RELEASE.txt

Control Application Alpha Release
28th September 2021
Bonnie McCallion

UPDATE:2024-02 updating to the python copier template - these instructions will
require review.

Currently data gather is fully functional for the Power PMAC and there is a simple watch window for both
PMAC and Power PMAC. Tested on OSL demo hardware, further testing to be done by DLS.

To Do:
 - Show both software and hardware limits in polling window for Power PMAC (currently only hardware limits)
 - Pop-up window to request username and password if the default fails for the SSH connection
 - May need to add more Power PMAC variables to the axis settings screen
 - May need to add functionality to watch window

Notes:
 - Loading a pmc file works for the Power PMAC but existing files for PMAC might not work. Some PMAC commands
do not work for Power PMAC (e.g. clear command does not work) and might cause the application to crash/ get
stuck while downloading.
 - There is no Ix24 equivalent for the Power PMAC so this has not been included in the axis settings screen.
 - No scaling has been included for the Power PMAC data gather. Might need to include some checks for this.
 - When changing # of samples/ sample time in the config tab you must press enter to change the values.
 - Watch window variables are not reformatted before being shown and when writing new values to variables
the value may be changed (e.g. rounded or converted to a different format).

Installation:
 1) Clone the 2 repos:
       dls-pmac-control.git
       dls-pmac-lib.git

 2) Create & activate a Python3 virtual environment:
       dls-python3 -m venv <path-to-virtual-env>
       source venv/bin/activate

 3) Build the dls-pmac-lib module:
    - Make sure to have an up-to-date version of pip and setuptools:
       pip install --upgrade pip
       pip install --upgrade setuptools

       cd dls-pmac-lib
       dls-python3 setup.py clean
       dls-python3 setup.py build
       dls-python3 setup.py install

 4) Build the dls-pmac-control module:
       cd dls-pmac-control

  i. Make the screens:
    - Install pyqt5
       pip install pyqt5-tools
    - Make
       make clean
       make

  ii. Build the module:
       dls-python3 setup.py clean
       dls-python3 setup.py build
       dls-python3 setup.py install

5) Run the application from within the virtual environment:
       dls-pmac-control