bump rpm version

Setting EPICS_DB_CONVERT_DECIMAL_ONLY turns dbPut/dbGet
string to integer conversions back the the old decimal only
policy.

.editorconfig

@@ -6,3 +6,7 @@ root = true
 # as some compilers complain about files not ending in newline
 [*]
 insert_final_newline = true
+
+# Part of readline test that needs file without final newline
+[modules/libcom/test/multiline-input.txt]
+insert_final_newline = false

.github/workflows/ci-scripts-build.yml

@@ -45,9 +45,8 @@ jobs:
       CI_CROSS_TARGETS: ${{ matrix.cross }}
       EXTRA: ${{ matrix.extra }}
       TEST: ${{ matrix.test }}
-      CHOCO: llvm
     strategy:
-      fail-fast: true
+      fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         # Job names also name artifacts, character limitations apply
         include:
@@ -154,33 +153,27 @@ jobs:
             configuration: default
             name: "MacOS clang"
 
-          - os: windows-2019
-            cmp: vs2019
+          - os: windows-2022
+            cmp: vs2022
             configuration: debug
-            name: "Win2019 MSC-19"
+            name: "Win-22 MSC-22"
             extra: "CMD_CXXFLAGS=-analysis"
 
-          - os: windows-2019
-            cmp: vs2019
+          - os: windows-2022
+            cmp: vs2022
             configuration: static-debug
-            name: "Win2019 MSC-19, static"
+            name: "Win-22 MSC-22, static"
             extra: "CMD_CXXFLAGS=-analysis"
 
-          - os: windows-2019
-            cmp: vs2019
+          - os: windows-2022
+            cmp: vs2022
             configuration: debug
-            name: "Win2019 MSC-19, debug"
+            name: "Win-22 MSC-22, debug"
 
           - os: windows-2022
             cmp: gcc
             configuration: default
-            name: "Win2022 mingw"
-
-          - os: windows-2019
-            cmp: clang+vs2019
-            configuration: default
-            name: "Win2019 clang-cl"
-            choco: ["llvm"]
+            name: "Win-22 mingw"
 
           # Cross builds
 
@@ -329,7 +322,7 @@ jobs:
         yum -y install \
           curl make gcc curl-devel expat-devel gettext-devel openssl-devel zlib-devel perl-ExtUtils-MakeMaker \
           python3 gdb make perl gcc-c++ glibc-devel readline-devel ncurses-devel perl-devel perl-Test-Simple \
-          libevent-devel sudo re2c
+          libevent-devel sudo re2c perl-version
         [ -e /usr/bin/python ] || ln -sf /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python
 
         # fake out cue.py

.gitmodules

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [submodule "modules/pvData"]
     path = modules/pvData
 #    url = https://github.com/epics-base/pvDataCPP
-    url = git@git.psi.ch:epics_base/pvData.git
+    url = ./pvData.git
     branch = master
 [submodule "modules/pvAccess"]
     path = modules/pvAccess

configure/CONFIG_SITE_ENV

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ EPICS_TS_NTP_INET=
 #	Number of lines of command history to keep.
 # IOCSH_HISTEDIT_DISABLE
 # 	Prevents use of readline or equivalent if defined.
-IOCSH_PS1="epics> "
+IOCSH_PS1=ANSI_GREEN("epics> ")
 IOCSH_HISTSIZE=50
 IOCSH_HISTEDIT_DISABLE=
 

configure/RULES_BUILD

@@ -582,11 +582,11 @@ $(INSTALL_DOC)/%: $(COMMON_DIR)/%
 
 $(INSTALL_DOC)/%: %
 	$(ECHO) "Installing doc $@"
-	@$(INSTALL) -d -m $(INSTALL_PERMISSIONS) $< $(INSTALL_DOC)
+	@$(INSTALL) -d -m $(INSTALL_PERMISSIONS) $< $(@D)
 
 $(INSTALL_DOC)/%: ../%
 	$(ECHO) "Installing doc $@"
-	@$(INSTALL) -d -m $(INSTALL_PERMISSIONS) $< $(INSTALL_DOC)
+	@$(INSTALL) -d -m $(INSTALL_PERMISSIONS) $< $(@D)
 
 $(INSTALL_HTML)/$(HTMLS_DIR)/%: $(COMMON_DIR)/%
 	$(ECHO) "Installing generated html $@"

configure/RULES_MODULES

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ RELEASE.host: $(RELEASE_LOCAL)
 
 $(RELEASE_LOCAL): Makefile $(CONFIG)/CONFIG_SITE \
     $(wildcard $(CONFIG)/CONFIG_SITE.local)
-	$(ECHO) Creating $@ with
+	$(ECHO) "Creating $@ with"
 	$(ECHO) "    $(PARENT_MODULE) = $(INSTALL_ABSOLUTE)"
 	@echo $(PARENT_MODULE) = $(INSTALL_ABSOLUTE)> $@
 

configure/os/CONFIG.Common.RTEMS

@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ MOD_SYS_LDFLAGS += $(CPU_CFLAGS) -Wl,-r -nostdlib
 GESYS_LIBS += -lgcc
 GESYS_LIBS += -lc -lm -lrtemscpu -lrtemsbsp -lrtems++
 GESYS_LIBS += -lcexp -ltecla_r -lspencer_regexp -lpmelf -lpmbfd
-GESYS_LIBS += -lnfs -ltelnetd -lrtems-gdb-stub
+GESYS_LIBS += -lnfs -ltelnetd -lrtems-gdb-stub -lbsd -ltftpfs -lz
+GESYS_LIBS += -lnetworking
 
 # While not part of the Generic Image it provides symbols which
 # would conflict.

configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.darwinCommon.darwinCommon

@@ -6,24 +6,17 @@
 # These settings are designed for users of Homebrew.
 # Users of other third-party package managers are welcome to
 # provide patches appropriate for their manager.
-ifneq (,$(wildcard /opt/homebrew))
-  # Default location on aarch64
-  HOMEBREW_DIR = /opt/homebrew
-else ifneq (,$(wildcard /usr/local/Homebrew))
-  # Default location on x86_64
-  HOMEBREW_DIR = /usr/local
-else ifneq (,$(wildcard /opt/local/include/readline))
-  # MacPorts
-  READLINE_DIR = /opt/local
-endif
+HOMEBREW_DIR := $(shell brew --prefix 2>/dev/null)
+INCLUDES += $(HOMEBREW_DIR:%=-I%/include)
+LDFLAGS += $(HOMEBREW_DIR:%=-L%/lib)
 
 # Look for Homebrew's readline
 ifneq (,$(wildcard $(HOMEBREW_DIR)/opt/readline))
-  READLINE_DIR = $(HOMEBREW_DIR)/opt/readline
+  INCLUDES_READLINE += -I$(HOMEBREW_DIR)/opt/readline/include
+  LDFLAGS_READLINE += -L$(HOMEBREW_DIR)/opt/readline/lib
 endif
 
-# Use GNU readline if it's avaiilable
-ifneq (,$(wildcard $(READLINE_DIR)/include/readline/readline.h))
-  INCLUDES_READLINE = -I$(READLINE_DIR)/include
-  LDFLAGS_READLINE = -L$(READLINE_DIR)/lib
-endif
+# Look for MacPorts
+MACPORT_DIR := $(patsubst %/bin/port,%,$(shell which port))
+INCLUDES += $(MACPORT_DIR:%=-I%/include)
+LDFLAGS += $(MACPORT_DIR:%=-L%/lib)

documentation/Doxyfile@

@@ -1992,6 +1992,9 @@ PREDEFINED             = __cplusplus \
                          LIBCA_API \
                          DBRECSTD_API \
                          EPICS_ALWAYS_INLINE \
+                         EPICS_NORETURN \
+                         EPICS_PRINTF_FMT(x)=x \
+                         EPICS_PRINTF_STYLE(a,b)= \
                          epicsShareExtern \
                          epicsShareClass \
                          epicsShareFunc \

documentation/Makefile

@@ -11,124 +11,7 @@ EXPAND_ME += RTD_SRC
 
 DOXYGEN ?= doxygen
 
-libcom_HEADERS += adjustment
-libcom_HEADERS += alarm
-libcom_HEADERS += alarmString
-libcom_HEADERS += asTrapWrite
-libcom_HEADERS += bucketLib
-libcom_HEADERS += cantProceed
-libcom_HEADERS += compilerDependencies
-libcom_HEADERS += cvtFast
-libcom_HEADERS += dbmf
-libcom_HEADERS += devLibVME
-libcom_HEADERS += devLibVMEImpl
-libcom_HEADERS += ellLib
-libcom_HEADERS += envDefs
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsAlgorithm
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsAssert
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsAtomic
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsEvent
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsExit
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsExport
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsGeneralTime
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsGuard
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsMessageQueue
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsMutex
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsReadline
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsRingBytes
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsRingPointer
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsSignal
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsSpin
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsStackTrace
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsStdio
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsStdlib
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsString
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsTempFile
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsThread
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsTime
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsTypes
-libcom_HEADERS += epicsUnitTest
-libcom_HEADERS += errlog
-libcom_HEADERS += freeList
-libcom_HEADERS += iocsh
-libcom_HEADERS += ipAddrToAsciiAsynchronous
-libcom_HEADERS += logClient
-libcom_HEADERS += macLib
-libcom_HEADERS += osiPoolStatus
-libcom_HEADERS += osiProcess
-libcom_HEADERS += osiSock
-libcom_HEADERS += postfix
-libcom_HEADERS += shareLib
-libcom_HEADERS += testMain
-libcom_HEADERS += yajl_alloc
-libcom_HEADERS += yajl_common
-libcom_HEADERS += yajl_gen
-libcom_HEADERS += yajl_parse
-
-database_HEADERS += chfPlugin
-database_HEADERS += dbChannel
-database_HEADERS += dbCommon
-database_HEADERS += dbDefs
-database_HEADERS += dbExtractArray
-database_HEADERS += dbLink
-database_HEADERS += dbServer
-database_HEADERS += dbState
-database_HEADERS += dbStaticLib
-database_HEADERS += dbUnitTest
-database_HEADERS += devLib
-database_HEADERS += devSup
-database_HEADERS += drvSup
-database_HEADERS += initHooks
-
-record_HEADERS += aaiRecord
-record_HEADERS += aaoRecord
-record_HEADERS += aiRecord
-record_HEADERS += aoRecord
-record_HEADERS += aSubRecord
-record_HEADERS += biRecord
-record_HEADERS += boRecord
-record_HEADERS += calcRecord
-record_HEADERS += calcoutRecord
-record_HEADERS += compressRecord
-record_HEADERS += dfanoutRecord
-record_HEADERS += eventRecord
-record_HEADERS += fanoutRecord
-record_HEADERS += histogramRecord
-record_HEADERS += int64inRecord
-record_HEADERS += int64outRecord
-record_HEADERS += longinRecord
-record_HEADERS += longoutRecord
-record_HEADERS += lsiRecord
-record_HEADERS += lsoRecord
-record_HEADERS += mbbiRecord
-record_HEADERS += mbbiDirectRecord
-record_HEADERS += mbboRecord
-record_HEADERS += mbboDirectRecord
-record_HEADERS += permissiveRecord
-record_HEADERS += printfRecord
-record_HEADERS += selRecord
-record_HEADERS += seqRecord
-record_HEADERS += stateRecord
-record_HEADERS += stringinRecord
-record_HEADERS += stringoutRecord
-record_HEADERS += subRecord
-record_HEADERS += subArrayRecord
-record_HEADERS += waveformRecord
-
-menu_HEADERS += menuAlarmSevr
-menu_HEADERS += menuAlarmStat
-menu_HEADERS += menuConvert
-menu_HEADERS += menuFtype
-menu_HEADERS += menuIvoa
-menu_HEADERS += menuOmsl
-menu_HEADERS += menuPini
-menu_HEADERS += menuPost
-menu_HEADERS += menuPriority
-menu_HEADERS += menuScan
-menu_HEADERS += menuSimm
-menu_HEADERS += menuYesNo
-
-HEADER_TYPES = libcom database record menu
+include $(TOP)/documentation/Makefile.headers
 
 HEADER_MD_FILES = $(foreach t, $(HEADER_TYPES), \
     $(addsuffix _h.md, $($t_HEADERS)))
@@ -137,10 +20,80 @@ API_RST_FILES = $(addsuffix -api.rst, $(HEADER_TYPES))
 RTD_SRC = $(COMMON_DIR)/rtd-src
 
 DOCS += README.md
-DOCS += RELEASE_NOTES.md
+DOCS += ca-cli.md
+
+OLD_NOTES = $(wildcard ../RELEASE-*.md)
+DOCS += $(OLD_NOTES:../%=%)
+
+ifneq ($(EPICS_DEV_SNAPSHOT),)
+  # Between releases the release target is disabled
+  DOCS += RELEASE_NOTES.md
+  REASON = EPICS_DEV_SNAPSHOT not empty
+else
+  # Not a snapshot, user may be creating a new release
+  ifdef T_A
+    DOC = ../
+  endif
+  # Could we be in the middle of anything?
+  NOTES_FILE = RELEASE-$(EPICS_SHORT_VERSION).md
+  NOTES_PATH = $(DOC)$(NOTES_FILE)
+  NOTES_GIT := $(firstword $(shell git status --porcelain $(NOTES_PATH)))
+  ifeq ($(NOTES_GIT),A)
+    # New file was added to the Git index; allow unrelease
+  else ifeq ($(NOTES_GIT),AD)
+    # File was added to the Git index but deleted; allow unrelease
+  else ifeq ($(wildcard $(NOTES_PATH)),)
+    # No file yet, allow release
+  else
+    # File exists but isn't in Git
+    REASON := $(NOTES_FILE) exists but isn't in Git
+    NOTES_FILE =
+    NOTES_PATH =
+  endif
+endif
+
+NEW_DIR = ../new-notes
+NEW_NOTES = $(wildcard $(NEW_DIR)/*.md)
 
 include $(TOP)/configure/RULES
 
+ifndef T_A
+  release unrelease doxygen rtd sphinx: inc
+	$(MAKE) -C O.$(EPICS_HOST_ARCH) $@
+else
+
+MAKENOTES = ../make-notes.pl
+
+ifneq ($(NOTES_PATH),)
+  $(NOTES_PATH): $(NEW_NOTES) $(MAKENOTES)
+	@$(RM) $@
+	$(PERL) $(MAKENOTES) -o $@ -V $(EPICS_SHORT_VERSION) \
+	    -d $(abspath $(NEW_DIR))
+  release-git: $(NOTES_PATH)
+	$(if $(NEW_NOTES), \
+	    git rm -q $(NEW_NOTES))
+	git add $<
+  release: $(INSTALL_DOC)/RELEASE_NOTES.md $(INSTALL_DOC)/$(NOTES_FILE)
+
+  unrelease:
+	$(if $(wildcard $(NOTES_PATH)), \
+	    git restore --staged $(NOTES_PATH); \
+	    $(RM) $(NOTES_PATH))
+	git restore --staged $(NEW_DIR)
+	git restore $(NEW_DIR)
+
+  REL_DEP = release-git $(NOTES_PATH)
+else
+  REL_DEV = -D
+  release unrelease:
+	$(error "make $@" not available, $(REASON))
+endif
+
+$(COMMON_DIR)/RELEASE_NOTES.md: $(REL_DEP) $(NEW_NOTES) $(MAKENOTES)
+	@$(RM) $@
+	$(PERL) $(MAKENOTES) -o $@ -V $(EPICS_SHORT_VERSION) $(REL_DEV) \
+	    -d $(abspath $(NEW_DIR)) $(OLD_NOTES) $(NOTES_PATH)
+
 $(HEADER_MD_FILES): %_h.md: ../HEADER_h.md
 	$(EXPAND_TOOL) -t $(INSTALL_LOCATION) -DHEADER=$* $< $@
 
@@ -151,24 +104,23 @@ $(API_RST_FILES): %-api.rst: ../%-API.rst
 	@$(foreach h, $($*_HEADERS), \
 	    echo "   $h_h.rst" >> $@;)
 
-ifndef T_A
-doxygen rtd sphinx: inc
-	$(MAKE) -C O.$(EPICS_HOST_ARCH) $@
-else
-
 doxygen: Doxyfile
 	@$(MKDIR) $(RTD_SRC)
 	$(DOXYGEN)
+DOX = doxygen
 
-rtd: doxygen $(API_RST_FILES) $(HEADER_MD_FILES)
-	rsync -av $(INSTALL_DOC)/ $(RTD_SRC)/
+# Use "make sphinx DOX=" to skip running doxygen
+rtd: $(DOX) $(API_RST_FILES) $(HEADER_MD_FILES)
+	rsync -av --exclude=RELEASE-*.md $(INSTALL_DOC)/ $(RTD_SRC)/
 	rsync -av $(HEADER_MD_FILES) $(RTD_SRC)/
 	rsync -av $(API_RST_FILES) $(RTD_SRC)/
 	rsync -av ../index.rst ../conf.py $(RTD_SRC)/
+RTD = rtd
 
-sphinx: rtd
+# Use "make sphinx RTD=" to skip earlier steps
+sphinx: $(RTD)
 	cd $(COMMON_DIR); $(PYTHON) -m sphinx rtd-src readthedocs
 	rsync -av $(COMMON_DIR)/readthedocs $(INSTALL_HTML)/
 endif
 
-.PHONY: doxygen rtd sphinx
+.PHONY: release release-git unrelease doxygen rtd sphinx

documentation/Makefile.headers

@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+# Makefile.headers
+#
+# Lists of C/C++ header files to include in each
+# section of the documentation
+
+HEADER_TYPES = libcom ca database record menu
+
+libcom_HEADERS += adjustment
+libcom_HEADERS += alarm
+libcom_HEADERS += alarmString
+libcom_HEADERS += asTrapWrite
+libcom_HEADERS += bucketLib
+libcom_HEADERS += cantProceed
+libcom_HEADERS += compilerDependencies
+libcom_HEADERS += cvtFast
+libcom_HEADERS += dbmf
+libcom_HEADERS += devLibVME
+libcom_HEADERS += devLibVMEImpl
+libcom_HEADERS += ellLib
+libcom_HEADERS += envDefs
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsAlgorithm
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsAssert
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsAtomic
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsEvent
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsExit
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsExport
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsGeneralTime
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsGuard
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsMessageQueue
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsMutex
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsReadline
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsRingBytes
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsRingPointer
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsSignal
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsSpin
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsStackTrace
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsStdio
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsStdlib
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsString
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsTempFile
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsThread
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsTime
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsTypes
+libcom_HEADERS += epicsUnitTest
+libcom_HEADERS += errlog
+libcom_HEADERS += freeList
+libcom_HEADERS += iocsh
+libcom_HEADERS += ipAddrToAsciiAsynchronous
+libcom_HEADERS += logClient
+libcom_HEADERS += macLib
+libcom_HEADERS += osiPoolStatus
+libcom_HEADERS += osiProcess
+libcom_HEADERS += osiSock
+libcom_HEADERS += postfix
+libcom_HEADERS += shareLib
+libcom_HEADERS += testMain
+libcom_HEADERS += yajl_alloc
+libcom_HEADERS += yajl_common
+libcom_HEADERS += yajl_gen
+libcom_HEADERS += yajl_parse
+
+ca_HEADERS += cadef
+ca_HEADERS += caerr
+ca_HEADERS += caeventmask
+ca_HEADERS += db_access
+
+database_HEADERS += chfPlugin
+database_HEADERS += dbChannel
+database_HEADERS += dbCommon
+database_HEADERS += dbDefs
+database_HEADERS += dbExtractArray
+database_HEADERS += dbLink
+database_HEADERS += dbServer
+database_HEADERS += dbState
+database_HEADERS += dbStaticLib
+database_HEADERS += dbUnitTest
+database_HEADERS += devLib
+database_HEADERS += devSup
+database_HEADERS += drvSup
+database_HEADERS += initHooks
+
+record_HEADERS += aaiRecord
+record_HEADERS += aaoRecord
+record_HEADERS += aiRecord
+record_HEADERS += aoRecord
+record_HEADERS += aSubRecord
+record_HEADERS += biRecord
+record_HEADERS += boRecord
+record_HEADERS += calcRecord
+record_HEADERS += calcoutRecord
+record_HEADERS += compressRecord
+record_HEADERS += dfanoutRecord
+record_HEADERS += eventRecord
+record_HEADERS += fanoutRecord
+record_HEADERS += histogramRecord
+record_HEADERS += int64inRecord
+record_HEADERS += int64outRecord
+record_HEADERS += longinRecord
+record_HEADERS += longoutRecord
+record_HEADERS += lsiRecord
+record_HEADERS += lsoRecord
+record_HEADERS += mbbiRecord
+record_HEADERS += mbbiDirectRecord
+record_HEADERS += mbboRecord
+record_HEADERS += mbboDirectRecord
+record_HEADERS += permissiveRecord
+record_HEADERS += printfRecord
+record_HEADERS += selRecord
+record_HEADERS += seqRecord
+record_HEADERS += stateRecord
+record_HEADERS += stringinRecord
+record_HEADERS += stringoutRecord
+record_HEADERS += subRecord
+record_HEADERS += subArrayRecord
+record_HEADERS += waveformRecord
+
+menu_HEADERS += menuAlarmSevr
+menu_HEADERS += menuAlarmStat
+menu_HEADERS += menuConvert
+menu_HEADERS += menuFtype
+menu_HEADERS += menuIvoa
+menu_HEADERS += menuOmsl
+menu_HEADERS += menuPini
+menu_HEADERS += menuPost
+menu_HEADERS += menuPriority
+menu_HEADERS += menuScan
+menu_HEADERS += menuSimm
+menu_HEADERS += menuYesNo
+

documentation/README.md

@@ -232,14 +232,16 @@ required path and other environment variables.
 * **`EPICS_HOST_ARCH`**
 
 Some host builds of EPICS require that the environment variable
-`EPICS_HOST_ARCH` be defined. The perl script `EpicsHostArch.pl` in the
-`base/startup` directory prints the value which the build will use if
-the variable is not set before the build starts. Architecture names
-start with the operating system followed by a dash and the host CPU
-architecture, e.g. `linux-x86_64`. Some architecture names have another
-dash followed by another keyword, for example when building for Windows
-but using the MinGW compiler the name must be `windows-x64-mingw`. See
-`configure/CONFIG_SITE` for a list of supported host architecture names.
+`EPICS_HOST_ARCH` be defined. The shell script `EpicsHostArch` in the
+`base/startup` directory (which finds and calls the perl script
+`EpicsHostArch.pl` in the `base/src/tools` directory) prints the
+value which the build will use if the variable is not set before
+the build starts. Architecture names start with the operating system
+followed by a dash and the host CPU architecture, e.g. `linux-x86_64`.
+Some architecture names have another dash followed by another keyword,
+for example when building for Windows but using the MinGW compiler the
+name must be `windows-x64-mingw`. See `configure/CONFIG_SITE` for a
+list of supported host architecture names.
 
