From 06f09ef07eb68d9745f030cee2fefee7b1ec2d4b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mathias Sander <mathias.sander@psi.ch>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2025 22:52:03 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] am

---
 eco/acquisition/scan.py    | 18 ++++++++++++++++--
 eco/utilities/utilities.py |  3 +--
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/eco/acquisition/scan.py b/eco/acquisition/scan.py
index e145e3c..651d5a2 100755
--- a/eco/acquisition/scan.py
+++ b/eco/acquisition/scan.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import colorama
 
 from eco.elements.protocols import Adjustable
-from eco.utilities.utilities import NumpyEncoder, foo_get_kwargs
+from eco.utilities.utilities import NumpyEncoder, foo_get_kwargs, linlog_intervals
 from ..elements.adjustable import AdjustableMemory, DummyAdjustable
 from IPython import get_ipython
 from .daq_client import Daq
@@ -1067,12 +1067,24 @@ class RunFilenameGenerator:
 
 
 def interpret_step_specification(spec):
+    """Create a list of step positions from a specification.
+
+    Args:
+        spec (tuple/list): interable of different format:
+            - 3 numbers: start, end, N_intervals or interval size (int or float)
+            - 1 iterable of positions
+            - anchor positions with linear or logarithmic filled spaces. 
+              i.e. odd number of elements, where every second element is an iterable ('lin',<float size or int intervals>), interpreted as lin-log intervals
+    
+    Returns:
+        array: array of positions
+    """
     # normal linear scan
     if len(spec) == 3 and all(isinstance(ta, Number) for ta in spec):
         start_pos, end_pos, N_intervals = spec
         if type(N_intervals) is float:
             print("Interval size defined as float, interpreting as interval size.")
-            positions = np.arange(start_pos, N_intervals, end_pos)
+            positions = np.arange(start_pos, end_pos+N_intervals, N_intervals)
         elif type(N_intervals) is int:
             print("Interval size defined as int, interpreting as number of intervals.")
             positions = np.linspace(start_pos, end_pos, N_intervals + 1)
@@ -1084,6 +1096,8 @@ def interpret_step_specification(spec):
             )
         positions = spec[0]
         return positions
+    elif len(spec)%2 and all([np.iterable(ts) for ts in spec[1::2]]):
+        return linlog_intervals(*spec)
     else:
         raise Exception(
             "Step position specification is not understood, should be 3 numbers or a list of positions."
diff --git a/eco/utilities/utilities.py b/eco/utilities/utilities.py
index aeb8fc2..f09bac3 100644
--- a/eco/utilities/utilities.py
+++ b/eco/utilities/utilities.py
@@ -179,8 +179,7 @@ def linlog_intervals(*args, verbose=True, plot=False):
                 intlog = np.log10(tlims[0]+idef[1])-np.log10(tlims[0])
                 a.append(10**np.arange(np.log10(tlims[0]),np.log10(tlims[1]),intlog))
             if verbose:
-                intervals = np.diff(np.log10(a[-1]))
-                
+                intervals = np.diff(a[-1])
                 print(f'From {tlims[0]:5g} to {a[-1][-1]:5g}: {len(a[-1])-1} logarithmic intervals between {np.min(intervals):5g} and {np.max(intervals):5g} in sizes.')
             if plot:
                 plt.plot(np.arange(len(np.hstack(a))-len(a[-1]), len(np.hstack(a))),a[-1],'or',mfc='none')