or Paused states, click the End button. Note that the End button turns into a Begin button when the run ends. The run may automatically end if it is in the Active state, the run is a timed run and the run time expires.
- To temporarily halt data taking, enter the Paused state by clicking the Pause button while data taking is in the Active state. The Pause button becomes a Resume button and can be used to re-enter the Active state. While in the Paused state, the timed run timer does not count down. Clicking the End button while Paused initiates an transition to Inactive.
Production runs are runs that produce permanent products.
Run products include event data files and user defined
data associated with them.
To start a production run (system in the Inactive state):
- In the entry labelled Run Duration enter the desired length
of the run.
- Check the check box labelled timed
- Click the Begin button as usual to start a run.
Timed runs can be initiated when the Readout program is in the Inactive state. In the timed run control portion of the control panel:
- Check the box labeled timed.
- Enter the desired run duration in the text entry labeled Run Duration.
- Start the timed run by clicking the Begin button.
Report documentation errors to
Ron Fox
(fox@nscl.msu.edu)or
NSCL's Bugzilla page