 * **`PATH`**
 As already mentioned, you must have the `perl` executable and you may

documentation/RELEASE-3.15.md

@@ -0,0 +1,890 @@
+# Changes incorporated from the 3.15 branch
+
+## Changes from the 3.15 branch since 3.15.9
+
+### Support for Apple M1/M2 (arm64) Processors
+
+Thanks to Jeong Han Lee this release comes with build support for Apple's new
+M1/M2 CPUs running macOS, using the target name `darwin-aarch64`.
+
+### Set thread names on Windows
+
+On MS Windows, epicsThread names are made available to the OS and debugger
+using `SetThreadDescription()` if available as well as using the older
+exception mechanism.
+
+### Fix timers on MS Windows for non-EPICS threads
+
+The waitable timer changes in 3.15.9 broke calls to `epicsThreadSleep()` and
+similar routines that used timers (including `ca_pend_event()`) when made from
+threads that were not started using the epicsThread APIs.
+[This problem](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/200)
+[has now been fixed](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/201).
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.8 and 3.15.9
+
+### Use waitable timers on Microsoft Windows
+
+The `epicsEventWaitWithTimeout()` and `epicsThreadSleep()` functions have
+been changed to use waitable timers. On Windows 10 version 1803 or higher
+they will use high resolution timers for more consistent timing.
+
+See [this Google Groups thread](https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/g/scheduler-dev/c/0GlSPYreJeY)
+for a comparison of the performance of different timers.
+
+### Build target for documentation
+
+The build target `inc` now works again after a very long hiatus. It now
+generates and installs just the dbd, header and html files, without compiling
+any C/C++ code. This can be used to speed up CI jobs that only generate
+documentation.
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+- The error status returned by a record support's `special()` method is now propagated out of the `dbPut()` routine again (broken since 3.15.0).
+- [gh: #80](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/80), VS-2015 and
+later have working strtod()
+- [lp: #1776141](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1776141), Catch
+buffer overflow from long link strings
+- [lp: #1899697](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1899697), Records
+in wrong PHAS order
+
+### Change to the `junitfiles` self-test build target
+
+The names of the generated junit xml test output files have been changed
+from `<testname>.xml` to `<testname>-results.xml`, to allow better
+distinction from other xml files. (I.e., for easy wildcard matching.)
+
+### Fixes and code cleanups
+
+Issues reported by various static code checkers.
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.7 and 3.15.8
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+The following launchpad bugs have fixes included in this release:
+
+- [lp: 1812084](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1812084), Build
+  failure on RTEMS 4.10.2
+- [lp: 1829770](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1829770), event
+  record device support broken with constant INP
+- [lp: 1829919](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1829919), IOC
+  segfaults when calling dbLoadRecords after iocInit
+- [lp: 1838792](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1838792), epicsCalc
+  bit-wise operators on aarch64
+- [lp: 1841608](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1841608), logClient
+  falsely sends error logs on all connections
+- [lp: 1853168](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1853168), undefined
+  reference to `clock_gettime()`
+- [lp: 1862328](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1862328), Race
+  condition on IOC start leaves rsrv unresponsive
+- [lp: 1868486](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1868486),
+  epicsMessageQueue lost messages
+
+### Improvements to the self-test build targets
+
+This release contains changes that make it possible to integrate another test
+running and reporting system (such as Google's gtest) into the EPICS build
+system. The built-in test-runner and reporting system will continue to be used
+by the test programs inside Base however.
+
+These GNUmake `tapfiles` and `test-results` build targets now collect a list of
+the directories that experienced test failures and display those at the end of
+running and/or reporting all of the tests. The GNUmake process will also only
+exit with an error status after running and/or reporting all of the test
+results; previously the `-k` flag to make was needed and even that didn't always
+work.
+
+Continuous Integration systems are recommended to run `make tapfiles` (or if
+they can read junittest output instead of TAP `make junitfiles`) followed by
+`make -s test-results` to display the results of the tests. If multiple CPUs are
+available the `-j` flag can be used to run tests in parallel, giving the maximum
+jobs that should be allowed so `make -j4 tapfiles` for a system with 4 CPUs say.
+Running many more jobs than you have CPUs is likely to be slower and is not
+recommended.
+
+### Calc Engine Fixes and Enhancements
+
+The code that implements bit operations for Calc expressions has been reworked
+to better handle some CPU architectures and compilers. As part of this work a
+new operator has been added: `>>>` performs a logical right-shift, inserting
+zero bits into the most significant bits (the operator `>>` is an arithmetic
+right-shift which copies the sign bit as it shifts the value rightwards).
+
+### IOC logClient Changes
+
+The IOC's error logging system has been updated significantly to fix a number
+of issues including:
+
+  - Only send errlog messages to iocLogClient listeners
+  - Try to minimize lost messages while the log server is down:
+    + Detect disconnects sooner
+    + Don't discard the buffer on disconnect
+    + Flush the buffer immediately after a server reconnects
+
+### epicsThread: Main thread defaults to allow blocking I/O
+
+VxWorks IOCs (and potentially RTEMS IOCs running GeSys) have had problems with
+garbled error messages from dbStaticLib routines for some time &mdash; messages
+printed before `iocInit` were being queued through the errlog thread instead of
+being output immediately. This has been fixed by initializing the main thread
+with its `OkToBlock` flag set instead of cleared. IOCs running on other
+operating systems that use iocsh to execute the startup script previously had
+that set anyway in iocsh so were not affected, but this change might cause other
+programs that don't use iocsh to change their behavior slightly if they use
+`errlogPrintf()`, `epicsPrintf()` or `errPrintf()`.
+
+### catools: Handle data type changes in camonitor
+
+The camonitor program didn't properly cope if subscribed to a channel whose data
+type changed when its IOC was rebooted without restarting the camonitor program.
+This has now been fixed.
+
+### More Record Reference Documentation
+
+The remaining record types have had their reference pages moved from the Wiki,
+and some new reference pages have been written to cover the analog array and
+long string input and output record types plus the printf record type, none of
+which were previously documented. The wiki reference pages covering the fields
+common to all, input, and output record types have also been added, thanks to
+Rolf Keitel. The POD conversion scripts have also been improved and they now
+properly support linking to subsections in a different document, although the
+POD changes to add the cross-links that appeared in the original wiki pages
+still needs to be done in most cases.
+
+### Fix build issues with newer MinGW versions
+
+The `clock_gettime()` routine is no longer used under MinGW since newer versions
+don't provide it any more.
+
+### Fix race for port in RSRV when multiple IOCs start simultaneously
+
+If multiple IOCs were started at the same time, by systemd say, they could race
+to obtain the Channel Access TCP port number 5064. This issue has been fixed.
+
+-----
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.6 and 3.15.7
+
+### GNU Readline detection on Linux
+
+Most Linux architectures should now configure themselves automatically to use
+the GNU Readline library if its main header file can be found in the expected
+place, and not try to use Readline if the header file isn't present. For older
+Linux architectures where libncurses or libcurses must also be linked with, the
+manual configuration of the `COMMANDLINE_LIBRARY` variable in the appropriate
+`configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.Common.<arch>` file will still be necessary.
+
+### Replace `EPICS_TIMEZONE` with `EPICS_TZ`
+
+The `EPICS_TIMEZONE` environment parameter provided time-zone information for
+the IOC's locale in the old ANSI format expected by VxWorks for its `TIMEZONE`
+environment variable, and can also used by RTEMS to set its `TZ` environment
+variable. However the `TIMEZONE` value has to be updated every year since it
+contains the exact dates of the daylight-savings time changes. The Posix TZ
+format that RTEMS uses contains rules that for calculating those dates, thus its
+value would only need updating if the rules (or the locale) are changed.
+
+This release contains changes that replace the `EPICS_TIMEZONE` environment
+parameter with one called `EPICS_TZ` and a routine for VxWorks that calculates
+the `TIMEZONE` environment variable from the current `TZ` value. This routine
+will be run once at start-up, when the EPICS clock has synchronized to its NTP
+server. The calculations it contains were worked out and donated to EPICS by
+Larry Hoff in 2009; it is unforunate that it has taken 10 years for them to be
+integrated into Base.
+
+The default value for the `EPICS_TZ` environment parameter is set in the Base
+`configure/CONFIG_SITE_ENV` file, which contains example settings for most EPICS
+sites that use VxWorks, and a link to a page describing the Posix TZ format for
+any locations that I missed.
+
+If a VxWorks IOC runs continuously without being rebooted from December 31st to
+the start of daylight savings time the following year, its `TIMEZONE` value will
+be wrong as it was calculated for the previous year. This only affects times
+that are converted to a string on the IOC however and is easily fixed; just run
+the command `tz2timezone()` on the VxWorks shell and the calculation will be
+redone for the current year. IOCs that get rebooted at least once before the
+start of summer time will not need this to be done.
+
+### Added new decimation channel filter
+
+A new server-side filter has been added to the IOC for reducing the number
+and frequency of monitor updates from a channel by a client-specified factor.
+The filter's behaviour is quite simplistic, it passes the first monitor event it
+sees to the client and then drops the next N-1 events before passing another
+event. For example to sample a 60Hz channel at 1Hz, a 10Hz channel every 6
+seconds, or a 1Hz channel once every minute:
+
+```
+    Hal$ camonitor 'test:channel.{"dec":{"n":60}}'
+    ...
+```
+
+More information is included in the filters documentation, which can be found
+in the `html/filters.html` document that is generated during the build.
+
+### Imported Record Reference Documentation from Wiki
+
+The remaining record types that had 3.14 reference documentation in the EPICS
+Wiki have had that documentation converted and imported into their DBD files.
+The preferred form for future updates to the record type descriptions is now an
+emailed patch file, a Pull Request through GitHub, or a Merge Request through
+Launchpad. Note that in some cases the behavior of a record type in a 7.0.x
+release may differ from that of the same record type in a 3.15 release, although
+this would be unusual, so it may be important to indicate the branch that your
+changes apply to.
+
+**NOTE:** *These documentation changes have modified the order of the fields in
+some record definitions. As a result this release is not compatible with record
+or device support binaries that were compiled against earlier releases.*
+
+### `make test-results` for Windows
+
+The make target `test-results` should now work properly on Windows. Some Perl
+installations used versions of `prove.bat` that would only display the results of
+up to 3 tests or didn't return an error status in the event of tests failing. The
+build system now calls its own perl script to summarize the results instead of
+passing a list of TAP filenames to `prove`.
+
+### Add option to avoid CALLBACK conflict
+
+If a macro `EPICS_NO_CALLBACK` is defined, then callback.h will no longer
+(re)define CALLBACK. The name `CALLBACK` is used by the WIN32 API, and
+redefinition in callback.h cause errors if some windows headers are later
+included.
+
+Code which defines `EPICS_NO_CALLBACK`, but still wishes to use callbacks,
+should use the alternate name `epicsCallback` introduced in 3.15.6, 3.16.2, and
+7.0.2. It is also possible, though not encouraged, to use `struct callbackPvt`
+which has been present since the callback API was introduced.
+
+### Cleaning up with Multiple CA contexts in a Process
+
+Bruno Martins reported a problem with the CA client library at shutdown in a
+process that uses multiple CA client contexts. The first context that triggers
+the CA client exit handler prevents any others from being able to clean up
+because it resets the ID of an internal epicsThreadPrivate variable which is
+shared by all clients. This action has been removed from the client library,
+which makes cleanup of clients like this possible.
+
+### Perl CA bindings fixed for macOS Mojave
+
+Apple removed some Perl header files from macOS Mojave that were available
+in their SDK, requiring a change to the include paths used when compiling the
+CA bindings. The new version should build on new and older macOS versions, and
+these changes may also help other targets that have an incomplete installation
+of Perl (the build will continue after printing a warning that the Perl CA
+bindings could not be built).
+
+### Routine `epicsTempName()` removed from libCom
+
+This routine was a simple wrapper around the C89 function `tmpnam()`
+which is now seen as unsafe and causes warning messages to be generated by
+most modern compilers. The two internal uses of this function have been
+modified to call `epicsTempFile()` instead. We were unable to find any
+published code that used this function, so it was removed immediately instead
+of being deprecated.
+
+### DBD Parsing of Record Types
+
+The Perl DBD file parser has been made slightly more liberal; the order in
+which DBD files must be parsed is now more flexible, so that a record type
+definition can now be parsed after a device support that referred to that
+record type. A warning message will be displayed when the device support is
+seen, but the subsequent loading of the record type will be accepted without
+triggering an error. See
+[Launchpad bug 1801145](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1801145).
+
+### menuScan and several record types documented with POD
+
+The EPICS Wiki pages describing a number of standard record types has been
+converted into the Perl POD documentation format and added to the DBD files,
+so at build-time an HTML version of these documents is generated and installed
+into the htmls directory. Thanks to Tony Pietryla.
+
+### CA client tools learned `-V` option
+
+This displays the version numbers of EPICS Base and the CA protocol.
+
+-----
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.5 and 3.15.6
+
+### Unsetting environment variables
+
+The new command `epicsEnvUnset varname` can be used to
+unset an environment variable.
+
+### Warning indicators in msi (and macLib) output
+
+The libCom macro expansion library has been modified so that when the
+`SUPPRESS_WARNINGS` flag is set it will no longer include any `,undefined`
+or `,recursive` indicators in its output when undefined or recursive
+macros are encountered. These indicators were harmless when the output was fed
+into an IOC along with a definition for the macro, but when the `msi`
+tool was used to generate other kinds of files they caused problems. If the
+`msi -V` flag is used the markers will still be present in the output
+whenever the appropriate condition is seen.
+
+### Improvements to msi
+
+In addition to fixing its response to discovering parsing errors in its
+substitution input file (reported as Launchpad
+[bug 1503661](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1503661))
+so it now deletes the incomplete output file, the msi program has been cleaned
+up a little bit internally.
+
+### All array records now post monitors on their array-length fields
+
+The waveform record has been posting monitors on its NORD field since Base
+3.15.0.1; we finally got around to doing the equivalent in all the other
+built-in record types, which even required modifying device support in some
+cases. This fixes
+[Launchpad bug 1730727](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1730727).
+
+### HOWTO: Converting Wiki Record Reference to POD
+
+Some documentation has been added to the `dbdToHtml.pl` script
+explaining how Perl POD (Plain Old Documentation) markup can be added to
+`.dbd` files to generate HTML documentation for the record types. To see
+these instructions, run `perl bin/<host>/dbdToHtml.pl -H`
+or `perldoc bin/<host>/dbdToHtml.pl`.
+
+### Fix problem with numeric soft events
+
+Changing from numeric to named soft events introduced an incompatibility
+when a numeric event 1-255 is converted from a DOUBLE, e.g. from a calc record.
+The `post_event()` API is not marked deprecated any more.
+
+Also `scanpel` has been modified to accept a glob pattern for
+event name filtering and to show events with no connected records as well.
+
+### Add `osiSockOptMcastLoop_t` and osiSockTest
+
+Added a new OS-independent typedef for multicast socket options, and a test
+file to check their correct operation.
+
+### Support for `CONFIG_SITE.local` in Base
+
+This feature is mostly meant for use by developers; configuration
+settings that would normally appear in `base/configure/CONFIG_SITE` can now
+be put in a locally created `base/configure/CONFIG_SITE.local` file instead
+of having go modify or replace the original. A new `.gitignore` pattern
+tells git to ignore all `configure/*.local` files.
+
+### Fix broken `EPICS_IOC_LOG_FILE_LIMIT=0` setting
+
+The Application Developers' Guide says this is allowed and disables the
+limit on the log-file, but it hasn't actually worked for some time (if ever).
+Note that the iocLogServer will be removed from newer Base release sometime
+soon as its functionality can be implemented by other dedicated log servers
+such as logstash or syslog-ng.
+
+Fixes [lp:1786858](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1786858)
+and part of [lp:1786966](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1786966).
+
+### Cleanup of startup directory
+
+The files in the startup directory have not been maintained in recent years
+and have grown crufty (technical term). This release includes the following
+updates to these files:
+
+  - The Perl `EpicsHostArch.pl` script has been rewritten, and support
+    for a few previously missing host architectures has been added to it.
+  - The `EpicsHostArch.pl` script has also been moved into the standard
+    `src/tools` directory, from where it will be installed into
+    `lib/perl`. In this new location it is no longer executable, so it must
+    be run by the `perl` executable.
+  - The build system has been adjusted to look for `EpicsHostArch.pl` in
+    both places if the `EPICS_HOST_ARCH` environment variable has not been
+    set at build-time.
+  - Sites that used the original Perl script to set `EPICS_HOST_ARCH` as part of
+    their standard environment will need to adjust their scripts when they
+    upgrade to this release.
+  - The `EpicsHostArch` shell script has been replaced with a wrapper
+    routine that calls the Perl `EpicsHostArch.pl` script. Sites that rely on
+    this script to set `EPICS_HOST_ARCH` should consider switching to the
+    Perl script instead.
+  - The `Site.cshrc` and `Site.profile` files have been renamed to
+    `unix.csh` and `unix.sh`, respectively.
+  - The existing `win32.bat` file has been cleaned up and a new
+    `windows.bat` file added for 64-bit targets. The contents of these files
+    should be seen as examples, don't uncomment or install parts for software
+    that you don't explicitly know that you need.
+
+### Recent Apple XCode Build Issues
+
+The latest version of XCode will not compile calls to `system()` or
+`clock_settime()` for iOS targets. There were several places in Base
+where these were being compiled, although there were probably never called. The
+code has now been modified to permit iOS builds to complete again.
+
+### Prevent illegal alarm severities
+
+A check has been added to `recGblResetAlarms()` that prevents records
+from getting an alarm severity higher than `INVALID_ALARM`. It is still possible
+for a field like HSV to get set to a value that is not a legal alarm severity,
+but the core IOC code should never copy such a value into a record's SEVR or
+ACKS fields. With this fix the record's alarm severity will be limited to
+`INVALID_ALARM`.
+
+### Fixes for Launchpad bugs
+
+The following launchpad bugs have fixes included:
+
+  - [lp: 1786320](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1786320), dbCa
+    subscribes twice to ENUM
+  - [lp: 541221](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/541221),
+    `assert (pca->pgetNative)` failed in ../dbCa.c
+  - [lp: 1747091](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1747091),
+    epicsTimeGetEvent() / generalTime bug
+  - [lp: 1743076](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1743076), Segfault
+    in `ca_attach_context()` during exits
+  - [lp: 1751380](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1751380), Deadlock
+    in `ca_clear_subscription()`
+  - [lp: 1597809](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1597809), Setting
+    NAME field in DB file may break IOC
+  - [lp: 1770292](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1770292),
+    `get_alarm_double()` inconsistent across record types
+  - [lp: 1771298](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1771298),
+    Conversion of NaN to integer relies on undefined behavior
+
+### Updated VxWorks Timezone settings
+
+Removed the settings for 2017; fixed the hour of the change for MET.
+
+### Fixed camonitor server side relative timestamps bug
+
+Initialize the first time-stamp from the first monitor, not the client-side
+current time in this configuration.
+
+### Build changes for MSVC
+
+Windows builds using Visual Studio 2015 and later now use the `-FS`
+compiler option to allow parallel builds to work properly.
+
+We now give the `-FC` option to tell the compiler to print absolute
+paths for source files in diagnostic messages.
+
+### Extend maximum Posix epicsEventWaitWithTimeout() delay
+
+The Posix implementation of epicsEventWaitWithTimeout() was limiting the
+timeout delay to at most 60 minutes (3600.0 seconds). This has been changed to
+10 years; significantly longer maximum delays cause problems on systems where
+`time_t` is still a signed 32-bit integer so cannot represent absolute
+time-stamps after 2038-01-19. Our assumption is that such 32-bit systems will
+have been retired before the year 2028, but some additional tests have been
+added to the epicsTimeTest program to detect and fail if this assumption is
+violated.
+
+### New test-related make targets
+
+This release adds several new make targets intended for use by developers
+and Continuous Integration systems which simplify the task of running the
+built-in self-test programs and viewing the results. Since these targets are
+intended for limited use they can have requirements for the build host which
+go beyond the standard minimum set needed to build and run Base.
+
+#### `test-results` - Summarize test results
+
+The new make target `test-results` will run the self-tests if
+necessary to generate a TAP file for each test, then summarizes the TAP output
+files in each test directory in turn, displaying the details of any failures.
+This step uses the program `prove` which comes with Perl, but also needs
+`cat` to be provided in the default search path so will not work on most
+Windows systems.
+
+#### `junitfiles` - Convert test results to JUnit XML Format
+
+The new make target `junitfiles` will run the self-tests if necessary
+and then convert the TAP output files into the more commonly-supported JUnit
+XML format. The program that performs this conversion needs the Perl module
+`XML::Generator` to have been installed.
+
+#### `clean-tests` - Delete test result files
+
+The new make target `clean-tests` removes any test result files from
+previous test runs. It cleans both TAP and JUnit XML files.
+
+### Fix DNS related crash on exit
+
+The attempt to fix DNS related delays for short lived CLI programs (eg. caget)
+in [lp:1527636](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1527636) introduced a
+bug which cased these short lived clients to crash on exit. This bug should now
+be fixed.
+
+### Server bind issue on Windows
+
+When a National Instruments network variables CA server is already running on
+a Windows system and an IOC or PCAS server is started, the IOC's attempt to
+bind a TCP socket to the CA server port number fails, but Windows returns a
+different error status value than the IOC is expecting in that circumstance
+(because the National Instruments code requests exclusive use of that port,
+unlike the EPICS code) so the IOC fails to start properly. The relevent EPICS
+bind() checks have now been updated so the IOC will request that a dynamic port
+number be allocated for this TCP socket instead when this happens.
+
+### Checking Periodic Scan Rates
+
+Code has been added to the IOC startup to better protect it against bad
+periodic scan rates, including against locales where `.` is not
+accepted as a decimal separator character. If the scan period in a menuScan
+choice string cannot be parsed, the associated periodic scan thread will no
+longer be started by the IOC and a warning message will be displayed at iocInit
+time. The `scanppl` command will also flag the faulty menuScan value.
+
+-----
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.4 and 3.15.5
+
+### dbStatic Library Speedup and Cleanup
+
+Loading of database files has been optimized to avoid over-proportionally
+long loading times for large databases. As a part of this, the alphabetical
+ordering of records instances (within a record type) has been dropped. In the
+unexpected case that applications were relying on the alphabetic order, setting
+`dbRecordsAbcSorted = 1` before loading the databases will retain the
+old behavior.
+
+The routine `dbRenameRecord()` has been removed, as it was intended
+to be used by database configuration tools linked against a host side version
+of the dbStatic library that is not being built anymore.
+
+### Launchpad Bug-fixes
+
+In addition to the more detailed change descriptions below, the following
+Launchpad bugs have also been fixed in this release:
+
+  - [lp:1440186](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1440186) Crash due
+    to a too small buffer being provided in `dbContextReadNotifyCache()`
+  - [lp:1479316](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1479316) Some data
+    races found using Helgrind
+  - [lp:1495833](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1495833) biRecord
+    prompt groups are nonsensical
+  - [lp:1606848](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1606848) WSAIoctl
+    `SIO_GET_INTERFACE_LIST` failed in Windows
+
+### Whole-Program Optimization for MS Visual Studio Targets
+
+When using the Microsoft compilers a new build system variable is provided that
+controls whether whole program optimization is used or not. For static builds
+using Visual Studio 2010 this optimization must be disabled. This is controlled
+in the files `configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.Common.windows-x64-static` and
+`configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.Common.win32-x86-static` by setting the variable
+`OPT_WHOLE_PROGRAM=NO` to override the default value `YES` that would otherwise
+be used.
+
+Note that enabling this optimization slows down the build process. It is not
+possible to selectively disable this optimization, when building a particular
+module say; Microsoft's linker will restart itself automatically with the
+`-LTCG` flag set and display a warning if it is asked to link any object
+files that were compiled with the `-GL` flag.
+
+### Add dynamic (variable length) array support to PCAS
+
+Dynamic array sizing support was added to the IOC server (RSRV) in the
+Base-3.14.12 release, but has not until now been supported in the Portable
+Channel Access Server (PCAS). Channel Access server applications using the
+PCAS may not need to be modified at all; if they already push monitors with
+different gdd array lengths, those variable sizes will be forwarded to any CA
+clients who have requested variable length updates. The example CAS server
+application has been modified to demonstrate this feature.
+
+In implementing the above, the gdd method `gdd::put(const gdd *)` now
+copies the full-sized array from the source gdd if the destination gdd is of
+type array, has no allocated memory and a boundary size of 0.
+
+### Additional epicsTime conversion
+
+The EPICS timestamp library (epicsTime) inside libCom's OSI layer has
+been extended by routines that convert from `struct tm` to the EPICS
+internal `epicsTime` type, assuming UTC - i.e. without going through
+the timezone mechanism. This solves issues with converting from the structured
+type to the EPICS timestamp at driver level from multiple threads at a high
+repetition rate, where the timezone mechanism was blocking on file access.
+
+### MinGW Cross-builds from Linux
+
+The build configuration files that allow cross-building of the 32-bit
+win32-x86-mingw cross-target have been adjusted to default to building shared
+libraries (DLLs) as this is now supported by recent MinGW compilers. The 64-bit
+windows-x64-mingw cross-target was already being built that way by default. The
+configuration options to tell the minGW cross-compiler to link programs with
+static versions of the compiler support libraries have now been moved into the
+`CONFIG_SITE.linux-x86.<target>` files.
+
+### General Time updates
+
+The `iocInit` code now performs a sanity check of the current time
+returned by the generalTime subsystem and will print a warning if the wall-clock
+time returned has not been initialized yet. This is just a warning message; when
+a time provider does synchonize the IOC will subsequently pick up and use the
+correct time. This check code also primes the registered event system provider
+if there is one so the `epicsTimeGetEventInt()` routine will work on IOCs
+that ask for event time within an interrupt service routine.
+
+The osiClockTime provider's synchronization thread (which is only used on
+some embedded targets) will now poll the other time providers at 1Hz until the
+first time it manages to get a successful timestamp, after which it will poll
+for updates every 60 seconds as before.
+
+The routine `generalTimeGetExceptPriority()` was designed for use by
+backup (lower priority) time providers like the osiClockTime provider which do
+not have their own absolute time reference and rely on other providers for an
+absolute time source. This routine no longer implements the ratchet mechanism
+that prevented the time it returned from going backwards. If the backup clock's
+tick-timer runs fast the synchronization of the backup time provider would never
+allow it to be corrected backwards when the ratchet was in place. The regular
+`epicsTimeGetCurrent()` API still uses the ratchet mechanism, so this
+change will not cause the IOC to see time going backwards.
+
+### Microsoft Visual Studio builds
+
+The build configuration files for builds using the Microsoft compilers have been
+updated, although there should be no noticable difference at most sites. One
+extra compiler warning is now being suppressed for C++ code, `C4344: behavior
+change: use of explicit template arguments results in ...` which is gratuitous
+and was appearing frequently in builds of the EPICS V4 modules.
+
+Cross-builds of the windows-x64 target from a win32-x86 host have been
+removed as they don't actually work within the context of a single `make`
+run. Significant changes to the build configuration files would be necessary for
+these kinds of cross-builds to work properly, which could be done if someone
+needs them (email Andrew Johnson before working on this, and see
+[this stack-overflow answer](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5807647/how-do-you-compile-32-bit-and-64-bit-applications-at-the-same-time-in-visual-stu) for a starting point).
+
+### Bazaar keywords such as 'Revision-Id' removed
+
+In preparation for moving to git in place of the Bazaar revision control
+system we have removed all the keywords from the Base source code.
+
+### Linux systemd service file for CA Repeater
+
+Building this version of Base on a Linux system creates a systemd service
+file suitable for starting the Channel Access Repeater under systemd. The file
+will be installed into the target bin directory, from where it can be copied
+into the appropriate systemd location and modified as necessary. Installation
+instructions are included as comments in the file.
+
+-----
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.3 and 3.15.4
+
+### New string input device support "getenv"
+
+A new "getenv" device support for both the stringin and lsi (long string
+input) record types can be used to read the value of an environment variable
+from the IOC at runtime. See base/db/softIocExit.db for sample usage.
+
+### Build rules and `DELAY_INSTALL_LIBS`
+
+A new order-only prerequisite build rule has been added to ensure that
+library files (and DLL stubs on Windows) get installed before linking any
+executables, which resolves parallel build problems on high-powered CPUs. There
+are some (rare) cases though where a Makefile has to build an executable and run
+it to be able to compile code for a library built by the same Makefile. With
+this new build rule GNUmake will complain about a circular dependency and the
+build will probably fail in those cases. To avoid this problem the failing
+Makefile should set `DELAY_INSTALL_LIBS = YES` before including the
+`$(TOP)/configure/RULES` file, disabling the new build rule.
+
+### IOC environment variables and build parameters
+
+The IOC now sets a number of environment variables at startup that provide the
+version of EPICS Base it was built against (`EPICS_VERSION_...`) and its build
+architecture (ARCH). In some cases this allows a single iocBoot/ioc directory to
+be used to run the same IOC on several different architectures without any
+changes.
+
+There are also 3 new environment parameters (`EPICS_BUILD_...`) available that
+C/C++ code can use to find out the target architecture, OS class and compiler
+class it was built with. These may be useful when writing interfaces to other
+languages.
+
+### New implementation of `promptgroup`/`gui_group` field property
+
+The mechanism behind the `promptgroup()` field property inside a record type
+definition has been changed. Instead of using a fixed set of choices,
+the static database access library now collects the used gui group names
+while parsing DBD information. Group names should start with a two-digit number
+plus space-dash-space to allow proper sorting of groups.
+
+The include file `guigroup.h` that defined the fixed set of choices
+has been deprecated. Instead, use the conversion functions between index number
+and group string that have been added to dbStaticLib.
+
+When a DBD file containing record-type descriptions is expanded, any
+old-style `GUI_xxx` group names will be replaced by a new-style
+string for use by the IOC. This permits an older record type to be used with
+the 3.15.4 release, although eventually record types should be converted by
+hand with better group names used.
+
+### CA server configuration changes
+
+RSRV now honors `EPICS_CAS_INTF_ADDR_LIST` and binds only to the provided list
+of network interfaces. Name searches (UDP and TCP) on other network interfaces
+are ignored. For example on a computer with interfaces 10.5.1.1/24, 10.5.2.1/24,
+and 10.5.3.1/24, setting `EPICS_CAS_INTF_ADDR_LIST='10.5.1.1 10.5.2.1'` will
+accept traffic on the .1.1 and .2.1, but ignore from .3.1
+
+RSRV now honors `EPICS_CAS_IGNORE_ADDR_LIST` and ignores UDP messages received
+from addresses in this list.
+
+Previously, CA servers (RSRV and PCAS) would build the beacon address list using
+`EPICS_CA_ADDR_LIST` if `EPICS_CAS_BEACON_ADDR_LIST` was no set. This is no
+longer done. Sites depending on this should set both environment variables to
+the same value.
+
+### IPv4 multicast for name search and beacons
+
+libca, RSRV, and PCAS may now use IPv4 multicasting for UDP traffic (name search
+and beacons). This is disabled by default. To enable multicast address(s) must
+be listed in `EPICS_CA_ADDR_LIST` for clients and `EPICS_CAS_INTF_ADDR_LIST` for
+servers (IOCs should set both). For example:
+
+    EPICS_CAS_INTF_ADDR_LIST='224.0.2.9' EPICS_CA_ADDR_LIST=224.0.2.9
+
+Please note that no IPv4 multicast address is officially assigned for Channel
+Access by IANA. The example 224.0.2.9 is taken from the AD-HOC Block I range.
+
+### Moved `mlockall()` into its own epicsThread routine
+
+Since EPICS Base 3.15.0.2 on Posix OSs the initialization of the epicsThread
+subsystem has called `mlockall()` when the OS supports it and thread
+priority scheduling is enabled. Doing so has caused problems in third-party
+applications that call the CA client library, so the functionality has been
+moved to a separate routine `epicsThreadRealtimeLock()` which will be
+called by the IOC at iocInit (unless disabled by setting the global variable
+`dbThreadRealtimeLock` to zero).
+
+### Added dbQuietMacroWarnings control
+
+When loading database files, macros get expanded even on comment lines. If a
+comment contains an undefined macro, the load still continues but an error
+message gets printed. For this release the error message has been changed to a
+warning, but even this warning can be made less verbose by setting this new
+variable to a non-zero value before loading the file, like this:
+
+```
+    var dbQuietMacroWarnings 1      iocsh
+    dbQuietMacroWarnings=1          VxWorks
+```
+
+This was [Launchpad bug
+541119](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/541119).
+
+-----
+
+## Changes from the 3.14 branch between 3.15.3 and 3.15.4
+
+### NTP Time Provider adjusts to OS tick rate changes
+
+Dirk Zimoch provided code that allows the NTP Time provider (used on VxWorks
+and RTEMS only) to adapt to changes in the OS clock tick rate after the provider
+has been initialized. Note that changing the tick rate after iocInit() is not
+advisable, and that other software might still misbehave if initialized before
+an OS tick rate change. This change was back-ported from the 3.15 branch.
+
+### Making IOC `ca_get` operations atomic
+
+When a CA client gets data from an IOC record using a compound data type such
+as `DBR_TIME_DOUBLE` the value field is fetched from the database in a
+separate call than the other metadata, without keeping the record locked. This
+allows some other thread such as a periodic scan thread a chance to interrupt
+the get operation and process the record in between. CA monitors have always
+been atomic as long as the value data isn't a string or an array, but this race
+condition in the CA get path has now been fixed so the record will stay locked
+between the two fetch operations.
+
+This fixes
+[Launchpad bug 1581212](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1581212),
+thanks to Till Strauman and Dehong Zhang.
+
+### New `CONFIG_SITE` variable for running self-tests
+
+The 'make runtests' and 'make tapfiles' build targets normally only run the
+self-tests for the main `EPICS_HOST_ARCH` architecture. If the host is
+able to execute self-test programs for other target architectures that are being
+built by the host, such as when building a `-debug` version of the host
+architecture for example, the names of those other architectures can be added to
+the new `CROSS_COMPILER_RUNTEST_ARCHS` variable in either the
+`configure/CONFIG_SITE` file or in an appropriate
+`configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.<host>.Common` file to have the test
+programs for those targets be run as well.
+
+### Additional RELEASE file checks
+
+An additional check has been added at build-time for the contents of the
+`configure/RELEASE` file(s), which will mostly only affect users of the Debian
+EPICS packages published by NSLS-2. Support modules may share an install path,
+but all such modules must be listed adjacent to each other in any `RELEASE`
+files that point to them. For example the following will fail the new checks:
+
+```
+    AUTOSAVE = /usr/lib/epics
+    ASYN = /home/mdavidsaver/asyn
+    EPICS_BASE = /usr/lib/epics
+```
+
+giving the compile-time error
+
+```
+    This application's RELEASE file(s) define
+        EPICS_BASE = /usr/lib/epics
+    after but not adjacent to
+        AUTOSAVE = /usr/lib/epics
+    Module definitions that share paths must be grouped together.
+    Either remove a definition, or move it to a line immediately
+    above or below the other(s).
+    Any non-module definitions belong in configure/CONFIG_SITE.
+```
+
+In many cases such as the one above the order of the `AUTOSAVE` and
+`ASYN` lines can be swapped to let the checks pass, but if the
+`AUTOSAVE` module depended on `ASYN` and hence had to appear
+before it in the list this error indicates that `AUTOSAVE` should also be
+built in its own private area; a shared copy would likely be incompatible with
+the version of `ASYN` built in the home directory.
+
+### String field buffer overflows
+
+Two buffer overflow bugs that can crash the IOC have been fixed, caused by
+initializing a string field with a value larger than the field size
+([Launchpad bug 1563191](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1563191)).
+
+### Fixed stack corruption bug in epicsThread C++ API
+
+The C++ interface to the epicsThread API could corrupt the stack on thread
+exit in some rare circumstances, usually at program exit. This bug has been
+fixed ([Launchpad bug 1558206](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1558206)).
+
+### RTEMS NTP Support Issue
+
+On RTEMS the NTP Time Provider could in some circumstances get out of sync
+with the server because the `osdNTPGet()` code wasn't clearing its input socket
+before sending out a new request. This
+([Launchpad bug 1549908](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1549908))
+has now been fixed.
+
+### CALC engine bitwise operator fixes
+
+The bitwise operators in the CALC engine have been modified to work properly
+with values that have bit 31 (0x80000000) set. This modification involved
+back-porting some earlier changes from the 3.15 branch, and fixes
+[Launchpad bug 1514520](https://code.launchpad.net/bugs/1514520).
+
+### Fix `ipAddrToAsciiAsync()`: Don't try to join the daemon thread
+
+On process exit, don't try to stop the worker thread that makes DNS lookups
+asynchronous. Previously this would wait for any lookups still in progress,
+delaying the exit unnecessarily. This was most obvious with catools (eg.
+cainfo).
+[lp:1527636](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1527636)
+
+### Fix `epicsTime_localtime()` on Windows
+
+Simpler versions of the `epicsTime_gmtime()` and `epicsTime_localtime()`
+routines have been included in the Windows implementations, and a new test
+program added. The original versions do not report DST status properly. Fixes
+[Launchpad bug 1528284](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1528284).

