A stand-alone program has been developed to display the status of the
spectrometer. To accomplish this, all the information to display
the status is published on a series of LabVIEW DataSockets.
DataSockets are designed to remotely display controls and
indicators from a LabVIEW program and utilize a publish and subscribe
protocol similar to HTTP. As DataSockets can be accessed from any
computer with an internet connection the Status Display program can be
run remotely allowing users to monitor the status of the spectrometer as
if they were sitting at the instrument.
Usage
The Status Display program developed for the triple-axis spectrometer
is shown in the following image:
The following information is included on the Status Display:
-
Select Instrument - the instrument is chosen by a pull-down
menu and the list of available instruments is specified in a
configuration file.
-
Expt # - the current experiment number
-
Experiment title
- Detector Information -
the detector information box shows the current values of all present
channels as well as the current preset channel and value. NOTE
that the Linear PSD and Are PSD tabs are included for future use and are
currently empty.
-
Ratemeters - the multi-colored dial represents the current
counting rates. The avaliable ratemeters are selected by a
pull-down menu (monitor in the above image). The number (x1 above)
represents a multiplier and the current rate will be the number on the
dial multiplied by the multiplier. The green light indicates that
autoscaling is turned on - clicking on this light will turn off
autoscaling and the multiplier can then be manually selected.
Finally, the number above the ratemeter provides a digital display
of the current rate.
-
Motors - a list of all motors and the current position of
these motors is shown on the right of the status display. All
motors which are not hidden will be shown on the Status Display.
To hide a specific motor, use the hide
command or its GUI interface. There are 3 lights next to the
motor position - the left-most light turns green when the motor is
moving, the middle light turns blue when a lower limit is hit, and the
right-most light turns red when an upper limit is hit.
-
Plot - the current (or last run) scan is plotted in real
time in the graph. The title for this plot shown the scan number,
scan title, and the calculated values of the center of mass, full width
at half maximum, and the sum of counts.
-
Command bar - the bar at the bottom of the Status Display
shows which command is currently executing.