documentation/RELEASE-3.16.md

@@ -0,0 +1,756 @@
+# Changes incorporated from the 3.16 branch
+
+## Changes made between 3.16.1 and 3.16.2
+
+### Launchpad Bugs
+
+The list of tracked bugs fixed in this release can be found on the
+[Launchpad Milestone page for EPICS Base 3.16.2](https://launchpad.net/epics-base/+milestone/3.16.2).
+
+### Status reporting for the callback and scanOnce task queues
+
+Two new iocsh commands and some associated underlying APIs have been added to
+show the state of the queues that feed the three callback tasks and the
+scanOnce task, including a high-water mark which can optionally be reset. The
+new iocsh commands are `callbackQueueShow` and `scanOnceQueueShow`; both take
+an optional integer argument which must be non-zero to reset the high-water
+mark.
+
+### Support for event codes greater than or equal to `NUM_TIME_EVENTS`
+
+Event numbers greater than or equal to `NUM_TIME_EVENTS` are now allowed if
+supported by the registered event time provider, which must provide its own
+advancing timestamp validation for such events.
+
+Time events numbered 0 through `(NUM_TIME_EVENTS-1)` are still validated by code
+in epicsGeneralTime.c that checks for advancing timestamps and enforces that
+restriction.
+
+### Type-safe Device and Driver Support Tables
+
+Type-safe versions of the device and driver support structures `dset` and
+`drvet` have been added to the devSup.h and drvSup.h headers respectively. The
+original structure definitions have not been changed so existing support
+modules will still build normally, but older modules can be modified and new
+code written to be compatible with both.
+
+The old structure definitions will be replaced by the new ones if the macros
+`USE_TYPED_DSET` and/or `USE_TYPED_DRVET` are defined when the appropriate
+header is included. The best place to define these is in the Makefile, as with
+the `USE_TYPED_RSET` macro that was introduced in Base-3.16.1 and described
+below. See the comments in devSup.h for a brief usage example, or look at
+[this commit](https://github.com/epics-modules/ipac/commit/a7e0ff4089b9aa39108bc8569e95ba7fcf07cee9)
+to the ipac module to see a module conversion.
+
+A helper function `DBLINK* dbGetDevLink(dbCommon *prec)` has also been added
+to devSup.h which fetches a pointer to the INP or OUT field of the record.
+
+### RTEMS build configuration update, running tests under QEMU
+
+This release includes the ability to run the EPICS unit tests built for a
+special version of the RTEMS-pc386 target architecture on systems that have an
+appropriate QEMU emulator installed (`qemu-system-i386`). It is also now
+possible to create sub-architectures of RTEMS targets, whereas previously the
+EPICS target architecture name had to be `RTEMS-$(RTEMS_BSP)`.
+
+The new target `RTEMS-pc386-qemu` builds binaries that can be run in the
+`qemu-system-i386` PC System emulator. This target is a derivative of the
+original `RTEMS-pc386` target but with additional software to build an in-
+memory file-system, and some minor modifications to allow the unit tests to
+work properly under QEMU. When this target is enabled, building any of the
+make targets that cause the built-in self-tests to be run (such as `make
+runtests`) will also run the tests for RTEMS using QEMU.
+
+To allow the new 3-component RTEMS target name, the EPICS build system for
+RTEMS was modified to allow a `configure/os/CONFIG.Common.<arch>` file to set
+the `RTEMS_BSP` variable to inform the build what RTEMS BSP to use. Previously
+this was inferred from the value of the `T_A` make variable, but that prevents
+having multiple EPICS targets that build against the same BSP. All the
+included RTEMS target configuration files have been updated; build
+configuration files for out-of-tree RTEMS targets will continue to work as the
+original rules are used to set `RTEMS_BSP` if it hasn't been set when needed.
+
+### Link type enhancements
+
+This release adds three new link types: "state", "debug" and "trace". The
+"state" link type gets and puts boolean values from/to the dbState library
+that was added in the 3.15.1 release. The "debug" link type sets the
+`jlink::debug` flag in its child link, while the "trace" link type also causes
+the arguments and return values for all calls to the child link's jlif and
+lset routines to be printed on stdout. The debug flag can no longer be set
+using an info tag. The addition of the "trace" link type has allowed over 200
+lines of conditional diagnostic printf() calls to be removed from the other
+link types.
+
+The "calc" link type can now be used for output links as well as input links.
+This allows modification of the output value and even combining it with values
+from other input links. See the separate JSON Link types document for details.
+
+A new `start_child()` method was added to the end of the jlif interface table.
+
+The `lset` methods have now been properly documented in the dbLink.h header
+file using Doxygen annotations, although we do not run Doxygen on the source
+tree yet to generate API documentation.
+
+Link types that utilize child links must now indicate whether the child will
+be used for input, output or forward linking by the return value from its
+`parse_start_map()` method. The `jlif_key_result` enum now contains 3 values
+`jlif_key_child_inlink`, `jlif_key_child_outlink` and `jlif_key_child_fwdlink`
+instead of the single `jlif_key_child_link` that was previously used for this.
+
+### GNUmake targets for debugging
+
+Some additional build rules have been added to help debug configuration
+problems with the build system. Run `make show-makefiles` to get a sorted list
+of all the files that the build system includes when building in the current
+directory.
+
+A new pattern rule for `PRINT.%` can be used to show the value of any GNUmake
+variable for the current build directory (make sure you are in the right
+directory though, many variables are only set when inside the `O.<arch>` build
+directory). For example `make PRINT.T_A` will display the build target
+architecture name from inside a `O.<arch>` directory but the variable will be
+empty from an application top or src directory. `make PRINT.EPICS_BASE` will
+show the path to Base from any EPICS application directory though.
+
+### Propagate PUTF across Asynchronous record processing
+
+The IOC contains a mechanism involving the PUTF and RPRO fields of each record
+to ensure that if a record is busy when it receives a put to one of its
+fields, the record will be processed again to ensure that the new field value
+has been correctly acted on. Until now that mechanism only worked if the put
+was to the asynchronous record itself, so puts that were chained from some
+other record via a DB link did not cause reprocessing.
+
+In this release the mechanism has been extended to propagate the PUTF state
+across DB links until all downstream records have been reprocessed. Some
+additional information about the record state can be shown by setting the TPRO
+field of an upstream record, and even more trace data is displayed if the
+debugging variable `dbAccessDebugPUTF` is set in addition to TPRO.
+
+### Finding info fields
+
+A new iocsh command `dbli` lists the info fields defined in the database, and
+can take a glob pattern to limit output to specific info names. The newly
+added dbStaticLib function `dbNextMatchingInfo()` iterates through the info
+fields defined in the current record, and is used to implement the new
+command.
+
+### Output from `dbpr` command enhanced
+
+The "DataBase Print Record" command `dbpr` now generates slightly better
+output, with more field types having their own display methods. This release
+also includes additional protection against buffer overflows while printing
+long links in `dbpr`, and corrects the output of long strings from the `dbgf`
+command.
+
+### Record types mbbiDirect and mbboDirect upgraded to 32 bit
+
+The VAL fields and related fields of these records are now `DBF_LONG`. (Not
+`DBF_ULONG` in order to prevent Channel Access from promoting them to
+`DBF_DOUBLE`.) Additional bit fields `B10`...`B1F` have been added.
+
+Device support that accesses `VAL` or the bit fields directly (most don't) and
+aims for compatibility with old and new versions of these records should use
+at least 32 bit integer types to avoid bit loss. The number of bit fields can
+be calculated using `8 * sizeof(prec->val)` which is correct in both versions.
+
+### Restore use of ledlib for VxWorks command editing
+
+The epicsReadline refactoring work described below unfortunately disabled the
+VxWorks implementation of the osdReadline.c API that uses ledlib for command
+editing and history. This functionality has now been restored, see Launchpad
+[bug #1741578](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741578).
+
+### Constant link types
+
+Constant links can now hold 64-bit integer values, either as scalars or
+    arrays. Only base 10 is supported by the JSON parser though, the JSON standard
+doesn't allow for hexadecimal numbers.
+
+### Upgraded the YAJL JSON Library
+
+The third-party YAJL library that has been included in libCom for several
+years has been upgraded to version 2.1.0 and several bugs fixed. This has an
+updated API, requiring any code that uses it to parse its own JSON files to be
+modified to match. The changes are mainly that it uses `size_t` instead
+`unsigned int` for string lengths, but it also uses `long long` instead of
+`long` for JSON integer values, which was the main motivation for the upgrade.
+
+The self-tests that YAJL comes with have been imported and are now run as an
+EPICS Unit Test program, and the JSON syntax accepted by the parser was
+extended to permit trailing commas in both arrays and maps. The difference
+between the old and new YAJL APIs can be detected at compile time by looking
+for the macro `EPICS_YAJL_VERSION` which is defined in the `yajl_common.h`
+header file along with a brief description of the API changes.
+
+### Timestamp support for the calc link type
+
+A new optional parameter can be given when specifying a calc JSON link. The
+`time` parameter is a string containing a single letter `A..L` that selects
+one of the input links to be used for the timestamp of calculation if
+requested. The timestamp will be fetched atomically with the value from the
+chosen input link (providing that input link type supports the readLocked()
+method).
+
+### Silence errors from puts to constant link types
+
+A soft channel output record with the OUT link unset uses the CONSTANT link
+type. The new link type code was causing some soft channel device supports to
+return an error status from the write method of that link type, which would
+cause a `ca_put()` operation to such a record to generate an exception. This has
+been silenced by giving the constant link types a dummy putValue method. A new
+test program has been added to prevent regressions of this behaviour.
+
+### RSRV expanding large buffer causes crash
+
+In the 3.16.1 release a crash can occur in the IOC's RSRV server when a large
+array is made even larger; the previous array buffer was not being released
+correctly. See Launchpad
+[bug #1706703](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1706703).
+
+-----
+
+## Changes made between 3.16.0.1 and 3.16.1
+
+### IOC Database Support for 64-bit integers
+
+The IOC now supports the 64-bit integer field types `DBF_INT64` and
+`DBF_UINT64`, and there are new record types `int64in` and `int64out` derived
+from the `longin` and `longout` types respectively that use the `DBF_INT64`
+data type for their VAL and related fields. The usual range of Soft Channel
+device support are included for these new record types.
+
+All internal IOC APIs such as dbAccess can handle the new field types and
+their associated request values `DBR_INT64` and `DBR_UINT64`, which are
+implemented using the `epicsInt64` and `epicsUInt64` typedef's from the
+`epicsTypes.h` header.
+
+The waveform record type has been updated to support these new field types.
+**All waveform device support layers must be updated to recognize the new type
+enumeration values**, which had to be inserted before the `FLOAT` value in the
+enum `dbfType` and in `menuFtype`. C or C++ code can detect at compile-time
+whether this version of base provides 64-bit support by checking for the
+presence of the `DBR_INT64` macro as follows (Note that `DBF_INT64` is an
+enum tag and not a preprocessor macro):
+
+```
+    #ifdef DBR_INT64
+        /* Code where Base has INT64 support */
+    #else
+        /* Code for older versions */
+    #endif
+```
+
+If the code uses the old `db_access.h` types (probably because it's calling
+Channel Access APIs) then it will have to test against the EPICS version
+number instead, like this:
+
+```
+    #include <epicsVersion.h>
+
+    #ifndef VERSION_INT
+    #  define VERSION_INT(V,R,M,P) ( ((V)<<24) | ((R)<<16) | ((M)<<8) | (P))
+    #endif
+    #ifndef EPICS_VERSION_INT
+    #  define EPICS_VERSION_INT VERSION_INT(EPICS_VERSION, EPICS_REVISION, EPICS_MODIFICATION, EPICS_PATCH_LEVEL)
+    #endif
+
+    #if EPICS_VERSION_INT >= VERSION_INT(3,16,1,0)
+        /* Code where Base has INT64 support */
+    #else
+        /* Code for older versions */
+    #endif
+```
+
+Channel Access does not (and probably never will) directly support 64-bit
+integer types, so the new field types are presented to the CA server as
+`DBF_DOUBLE` values. This means that field values larger than 2^52
+(0x10\_0000\_0000\_0000 = 4503599627370496) cannot be transported over Channel
+Access without their least significant bits being truncated. The EPICS V4
+pvAccess network protocol _can_ transport 64-bit data types however, and a
+future release of the pvaSrv module will connect this ability to the fields of
+the IOC.
+
+Additional 64-bit support will be provided in later release. For instance the
+JSON parser for the new Link Support feature only handles integers up to 32
+bits wide, so constant array initializer values cannot hold larger values in
+this release.
+
+### Add `EPICS_CA_MCAST_TTL`
+
+A new environment parameter `EPICS_CA_MCAST_TTL` is used to set the Time To Live
+(TTL) value of any IP multi-cast CA search or beacon packets sent.
+
+### `EPICS_CA_MAX_ARRAY_BYTES` is optional
+
+A new environment parameter `EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES` is now used by libca and
+RSRV (CA clients and the IOC CA server). The default is equivalent to setting
+`EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES=YES` which removes the need to set
+`EPICS_CA_MAX_ARRAY_BYTES` and always attempts to allocate sufficiently large
+network buffers to transfer large arrays properly over the network. In this case
+the value of the `EPICS_CA_MAX_ARRAY_BYTES` parameter is ignored.
+
+Explicitly setting `EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES=NO` will continue to honor the
+buffer setting in `EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES` as in previous releases.
+
+The default setting for `EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES` can be changed by adding the
+line
+
+```makefile
+    EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES=NO
+```
+
+to the `configure/CONFIG_SITE_ENV` file before building Base. Sites that wish to
+override this only for specific IOC architectures can create new files for each
+architecture named `configure/os/CONFIG_SITE_ENV.<target-arch>` with the above
+setting in before building Base. The configuration can also be explicitly
+changed by setting the environment variable in the IOC's startup script,
+anywhere above the `iocInit` line.
+
+The PCAS server (used by the PV Gateway and other CA servers) now always behaves
+as if `EPICS_CA_AUTO_ARRAY_BYTES` is set to `YES` (it ignores the configuration
+parameter and environment variable).
+
+### Channel Access "modernization"
+
+Drop support for CA clients advertising protocol versions less than 4.
+
+This effects clients from Base older than 3.12.0-beta1. Newer clients will
+continue to be able to connect to older servers. Older clients will be ignored
+by newer servers.
+
+This allows removal of UDP echo and similar protocol features which are not
+compatible with secure protocol design practice.
+
+### Lookup-tables using the subArrray record
+
+The subArray record can now be used as a lookup-table from a constant array
+specified in its INP field. For example:
+
+```
+    record(subArray, "powers-of-2") {
+      field(FTVL, "LONG")
+      field(MALM, 12)
+      field(INP, [1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048])
+      field(INDX, 0)
+      field(NELM, 1)
+    }
+```
+
+The INDX field selects which power of 2 to set the VAL field to. In previous
+releases the INP field would have to have been pointed to a separate waveform
+record that was initialized with the array values somehow at initialization
+time.
+
+### Synchronized Timestamps with TSEL=-2
+
+Most Soft Channel input device support routines have supported fetching the
+timestamp through the INP link along with the input data. However before now
+there was no guarantee that the timestamp provided by a CA link came from the
+same update as the data, since the two were read from the CA input buffer at
+separate times without maintaining a lock on that buffer in between. This
+shortcoming could be fixed as a result of the new link support code, which
+allows code using a link to pass a subroutine to the link type which will be
+run with the link locked. The subroutine may make multiple requests for
+metadata from the link, but must not block.
+
+### Extensible Link Types
+
+A major new feature introduced with this release of EPICS Base is an
+Extensible Link Type mechanism, also known as Link Support or JSON Link Types.
+This addition permits new kinds of link I/O to be added to an IOC in a similar
+manner to the other extension points already supported (e.g. record, device
+and driver support).
+
+A new link type must implement two related APIs, one for parsing the JSON
+string which provides the link address and the other which implements the link
+operations that get called at run-time to perform I/O. The link type is built
+into the IOC by providing a new `link` entry in a DBD file.
+
+#### New Link Types Added
+
+This release contains two new JSON link types, `const` and `calc`:
+
+ * The `const` link type is almost equivalent to the old CONSTANT link type
+with the updates described below to accept arrays and strings, except that
+there is no need to wrap a scalar string constant inside array brackets since
+a constant string will never be confused with a PV name.
+
+ * The `calc` link type allows CALC expressions to be used to combine
+values from other JSON links to produce its value. Until additional JSON link
+types are created though, the `calc` link type has little practical utility as
+it can currently only fetch inputs from other `calc` links or from `const`
+links.
+
+```
+    field(INP, {calc:{expr:"A+B+1",
+                      args:[5,         # A
+                            {const:6}] # B
+                     }
+               }
+           )
+```
+
+The new link types are documented in a separate document that gets generated at build time and installed as `html/links.html`.
+
+#### Device Support Addressing using `JSON_LINK`
+
+The API to allow device support to use JSON addresses is currently
+incomplete; developers are advised not to try creating device support that
+specifies a `JSON_LINK` address type.
+
+#### Support Routine Modifications for Extensible Link Types
+
+For link fields in external record types and soft device support to be able
+to use the new link types properly, various changes are required to utilize
+the new Link Support API as defined in the dbLink.h header file and outlined
+below. The existing built-in Database and Channel Access link types have been
+altered to implement the link APIs, so will work properly after these
+conversions:
+
+ * Make all calls to `recGblInitConstantLink()` unconditional on the link
+type, i.e. change this code:
+
+```C
+        if (prec->siml.type == CONSTANT) {
+            recGblInitConstantLink(&prec->siml, DBF_USHORT, &prec->simm);
+        }
+```
+
+  into this:
+
+```C
+        recGblInitConstantLink(&prec->siml, DBF_USHORT, &prec->simm);
+```
+
+  Note that `recGblInitConstantLink()` still returns TRUE if the field was
+  successfully initialized from the link (implying the link is constant).
+  This change will work properly with all Base releases currently in use.
+
+ * Code that needs to identify a constant link should be modified to use
+the new routine `dbLinkIsConstant()` instead, which returns TRUE for constant
+or undefined links, FALSE for links whose `dbGetLink()` routine may return
+different values on different calls. For example this:
+
+```C
+        if (prec->dol.type != CONSTANT)
+```
+
+  should become this:
+
+```C
+        if (!dbLinkIsConstant(&prec->dol))
+```
+
+  When the converted software is also required to build against older versions
+  of Base, this macro definition may be useful:
+
+```C
+        #define dbLinkIsConstant(lnk) ((lnk)->type == CONSTANT)
+```
+
+ * Any code that calls dbCa routines directly, or that explicitly checks if
+a link has been resolved as a CA link using code such as
+
+```C
+        if (prec->inp.type == CA_LINK)
+```
+
+  will still compile and run, but will only work properly with the old CA link
+  type. To operate with the new extensible link types such code must be
+  modified to use the new generic routines defined in dbLink.h and should
+  never attempt to examine or modify data inside the link. After conversion
+  the above line would probably become:
+
+```C
+        if (dbLinkIsVolatile(&prec->inp))
+```
+
+  A volatile link is one like a Channel Access link which may disconnect and
+  reconnect without notice at runtime. Database links and constant links are
+  not volatile; unless their link address is changed they will always remain
+  in the same state they started in. For compatibility when building against
+  older versions of Base, this macro definition may be useful:
+
+```C
+        #define dbLinkIsVolatile(lnk) ((lnk)->type == CA_LINK)
+```
+
+ * The current connection state of a volatile link can be found using the
+routine `dbIsLinkConnected()` which will only return TRUE for a volatile link
+that is currently connected. Code using the older dbCa API returning this
+information used to look like this:
+
+```C
+        stat = dbCaIsLinkConnected(plink);
+```
+
+  which should become:
+
+```C
+        stat = dbIsLinkConnected(plink);
+```
+
+  Similar changes should be made for calls to the other dbCa routines.
+
+ * A full example can be found by looking at the changes to the calcout
+record type, which has been modified in this release to use the new dbLink
+generic API.
+
+### Constant Link Values
+
+Previously a constant link (i.e. a link that did not point to another PV,
+either locally or over Channel Access) was only able to provide a single
+numeric value to a record initialization; any string given in a link field
+that was not recognized as a number was treated as a PV name. In this release,
+constant links can be expressed using JSON array syntax and may provide array
+initialization of values containing integers, doubles or strings. An array
+containing a single string value can also be used to initialize scalar
+strings, so the stringin, stringout, lsi (long string input), lso (long string
+output), printf, waveform, subArray and aai (analog array input) record types
+and/or their soft device supports have been modified to support this.
+
+Some examples of constant array and string initialized records are:
+
+```
+    record(stringin, "const:string") {
+        field(INP, ["Not-a-PV-name"])
+    }
+    record(waveform, "const:longs") {
+        field(FTVL, LONG)
+        field(NELM, 10)
+        field(INP, [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10])
+    }
+    record(aai, "const:doubles") {
+        field(FTVL, DOUBLE)
+        field(NELM, 10)
+        field(INP, [0, 1, 1.6e-19, 2.718, 3.141593])
+    }
+    record(aSub, "select") {
+        field(FTA, STRING)
+        field(NOA, 4)
+        field(INPA, ["Zero", "One", "Two", "Three"])
+        field(FTB, SHORT)
+        field(NOB, 1)
+        field(FTVA, STRING)
+        field(NOVA, 1)
+        field(SNAM, "select_asub")
+    }
+```
+
+Reminder: Link initialization with constant values normally only occurs at
+record initialization time. The calcout and printf record types are the only
+exceptions in the Base record types to this rule, so it is generally not
+useful to change a const link value after iocInit.
+
+### Database Parsing of "Relaxed JSON" Values
+
+A database file can now provide a "relaxed JSON" value for a database field
+value or an info tag. Only a few field types can currently accept such values,
+but the capability is now available for use in other places in the future.
+When writing to a JSON-capable field at run-time however, only strictly
+compliant JSON may be used (the dbStaticLib parser rewrites relaxed JSON
+values into strict JSON before passing them to the datase for interpretation,
+where the strict rules must be followed).
+
+"Relaxed JSON" was developed to maximize compatibility with the previous
+database parser rules and reduce the number of double-quotes that would be
+needed for strict JSON syntax. The parser does accept strict JSON too though,
+which should be used when machine-generating database files. The differences
+are:
+
+  * Strings containing only the characters `a-z A-Z 0-9 _ - + .` do not have to
+be enclosed in double-quote characters.
+
+  * The above rule applies to map keys as well as to regular string values.
+
+  * The JSON keywords `null`, `true` and `false` (all lower-case) will be
+recognized as keywords, so they must be quoted to use any of these single words
+as a string.
+
+  * Comments may be used, introduced as usual by the `#` character and extending
+to the end of the line.
+
+A JSON field or info value is only enclosed in quotes when the value being
+provided is a single string, and even here the quotes can be omitted in some
+cases as described above. The following shows both correct and incorrect
+excerpts from a database file:
+
+```
+    record(ai, math:pi) {
+        field(INP, {const: 3.14159265358979})   # Correct
+        field(SIOL, "{const: 3.142857}")        # Wrong
+
+        info(autosave, {            # White-space and comments are allowed
+            fields:[DESC, SIMM],
+            pass0:[VAL]
+        })                          # Correct
+    }
+```
+
+Note that the record, field and info-tag names do *not* accept JSON values, so
+they follows the older bareword rules for quoting where the colon `:` and
+several additional characters are legal in a bareword string. Only the value
+(after the comma) is parsed as JSON. The autosave module has not been modified
+to accept JSON syntax, the above is only an example of how JSON might be used.
+
+### Echoless comments in iocsh
+
+The way comments are parsed by the iocsh interpreter has changed. The
+interpreter can be selectively disabled from echoing comments coming from a
+script by starting those lines with `#-` rather than just `#`.
+
+### Typed record support methods
+
+The table of record support functions (rset methods for short) no longer has
+entries of type `RECSUPFUN` (which says: any number and type of arguments).
+Instead, rset methods are now typed by default. The `RECSUPFUN` typedef has
+been deprecated and casts to it as well as using the untyped `struct rset`
+will create compilation warnings.
+
+Existing code (e.g. external record supports) will generate such warnings when
+compiled against this version of Base, but it will work without changes.
+
+For a conversion period, the new typed rset definitions are activated by
+defining `USE_TYPED_RSET`, preferably by setting `USR_CPPFLAGS +=
+-DUSE_TYPED_RSET` inside a Makefile. After activating the new typed rset in
+this way and making the following changes, the result should still compile and
+work properly against older versions of Base.
+
+The first parameter of `init_record` and `process` has been changed to `struct
+dbCommon *`. Record types that use `void*` here should be changed to use
+`struct dbCommon*`, and cast the argument to their own `xxxRecord *`.
+
+When compiled against this release, compiler warnings about incompatible types
+for the method pointers should be taken seriously. When compiled against older
+versions of base, such warnings are unavoidable.
+
+Record types written in C++ need to take more drastic measures because of the
+stricter type checking in C++. To remain compatible with older versions of
+base you will need to use something like:
+
+```
+    #include "epicsVersion.h"
+    #ifdef VERSION_INT
+    #  if EPICS_VERSION_INT < VERSION_INT(3,16,0,2)
+    #    define RECSUPFUN_CAST (RECSUPFUN)
+    #  else
+    #    define RECSUPFUN_CAST
+    #  endif
+    #else
+    #  define RECSUPFUN_CAST (RECSUPFUN)
+    #endif
+```
+
+and then replace `(RECSUPFUN)` with `RECSUPFUN_CAST` when initializing the
+rset. Further changes might also be needed, e.g. to adapt `const`-ness of
+method parameters.
+
+-----
+
+## Changes made between 3.15.3 and 3.16.0.1
+
+### Build support for CapFast and dbst removed
+
+The build rules associated with the CapFast-related tools `sch2edif` and
+`e2db` and the database optimization tool `dbst` have been removed, along with
+the `DB_OPT` build configuration variable.
+
+### compressRecord buffering order
+
+The compressRecord has a new field `BALG` which can select between FIFO
+(append) and LIFO (prepend) ordering for insertion of new elements. FIFO
+ordering is the default, matching the behviour of previous versions.
+
+### Valgrind Instrumentation
+
+Valgrind is a software debugging suite provided by many Linux distributions.
+The header valgrind/valgrind.h is now included in, and installed by, Base.
+When included by a C or C++ source file this header defines some macros which
+expand to provide hints to the Valgrind runtime. These have no effect on
+normal operation of the software, but when run using the valgrind tool they
+can help to find memory leaks and buffer overflows. Suitable hints have been
+added to several free-lists within libCom, including freeListLib, allowing
+valgrind to provide more accurate information about the source of potential
+leaks.
+
+valgrind.h automatically disables itself when the build target is not
+supported by the valgrind tool. It can also explicitly be disabled by defining
+the macro `NVALGRIND`. See `src/libCom/Makefile` for a commented-out example.
+
+As a matter of policy valgrind.h will never be included by any header file
+installed by Base, so its use will remain purely an implementation detail
+hidden from application software. Support modules which choose to use
+valgrind.h are advised to do likewise.
+
+### Database Multi-locking
+
+The IOC record locking code has been re-written with an expanded API; global
+locks are no longer required by the IOC database implementation.
+
+The new API functions center around `dbScanLockMany()`, which behaves like
+`dbScanLock()` applied to an arbitrary group of records. `dbLockerAlloc()` is
+used to prepare a list or record pointers, then `dbScanLockMany()` is called.
+When it returns, all of the records listed may be accessed (in any order) until
+`dbScanUnlockMany()` is called.
+
+The Application Developer's Guide has been updated to describe the API and
+implementation is more detail.
+
+Previously a global mutex `lockSetModifyLock` was locked and unlocked during
+`dbScanLock()`, acting as a sequencing point for otherwise unrelated calls. The
+new dbLock.c implementation does not include any global mutex in `dbScanLock()`
+or `dbScanLockMany()`. Locking and unlocking of unrelated lock sets is now
+completely concurrent.
+
+### Generate Version Header
+
+A Perl script and Makefile rules have been added to allow modules to generate
+a C header file with a macro defined with an automatically updated identifier.
+This is a VCS revision ID (Darcs, Git, Mercurial, Subversion, and Bazaar are
+supported) or the date/time of the build if no VCS system is in use.
+
+The makeBaseApp example template has been updated with a new device support
+which makes this identifier visible via a lsi (long string input) record.
+
+### epicsTime API return status
+
+The epicsTime routines that used to return epicsTimeERROR now return a
+specific `S_time_` status value, allowing the caller to discover the reason for
+any failure. The identifier `epicsTimeERROR` is no longer defined, so any
+references to it in source code will no longer compile. The identifier
+epicsTimeOK still exists and has the value 0 as before, so most code that uses
+these APIs can be changed in a way that is backwards-compatible with the
+previous return status.
+
+Time providers that have to return a status value and still need to be built
+with earlier versions of Base can define the necessary status symbols like
+this:
+
+```
+    #include "epicsTime.h"
+
+    #ifndef M_time
+      /* S_time_... status values were not provided before Base 3.16 */
+      #define S_time_unsynchronized epicsTimeERROR
+      #define S_time_...whatever... epicsTimeERROR
+    #endif
+```
+
+### Refactoring of epicsReadline
+
+The epicsReadline code has been reorganized to allow the commandline history
+editor to be disabled at runtime. The `EPICS_COMMANDLINE_LIBRARY` build setting
+still selects the preferred editor, but the new `IOCSH_HISTEDIT_DISABLE`
+environment variable can be set at runtime to disable history editing and make
+the IOC or other program use the basic editor instead. This is useful when
+starting and controlling an IOC from another program through its stdin and
+stdout streams since history editors often insert invisible escape codes into
+the stdout stream, making it hard to parse.
+
+### Callback subsystem API
+
+Added a new macro `callbackGetPriority(prio, callback)` to the callback.h
+header and removed the need for dbScan.c to reach into the internals of its
+`CALLBACK` objects.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.1.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.1.1
+
+### Changed SIML failure behavior
+
+A failure when fetching the simulation mode through `SIML` will not put the
+record into INVALID alarm state anymore. Instead, as long as the record's
+current alarm severity (`SEVR`)is `NO_ALARM`, its alarm status (`STAT`) will be
+set to `LINK_ALARM` without increasing the severity. This allows clients to get
+some notification of a failing or bad `SIML` link without otherwise affecting
+record processing.
+
+### `dbVerify()` has been restored to dbStaticLib
+
+This routine was removed in Base-3.16.1 but has been reimplemented in this
+release by special request. Note that the error message strings that it
+returns when verification fails have changed, but are still designed for
+display to the user.
+
+### Simulation mode improvements
+
+Records that support simulation mode have two new fields, `SSCN` (Simulation
+Scan Mode) and `SDLY` (Simulation Delay). `SSCN` is a menu field that provides
+an alternate value for the `SCAN` field to be used while the record is in
+simulation mode. This is especially useful for I/O scanned records, for which
+simulation mode was not working at all. Setting `SDLY` to a positive value
+makes the record process asynchronously in simulation mode, with the second
+stage processing happening after the specified time (in seconds).
+
+### Extend the dbServer API with init/run/pause/stop methods
+
+This change permits IOCs to be built that omit the CA server (RSRV) by
+removing its registrar entry which is now provided in the new `rsrv.dbd` file.
+Other server layers can be built into the IOC (alongside RSRV or in place of
+it) by registering them in a similar manner. The dbServer API is documented
+with Doxygen comments in the header file.
+
+Specific IOC server layers can be disabled at runtime by adding their name to
+the environment variable `EPICS_IOC_IGNORE_SERVERS` (separated by spaces if more
+than one should be ignored).
+
+### Grand source-code reorganization
+
+EPICS 7.0.1 contains the IOC Database, RSRV server and the Channel Access
+client code from EPICS Base 3.16.1 along with all the original record types
+and soft device support, but GDD and the Portable Channel Access Server have
+been unbundled and are now available separately. In their place we have
+brought in the more recently written EPICS V4 C++ libraries (collectively
+referred to as the PVA modules). The directory tree for EPICS is somewhat
+larger as a result, and the original structure of the Base directories has
+been split into 4 separate Git repositories. External modules should build
+against this new structure with little or no changes needed, except that some
+allowance may be needed for the merging of the V4 modules.
+
+There should be rather more description and documantation of these changes
+than is currently available, but as developers we generally much prefer to
+write code than documentation. Send questions to the tech-talk mailing list
+and we'll be happy to try and answer them!

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.2.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.2.1
+
+### Linking shared libraries on macOS
+
+The linker flag `-flat_namespace` has been restored for creating shared
+libraries, although not for loadable libraries (bundles). This was required
+for building using the latest versions of Apple XCode.
+
+### Fix `DB_LINK` loop breaking
+
+A regression was introduced in 7.0.2 which caused record chains with loops to
+be incorrectly broken. Processing should be skipped when a `DB_LINK` with
+Process Passive (PP) closes a loop to a synchronous record.
+
+Instead in 7.0.2 the targeted record would be processed if processing began
+with a remote action (or some other caller of `dbPutField()`). This would
+result in the loop running a second time. The loop would be broken on the
+second iteration.
+
+[See lp: #1809570](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1809570)
+
+### Old dbStaticLib APIs removed
+
+Support for some obsolete dbStaticLib Database Configuration Tool (DCT) APIs
+was removed some time ago, but vestiges of them still remained. The following
+routines and macros and have now finally been removed:
+
+  * `int dbGetFieldType(DBENTRY *pdbentry)`
+  * `int dbGetLinkType(DBENTRY *pdbentry)`
+  * `DCT_STRING`
+  * `DCT_INTEGER`
+  * `DCT_REAL`
+  * `DCT_MENU`
+  * `DCT_MENUFORM`
+  * `DCT_INLINK`
+  * `DCT_OUTLINK`
+  * `DCT_FWDLINK`
+  * `DCT_NOACCESS`
+  * `DCT_LINK_CONSTANT`
+  * `DCT_LINK_FORM`
+  * `DCT_LINK_PV`
+
+### Fix for `dbhcr` before `iocInit`
+
+The `dbhcr` command used to work before `iocInit` as well as afterwards. It
+displays all records that have hardware addresses (`VME_IO`, `CAMAC_IO`,
+`GPIB_IO`, `INST_IO` etc.) but stopped working if run before iocInit due to the
+rewrite of the link address parser code in dbStaticLib. This release fixes that
+issue, although in some cases the output may be slightly different than it used
+to be.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.2.2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.2.2
+
+### Build System changes
+
+ * The GNUmake build targets `cvsclean` and `depclean` are now available from
+any directory; previously they were only available from application top
+directories.
+
+ * The approach that EPICS Base uses for building submodules inside the parent
+module looks useful for support modules too. The rules for building submodules
+have been modified and extracted into a new `RULES_MODULES` file, so a support
+module will be able to use them too without having to copy them into its own
+`modules/Makefile`. There are some specific requirements that support modules
+and their submodules must follow, which are described as comments in the new
+`base/configure/RULES_MODULES` file itself.
+
+### `EPICS_BASE_VERSION` Update Policy change
+
+In the past, a build of EPICS using sources checked out from the repository
+branch between official releases would have shown the version number of the
+previous release, followed by a -DEV suffix, for example 7.0.2.1-DEV.
+
+The policy that controls when the number gets updated has been changed, and
+now immediately after a release has been tagged the version number will be
+updated to the next patch release version, plus the -DEV suffix as before.
+Thus following 7.0.2.2 the version number will show as 7.0.2.3-DEV. This does
+not require the next official release to be numbered 7.0.2.3 though, it could
+become 7.0.3 or even 7.1.0 if the changes incorporated into it are more
+substantial than bug fixes.
+
+### Drop `CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW` from posix/osdMonotonic.c
+
+Turns out this is ~10x slower to query than `CLOCK_MONOTONIC`.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.2
+
+### Launchpad Bugs
+
+The list of tracked bugs fixed in this release can be found on the
+[Launchpad Milestone page for EPICS Base 7.0.2](https://launchpad.net/epics-base/+milestone/7.0.2).
+
+### Git Branches Recombined
+
+The four separate Git branches `core/master`, `libcom/master`, `ca/master` and
+`database/master` have been recombined into one branch called `7.0`. Keeping
+these as 4 separate branches in the same repository made it impossible to
+create merge requests that contained changes in more than one of these
+modules. The layout of the source files has not changed at all however, so the
+source code for libcom, ca and the database are still found separately under
+the module subdirectory.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.3.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.3.1
+
+**IMPORTANT NOTE:** *Some record types in this release will not be compatible
+with device support binaries compiled against earlier versions of those record
+types, because importing the record documentation from the EPICS Wiki
+[as described below](#imported-record-reference-documentation-from-wiki)
+also modified the order of some of the fields in the record definitions.*
+As long as all support modules and IOCs are rebuilt from source after updating
+them to use this release of EPICS Base, these changes should not have any
+affect.
+
+
+### logClient reliability
+
+On supported targets (Linux, Mac, Windows) logClient will attempt to avoid dropping
+undelivered log messages when the connection to the log server is closed/reset.
+
+### Timers and delays use monotonic clock
+
+Many internal timers and delay calculations use a monotonic clock
+epicsTimeGetMonotonic() instead of the realtime epicsTimeGetCurrent(). This is
+intended to make IOCs less susceptible to jumps in system time.
+
+### Iocsh `on error ...`
+
+A new statement is added to enable IOC shell commands to signal error
+conditions, and for scripts to respond. This first is through the new function
+
+```C
+    int iocshSetError(int err);
+```
+
+A script may be prefixed with eg. "on error break" to stop at the failed
+command.
+
+```sh
+    on error continue | break | wait [value] | halt
+```
+
+A suggested form for IOC shell commands is:
+
+```C
+    static void doSomethingCallFunc(const iocshArgBuf *args)
+    {
+        iocshSetError(doSomething(...)); /* return 0 == success */
+    }
+```
+
+### Relocatable Builds
+
+Allows built trees to be copied or moved without invalidating RPATH entires.
+
+The `LINKER_USE_RPATH` Makefile variable (see `configure/CONFIG_SITE`) may be
+set to `YES`, `NO`, and a new third option `ORIGIN`.  This is limited to
+targets using the ELF executable format (eg. Linux).
+
+When `LINKER_USE_RPATH=ORIGIN`, the variable `LINKER_ORIGIN_ROOT` is set to
+one of the parents of the build directory.  Any libraries being linked
+to which are found under this root will have a relative RPATH entry.
+Other libraries continue to result in absolute RPATH entries.
+
+An effect of this might change a support library from being linked with
+`-Wl,-rpath /build/epics-base/lib/linux-x86`
+to being linked with
+`-Wl,-rpath \$ORIGIN/../../../epics-base/lib/linux-x86`
+if the support module directory is `/build/mymodule`
+and `LINKER_ORIGIN_ROOT=/build`.
+
+The API functions `epicsGetExecDir()` and `epicsGetExecName()` are also
+added to `osiFileName.h` to provide runtime access to the directory or
+filename of the executable with which the process was started.
+
+### Decouple `LINKER_USE_RPATH` and `STATIC_BUILD`
+
+Previously, setting `STATIC_BUILD=NO` implied `LINKER_USE_RPATH=NO`.
+This is no longer the case.  Setting `LINKER_USE_RPATH=YES` will
+always emit RPATH entries.  This was found to be helpful when linking
+against some 3rd party libraries which are only available as shared objects.
+
+### Channel Access Security: Check Hostname Against DNS
+
+Host names given in a `HAG` entry of an IOC's Access Security Configuration
+File (ACF) have to date been compared against the hostname provided by the CA
+client at connection time, which may or may not be the actual name of that
+client. This allows rogue clients to pretend to be a different host, and the
+IOC would believe them.
+
+An option is now available to cause an IOC to ask its operating system to look
+up the IP address of any hostnames listed in its ACF (which will normally be
+done using the DNS or the `/etc/hosts` file). The IOC will then compare the
+resulting IP address against the client's actual IP address when checking
+access permissions at connection time. This name resolution is performed at
+ACF file load time, which has a few consequences:
+
+  1. If the DNS is slow when the names are resolved this will delay the process
+of loading the ACF file.
+
+  2. If a host name cannot be resolved the IOC will proceed, but this host name
+will never be matched.
+
+  3. Any changes in the hostname to IP address mapping will not be picked up by
+the IOC unless and until the ACF file gets reloaded.
+
+Optionally, IP addresses may be added instead of, or in addition to, host
+names in the ACF file.
+
+This feature can be enabled before `iocInit` with
+
+```
+    var("asCheckClientIP",1)
+```
+
+or with the VxWorks target shell use
+
+```C
+    asCheckClientIP = 1
+```
+
+### New and modified epicsThread APIs
+
+#### `epicsThreadCreateOpt()`
+
+A new routine `epicsThreadCreateOpt()` is an alternative to
+`epicsThreadCreate()` which takes some arguments via a structure (`struct
+epicsThreadOpts`) to allow for future extensions.
+
+```C
+    typedef struct epicsThreadOpts {
+        unsigned int priority;
+        unsigned int stackSize;
+        unsigned int joinable;
+    } epicsThreadOpts;
+    #define EPICS_THREAD_OPTS_INIT { \
+        epicsThreadPriorityLow, epicsThreadStackMedium, 0}
+     epicsThreadId epicsThreadCreateOpt(const char * name,
+        EPICSTHREADFUNC funptr, void * parm, const epicsThreadOpts *opts);
+```
+
+The final `opts` parameter may be `NULL` to use the default values of thread
+priority (low) and stack size (medium). Callers wishing to provide alternative
+settings for these thread options or to create a joinable thread (see below)
+should create and pass in an `epicsThreadOpts` structure as shown below.
+Always initialize one of these structures using the `EPICS_THREAD_OPTS_INIT`
+macro to ensure that any additional fields that get added in the future are
+set to their default values.
+
+```C
+    void startitup(void) {
+        epicsThreadOpts opts = EPICS_THREAD_OPTS_INIT;
+        epicsThreadId tid;
+
+        opts.priority = epicsThreadPriorityMedium;
+        tid = epicsThreadCreateOpt("my thread", &threadMain, NULL, &opts);
+    }
+```
+
+C or C++ Code that also needs to build on earlier versions of Base can use
+`#ifdef EPICS_THREAD_OPTS_INIT` to determine whether the
+`epicsThreadCreateOpt()` API is available on this Base version.
+
+#### Thread stack sizes
+
+The `stackSize` member of the `epicsThreadOpts` structure and the equivalent
+parameters to the `epicsThreadCreate()` and `epicsThreadMustCreate()` routines
+can now be passed either one of the `epicsThreadStackSizeClass` enum values or
+a value returned from the `epicsThreadGetStackSize()` routine.
+
+#### `epicsThreadMustJoin()`
+
+If the new `joinable` flag of an `epicsThreadOpts` structure is non-zero (the
+default value is zero), the new API routine `epicsThreadMustJoin()` *must* be
+called with the thread's `epicsThreadId` when/after the thread exits, to free
+up thread resources. This function will block until the thread's main function
+has returned, allowing the parent to wait for its child thread. The child's
+`epicsThreadId` will no longer be valid and should not be used after the
+`epicsThreadMustJoin()` routine returns.
+
+A thread that was originally created with its joinable flag set may itself
+call `epicsThreadMustJoin()`, passing in its own epicsThreadId. This marks the
+thread as no longer being joinable, so it will then free the thread resources
+itself when its main function returns. The `epicsThreadId` of a thread that is
+not joinable gets invalidated as soon as its main function returns.
+
+### Non-VME RTEMS targets now define pdevLibVME
+
+Previously IOC executables that made calls to devLib routines would fail to
+link when built for some non-VME based RTEMS targets, which would have to be
+explicitly filtered out by sites that build Base for those targets. [This
+fix](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1841692) makes that no longer
+necessary, all RTEMS targets should now link although the IOC won't be able to
+be used with the VME I/O on those systems (that we don't have VMEbus I/O
+support for in libCom).

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.3.md

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.3
+
+### `epicsTimeGetCurrent()` optimization
+
+Add a fast path to epicsTimeGetCurrent() and related calls in the common case
+where only the default OS current time provider is registered. This path does
+not take the global mutex guarding the time providers list, potentially
+reducing lock contention.
+
+### dbEvent tweak Queue size
+
+The size of the queue used by dbEvent to push monitor updates has been
+slightly increased based on `DBR_TIME_DOUBLE` to better fill an ethernet frame.
+This may result in slightly fewer, but larger frames being sent.
+
+### mbbo/mbbiDirect number of bits as precision
+
+Report NOBT as "precision" through the dbAccess API. This is not accessible
+through CA, but is planned to be used through QSRV.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.4.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.4.1
+
+### ARM Architecture Changes
+
+Build configuration files for a new cross-build architecture `linux-aarch64`
+have been added, and the targets `linux-arm_el` and `linux-arm_eb` removed.
+The 64-bit ARM architecture target doesn't have build files for self-hosting
+yet but they should be relatively easy to add, contributions welcome!
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+The following bugs/issues have fixes included in this release:
+
+- [lp: 1884339](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1884339),
+  Inaccessible CA servers on Windows
+- [github: 83](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/83)
+  osdTimeGetCurrent doesn't work for subprocess on macOS
+- Recent Cygwin build problem with a missing `TCP_NODELAY` declaration.
+
+### Perl CA Bindings under Conda
+
+Builds of the Perl CA bindings weren't working properly when the Perl
+installation was from Conda. This release also fixed the capr.pl script
+to handle the INT64 data types, and to be able to properly handle missing
+fields, as happens if the IOC is running an older EPICS version for example.
+
+### epicsMessageQueue implementation on RTEMS
+
+The implementation of the `epicsMessageQueue` used on RTEMS has switched from
+the native RTEMS-specific one to the EPICS generic version, avoiding a bug
+in the RTEMS Kernel message queue code.
+
+### Record Name Validation
+
+Historically, there have been very few restrictions on which characters
+may be present in record and alias names.  Base 3.14.12.3 added a warning
+for names containing space, single or double quote, period/dot, or
+dollar sign.
+
+```
+Bad character ' ' in record name "bad practice"
+```
+
+7.0.4.1 Turns this warning into an error, and adds a new warning
+if a record name begins with a minus, plus, left square bracket,
+or left curly bracket.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.4.md

@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.4
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+The following launchpad bugs have fixes included in this release:
+
+- [lp: 1812084](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1812084), Build failure on
+  RTEMS 4.10.2
+- [lp: 1829919](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1829919), IOC segfaults when
+  calling dbLoadRecords after iocInit
+- [lp: 1838792](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1838792), epicsCalc bit-wise
+  operators on aarch64
+- [lp: 1853148](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1853148), mingw compiler
+  problem with printf/scanf formats
+- [lp: 1852653](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1852653), `USE_TYPED_DSET`
+  incompatible with C++
+- [lp: 1862328](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1862328), Race condition on
+  IOC start leaves rsrv unresponsive
+- [lp: 1866651](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1866651), thread joinable race
+- [lp: 1868486](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1868486), epicsMessageQueue
+  lost messages
+- [lp: 1868680](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1868680), Access Security file
+  reload (asInit) fails
+
+### `*_API` macros in EPICS headers
+
+Internally, the Com and ca libraries now express dllimport/export (Windows)
+and symbol visibility (GCC) using library-specific macros (eg. `LIBCOM_API`)
+instead of the macros `epicsShareFunc`, `epicsShareClass`, `epicsShareDef` etc.
+that are defined in the `shareLib.h` header.
+This change may affect some user code which uses the `epicsShare*` macros
+without having explicitly included the `shareLib.h` header themselves.
+Such code should be changed to include `shareLib.h` directly.
+
+A new helper script `makeAPIheader.pl` and build rules to generate a
+library-specific `*API.h` header file has been added. Run `makeAPIheader.pl -h`
+for information on how to use this in your own applications, but note that the
+resulting sources will not be able to be compiled using earlier versions of
+EPICS Base.
+
+### IOCsh usage messages
+
+At the iocShell prompt `help <cmd>` now prints a descriptive usage message
+for many internal IOCsh commands in addition to the command parameters.
+Try `help *` to see all commands, or a glob pattern such as `help db*` to see
+a subset.
+
+External code may provide usage messages when registering commands using a
+new `const char *usage` member of the `iocshFuncDef` structure.
+The `iocsh.h` header also now defines a macro `IOCSHFUNCDEF_HAS_USAGE` which
+can be used to detect Base versions that support this feature at compile-time.
+
+### Variable names in RELEASE files
+
+`configure/RELEASE` files are parsed by both GNUmake and the `convertRelease.pl`
+script. While GNUmake is quite relaxed about what characters may be used in a
+RELEASE variable name, the `convertRelease.pl` script parser has only recognized
+variable names that match the Perl regular expression `\w+`, i.e. upper and
+lower-case letters, digits and underscore characters.
+
+The script has been modified so now RELEASE variable names must start with a
+letter or underscore, and be followed by any number of letters, digits,
+underscore or hyphen characters, matching the regular expression
+`[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9-]*`. The hyphen character `-` was not previously allowed
+and if used would have prevented a build from finding include files and
+libraries in any module using that in its RELEASE variable name.
+
+This change does disallow names that start with a digit which used to be
+allowed, but hopefully nobody has been relying on that ability. The regular
+expression used for names can be found in the file `src/tools/EPICS/Release.pm`
+and can be adjusted locally if necessary.
+
+### caRepeater /dev/null
+
+On \*NIX targets caRepeater will now partially daemonize by redirecting
+stdin/out/err to /dev/null.  This prevents caRepeater from inheriting
+the stdin/out of a process, like caget, which has spawned it in the
+background.  This has been known to cause problems in some cases when
+caget is itself being run from a shell script.
+
+caRepeater will now understand the `-v` argument to retain stdin/out/err
+which may be necessary to see any error messages it may emit.
+
+### `state` record deprecated
+
+IOCs now emit a warning when a database file containing the `state` record is
+loaded. This record has been deprecated for a while and will be removed
+beginning with EPICS 7.1. Consider using the `stringin` record instead.
+
+### Record types publish dset's
+
+The record types in Base now define their device support entry table (DSET)
+structures in the record header file. While still optional, developers of
+external support modules are encouraged to start converting their code to use
+the record's new definitions instead of the traditional approach of copying the
+structure definitions into each source file that needs them. By following the
+instructions below it is still possible for the converted code to build and
+work with older Base releases.
+
+This would also be a good time to modify the device support to use the type-safe
+device support entry tables that were introduced in Base-3.16.2 -- see
+[this entry below](#type-safe-device-and-driver-support-tables) for the
+description of that change, which is also optional for now.
+
+Look at the aiRecord for example. Near the top of the generated `aiRecord.h`
+header file is a new section that declares the `aidset`:
+
+```C
+/* Declare Device Support Entry Table */
+struct aiRecord;
+typedef struct aidset {
+    dset common;
+    long (*read_ai)(struct aiRecord *prec);
+    long (*special_linconv)(struct aiRecord *prec, int after);
+} aidset;
+#define HAS_aidset
+```
+
+Notice that the common members (`number`, `report()`, `init()`, `init_record()`
+and `get_ioint_info()` don't appear directly but are included by embedding the
+`dset common` member instead. This avoids the need to have separate definitions
+of those members in each record dset, but does require those members to be
+wrapped inside another set of braces `{}` when initializing the data structure
+for the individual device supports. It also requires changes to code that
+references those common members, but that code usually only appears inside the
+record type implementation and very rarely in device supports.
+
+An aiRecord device support that will only be built against this or later
+versions of EPICS can now declare its dset like this:
+
+```C
+aidset devAiSoft = {
+    { 6, NULL, NULL, init_record, NULL },
+    read_ai, NULL
+};
+epicsExportAddress(dset, devAiSoft);
+```
+
+However most device support that is not built into EPICS itself will need to
+remain compatible with older EPICS versions, which is why the ai record's header
+file also declares the preprocessor macro `HAS_aidset`. This makes it easy to
+define the `aidset` in the device support code when it's needed, and not when
+it's provided in the header:
+
+```C
+#ifndef HAS_aidset
+typedef struct aidset {
+    dset common;
+    long (*read_ai)(aiRecord *prec);
+    long (*special_linconv)(aiRecord *prec, int after);
+} aidset;
+#endif
+aidset devAiSoft = {
+    { 6, NULL, NULL, init_record, NULL },
+    read_ai, NULL
+};
+epicsExportAddress(dset, devAiSoft);
+```
+
+The above `typedef struct` declaration was copied directly from the new
+aiRecord.h file and wrapped in the `#ifndef HAS_aidset` conditional.
+
+This same pattern should be followed for all record types except for the lsi,
+lso and printf record types, which have published their device support entry
+table structures since they were first added to Base but didn't previously embed
+the `dset common` member. Device support for these record types therefore can't
+use the dset name since the new definitions are different from the originals and
+will cause a compile error, so this pattern should be used instead:
+
+```C
+#ifndef HAS_lsidset
+struct {
+    dset common;
+    long (*read_string)(lsiRecord *prec);
+}
+#else
+lsidset
+#endif
+devLsiEtherIP = {
+    {5, NULL, lsi_init, lsi_init_record, get_ioint_info},
+    lsi_read
+};
+```

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.5.md

@@ -0,0 +1,326 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.5
+
+### Fix aai's Device Support Initialization
+
+Krisztian Loki [reported](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/97)
+segfaults occurring when a Soft Channel aai record INP field was a DB link to
+an array field of a compress record. This was caused by the aai record's
+pass-0 device support initialization clashing with the semantics of the new
+link support API.
+
+The aai record
+[has been modified](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/114) to
+allow the Soft Channel device support to request a pass-1 initialization
+callback. See the Device Support section of the Array Analogue Input Record
+Reference pages in this release for the API changes, which are fully backwards
+compatible for existing aai device support.
+
+### Prevent default DTYPs from changing
+
+[Kay Kasemir reported](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1908305) that
+it is possible to change the Base record type's default DTYP if a `device()`
+entry is seen before the `recordtype()` definition to which it refers. The
+default DTYP is the first device loaded, which is normally the `Soft Channel`
+support from Base. A warning was being displayed by dbdExpand when a `device()`
+entry was see first, but that was easily missed.
+
+The DBD file parser in dbdExpand.pl has now been modified to make this an error,
+although the registerRecordDeviceDriver.pl script will still accept `device()`
+entries without having their `recordtype()` loaded since this is necessary to
+compile device supports as loadable modules.
+
+
+### Priority inversion safe Posix mutexes
+
+On Posix systems, epicsMutex now support priority inheritance if available.
+The IOC needs to run with `SCHED_FIFO` engaged to use these.
+Support for Posix implementations before POSIX.1-2001 (`_XOPEN_SOURCE < 500`,
+glibc version &lt; 2.3.3) has been dropped.
+
+The IOC shell's `epicsMutexShowAll` command prints "PI is enabled" if both
+libc and kernel support is present.
+
+### Fix for Periodic Scan threads hanging on Windows
+
+Since 7.0.3.1 a Windows IOC could not run for more than 49.7 days; at that
+time the periodic scan threads would stop processing. This issue should now
+have been fixed and the Monotonic time functions on Windows should return
+values which count at nanosecond resolution. However we have not waited 49.7
+days to test the final software, so there is a small chance that it's still
+broken.
+
+This fixes [lauchpad bug #1896295](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1896295).
+
+### Support for Apple M1/M2 (arm64) Processors
+
+Thanks to Jeong Han Lee this release comes with build support for Apple's new
+M1/M2 CPUs running macOS, using the target name `darwin-aarch64`.
+
+It should also be possible to build universal binaries containing code for
+both the Intel and arm64 processors under either target name: In the
+appropriate `configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.Common.darwin-*` file add the other
+architecture class name to the `ARCH_CLASS` variable (after a space).
+
+### New String Comparison Routine `epicsStrSimilarity()`
+
+The new `epicsStrSimilarity()` routine in epicsString.h uses a modified
+Levenshtein distance to compare two strings, with a character case difference
+being half the weight of a full substitution. The double return value falls in
+the range 0.0 (identical) through 1.0 (no characters matching), or -1.0 for
+error. This is used to provide a new "Did you mean ..." suggestion when a .db
+file provides an invalid choice string for a `DBF_MENU` or `DBF_DEVICE` field.
+
+### Build System: New `VALID_BUILDS` type "Command"
+
+Target architectures that support command-line programs that run the `main()`
+routine can now be marked as such in their `VALID_BUILDS` definition. This
+enables a new set of Makefile target variables `PROD_CMD` (similar to
+`PROD_HOST`), `LIBRARY_CMD` (like `LIBRARY_HOST`, etc.), `LOADABLE_LIBRARY_CMD`,
+`OBJS_CMD`, `SCRIPTS_CMD`, `TARGETS_CMD`, `TESTLIBRARY_CMD`, `TESTSCRIPTS_CMD`
+and `TESTPROD_CMD`. The CA client tools and programs such as `caRepeater` are now built for all such targets (previously they were built for all targets except where the OS was VxWorks, RTEMS and iOS).
+
+If you have created your own site-specific target architectures you may need to
+update the `VALID_BUILDS` variable if it gets set in your locally added
+`configure/os/CONFIG.Common.<arch>` files. This is usually only needed for
+cross-compiled targets though since `CONFIG.Common.UnixCommon` sets it.
+
+The other `VALID_BUILDS` types are "Host" for target architectures that can
+compile and run their own programs (`PROD_HOST` etc.), and "Ioc" for targets
+that can run IOCs (`PROD_IOC` etc.).
+
+### Support for JSON5
+
+The YAJL parser and generator routines in libcom and in the IOC's dbStatic
+parser now support the JSON5 standard. This adds various features to JSON
+without altering the API for the code other than adding a new option to the
+YAJL parser which can be used to disable JSON5 support if desired. The new
+features include:
+
+- The ability to handle numeric values `Infinity`, `-Infinity` and `NaN`.
+- String values and map keys may be enclosed in single quotes `'`, inside which
+  the double-quote character `"` doesn't have to be escaped with a back-slash
+  `\`, although a single-quote character `'` (or apostrophy) must be escaped
+  inside a single-quoted string.
+- Numbers may start with a plus sign, `+`.
+- Integers may be expressed in hexadecimal with a leading `0x` or `0X`.
+- Floating-point numbers may start or end with their decimal point `.`
+  (after the sign or before the exponent respectively if present).
+- Map keys that match the regex `[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9]*` don't have to be
+  enclosed in quotes at all. The dbStatic parser adds `.+-` to the characters
+  allowed but will add quotes around such keys before passing them to YAJL.
+- Arrays and maps allow a comma before the closing bracket/brace character.
+- The YAJL parser will elide a backslash followed by a newline characters from
+  a string value. The dbStatic parser doesn't allow that however.
+
+Code that must also compile against the older API can use the new C macro
+`HAS_JSON5` to detect the new version. This macro is defined on including
+either the `yajl_parse.h` or `yajl_gen.h` headers, which also provide the
+new configuration options to turn on JSON5 support.
+
+All APIs in the IOC that previously accepted JSON will now accept JSON5.
+This includes JSON field modifiers (channel filters), JSON link addresses,
+constant input link array values and database info-tag values. JSON values
+that get parsed by the dbLoadRecords() routine are still more liberal than
+the other uses as the ability to use unquoted strings that was called
+"relaxed JSON" is still supported, whereas the JSON5 standard and the YAJL
+parser only allow unquoted strings to be used for keys in a JSON map.
+
+This also fixes [lauchpad bug #1714455](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1714455).
+
+
+### Character Escape Changes
+
+- The libCom routines `epicsStrnRawFromEscaped()` and `dbTranslateEscape()`
+  declared in epicsString.h no longer accept octal escaped characters such as
+  `\123` or `\41`.
+- The routine `epicsStrnEscapedFromRaw()` now generates hex
+  excaped characters for unprintable characters such as `\x1f`.
+- Hex escape character sequences `\xXX` must now contain exactly 2 hex digits.
+- An escape sequence `\0` now generates a zero byte in the raw string, but the
+  other digits `1-9` should not appear after a back-slash.
+
+These changes are to more closely follow the JSON5 standard, which doesn't
+support octal character escapes or the `\a` (Bel, `\x07`) escape sequence.
+
+### Filters in database input links
+
+Input database links can now use channel filters, it is not necessary to
+make them CA links for the filters to work.
+
+### ai Soft Channel support
+
+The Soft Channel device support for ai records now returns failure when
+fetching the INP link fails.
+
+### Support for zero-length arrays
+
+Several modifications have been made to properly support zero-length
+array values inside the IOC and over Channel Access. Some of these changes
+may affect external code that interfaces with the IOC, either directly or
+over the CA client API so we recommend thorough testing of any external
+code that handles array fields when upgrading to this release.
+
+Since these changes affect the Channel Access client-side API they will
+require rebuilding any CA Gateways against this version or Base to
+properly handle zero-length arrays. The `caget`, `caput` and `camonitor`
+client programs are known to work with empty arrays as long as they were
+built with this or a later version of EPICS.
+
+#### Change to the db\_access.h `dbr_size_n(TYPE, COUNT)` macro
+
+When called with COUNT=0 this macro no longer returns the number of bytes
+required for a scalar (1 element) but for an empty array (0 elements).
+Make sure code that uses this doesn't call it with COUNT=0 when it really
+means COUNT=1.
+
+Note that the db\_access.h header file is included by cadef.h so the change
+can impact Channel Access client programs that use this macro.
+
+#### Channel Access support for zero-length arrays
+
+The `ca_array_put()` and `ca_array_put_callback()` routines now accept an
+element count of zero, and will write a zero-length array to the PV if
+possible. No error will be raised if the target is a scalar field though,
+and the field's value will not be changed.
+
+The `ca_array_get_callback()` and `ca_create_subscription()` routines
+still accept a count of zero to mean fetch as many elements as the PV
+currently holds.
+
+Client programs should be prepared for the `count` fields of any
+`struct event_handler_args` or `struct exception_handler_args` passed to
+their callback routines to be zero.
+
+#### Array records
+
+The soft device support for the array records aai, waveform, and subArray
+as well as the aSub record type now correctly report reading 0 elements
+when getting an empty array from an input link.
+
+#### Array support for dbpf
+
+The dbpf command now accepts array values, including empty arrays, when
+provided as a JSON string. This must be enclosed in quotes so the iocsh
+argument parser sees the JSON as a single argument:
+
+```
+epics> dbpf wf10:i32 '[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]'
+DBF_LONG[5]:        1 = 0x1   2 = 0x2   3 = 0x3   4 = 0x4   5 = 0x5
+```
+
+#### Reading empty arrays as scalar values
+
+Record links that get a scalar value from an array that is currently
+empty will cause the record that has the link field to be set to an
+`INVALID/LINK` alarm status.
+The record code must call `dbGetLink()` with `pnRequest=NULL` for it to
+be recognized as a request for a scalar value though.
+
+This changes the semantics of passing `pnRequest=NULL` to `dbGetLink()`,
+which now behaves differently than passing it a pointer to a long integer
+containing the value 1, which was previously equivalent.
+The latter can successfully fetch a zero-element array without triggering
+a LINK alarm.
+
+#### Writing empty arrays to scalar fields
+
+Record links that put a zero-element array into a scalar field will now set
+the target record to `INVALID/LINK` alarm without changing the field's value.
+Previously the field was set to 0 in this case (with no alarm).
+The target field must be marked as `special(SPC_DBADDR)` to be recognized
+as an array field, and its record support must define a `put_array_info()`
+routine.
+
+### Timestamp before processing output links
+
+The record processing code for records with output links has been modified to
+update the timestamp via recGblGetTimeStamp() _before_ processing the output
+links.  This ensures that other records which get processed via an output link
+can use TSEL links to fetch the timestamp corresponding to the data processed
+by the output link.
+
+This change could result in a slightly earlier timestamp for records whose
+output link is handled by a device driver, but only if the device driver does
+not handle its own timestamping via TSE -2 and instead uses TSE 0 or TSE -1 to
+get current time or best time, and the time spent in the device driver is
+greater than your timestamp provider resolution.  For these situations it is
+recommended to set TSE to -2 and set the timestamp in the driver code.
+
+### Add registerAllRecordDeviceDrivers()
+
+A new iocsh command `registerAllRecordDeviceDrivers` is provided and also
+defined as a function in iocshRegisterCommon.h. This uses dynamic symbol
+lookup with `epicsFindSymbol()` to perform the same function as a generated
+`*_registerRecordDeviceDriver()` function. This allows for an alternative
+approach to dynamic loading of support modules without code generation.
+
+This feature is not intended for use by IOCs constructed using the standard
+EPICS application build process and booted from a startup script in an iocBoot
+subdirectory, although it might work in some of those cases &mdash; the
+generated registerRecordDeviceDriver.cpp file is normally required to link
+everything referred to in the DBD file into the IOC's executable. It also
+won't work with some static build configurations, or if the symbol table has
+been stripped from the executable.
+
+### Using a `{const:"string"}` to initialize an array of `DBF_CHAR`
+
+It is now possible to use a JSON Const link with a string value to initialize
+an aai or waveform record that has `FTVL` set to `CHAR` through the INP link.
+The string length is not limited to 40 characters. This should also work for
+aSub record inputs similarly configured as long strings.
+
+```
+  record(waveform, "wf") {
+    field(NELM, 100)
+    field(FTVL, CHAR)
+    field(INP, {const:"This is a waveform and more than 40 characters"})
+  }
+```
+
+### RELEASE files may use `undefine`
+
+GNUmake added the directive `undefine` in version 3.82 to allow variables to
+be undefined. Support for this has been added to the EPICS Release file parser,
+so `undefine` can now be used in configure/RELEASE files to unset variables.
+
+
+### Submodule updates
+
+The pvData module was updated to version 8.0.4:
+
+- Incompatible changes
+ - Remove `ByteBuffer::align()`
+- Compatible changes
+ - Deprecate `SerializableControl::alignBuffer()` and
+   `DeserializableControl::alignData()`
+ - `shared_vector_convert<>()` fix convert of empty, untyped, array
+
+The pvAccess module was updated to version 7.1.3:
+
+- Bug fixes
+  - Increase default TCP timeout to 40 seconds.
+    Applies a 4/3 multiplier on `$EPICS_PVA_CONN_TMO` for compatibility.
+  - CA Provider implementation restructured to simplify, reduce duplication
+    and fix issues #163 and #165.
+- Changes
+  - Enable building of pvtools to all except vxWorks, RTEMS and iOS.
+
+The pva2pva module was updated to version 1.3.0:
+
+- Changes
+ - Add `dbLoadGroup()` iocsh function to read group JSON definitions
+   from a file.  Mappings in files must refer to full record names
+   instead of fields.  eg. 'recname.VAL' instead of 'VAL'.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.6.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.6.1
+
+### `mbboDirectRecord` enhancements
+
+The bit fields `B0` - `B1F` of this record are now always updated and have a
+monitor posted when the `VAL` field is set and the record processed. It is now
+possible to initialize the record's value by setting the bit fields inside a
+database file as long as no other method was used to initialize it (suc as
+setting `VAL` directly, using `DOL`, or by an initial readback from device
+support). A new internal field `OBIT` was added to store information about
+monitors posted on the bit fields.
+
+### Minimum Perl Version is now 5.10.1
+
+Some scripts now make use of features that were introduced to this Perl version
+that was released in 2009.
+
+### DB Links to `DBF_MENU` fields fixed
+
+[GH:183](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/183)
+These were broken in a previous release, but now work again.
+
+### Long String access to CALC fields fixed
+
+[GH:194](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/194)
+This was broken in a previous release, but now works again.
+
+### Minor Changes
+
++ Many code comments have been spell-checked and corrected.
++ Passing a `-DDEBUG` compiler flag no longer breaks the build.
++ Parallel builds of RTEMS-mvme2100 and RTEMS-mvme2700 targets now work.
++ Illegal characters seen in JSON strings in a database file should now get a
+better error message.
+
+### Other Launchpad Bugs and GitHub Issues Fixed
+
++ [lp:1938459](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1938459)
+  [GH:191](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/191) int64in only
+  checks lower 32 bits for change
++ [lp:1941875](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1941875) Buggy
+  warning message "Record/Alias name '...' should not contain non-printable ...
++ [GH:187](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/187) waveformRecord
+  missing PACT=true?
++ [GH:189](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/189) Fix a couple
+  memory leaks and a segfault
++ [GH:200](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/200) and
+  [GH:201](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/201) Fix timers on MS
+  Windows for non-EPICS threads
+
+### Compiler interface for epicsAtomic tidied up
+
+[GH:192](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/192)
+Both GCC and CLANG compiler intrisics used for the epicsAtomic APIs have been revised; implementations using CLANG should now run faster as they now use the compiler's built-in atomic functions instead of taking a mutex.
+
+### The epicsTime code has been reimplemented
+
+[GH:185](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/185)
+This was done to simplify the code and may have improved performance slightly for some uses. Support for the old NTP-specific `struct l_fp` has been dropped but all other routines and methods of the `class epicsTime` function as before.
+
+### Updates to Record Reference documentation
+
+Many of the built-in record types have had improvements to their documentation with additional fields added to the tables, rewrites of descriptions and links to other documents added or fixed.
+
+### Submodule updates
+
+The pvAccess module was updated to version 7.1.4:
+
+- Changes to caProvider
+  - Resolve issues with pv structures that don't have a value field
+  - Add NULL checks for handling unusual structures
+  - Speed up channel creation when using large numbers of channels

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.6.md

@@ -0,0 +1,283 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.6
+
+### Support for obsolete architectures removed
+
+These target architectures have been removed:
+
++ darwin-ppc, darwin-ppcx86
++ linux-386, linux-486, linux-586, linux-686, linux-athlon (cross-build)
++ linux-cris, linux-cris\_v10, linux-cris\_v32 (cross-build)
++ RTEMS-at91rm9200ek, RTEMS-gen68360, RTEMS-mcp750, RTEMS-mvme167,
+RTEMS-psim (cross-build)
+
+### Experimental Support for RTEMS 5
+
+The new major release of the RTEMS real-time OS contains many changes
+including the ability to support SMP systems. This release of EPICS
+can still be built with RTEMS 4.9.x or 4.10.x and should work just
+the same as earlier releases, although due to code having moved around
+we recommend thorough testing before this release is first used in
+production systems.
+
+This release of EPICS comes with support for several new RTEMS targets
+running on RTEMS 5:
+
+- RTEMS-beagleboneblack
+- RTEMS-pc686
+- RTEMS-qoriq\_e500 (MVME2500)
+- RTEMS-xilinx\_zynq\_a9\_qemu
+- RTEMS-xilinx\_zynq\_zedboard
+
+The EPICS support for RTEMS 4 has always relied on RTEMS-specific
+kernel APIs which cannot be used on an SMP system, so a new port was
+created to use the Posix real-time APIs that are now recommended for
+RTEMS 5. Note that a single installation of EPICS cannot build both
+RTEMS 4 and RTEMS 5 targets, if you need to support targets running
+on both versions you must use a separate installation, and be sure
+to run `make distclean` if switching a single source tree from one
+to the other (both header files and dependency files are different
+between the two and must be cleaned out).
+
+The configuration variable `RTEMS_VERSION` in the EPICS config file
+`configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.Common.RTEMS` must be set to the full 3-
+part version number for RTEMS 4 releases, e.g. `4.9.1`, `4.10.2`
+but for RTEMS 5.1 and later it must only contain the major version
+number e.g. `5`.
+
+Some RTEMS BSPs can be built and may work with the newer libbsd
+network stack which RTEMS is moving over to, but most of the MVME
+boards (and the uC5282) still require the legacy network stack.
+
+The dependency on bspExt has been removed, EPICS now provides its
+own routine for VMEbus probing (or uses one built into the BSP).
+
+Anyone using this release on RTEMS is advised to discuss problems
+building or running it on either the tech-talk or core-talk email
+lists so the core developers can help with and find out about any
+problems with the old or new port.
+
+Known Issues:
+- MVME2100 and MVME2700 need changes to the RTEMS 5 BSP to build.
+- VMEBus support is not yet available for the MVME2500 BSP.
+- There are some known issues with floating point on MVME2500,
+  probably related to its newer e500 FPU.
+- Changed network driver for beatnik to work with libbsd.  Some
+  issues with DHCP, but network stack usable.  Can load env from
+  NVRAM.
+
+### `epicsEnvShow` accepts a glob pattern
+
+The optional argument to epicsEnvShow can now be a glob pattern.
+
+### New function `epicsStrnGlobMatch()`
+
+The function `epicsStrnGlobMatch(char* str, size_t len, char* pattern)`
+works exactly the same as `epicsStrGlobMatch()` but takes an additional
+length arguments which limits the number of characters of `str` to match.
+
+### Automatic fallback to thread when unable to exec caRepeater
+
+A process using libca which does not find an existing caRepeater process
+will attempt to start one by running the caRepeater executable.
+This is not always possible, usually when caRepeater is not in `$PATH`.
+Now, instead of printing a warning, an internal caRepeater thread
+will be started (as is done be RTEMS and vxWorks targets).
+
+If this fallback occurs, the lifetime of the caRepeater thread
+may be shorter than the lifetime of a separate caRepeater process
+would have been.
+
+It remains the recommended practice to explicitly start a caRepeater
+instance.  Examples of both systemd (`caRepeater.service`) and sysv
+(`S99caRepeater`) scripts may be found under `bin/`.
+
+### Glob pattern allowed in `var` command
+
+When used with one argument, the `var` command can be used with a glob pattern
+for printing matching variables.
+
+### Formalize/fix `FINAL_LOCATION`
+
+The `FINAL_LOCATION` make variable has for some time been an undocumented
+means of performing a staged build.  This is a build which "installs" to
+a temporary location, which will later be moved to a final location.
+
+This has now been added to `configure/CONFIG_SITE`.
+
+Usage analogous to the autotools recipe
+
+```sh
+./configure --prefix=/usr/lib/epics
+make install DESTDIR=/tmp/build
+```
+
+would be
+
+```sh
+make INSTALL_LOCATION=/tmp/build FINAL_LOCATION=/usr/lib/epics
+```
+
+`FINAL_LOCATION` is now correctly used in systemd and sysv init scripts
+`caRepeater.service`, `S99caRepeater`, and `S99logServer`.
+
+### IOCsh sets `${PWD}`
+
+IOC shell will now ensure `${PWD}` is set on startup,
+and updated by the `cd` iocsh function.
+
+### Add Alarm Message and Time Tag Fields
+
+Two new fields have been added to `dbCommon` so will be present in all
+records: `AMSG` and `UTAG`.
+
+#### `AMSG`
+
+`AMSG` can hold an arbitrary 40-character string, providing additional
+information about the alarm condition indicated in `STAT` and `SEVR`. With no
+alarm it will hold an empty string. The new `recGblSetSevrMsg()` function can
+be used in place of `recGblSetSevr()` to signal an alarm while providing a
+message.
+
+For example, a device support's `read_bi()` routine for a hypothetical
+multi-channel ethernet attached device might flag a communication error
+between the IOC and controller, or an error involving a certain channel like
+this:
+
+```c
+static long read_bi(biRecord* prec) {
+    ...
+    if (!priv->connected) {
+        recGblSetSevrMsg(prec, COMM_ALARM, INVALID_ALARM,
+            "No controller connected");
+        return S_dev_noDevice;
+    }
+    if (!priv->err) {
+        recGblSetSevrMsg(prec, READ_ALARM, INVALID_ALARM,
+            "Channel %u disconnexted", priv->chan);
+        return S_dev_noDevice;
+    }
+    return status;
+}
+```
+
+#### `UTAG`
+
+`UTAG` holds an `epicsUInt64` value which is semantically part of the record's
+timestamp (`TIME`). The value defaults to zero if not explicitly set. Device
+support or an event time provider which supports this feature may write a tag
+value directly to the `dbCommon::utag` field.
+
+`TSEL` links will copy both `TIME` and `UTAG` between records if the link type
+supports this (CA links do not).
+
+A `utag` server side channel filter has been added which can be configured to
+filter out monitor updates which don't pass the test `(UTAG & M) == V` where
+`M` and `V` are client specified integers. For example running the command
+`camonitor BPM0:X.{utag:{M:1,V:1}}` will only show updates for which
+`(UTAG & 1) == 1` i.e. the least significant bit of the `UTAG` field is set.
+
+This feature is intended for use by intelligent devices which can provide
+contextual information along with a value/alarm/time.  For example, a beam
+diagnostic device which is aware of whether a beam signal should be present
+(eg. from a global timing system).
+
+#### Link Support
+
+Two new optional methods have been added to the Link Support Entry Table
+(`struct lset`): `lset::getAlarmMsg()` and `lset::getTimeStampTag()`. See
+comments in dbLink.h for details on implementing these.
+
+Two new accessor functions have also been added which call these methods:
+`dbGetAlarmMsg()` and `dbGetTimeStampTag()`.
+
+#### Compatibility
+
+User code wishing to call these interfaces while maintaining compatibility with older
+versions of Base may add some of the following macro definitions, and ensure
+that the variables referenced by output pointers are initialized.
+
+```c
+#ifndef HAS_ALARM_MESSAGE
+#  define recGblSetSevrMsg(REC, STAT, SEVR, ...) recGblSetSevr(REC, STAT, SEVR)
+#endif
+#ifndef dbGetAlarmMsg
+#  define dbGetAlarmMsg(LINK, STAT, SEVR, BUF, BUFLEN) dbGetAlarm(LINK, STAT, SEVR)
+#endif
+#ifndef dbGetTimeStampTag
+#  define dbGetTimeStampTag(LINK, STAMP, TAG) dbGetTimeStamp(LINK, STAMP)
+#endif
+```
+
+
+### Timeouts for Unit Test Programs
+
+The unit test programs that are run by the `make runtests` or `make tapfiles`
+commands get executed by a `.t` wrapper script which is normally generated by
+the EPICS `makeTestfile.pl` program. Those generated wrapper scripts now
+impose a time-limit on the test program they execute, and will kill it if it
+runs for longer than 500 seconds (8 minutes 20) without exiting. That
+time-limit can be changed for any such test by modifying the Makefile which
+creates and runs the `.t` wrapper script.
+
+Setting the environment variable `EPICS_UNITTEST_TIMEOUT` to the desired
+number of seconds while the Makefile is generating the test script changes the
+timeout in that script. For example:
+
+```
+  TESTSCRIPTS_HOST += hourLongTest.t
+  hourLongTest.t: export EPICS_UNITTEST_TIMEOUT=3600
+```
+
+When selecting such a timeout remember that different Continuous Integration
+systems such as GitHub Actions and Appveyor run on processors with different
+speeds, so allow enough head-room for slower systems to complete the test.
+
+Test programs written directly in Perl as a `.plt` script should implement a
+similar timeout for themselves. The "netget" test in Base does this in a way
+that works on Windows as well as Unix-like hosts.
+
+### Submodule updates
+
+The pvAccess module was updated to version 7.1.4:
+
+- Changes
+  - Adjust argument parsing with pvput (Jesus Vasquez).
+
+The pva2pva module was updated to version 1.3.1:
+
+- Bug Fixes
+ - Correct handling for server side filters.
+- Changes
+ - Syncing softMain.cpp with epics-base
+
+The pvDatabase module was updated to version 4.6.0:
+
+* Access Security is now supported.
+* <b>special</b> has been revised and extended.
+* addRecord, removeRecord, processRecord, and traceRecord are replaced by pvdbcr versions.
+* <b>support</b> is DEPRECATED
+
+The pvaClient module was updated to version 4.8.0:
+
+* `PvaClientNTMultiData::getChannelChangeFlags` is a new method. It fixes
+  issue #66.
+* Fix for issue #68. Both `PvaClientArray` and `PvaClientField` are not longer
+  present. Neither was previously implemented.
+* Several public methods are now protected. They were never meant to be called
+  by clients.
+* Issue #70 has been fixed.
+* Changes was made to increase the performance of `pvaMultiChannel`.
+* doxygen changes were made.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.7.md

@@ -0,0 +1,298 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.7
+
+### Doxygen Annotations
+
+Thanks to several attendees at the 2022 EPICS Codeathon the number of header
+files with Doxygen annotations in the EPICS Core has again increased.
+
+### Build System updates
+
+The top-level make targets `uninstall`, `archuninstall` and similar no
+longer trigger the `clean` target which empties build directories, this
+was a bug introduced in 7.0.5.
+
+The `make distclean` target now properly deletes the generated file(s)
+`modules/RELEASE.<host>.local` which are essential to build the external
+submodules under the `modules` directory, and should not crash if the
+build is configured with `INSTALL_LOCATION` pointing to an empty external directory (i.e. if you run `make distclean` twice in succession). When
+`INSTALL_LOCATION` is set in the files `configure/CONFIG_SITE` or
+`configure/CONFIG_SITE.local` the `modules/RELEASE.<host>.local` file
+will now be regenerated in case the install path has been modified.
+
+Note that passing `INSTALL_LOCATION=<path>` on the make command-line will
+only work if you have run `make distclean` immediately beforehand, as the
+`modules/RELEASE.<host>.local` file must be recreated using the new path.
+
+### Enhancements to `capr.pl`
+
+The `capr.pl` script can now display records from older Base versions to
+which fields have since been added, and shows long strings and array data
+up to 10 elements, use the new `-n` option to increase that number.
+The script is fully event-driven and prints all the field data received by
+the end of the CA wait time (`-w` option which defaults to 2 seconds).
+The interest level can now be specified using the `-l` option before the
+PV name, and the new `-D` flag outputs debugging information.
+
+### Time Synchronization on VxWorks
+
+VxWorks 6.9 can do its own OS clock time synchronization, if it has been
+configured by setting `SNTPC_PRIMARY_IPV4_ADDR`. Since EPICS 3.15.3 the
+IOC time support code has checked for the existence of the VxWorks time
+synchronization task and avoided starting the EPICS one if the OS task
+exists and the OS clock gives a "recent" time (i.e. after when EPICS was
+compiled), unless the environment variable `EPICS_TS_FORCE_NTPTIME` is
+also set. However a logic error in that code required the environment
+variable to be set in more cases than it should have.
+
+This error has been fixed and the IOC should work normally if the VxWorks
+task is configured and running. The `TIMEZONE` value for the year is also
+now calculated at initialization in this configuration, previously it was
+only done when the IOC synchronzation task was used. Setting the above
+environment variable will now cause the IOC support code to shut down the
+VxWorks synchronization thread (if running) before starting the EPICS one.
+
+Running the iocsh command `ClockTime_Report` now shows whether the VxWorks
+task is running as well as giving the state of the IOC synchronization task.
+The `ClockTime_Init` command can also be used to stop or restart the IOC
+time synchronization task while the IOC is running, depending on the `0` or
+`1` parameter passed to it. This last change also applies to RTEMS IOCs.
+
+### Incompatible change to `struct db_field_log`
+
+This change may cause channel filters which manipulate array updates
+to fail to compile.
+
+To avoid potential speculation issues arising from overlapping code pointers
+with data values, `union dbfl_ref` is modified to remove the `dtor` member.
+`dtor` is moved out into the enclosing `struct db_field_log`.
+
+So eg. using a `db_field_log* p`, the expression `p->u.r.dtor` must be
+changed to `(p)->dtor`.
+
+### Fix undef ts on first camonitor update of NORD from waveformRecord
+
+The order over operations when processing a waveformRecord is adjusted
+so that updates to NORD is posted with the correct timestamp.
+
+### Automatic `COMMANDLINE_LIBRARY` with newer compilers
+
+When built with a compiler supporting `__has_include<>`, the presence
+of a `readline/readline.h` header will be used to automatically determine
+a default value for `COMMANDLINE_LIBRARY`.
+
+Mingw builds with readline support now link `-ltermcap` instead of `-lcurses`.
+
+This should not effect sites which set explicitly set `COMMANDLINE_LIBRARY`
+as the only definition in Base now has the form `COMMANDLINE_LIBRARY ?= ...`.
+
+### Perl CA support for empty long strings
+
+The Perl CA bindings have been fixed to handle zero-length long string data
+properly.
+
+### `aao` gains `OMSL` and `DOL`
+
+The `aao` record types gains the same `DOL` functionality found
+in other output record types (`ao`, `longout`, etc.)
+
+### Server exports `RSRV_SERVER_PORT`
+
+During `iocInit()`, the environment variable `RSRV_SERVER_PORT` is set
+with the TCP port number selected.
+
+### `dbdExpand.pl` sorts all items by name
+
+DBD files generated by the `dbdExpand.pl` script are now sorted within each
+item type by the primary name of the item. The result should resolve any
+issues with reproducable builds. No option is provided to prevent the sorting,
+previously the order was essentially random and varied each time.
+
+### `dbExpand.pl` sorts records by name
+
+Records are now output by this program in order, sorted by name. The new flag
+`-s` can be given to output the records in the same order they were read in,
+instead of sorting them.
+
+Note that there are currently no build rules provided with Base which make use
+of this program.
+
+### Simulation Mode RAW Support for Output Record Types
+
+SIMM=RAW support has been added for the relevant output record types
+(ao, bo, mbbo, mbboDirect).
+RAW simulation mode will have those records do the appropriate conversion
+and write RVAL to the location pointed to by SIOL.
+
+### Fixed leak from a non-EPICS thread
+
+On some targets, if a thread not created by `epicsThreadCreate*()` directly
+or indirectly calls an `epicsThread*()` function, a specific tracking struct
+is allocated.
+
+Prior to this release, on POSIX and WIN32 targets, this
+struct would not be `free()`d, resulting in a memory leak.
+
+This release fixed the leak on POSIX targets.
+
+See the associated github [issue 241](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/241)
+for WIN32 status.
+
+### Fixed leak from a non-EPICS thread
+
+On some targets, if a thread not created by `epicsThreadCreate*()` directly
+or indirectly calls an `epicsThread*()` function, a specific tracking struct
+is allocated.
+
+Prior to this release, on POSIX and WIN32 targets, this
+allocation would not be `free()`d, resulting in a memory leak.
+
+This release fixed the leak on POSIX and WIN32 targets (excluding
+MSVC before vs2012, and the WINE runtime).
+
+### Fixed leak from a non-EPICS thread
+
+On some targets, if a thread not created by `epicsThreadCreate*()` directly
+or indirectly calls an `epicsThread*()` function, a specific tracking struct
+is allocated.
+
+Prior to this release, on POSIX and WIN32 targets, this
+struct would not be `free()`d, resulting in a memory leak.
+
+This release fixed the leak on POSIX targets.
+
+See the associated github [issue 241](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/241)
+for WIN32 status.
+
+### Fix `CHECK_RELEASE = WARN`
+
+This now works again, it was broken in 2019 (7.0.3.1) by an errant commit.
+
+### Document `DISP` as design-time field
+
+The DISP field can be set to a non-zero value to prevent records being changed
+from outside the IOC (this is ancient behavior), but has never been documented
+as being usable at design-time (DCT=Yes in the Record Reference tables). This
+has now been changed.
+
+### Make `epicsInt8` signed on all architectures
+
+The `epicsInt8` and thus `DBF_CHAR` types have always been unsigned on
+architectures where `char` is unsigned, for example on many PowerPC CPU
+architectures. This was counter-intuitive, and resulted in IOC behavior
+differing between architectures when converting `DBF_CHAR` values into a
+signed integer or floating point type.
+
+**WARNING**: This fix may change behavior of existing databases on target
+architectures with unsigned `char` (mainly PowerPC) when using input links to
+read from `CHAR` arrays. Architectures with signed `char` (usually x86) should
+be unaffected, although some compilers might generate new warnings.
+
+### Allow hexadecimal and octal numbers in hardware links
+
+[GH:213](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/213)
+
+Several types of hardware links (`VME_IO`, `CAMAC_IO`, etc) now accept
+hexadecimal and octal numbers. (Hexadecimal numbers had already been valid
+up to EPICS R3.15.) This change may introduce incompatibilities when using
+numbers with leading `0` as they will now be parsed as octal.
+
+### Fix embedded implementations of `epicsEvent`
+
+[GH:202](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/202) and
+[GH:206](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/206)
+
+Heinz Junkes provided a new implementation of the `epicsEvent` API suitable for
+RTEMS Posix targets (RTEMS 5.1 and later). In review a few issues related to
+overflow of timeout values surfaced in this and other embedded implementations,
+and these were also been fixed in this Pull Request. The API documentation for
+this and some other routines has also been updated.
+
+### Breakpoint Table Names
+
+The names of breakpoint tables were made unnecessarily strict when DBD file
+processing was moved to Perl for the 3.15 release series. Table names may now
+contain the special characters `_` `-` `:` `;` `.` `[` `]` `<` `>` in addition
+to letters and digits.
+
+### Fix for `undefined` in configure/RELEASE files
+
+Prevents `Use of uninitialized value` warnings from convertRelease.pl.
+
+### Colorized Messages for errlog
+
+Many internal error messages now emit ANSI escape sequences to highlight the
+words "ERROR" and "WARNING" in an attempt to make occurrences more noticeable
+during IOC startup.
+
+The macros `ERL_ERROR` and `ERL_WARNING` are defined for external usage,
+and expand as string constants.  eg.
+
+```c
+#include <errlog.h>
+#ifndef ERL_ERROR
+#  define ERL_ERROR "ERROR"
+#endif
+void fn() {
+   ...
+   errlogPrintf(ERL_ERROR ": something bad happens :(\n");
+```
+
+ANSI escapes are automatically removed from errlog output not destined
+for a terminal.  For example, for logClient, if stderr is redirected,
+or if unsupported (`$TERM` not set, or Windows < 10).
+
+### `dbnd` filter pass through `DBE_ALARM|DBE_PROPERTY`
+
+The `dbnd` server side filter now passes through alarm and property
+change events, even when not exceeding the deadband.
+
+### Submodule updates
+
+The pvData module was updated to version 8.0.5:
+
+- Compatible changes
+ - Internal changes to use the YAJL API for generating JSON and JSON-5 output.
+
+The pvAccess module was updated to version 7.1.6:
+
+- Changes to caProvider
+  - Bug fix related to enum values.
+  - More internal changes to improve performance when connecting tens of
+    thousands of CA channels.
+- Several minor internal improvements.
+
+The pva2pva module was updated to version 1.4.0:
+
+- Bug Fixes
+ - Apply ACF when writing to atomic group
+- Additions
+ - Add new "structure" to @ref qsrv_group_map_types
+- Changes
+ - Add Access Security hooks for single and group writes.
+ - Enable "Async Soft Channel" for output links
+ - When built against Base 7.0.6.1, set timeStamp.userTag from UTAG field.
+ - Add DTYP="QSRV Set UTag" for longin, which sets UTAG=VAL.
+
+The pvDatabase module was updated to version 4.7.0:
+
+* Added support for the whole structure (master field) server side plugins.
+  The whole structure is identified as the `_` string, and a pvRequest string
+  that applies a plugin to it takes the form:
+
+  `field(_[XYZ=A:3;B:uniqueId])`
+
+  where `XYZ` is the name of a specific filter plugin that takes parameters
+  `A` and `B` with values `3` and `uniqueId` respectively.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.8.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.8.1
+
+### Limit to `_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2`
+
+GCC versions 12 and beyond and glibc have added some aggressive runtime
+checks for buffer overflows in libc functions at runtime, and the
+[Ubuntu 2024.04](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ToolChain/CompilerFlags) release
+increased their default gcc fortification level from 2 to 3.
+This has started causing EPICS Base builds to fail on that version, and
+other OS releases may make that configuration change with similar results.
+This release detects a compiler configured with `_FORTIFY_SOURCE=3` and
+overrides it to 2.
+Later releases of Base will adjust the code, providing information to the
+compiler to avoid triggering these incorrect protections.
+
+### Fix issue with compress record
+
+In Base 7.0.8, an update to the compress record was added to allow for certain
+algorithms to use partially filled buffers in their computations. Unfortunately,
+this broke the behaviour of the records in certain cases. This has been fixed.
+
+### Various minor changes
+
+These included fixing minor memory leaks and documentation corrections. The
+`SIZV` field of lsi, lso and printf record VAL fields now can't exceed 32767
+characters, to match an internal limit.
+
+### `epicsSocketAccept()` now returns `SOCKET`, not `int`
+
+This might have some effect on downstream modules still using `int`, but the
+OS-specific osdSock.h headers which osiSock.h includes have all declared
+`SOCKET` (in most casese as a typedef for `int`) for many releases.
+This change removes a compiler warning on WIN32.
+Further details and the discussion about this change can be found
+[here](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/458).
+
+### `dbLoadRecords` allows macros with default values
+
+Previously the parser assumed that files containing macro substitutions were
+bad if no macro definitions were provided; that assumption was made incorrect
+once macro substitutions were allowed to provide a default value.
+
+### Hostname length limit in CA removed
+
+Before this release, the CA client library only handled hostnames in address
+list environment variables up to 255 characters long.
+This limit has been removed.

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.8.md

@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.8
+
+### bi "Raw Soft Channel" use MASK
+
+If MASK is non-zero, The raw device support will now apply MASK to the
+value read into RVAL.
+eg. allows extraction of a bit from an input integer.
+
+```
+record(longin, "integer") {
+    field(VAL, "0xff")
+}
+record(bi, "bit1") {
+    field(DESC, "extract bit 1")
+    field(DTYP, "Raw Soft Channel")
+    field(INP , "integer")
+    field(MASK, "0x2")
+    field(ZNAM, "Clear")
+    field(ONAM, "Set")
+}
+```
+
+### ANSI escapes in stderr
+
+ANSI escape charactor sequences may now be printed to the stderr stream.
+These escapes will appear in logs captured from that stream.
+Tools which parse and/or render these logs may need to be adjusted to
+either strip out the escapes, or to translate them into markup.
+(see [ansi2html](https://pypi.org/project/ansi2html/) for example)
+
+### Allow explicit append with `dbRecordsOnceOnly!=0`
+
+Previously setting `dbRecordsOnceOnly!=0` prevented any further changes to a record via a .db file.  eg.
+
+```
+record(ai, "myrec") {}
+```
+
+`dbRecordsOnceOnly!=0` previously disallowed appending fields with either form:
+
+```
+record("*", "myrec") {} # error
+record(ai, "myrec") {}  # error
+```
+
+Beginning with this release, `dbRecordsOnceOnly!=0` allows appending when explicitly intended (when record type is `"*"`).
+
+```
+record("*", "myrec") {} # allowed
+record(ai, "myrec") {}  # error
+```
+
+### Add `$EPICS_CLI_TIMEOUT`
+
+Add support for CA tools timeout from environment variable `$EPICS_CLI_TIMEOUT`
+which sets the default the default timeout for `caget` et al.
+The `-w` argument continues to take precedence.
+
+### Fixed leak from a non-EPICS thread on WIN32
+
+On Windows targets, if a thread not created by `epicsThreadCreate*()` directly
+or indirectly calls an `epicsThread*()` function, a specific tracking struct
+is allocated.  Prior to this release the allocation would not be `free()`d,
+resulting in a memory leak.
+
+A similar issue on POSIX targets was previously fixed.
+
+### Change compiler for FreeBSD to clang
+
+The default compiler for FreeBSD targets changes from GCC to clang.
+
+### Expose `dbCreateAlias` in IOC shell
+
+Add a new IOC shell command `dbCreateAlias` allow record aliases to be added.
+Intended for use before `iocInit`.  eg. to add an alias "bar" for a record "foo".
+
+```
+dbLoadRecords("some.db") # includes: record(ai, "foo") { ...
+dbCreateAlias("foo", "bar")
+iocInit()
+```
+
+### dbEvent eventsRemaining missed on cancel
+
+In some cases, RSRV may queue a subscription update, but not flush it.
+This partially addresses this issue.
+
+### subRecord on bad INP links
+
+Previously, if a subRecord has an invalid `INP*` link, it was silently failing
+(and not running the proc function).  Now the the status code returned by the
+subroutine is returned from `dbProcess()`.
+
+### COMMANDLINE\_LIBRARY fallback to GNU\_DIR
+
+Fall back to the previous behavior when searching for `readline.h` with older compilers.
+
+### Search for readline installed via HomeBrew.
+
+Look for `/opt/local/include/readline` on OSX.
+
+### Always stop worker threads
+
+The SCAN and callback threads are now stopped during normal IOC shutdown.
+
+### Allow runtime bypass of free list allocator
+
+The environment variable `$EPICS_FREELIST_BYPASS` may be set to `YES` to cause the `freeListLib` functions to always call directly to `malloc()`/`free()`.  May be useful when troubleshooting some kinds of memory allocation bugs which would otherwise be "hidden".  eg. use-after-free data races.  This may also improve the results of dynamic analysis tools which are not aware of this internal free list.
+
+### `compress` record enhancement
+
+The compress record now supports the use of partially-filled buffers when using
+any of the N-to-one algorithms. This is achieved by setting the new field `PBUF`
+to `YES`.
+
+### Extended timestamp channel filter
+
+The `"ts"` filter can now retrieve the record's timestamp in several numeric
+and string formats, some of which support full nanosecond precision.
+
+    Hal$ caget -a test:channel
+    test:channel                   2021-03-11 18:23:48.265386 42
+    Hal$ caget -f9 'test:channel.{"ts": {"num": "dbl"}}'
+    test:channel.{"ts": {"num": "dbl"}} 984331428.265386105
+    Hal$ caget 'test:channel.{"ts": {"str": "iso"}}'
+    test:channel.{"ts": {"str": "iso"}} 2021-03-11T18:23:48.265386+0100
+    Hal$ caget -f1 'test:channel.{"ts": {"num": "ts"}}'
+    test:channel.{"ts": {"num": "ts"}} 2 984331428.0 265386163.0
+
+More information is included in the filters documentation, which can be found in
+the `html/filters.html` document that is generated during the build
+
+### Allow adding new error symbols at any time
+
+`errSymbolAdd` can now be called after early initialization.
+
+### Add conditional output (OOPT) to the longout record
+
+The longout record can now be configured using its new OOPT and OOCH fields
+to (not) write to its output link depending on the contents of VAL, in a
+similar manner to the calcout record. More information can be found on the
+reference page for the longout record type that accompanies this release.
+
+This functionality was suggested in
+[lp# 1398215](https://bugs.launchpad.net/epics-base/+bug/1398215) and may
+be added to other output record types if the community finds it useful,
+please send feedback about the feature to tech-talk.
+
+### IOC Shell
+
+#### Tab completion
+
+When built with optional GNU libreadline support, the interactive IOC shell
+will perform tab completion for command names as well as for some arguments
+of the built-in commands. For example, the record name argument of `dbpr`,
+and the path name argument of `cd`.
+
+Externally defined commands have a limited ability to opt into completion by
+using the new `iocshArgStringRecord` and `iocshArgStringPath` argument types.
+Both function identically to `iocshArgString` but indicate how to suggest
+completion strings.
+
+Builds on macOS (`darwin-x86` or `darwin-aarch64` targets) normally use Apple's
+libedit library in readline compatibility mode, which doesn't support the tab
+completion API that GNU readline provides. You can use Homebrew or some other
+third-party package manager to install the GNU readline package, then edit the
+`configure/os/CONFIG_SITE.darwinCommon.darwinCommon` file to have EPICS use the
+real thing to get tab completion in the IOC shell. The default settings in that
+file currently look for and use a Homebrew-installed readline if present.
+
+#### Persist history
+
+Attempt to read and write command to a file (`./.iocsh_history` by default).
+Name may be overwritten with by setting `$EPICS_IOCSH_HISTFILE` to an
+alternate path, or disabled by setting to an empty string.
+
+#### Changes to help output
+
+Rework the `help` command output to improve formatting and readability,
+and include a visual marker (a line of underlines) between different help commands.
+
+### Add FMOD as CALC Expression
+
+The floating point modulo function `FMOD(NUM,DEN)` has been added to the CALC
+expression engine and is available to all software using that (calc and calcout
+record types, access security library and some extensions).
+
+### Submodule updates
+
+The pvData module was updated to version 8.0.6:
+
+- Compatible changes
+  - Actually enable JSON-5 output in PVStructure::Formatter::JSON when available.
+  - Fix unaligned access issues for some ARM/Linux targets.
+
+The pvAccess module was updated to version 7.1.7:
+
+- Changes
+  - Registering the PVA server with the IOC now sets the `PVAS_SERVER_PORT`
+    variable in the environment.
+
+The pva2pva module was updated to version 1.4.1:
+
+- Bug Fixes
+  - `dbLoadGroup` was fixed
+- Additions
+  - Support for "meta" member at top of array of structs
+
+The pvDatabase module was updated to version 4.7.1:
+
+* Added data distributor plugin which can be used for distributing data between
+  a group of clients. The plugin is triggered by the request string of the
+  form:
+
+  `_[distributor=group:<group id>;set:<set_id>;trigger:<field_name>;updates:<n_updates>;mode:<update_mode>]`
+
+  The plugin parameters are optional and are described bellow:
+
+  - group: this parameter indicates a group that client application belongs to (default value: "default"); groups of clients are completely independent of each other
+
+  - set: this parameter designates a client set that application belongs to within its group (default value: "default")
+
+  - trigger: this is the PV structure field that distinguishes different channel updates (default value: "timeStamp"); for example, for area detector images one could use the "uniqueId" field of the NTND structure
+
+  - updates: this parameter configures how many sequential updates a client (or a set of clients) will receive before the data distributor starts updating the next one (default value: "1")
+
+  - mode: this parameter configures how channel updates are to be distributed between clients in a set:
+    - one: update goes to one client per set
+    - all: update goes to all clients in a set
+    - default is "one" if client set id is not specified, and "all" if set id is specified

documentation/RELEASE-7.0.9.md

@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files, and will
+be added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+## EPICS Release 7.0.9
+
+### Core documentation published at ReadTheDocs
+
+The `documentation` directory's `Makefile` can now run various publication scripts including Sphinx and Doxygen to generate formatted documentation that is now being published
+[at docs.epics-controls.org](https://docs.epics-controls.org/projects/base/en/latest/index.html)
+and integrated into the main [EPICS Documentation website](https://docs.epics-controls.org/en/latest/index.html).
+The best place to find out more about these mechanisms is the
+[Contribution Guide](https://docs.epics-controls.org/en/latest/CONTRIBUTING.html)
+although it doesn't currently cover the new processes added to epics-base.
+
+Much of the documentation generated from .dbd.pod files at build time is now
+also being converted into MarkDown (.md) files and installed into the top-level
+`doc` directory. Some users might find it quicker to look up information about a
+record type by opening these files in a text editor intead of opening a browser
+and loading the HTML versions or finding and opening the files from the EPICS
+Documentation site.
+
+### Post monitors from compress record when it's reset
+
+Writing into a compress record's `RES` field now posts a monitor event instead
+of only changing `VAL`. Monitor clients will therefore receive an empty array.
+
+### The AMSG error message propagates through MSS links
+
+A database link with the MSS attribute will now propagate not only SEVR and
+STAT, but also AMSG. This field contains additional information that complements
+STAT. Links with MS or MSI attributes do not propagate STAT, and therefore do
+not propagate AMSG, either.
+
+Channel Access links do not propagate AMSG, regardless of the MSS attribute,
+because the message is not available as Channel metadata.
+
+### Reloading record aliases
+
+Aliases can now be defined more than once as long as they still refer to the
+same record, unless the global variable `dbRecordsOnceOnly` is non-zero.
+This allows database files to be loaded multiple times, even if they contain
+alias definitions.
+
+### `DBE_PROPERTY` event rate changed
+
+Updating property fields now only posts `DBE_PROPERTY` events if the
+field actually changed.
+
+### Changes to msi related to include paths
+
+There are two changes to `msi` included here.
+
+`msi` now treats files included by .template or .substutiions files in a more
+consistent way: for relative paths, it will always look relative to the current
+working directory if no `-I` flags are passed, and if they are passed then it
+will search for the _relative_ path from each of those flags. That is, the
+following will now find the file `bar.template` located at
+`/some/path/rel/path/bar.template`
+```
+$ cat foo.substitutions
+file rel/path/bar.template {
+ # contents
+}
+$ msi -I /some/path foo.substitutions
+```
+
+Note that this does provide one change from previous behaviour: when opening a
+file from the command line, `msi` will not use the `-I`-specified paths to
+search for the file, but will only work relative to the current working
+directory, consistent with most commandline utilities.
+
+### Allow users to delete previously created records from the database
+
+From this release, record instances and aliases that have already been loaded
+by an IOC can be removed from the database again before the call to iocInit
+by loading a second instance of the named records but using `"#"` in place of
+the record type. Values for the fields are not required or advised, just use
+an empty record body `{}`. This is useful when a template defines records that
+are not wanted in some IOCs, without having to split or duplicate the original
+template.
+
+For example this will remove the record named "unwanted":
+
+```
+record("#", "unwanted") {}
+```
+
+### Only keep readline history for interactive sessions
+
+Previously, all IOCsh commands were persisited in the libreadline history
+(when readline support is included).
+Going forward, only interactive commands are saved.
+
+### Type change to asTrap serverSpecific data
+
+Change `void*` to `dbChannel*` in `asTrapWriteBeforeWithData()` and
+`asTrapWriteMessage::serverSpecific` to reflect the reality since
+the `dbAddr*` to `dbChannel*` migration.
+External code wishing to support both before and after 3.15 should
+already be conditionally casting to/from the appropriate type.
+
+### Fix issues with `_FORTIFY_SOURCE=3`
+
+This release fixes the false positives failures whhen building with `_FORTIFY_SOURCE` level 3.
+The override introduced in 7.0.8.1 has been removed.
+
+### Other
+
+- genVersionHeader: work with git submodules and worktrees.
+- avoid UB with self `pthread_join()`
+- freebsd: Add support for x86 and amd64 builds
+- Clear AMSG when SEVR becomes zero.
+- `seqRecord` fix support for link `DLY0`
+- Add `ABORT_ON_ASSERT` flag to `CONFIG_SITE_ENV`
+- rationalize osdMutex
+
+### Submodule updates
+
+The pvDatabase module was updated to version 4.7.2:
+
+* Resolved issue with changed field set in the case where the top level (master)
+field ("_") is not requested by the client, but the master field callback causes
+all fields to be marked as updated, rather than only those fields that have
+actually been modified.

documentation/ReleaseChecklist.html

@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
     <dd>Responsible for managing and tagging the release</dd>
   <dt><strong>Core Developers</strong></dt>
     <dd>Responsible for maintaining the EPICS software</dd>
-  <dt><strong>Application Developers</strong></dt>
-    <dd>Responsible for support modules that depend on EPICS Base.</dd>
   <dt><strong>Website Editors</strong></dt>
     <dd>Responsible for the EPICS websites</dd>
 </dl>
@@ -91,13 +89,16 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
       </tr>
     <tr>
       <td>&nbsp;</td>
-      <td>Release Manager<br />
+      <td>Release Manager<br>
         &amp; all developers</td>
-      <td>Ensure that documentation will be updated before the release date:
+      <td>Request that documentation be updated and information about new
+        features be added before the release date:
         <ul>
           <li>Release Notes</li>
           <li>Doxygen annotations</li>
-          <li>Other documents</li>
+          <li>Other documents on
+            <a href="https://docs.epics-controls.org/en/latest/">
+              docs.epics-controls.org</a></li>
         </ul>
       </td>
       </tr>
@@ -113,16 +114,7 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
     <tr>
       <td>&nbsp;</td>
       <td>Platform Developers</td>
-      <td>Run the internal test programs on all available host platforms using
-        <blockquote><tt>
-          make -s runtests
-        </tt></blockquote></td>
-      </tr>
-    <tr>
-      <td>&nbsp;</td>
-      <td>Platform Developers</td>
-      <td>Run the CA client side regression tests on all available host
-        platforms.</td>
+      <td>Run the internal test programs on all appropriate platforms.</td>
       </tr>
     <tr>
       <td>&nbsp;</td>
@@ -132,19 +124,6 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
         setting <tt>STATIC_BUILD=YES</tt> or using a different
         <tt>INSTALL_LOCATION</tt> in configure/CONFIG_SITE.</td>
       </tr>
-    <tr>
-      <td>&nbsp;</td>
-      <td>Platform Developers</td>
-      <td>Build the SNL Sequencer against this version of Base, and check that
-        the makeBaseApp example builds and runs correctly with it.</td>
-      </tr>
-    <tr>
-      <td>&nbsp;</td>
-      <td>Application Developers</td>
-      <td>Build external applications against this version of Base on all
-        available platforms and test as appropriate. Application code changes
-        may be necessary where the EPICS Base APIs have been modified.</td>
-      </tr>
     <tr>
       <td>&nbsp;</td>
       <td>Release Manager</td>
@@ -152,7 +131,9 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
         <ul>
           <li>Release Notes</li>
           <li>Doxygen annotations</li>
-          <li>Other documents</li>
+          <li>Other documents on
+            <a href="https://docs.epics-controls.org/en/latest/">
+              docs.epics-controls.org</a></li>
           </ul>
         </td>
       </tr>
@@ -173,59 +154,53 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Release Manager</td>
       <td>
-        <p><b>For each external submodule</b> in turn (assuming it has not been
-          tagged yet):</p>
+        <h4>For each external submodule to be tagged</h4>
         <ol>
-          <li><tt>git grep UNRELEASED</tt> and insert the module version to any
-            doxygen annotations that have a <tt>@since UNRELEASED</tt> comment.
+          <li><tt>cd base-7.0/modules/&lt;module&gt;; git grep UNRELEASED</tt>
+            and insert the submodule's version number into any doxygen
+            annotations that have a <tt>@since&nbsp;UNRELEASED</tt> comment.
             Commit (don't push yet).</li>
 
-          <li>Check that the module's Release Notes have been updated to cover
-            all changes; add items as necessary, and set the module version
-            number and release date if appropriate.
-            Commit these changes (don't push).</li>
+          <li>Check that the submodule's Release Notes have been updated to
+            cover all changes; add missing items as necessary, and set the
+            module version number and release date if appropriate.<br>
+            Commit the changes to the submodule's Notes file (don't push).</li>
+
+          <li>Copy the new submodule version number and Release Notes entries
+            into a new file named <tt><i>module</i>-<i>release</i></tt> in the
+            <tt>base-7.0/documentation/new-notes</tt> directory.</li>
 
           <li>Edit the module's release version file
             <tt>configure/CONFIG_<i>module</i>_VERSION</tt> and the
             <tt>Doxyfile</tt>s in the top-level and/or documentation
-            directories. In these, set <tt>DEVELOPMENT_FLAG</tt> to 0 and remove
+            directories. In these, set <tt>DEVELOPMENT_FLAG=0</tt> and remove
             <tt>-dev</tt> from the <tt>PROJECT_NUMBER</tt> string. Commit these
             changes (don't push):
             <blockquote><tt>
-              git ci -m 'Final commit for &lt;module-version&gt;'
+              git commit -m 'Final commit for &lt;submodule-version&gt;'
               </tt></blockquote>
             </li>
 
-          <li>Tag the module:
+          <li>Tag the submodule:
             <blockquote><tt>
-              git tag -m 'ANJ: Tag for EPICS 7.0.8.2' &lt;module-version&gt;
+              git tag -m 'ANJ: Tag for EPICS 7.0.9.1' &lt;submodule-version&gt;
               </tt></blockquote>
             </li>
 
-          <li>Generate documentation or Release Notes using one of these:
-            <ul>
-              <li>For older modules with a RELEASE_NOTES.md file convert it to
-                HTML and view in a browser to check the formatting as follows:
-                <blockquote><tt>
-                  cd base-7.0/modules/&lt;module&gt;/documentation<br />
-                  pandoc -f gfm -t html -o RELEASE_NOTES.html RELEASE_NOTES.md
-                  </tt></blockquote>
+          <li>Generate documentation for modules with <tt>release_notes.dox</tt>
+            files. Prepare to update the github-pages website as follows:
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              cd base-7.0/modules/&lt;module&gt;/documentation<br>
+              make commit<br>
+              git push --force upstream gh-pages
+              </tt></blockquote>
+            <i>Q: Delay this <tt>git push</tt> until later?</i></li>
 
-              <li>For newer modules with release_notes.dox file, generate the
-                new github-pages website as follows:
-                <blockquote><tt>
-                  cd base-7.0/modules/&lt;module&gt;/documentation<br />
-                  make commit
-                  git push --force upstream gh-pages
-                  </tt></blockquote>
-                <i>Q: Delay this <tt>git push</tt> until later?</i></li>
-              </ul></li>
-
-          <li>Update the git submodule on the Base-7.0 branch to the
+          <li>Update the Git submodule on the Base-7.0 branch to the
             newly-tagged version, check the module's status matches the tag:
             <blockquote><tt>
-              cd base-7.0/modules<br />
-              git add &lt;module&gt;<br />
+              cd base-7.0/modules<br>
+              git add &lt;module&gt;<br>
               git submodule status --cached
               </tt></blockquote>
             Don't commit the submodule updates yet.
@@ -241,18 +216,41 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
           <li>Push commits and the new tag to the submodule's GitHub repository
             (assumed to be the <tt>upstream</tt> remote):
             <blockquote><tt>
-              cd base-7.0/modules/&lt;module&gt;<br />
+              cd base-7.0/modules/&lt;module&gt;<br>
               git push --follow-tags upstream master
               </tt></blockquote>
             </li>
 
+          </ol></td>
+      </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
+      <td>Release Manager</td>
+      <td>
+        <h4>After all submodules have been updated:</h4>
+        <ol>
+
+          <li> Commit the submodule updates which were added for each submodule
+            in step 7 above to the 7.0 branch (don't push):
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              cd base-7.0/modules<br>
+              git commit -m "Update git submodules for release"
+              </tt></blockquote></li>
+
+          <li>Make sure that the output from
+            <tt>git submodule status --cached</tt> only shows the appropriate
+            version tags in the right-most parenthesized column with no
+            <tt>-<i>n</i>-g<i>xxxxxxx</i></tt> suffix.</li>
+
+          <li>Add and commit the new Release Note entry files that were created
+            for each submodule in step 3 above (don't push):
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              cd base-7.0/documentation<br>
+              git add new-notes<br>
+              git commit -m "Add submodule release note entries"
+              </tt></blockquote></li>
+
           </ol>
-        <p><b>After all submodules complete</b> commit the submodule updates
-          which were added for each submodule in step 4 above to the 7.0 branch
-          (don't push). After committing, make sure that the output from
-          <tt>git submodule status --cached</tt> only shows the appropriate
-          version tags in the right-most parenthesized column with no
-          <tt>-<i>n</t>-g<i>xxxxxxx</i></tt> suffix.</p>
         </td>
       </tr>
     <tr>
@@ -260,35 +258,81 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
       <td>Release Manager</td>
 
       <td>
-        <p><tt>git grep UNRELEASED</tt> and insert the release version to any
-          doxygen annotations that have a <tt>@since UNRELEASED</tt> comment.
-          Commit (don't push).</p>
-        <p>Edit the main EPICS Base version file and the built-in module version
-        files:</p>
-        <ul>
-          <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_BASE_VERSION</tt></li>
-          <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_LIBCOM_VERSION</tt></li>
-          <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_CA_VERSION</tt></li>
-          <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_DATABASE_VERSION</tt></li>
-          </ul>
-        <p>Version numbers should be set according to the level of changes made
-          since the last release. Note that the <tt>MAINTENANCE_VERSION</tt> or
-          <tt>PATCH_LEVEL</tt> value should have been incremented after the
-          previous release tag was applied. Set all <tt>DEVELOPMENT_FLAG</tt>
-          values to 0 and <tt>EPICS_DEV_SNAPSHOT</tt> to the empty string.</p>
-        <p>Edit the headings in the Release Notes to show the appropriate
-          version number and remove the warning about this being an unreleased
-          version of EPICS.</p>
-        <p>Commit these changes (don't push).</p>
+        <h4>In the main epics-base repository</h4>
+        <ol>
+          <li><tt>cd base-7.0; git grep UNRELEASED</tt> and insert the release
+            version to any doxygen annotations that have a
+            <tt>@since&nbsp;UNRELEASED</tt> comment. Commit (don't push).</li>
+
+          <li>Edit the main EPICS Base version file and the built-in module
+            version files:
+            <ul>
+              <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_BASE_VERSION</tt></li>
+              <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_LIBCOM_VERSION</tt></li>
+              <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_CA_VERSION</tt></li>
+              <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_DATABASE_VERSION</tt></li>
+              </ul>
+            </li>
+
+          <li>Version numbers should be set according to the level of changes
+            made since the last release. Note that the
+            <tt>MAINTENANCE_VERSION</tt> or <tt>PATCH_LEVEL</tt> value will have
+            been incremented immediately after the previous release tag was
+            applied, so don't double-increment them. Set all
+            <tt>DEVELOPMENT_FLAG</tt> values to 0 and set the
+            <tt>EPICS_DEV_SNAPSHOT</tt> to an empty string (no quotes).</li>
+
+          <li>Commit the above changes (don't push):
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              cd base-7.0<br>
+              git add configure/CONFIG_*_VERSION<br>
+              git commit -m "Set core version numbers for release"
+              </tt></blockquote></li>
+
+          <li><p>When <tt>EPICS_DEV_SNAPSHOT</tt> is empty because a release is
+            being created, the <tt>documentation/Makefile</tt> supports a build
+            target <tt>release</tt> for creating a new release notes file
+            <tt>documentation/RELEASE-<i>version</i>.md</tt> from the Markdown
+            files in the <tt>documentation/new-notes</tt> directory. When run,
+            it copies the notes entries from all the <tt>new-notes/*.md</tt>
+            files, then deletes the files and prepares a Git commit to apply
+            those changes permanently to the repository.</p>
+
+            <p>Run these commands to generate the <tt>RELEASE-7.0.9.1.md</tt>
+            file and remove the individual release note entry files:</p>
+
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              cd base-7.0/documentation<br>
+              make
+              </tt></blockquote></li>
+
+          <li>The <tt>make release</tt> command add some changes into the Git
+            index but didn't commit them. These commands let you check what
+            was done and commit the result (don't push yet!):
+
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              git status<br>
+              git diff --staged<br>
+              git commit -m "Generate RELEASE-7.0.9.1.md notes file"
+              </tt></blockquote>
+
+            To undo those Git actions and confirm that happened, run these:
+
+            <blockquote><tt>
+              make unrelease<br>
+              git status
+              </tt></blockquote></li>
+          </ol>
         </td>
       </tr>
+
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Release Manager</td>
       <td>Tag the epics-base module in Git:
         <blockquote><tt>
-          cd base-7.0<br />
-          git tag -m 'ANJ: Tagged for release' R7.0.8.2
+          cd base-7.0<br>
+          git tag -m 'ANJ: Tagged for release' R7.0.9.1
           </tt></blockquote>
         <p>Don't push to GitHub yet.</p>
         </td>
@@ -296,7 +340,8 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Release Manager</td>
-      <td>Edit the main EPICS Base version file and the built-in module version
+      <td><h4>After tagging the release</h4>
+        Edit the main EPICS Base version file and the built-in module version
         files:
         <ul>
           <li><tt>configure/CONFIG_BASE_VERSION</tt></li>
@@ -321,13 +366,13 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
         script generates a gzipped tarfile directly from the tag, excluding the
         files and directories that are only used for continuous integration:
         <blockquote><tt>
-          cd base-7.0<br />
-          ./.tools/make-tar.sh R7.0.8.2 ../base-7.0.8.2.tar.gz base-7.0.8.2/
+          cd base-7.0<br>
+          ./.tools/make-tar.sh R7.0.9.1 ../base-7.0.9.1.tar.gz base-7.0.9.1/
           </tt></blockquote>
         Create a GPG signature file of the tarfile as follows:
         <blockquote><tt>
-          cd ..<br />
-          gpg --armor --sign --detach-sig base-7.0.8.2.tar.gz
+          cd ..<br>
+          gpg --armor --sign --detach-sig base-7.0.9.1.tar.gz
           </tt></blockquote>
         </td>
       </tr>
@@ -355,9 +400,15 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Website Editor</td>
-      <td>Update the website subdirectory that holds the release
-        documentation, and copy in the files from the base/documentation
-        directory of the tarfile.</td>
+      <td>Add the new release tar file to the website Base download index
+        page.</td>
+      </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
+      <td>Website Editor</td>
+      <td>Create or update the website subdirectory that holds the release
+        documentation, and copy in the files to be published with this
+        release version.</td>
       </tr>
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
@@ -365,12 +416,6 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
       <td>Update the webpage for the new release with links to the release
         documents and tar file.</td>
       </tr>
-    <tr>
-      <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
-      <td>Website Editor</td>
-      <td>Add the new release tar file to the website Base download index
-        page.</td>
-      </tr>
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Website Editor</td>
@@ -393,20 +438,23 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
       <td>Upload the tar file and its <tt>.asc</tt> signature file to the
         epics-controls web-server.
         <blockquote><tt>
-          scp base-7.0.8.2.tar.gz base-7.0.8.2.tar.gz.asc epics-controls:download/base<br />
+          scp base-7.0.9.1.tar.gz base-7.0.9.1.tar.gz.asc epics-controls:download/base<br>
           </tt></blockquote>
         </td>
       </tr>
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Website Editor</td>
-      <td>Follow instructions on
+      <td><p>Follow instructions on
         <a href="https://epics-controls.org/resources-and-support/documents/epics-website-documentation/adding-a-page-for-a-new-release/">
         Add a page for a new release</a> to create a new release webpage (not
         required for a patch release, just edit the existing page). Update the
         TablePress "Point Releases" table and add the new download, and adjust
-        the XYZ Html Snippet for the series download.
-        </td>
+        the Html Snippet for the series download.</p>
+        <p>Not covered in those instructions: Go to Posts, find a previous
+        release and use "Duplicate Post", then edit the result and publish it.
+        This generates the News item.
+        </p></td>
       </tr>
 
     <tr>
@@ -416,10 +464,11 @@ everything that has to be done since it's so easy to miss steps.</p>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>
       <td>Release Manager</td>
       <td>Go to the GitHub
-        <a href="https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/releases/new?tag=R7.0.8.2">
-          Create release from tag R7.0.8.2</a> page.
+        <a href="https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/releases/new?tag=R7.0.9.1">
+          Create release from tag R7.0.9.1</a> page.
         Upload the tar file and its <tt>.asc</tt> signature file to the new
-        GitHub release page.</td>
+        GitHub release page, or just drag-n-drop them into the page.
+        Copy/paste the text from the previous release and edit. Submit.</td>
       </tr>
     <tr>
       <td><input type="checkbox"></td>

documentation/ca-API.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+Channel Access C/C++ APIs
+=========================
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 1
+   :caption: CA Header Files
+

documentation/ca-cli.md

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Channel Access command-line interface
+
+``` {toctree}
+:titlesonly:
+:caption: Tools
+
+caget
+cainfo
+camonitor
+caput
+```
+
+``` {toctree}
+:titlesonly:
+:caption: Utilities
+
+acctst
+catime
+casw
+caEventRate
+ca_test
+```

documentation/index.rst

@@ -20,11 +20,19 @@ EPICS Base Documentation
 
    ComponentReference
 
+.. toctree::
+   :titlesonly:
+   :caption: Command Line Reference
+
+   ca-cli
+   msi
+
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
    :caption: C/C++ Headers
 
    libcom-api
+   ca-api
    database-api
    record-api
    menu-api

documentation/make-notes.pl

@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+#*************************************************************************
+# Copyright (c) 2025 UChicago Argonne LLC, as Operator of Argonne
+#     National Laboratory.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: EPICS
+# EPICS BASE is distributed subject to a Software License Agreement found
+# in file LICENSE that is included with this distribution.
+#*************************************************************************
+
+# Tool to combine release note entries
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use File::Basename;
+use Getopt::Std;
+use version;
+
+my $tool = basename($0);
+
+our ($opt_d, $opt_h, $opt_o, $opt_D, $opt_V);
+
+sub HELP_MESSAGE {
+    print STDERR "Usage: $tool -o outfile.md -V 7.0.10 [-d new-notes] [-D] " .
+        "RELEASE-*.md\n";
+    exit 2;
+}
+
+HELP_MESSAGE()
+    if !getopts('hd:o:DV:') || $opt_h;
+
+die "$tool: Release version '-V' option required\n"
+    unless defined $opt_V;
+die "$tool: Version string '$opt_V' not legal\n"
+    unless $opt_V =~ m/^ (0 | [1-9][0-9]*) (\. [0-9]{1,3}){0,3} $/x;
+die "$tool: Output filename '-o' required\n"
+    unless defined $opt_o;
+die "$tool: Output filename '-o $opt_o' must end with '.md'\n"
+    unless $opt_o =~ m/\.md $/x;
+die "$tool: New notes directory '-d $opt_d' doesn't exist\n"
+    if defined $opt_d && !-d $opt_d;
+
+open my $out, '>:encoding(UTF-8)', $opt_o or
+    die "$tool: Can't create $opt_o: $!\n";
+
+$SIG{__DIE__} = sub {
+    die @_ if $^S;  # Ignore eval deaths
+    close $out;
+    unlink $opt_o;
+};
+
+my $REL_VERS = $opt_V;
+$REL_VERS .= '-DEV' if $opt_D;
+
+my @notes;
+if ($opt_d) {
+    # Directory handle for scanning the new-notes directory
+    opendir my $dh, $opt_d or
+        die "$tool: Can't open '-d' directory: $!\n";
+
+    foreach my $fn (sort grep !m/^ \. \.? $/x, readdir $dh) {
+        next if $fn eq 'README.txt';
+        die "$tool: Not markdown? File '$fn' lacks '.md' extension\n"
+            unless $fn =~ m/\.md$/;
+        local $/;
+        my $file = "$opt_d/$fn";
+        push @notes, do {
+            open my $fh, '<:encoding(UTF-8)', $file or
+                die "$tool: Can't open file $file: $!\n";
+            <$fh>;
+        };
+    }
+    close $dh;
+}
+
+sub relVers {
+    $_ = shift;
+    m/RELEASE-([0-9.]+)\.md/;
+    return $1;
+}
+
+# Reverse sort of the RELEASE-<version>.md filenames
+my @OLD_REL_FILES = sort {
+    version->parse(relVers($b)) <=> version->parse(relVers($a));
+} @ARGV;
+
+print $out <<"__REL_INTRO__";
+# Release Notes
+
+This document describes the changes that were included in the release of EPICS
+noted below. Release entries are now provided in a separate document for each
+version in the EPICS 7 series, but all are combined into a single page for
+publishing on the EPICS website. Separate release documents are also included
+from the older Base 3.15 and 3.16 series.
+
+The external PVA submodules continue to maintain their own release notes files
+as before, but the entries describing changes in those submodules since version
+7.0.5 have been copied into the associated EPICS Release Notes files; they will
+also be manually added to new EPICS Release Notes published in the future.
+
+
+## EPICS Release $REL_VERS
+
+__REL_INTRO__
+
+print $out <<"__NEW_INTRO__" if $opt_D && scalar @notes;
+__This version of EPICS has not been released yet.__
+__When the changes described below get released, the version number used may be
+different to the one given above.__
+
+The changes below have been merged into EPICS since the last published release.
+
+__NEW_INTRO__
+
+# Include the text from all the new entries
+print $out map { "$_\n" } @notes;
+
+# Add myst include directives to incorporate older release files
+foreach my $rfile (@OLD_REL_FILES) {
+    my $ver = relVers($rfile);
+    if ($ver =~ m/^7\./) {
+        print $out <<"__OLD_RELEASE_7__";
+-----
+
+## EPICS Release $ver
+
+```{include} ../$rfile
+:start-after: EPICS Release $ver
+```
+
+__OLD_RELEASE_7__
+    }
+    elsif ($ver =~ m/^3\.1[56]/) {
+        print $out <<"__OLD_RELEASE_3__";
+-----
+
+```{include} ../$rfile
+:heading-offset: 1
+```
+
+__OLD_RELEASE_3__
+    }
+}
+
+close $out;
+

documentation/new-notes/PR-518.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+### Reduce symbol and macro pollution from epicsAtomic.h on WIN32
+
+`epicsAtomic.h` no longer pulls in as many unneeded declarations and macros from
+`windows.h`. Prior to this change, including `epicsAtomic.h` at the wrong time
+could result in unexpected compiler errors. Due to the nature of `windows.h`,
+some unneeded declarations are still pulled in, however the number is greatly reduced.
+Code that needs these declarations should explicitly include `windows.h` before `epicsAtomic.h`.

documentation/new-notes/PR-558.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+### New `afterIocRunning` IOC Shell Command Added
+
+This release incorporates [PR #558](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/558) which added a new IOC shell command `afterIocRunning`. This command allows startup scripts to schedule arbitrary commands to be executed automatically after the IOC initialization phase (`iocInit`).
+
+`afterIocRunning` allows you to write better-structured IOC shell files to include in your startup scripts without tracking where `iocInit` is located (and how IOC is deployed) e.g.:
+- to achieve the best maintainability (e.g. encapsulation of the context into one file),
+- to improve writing boot sequences,
+- to improve IOC startup flexibility and scripting capabilities,
+- it replaces the community [`afterInit`](https://github.com/paulscherrerinstitute/iocsh_utilities/blob/master/afterInit.c) and [`doAfterIocInit`](https://github.com/epics-modules/std/blob/master/stdApp/src/delayCmd.cpp) IOC shell commands,
+- community usage examples:
+  - [`pf4filters.iocsh`](https://github.com/epics-modules/optics/blob/master/opticsApp/iocsh/pf4filters.iocsh) - enable/disable with a single comment ([full description](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/558#issuecomment-2430057167))
+  - [ALS-U autosave managment](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/558#issuecomment-2430447220)
+
+#### Features
+
+- Define commands that run after IOC initialization completes.
+- Executes following `iocInit` and `autosave` initialization (important for proper PV configuration).
+- Supports any valid IOC shell command as an argument.
+- Example usages:
+  - `afterIocRunning "dbpf <PV> <VAL>"`
+  - `afterIocRunning "date"`
+  - `afterIocRunning "dbpf $(P)EvtClkSource-Sel 'Upstream (fanout)'"`
+  - `afterIocRunning "dbpf $(P)Enable-Sel Enabled"`

documentation/new-notes/PR-587.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+### fdManager file descriptor limit removed
+
+In order to support file descriptors above 1023, fdManager now uses
+`poll()` instead of `select()` on all architectures that support it
+(Linux, MacOS, Windows, newer RTEMS).

documentation/new-notes/PR-592.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+### New `dbServerStats()` API for iocStats
+
+A new routine provides the ability to request channel and client counts from
+named server layers that implement the `stats()` method, or to get a summary
+of the counts from all registered server layers. A preprocessor macro
+`HAS_DBSERVER_STATS` macro is defined in the `dbServer.h` header file to
+simplify code that needs to support older versions of Base as well.

documentation/new-notes/PR-599.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+### epicsExport simplifications
+
+`epicsExportAddress()`, `epicsExportRegistrar()` and `epicsRegisterFunction()`
+no longer require to be wrapped in `extern "C" { }` in C++ code.

documentation/new-notes/PR-603.md

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+### Support for multiline strings in iocsh files
+
+GitHub [PR #603](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/603)
+
+This update introduces support for multiline strings in IOC shell (iocsh) files.
+Previously, string values in iocsh files were limited to a single line, making
+it difficult to include longer or formatted text. With this change, users can
+now define strings that span multiple lines, improving readability and
+flexibility when configuring IOC shell scripts.
+
+To create a multiline string, end a line with a backslash (`\`). The following
+line, including any leading whitespace, will be joined to the previous line.
+If the backslash is immediately followed by any character other than a newline,
+it will not be treated as a multiline continuation.

documentation/new-notes/PR-613.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+### Enhancement to IOC `dbgrep` command
+
+`dbgrep` now takes an optional second string argument consisting of a list of field names
+separated by spaces, e.g. `dbgrep "*PRESSURE*", "VAL DESC"`

documentation/new-notes/PR-626.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+*** Add `dbglob` to replace `dbgrep`
+
+A new IOC shell command, `dbglob` has been added, with `dbgrep` becoming
+an alias of this new function, with the intent of deprecating it in a
+future release.

documentation/new-notes/PR-628.md

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+### Conflict-free release note entries for GitHub pull requests
+
+GitHub [PR #628](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/628)
+
+This release replaces the developer-edited `documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md`
+source file in the EPICS tree with a process which generates that file from a
+series of individual files added for each changeset in the release, thus
+preventing merge conflicts when entries are added by many different pull
+requests.
+
+For this new approach each pull request must add its own Markdown file to the
+`documentation/new-notes` directory, using a unique filename.
+When a release is made, all these files will be combined into a single
+`RELEASE-<version>.md` file and the `new-notes` directory emptied to prepare
+for development of the next release.
+
+Developers can generate the `RELEASE_NOTES.md` file by running `make` in the
+`documentation` directory, which will install the result in the `doc` top-level
+directory along with the `RELEASE-<version>.md` files describing older EPICS
+releases going back to 3.15.
+The `documentation/Makefile` provides some other targets which can also be
+requested, but they require additional non-EPICS software such as Doxygen and
+Sphinx to have been installed first.
+
+Between releases the generated `RELEASE_NOTES.md` file contains the text from
+any `new-notes` files added to document changes already merged.
+It also provides links to the older `RELEASE-<version>.md` files, so it remains
+the starting point for documentation on all release changes.
+
+Detailed instructions on creating new entries are provided in a `README.txt`
+file in the `documentation/new-notes` directory.
+The release-time process that generates a new `RELEASE-<version>.md` file is
+described in the `documentation/ReleaseChecklist.html` file.

documentation/new-notes/PR-636.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+### Add support for EPICS_DB_INCLUDE_PATH to dbLoadTemplate
+
+GitHub [PR #636](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/636)
+
+Allow finding the substitution file using path in `EPICS_DB_INCLUDE_PATH` or
+an additional parameter to `dbLoadTemplate`.

documentation/new-notes/PR-644.md

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+### Expand the use of colour in the IOCs output
+
+This release includes various changes to iocsh.cpp and elsewhere to add and
+expand the use of color:
+
+- When loading a startup script, the IOC Shell now displays comment lines in
+blue, and uses bold to make command lines stand out from other text.
+
+- The `softIoc -v` output also uses the above color scheme for the commands it
+prints.
+
+- The default IOC Shell prompt is now displayed in green; this color can be
+modified in the `configure/CONFIG_SITE_ENV` file for all targets, or set for
+a specific target by adding a `configure/os/CONFIG_SITE_ENV.<arch>` file.
+The value of the `IOCSH_PS1` environment paremeter in those files can use the
+`ANSI_ENV_*` and `ANSI_*()` color macros found in errlog.h to configure the
+appearance of the prompt. The C string literal concatenation syntax can be
+used to construct the prompt string:
+
+```Makefile
+    IOCSH_PS1 = ANSI_ESC_RED "e" ANSI_ESC_YELLOW "p" ANSI_ESC_GREEN "i" \
+        ANSI_ESC_CYAN "c" ANSI_BLUE("s") "> "
+```
+
+- More error messages printed by IOC Shell commands now appear in red, or use
+the red `ERROR` prefix that was introduced in previous releases.
+
+- The word "Illegal" has been replaced with "Invalid" in several Shell error
+messages.
+
+- The iocsh `var` command now shows the data type of the registered variables
+as well as their values.

documentation/new-notes/PR-655.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+### Records calc, calcout and sub extended
+
+The record types calc, calcout and sub have been extended from
+12 inputs A-L to 21 inputs A-U.
+The macro `CALCPERFORM_NARGS` reflects this change.
+The new inputs can be used in calc links and access security as well.
+The size of CALC and OCAL fields have been doubled to 160 chars.

documentation/new-notes/PR-676.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+### IVOA for dfanout
+
+The dfanout record now has invalid output handling with the usual fields
+`IVOA` and `IVOV` just like other output records.

documentation/new-notes/PR-678.md

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+### Allow hex and octal strings in dbPut and dbGet
+
+It is now possible to convert hex and octal strings to integer fields
+with `dbPut()`, `dbGet()` and related functions like the iocsh command
+`dbpf` or through database links.
+
+Possible incompatibility: Up to now, leading `0`s have been ignored,
+now they switch to octal mode.
+
+For backward compatibility, this behavior can be switched off, returning
+to the old decimal only conversions, by setting the environment variable
+`EPICS_DB_CONVERT_DECIMAL_ONLY` to anything except the empty string or
+strings starting with `n`, `N`, `f`, `F` or `0` before `iocInit`.

documentation/new-notes/PR-679.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+### Apply log prefix to each line
+
+If multi-line ioc log messages are sent with `errlogPrintf()`, apply
+`logClientPrefix` (e.g. set by `iocLogPrefix`) to each line in order to help
+browsing the log files.
+Also strip off any leading newlines which some calls have.
+
+Extend `errlog` iocsh command to interpret escape chars (just like `echo`).

documentation/new-notes/README.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+documentation/new-notes/README.txt
+==================================
+
+The documentation/new-notes directory is for new release note entries that
+describe changes merged into EPICS Base since the previous release.
+Files here must be written in Markdown (see below) and have the extension
+'.md' at the end of their filename.
+This README.txt file is the only other file that should appear here.
+
+
+Generating RELEASE_NOTES.md
+---------------------------
+
+Running 'make' inside the Base documentation directory now generates a
+file RELEASE_NOTES.md and installs it into the top-level doc directory.
+
+The file starts with a level-1 Markdown header and some introductory text.
+If any new-notes files are present a level-2 header is added with a Release
+version number and a -DEV suffix, followed by some notes explaining their
+unreleased status. The new-notes filenames are lexically sorted and their
+contents added in order, separated by an extra newline character.
+
+Finally a series of myst Markdown directives are added which will include all
+the older RELEASE-<version>.md files present in the documentation directory
+into the published HTML version, sorted in version order with the newest first.
+
+
+Writing a Release Notes entry
+-----------------------------
+
+Add a new file to the new-notes directory for your entry. If this is for a
+GitHub pull request to the epics-base project please use the name 'PR-nnn.md'
+where nnn is the number of the pull request. If you haven't created the pull
+request yet you can use the number from a related GitHub issue, or use some
+other name, then rename and push it after the PR has been created.
+
+The file should start with a level-3 Markdown title for the entry, like this:
+
+    ### Conflict-free release note entries for GitHub pull requests
+
+    GitHub [PR #628](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/628)
+
+ * The three '#' characters of the title start in the left-most column.
+ * The title should provide a short summary, and not end in a period.
+ * A link to the GitHub pull-request may follow if desired as shown above
+   (followed by a blank line to separate it from the next paragraph), or a
+   link to the PR may be integrated into the text that follows.
+ * Use blank lines between paragraphs of text, and code-blocks for examples.
+
+Release note entries are not intended to provide full documentation of major
+features. For small features or changes though, they may provide all the
+information needed to understand and use the feature.

epics-base.spec

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 Name:           epics-base-%{EpicsVersion}
 Summary:        EPICS Base %{EpicsVersion}
 Version:        1
-Release:        2%{?dist}
+Release:        4%{?dist}
 License:        EPICS Open License
 Group:          Development/Languages
 URL:            https://git.psi.ch/epics_base/base-7.0

modules/ca/src/client/Makefile

@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ TOP = ../../../..
 include $(TOP)/configure/CONFIG
 
 HTMLS += CAref.html
+DOCS += acctst.md
+DOCS += catime.md
+DOCS += casw.md
+DOCS += caEventRate.md
+DOCS += ca_test.md
 
 #
 #	includes to install from this subproject

modules/ca/src/client/acctst.md

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# acctst
+
+    acctst <PV name> [progress logging level] [channel duplication count]
+                     [test repetition count] [enable preemptive callback]
+
+## Description
+
+Channel Access Client Library regression test.
+
+The PV used with the test must be native type `DBR_DOUBLE` or `DBR_FLOAT`,
+and modified only by acctst while the test is running. Therefore,
+periodically scanned hardware attached analog input records do not work
+well. Test failure is indicated if the program stops prior to printing
+"test complete". If unspecified the progress logging level is zero,
+and no messages are printed while the test is progressing. If
+unspecified, the channel duplication count is 20000. If unspecified, the
+test repetition count is once only. If unspecified, preemptive callback
+is disabled.

modules/ca/src/client/caEventRate.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# caEventRate
+
+    caEventRate <PV name> [subscription count]
+
+## Description
+
+Connect to the specified PV, subscribe for monitor updates the specified
+number of times (default once), and periodically log the current sampled
+event rate, average event rate, and the standard deviation of the event
+rate in Hertz to standard out.

modules/ca/src/client/ca_test.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# ca_test
+
+    ca_test <PV name> [value to be written]
+
+## Description
+
+If a value is specified it is written to the PV. Next, the current value
+of the PV is converted to each of the many external data type that can
+be specified at the CA client library interface, and each of these is
+formated and then output to the console.

modules/ca/src/client/caerr.h

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@
  *
  */
 
+/** \file caerr.h
+ *
+ * \brief Channel access error definitions.
+ */
 
 #ifndef INC_caerr_H
 #define INC_caerr_H
@@ -75,72 +79,139 @@
  * servers on earlier releases that communicate with current clients
  * might still generate exceptions with these error constants
  */
+
+/// Normal successful completion
 #define ECA_NORMAL          DEFMSG(CA_K_SUCCESS,    0) /* success */
+/// Maximum simultaneous IOC connections exceeded
 #define ECA_MAXIOC          DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,      1) /* defunct */
+/// Unknown internet host
 #define ECA_UKNHOST         DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,      2) /* defunct */
+/// Unknown internet service
 #define ECA_UKNSERV         DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,      3) /* defunct */
+/// Unable to allocate a new socket
 #define ECA_SOCK            DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,      4) /* defunct */
+/// Unable to connect to internet host or service
 #define ECA_CONN            DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,    5) /* defunct */
+/// Unable to allocate additional dynamic memory
 #define ECA_ALLOCMEM        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,    6)
+/// Unknown IO channel
 #define ECA_UKNCHAN         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,    7) /* defunct */
+/// ECA_UKNFIELD - Record field specified inappropriate for channel specified
 #define ECA_UKNFIELD        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,    8) /* defunct */
+/// The requested data transfer is greater than available memory or EPICS_CA_MAX_ARRAY_BYTES
 #define ECA_TOLARGE         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,    9)
+/// User specified timeout on IO operation expired
 #define ECA_TIMEOUT         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   10)
+/// Sorry, that feature is planned but not supported at this time
 #define ECA_NOSUPPORT       DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   11) /* defunct */
+/// The supplied string is unusually large
 #define ECA_STRTOBIG        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   12) /* defunct */
+/// The request was ignored because the specified channel is disconnected
 #define ECA_DISCONNCHID     DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     13) /* defunct */
+/// The data type specifed is invalid
 #define ECA_BADTYPE         DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     14)
+/// Remote Channel not found
 #define ECA_CHIDNOTFND      DEFMSG(CA_K_INFO,      15) /* defunct */
+/// Unable to locate all user specified channels
 #define ECA_CHIDRETRY       DEFMSG(CA_K_INFO,      16) /* defunct */
+/// Channel Access Internal Failure
 #define ECA_INTERNAL        DEFMSG(CA_K_FATAL,     17)
+/// The requested local DB operation failed
 #define ECA_DBLCLFAIL       DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   18) /* defunct */
+/// Channel read request failed
 #define ECA_GETFAIL         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   19)
+/// Channel write request failed
 #define ECA_PUTFAIL         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   20)
+/// Channel subscription request failed
 #define ECA_ADDFAIL         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   21) /* defunct */
+/// Invalid element count requested
 #define ECA_BADCOUNT        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   22)
+/// Invalid string
 #define ECA_BADSTR          DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     23)
+/// Virtual circuit disconnect
 #define ECA_DISCONN         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   24)
+/// Identical process variable names on multiple servers
 #define ECA_DBLCHNL         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   25)
+/// Request inappropriate within subscription (monitor) update callback
 #define ECA_EVDISALLOW      DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     26)
+/// Database value get for that channel failed during channel search
 #define ECA_BUILDGET        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   27) /* defunct */
+/// Unable to initialize without the vxWorks VX_FP_TASK task option set
 #define ECA_NEEDSFP         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   28) /* defunct */
+/// Event queue overflow has prevented first pass event after event add
 #define ECA_OVEVFAIL        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   29) /* defunct */
+/// Bad event subscription (monitor) identifier
 #define ECA_BADMONID        DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     30)
+/// Remote channel has new network address
 #define ECA_NEWADDR         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   31) /* defunct */
+/// New or resumed network connection
 #define ECA_NEWCONN         DEFMSG(CA_K_INFO,      32) /* defunct */
+/// Specified task isnt a member of a CA context
 #define ECA_NOCACTX         DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   33) /* defunct */
+/// Attempt to use defunct CA feature failed
 #define ECA_DEFUNCT         DEFMSG(CA_K_FATAL,     34) /* defunct */
+/// The supplied string is empty
 #define ECA_EMPTYSTR        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   35) /* defunct */
+/// Unable to spawn the CA repeater thread- auto reconnect will fail
 #define ECA_NOREPEATER      DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   36) /* defunct */
+/// No channel id match for search reply- search reply ignored
 #define ECA_NOCHANMSG       DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   37) /* defunct */
+/// Reseting dead connection- will try to reconnect
 #define ECA_DLCKREST        DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   38) /* defunct */
+/// Server (IOC) has fallen behind or is not responding- still waiting
 #define ECA_SERVBEHIND      DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   39) /* defunct */
+/// No internet interface with broadcast available
 #define ECA_NOCAST          DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   40) /* defunct */
+/// Invalid event selection mask
 #define ECA_BADMASK         DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     41)
+/// IO operations have completed
 #define ECA_IODONE          DEFMSG(CA_K_INFO,      42)
+/// IO operations are in progress
 #define ECA_IOINPROGRESS    DEFMSG(CA_K_INFO,      43)
+/// Invalid synchronous group identifier
 #define ECA_BADSYNCGRP      DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     44)
+/// Put callback timed out
 #define ECA_PUTCBINPROG     DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     45)
+/// Read access denied
 #define ECA_NORDACCESS      DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   46)
+/// Write access denied
 #define ECA_NOWTACCESS      DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   47)
+/// Requested feature is no longer supported
 #define ECA_ANACHRONISM     DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     48)
+/// Empty PV search address list
 #define ECA_NOSEARCHADDR    DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   49)
+/// No reasonable data conversion between client and server types
 #define ECA_NOCONVERT       DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   50)
+/// Invalid channel identifier
 #define ECA_BADCHID         DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     51)
+/// Invalid function pointer
 #define ECA_BADFUNCPTR      DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     52)
+/// Thread is already attached to a client context
 #define ECA_ISATTACHED      DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   53)
+/// Not supported by attached service
 #define ECA_UNAVAILINSERV   DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   54)
+/// User destroyed channel
 #define ECA_CHANDESTROY     DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   55)
+/// Invalid channel priority
 #define ECA_BADPRIORITY     DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     56)
+/// Preemptive callback not enabled - additional threads may not join context
 #define ECA_NOTTHREADED     DEFMSG(CA_K_ERROR,     57)
+/// Client's protocol revision does not support transfers exceeding 16k bytes
 #define ECA_16KARRAYCLIENT  DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   58)
+/// Virtual circuit connection sequence aborted
 #define ECA_CONNSEQTMO      DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   59)
+/// Virtual circuit unresponsive
 #define ECA_UNRESPTMO       DEFMSG(CA_K_WARNING,   60)
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+/** \brief Return a message character string corresponding to a user specified CA status code.
+ *
+ * \param[in] ca_status A CA status code.
+ * \returns The corresponding error message string.
+ */
 LIBCA_API const char * epicsStdCall ca_message(long ca_status);
 
 LIBCA_API extern const char * ca_message_text [];

modules/ca/src/client/caeventmask.h

@@ -8,37 +8,43 @@
 * in file LICENSE that is included with this distribution.
 \*************************************************************************/
 
+/** \file caeventmask.h
+ *
+ * \brief Event selections
+ */
+
 #ifndef INCLcaeventmaskh
 #define INCLcaeventmaskh
 
 /*
-    event selections
     (If any more than 8 of these are needed then update the
     select field in the event_block struct in db_event.c from
     unsigned char to unsigned short)
+ */
 
-
-    DBE_VALUE
-    Trigger an event when a significant change in the channel's value
-    occurs. Relies on the monitor deadband field under DCT.
-
-    DBE_ARCHIVE (DBE_LOG)
-    Trigger an event when an archive significant change in the channel's
-    value occurs. Relies on the archiver monitor deadband field under DCT.
-
-    DBE_ALARM
-    Trigger an event when the alarm state changes
-
-    DBE_PROPERTY
-    Trigger an event when a property change (control limit, graphical
-    limit, status string, enum string ...) occurs.
-
-*/
-
+/** \brief Trigger an event when a significant change in the channel's value occurs.
+ *
+ * Relies on the monitor deadband field under DCT.
+ */
 #define DBE_VALUE    (1<<0)
+
+/** \brief Trigger an event when an archive significant change in the channel's value occurs.
+ *
+ * Relies on the archiver monitor deadband field under DCT.
+ */
 #define DBE_ARCHIVE  (1<<1)
+
+/** \brief Same as ::DBE_ARCHIVE.
+ */
 #define DBE_LOG      DBE_ARCHIVE
+
+/** \brief Trigger an event when the alarm state changes.
+ */
 #define DBE_ALARM    (1<<2)
+
+/** \brief Trigger an event when a property change occurs.
+ * (control limit, graphical limit, status string, enum string ...)
+ */
 #define DBE_PROPERTY (1<<3)
 
 #endif

modules/ca/src/client/casw.md

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# casw
+
+    casw [-i <interest level>]
+
+## Description
+
+CA server "beacon anomaly" logging.
+
+CA server beacon anomalies occur when a new server joins the network, a
+server is rebooted, network connectivity to a server is reestablished,
+or if a server's CPU exits a CPU load saturated state.
+
+CA clients with unresolved channels reset their search request
+scheduling timers whenever they see a beacon anomaly.
+
+This program can be used to detect situations where there are too many
+beacon anomalies. IP routing configuration problems may result in false
+beacon anomalies that might cause CA clients to use unnecessary
+additional network bandwidth and server CPU load when searching for
+unresolved channels.
+
+If there are no new CA servers appearing on the network, and network
+connectivity remains constant, then casw should print no messages at
+all. At higher interest levels the program prints a message for every
+beacon that is received, and anomalous entries are flagged with a star.
+

modules/ca/src/client/catime.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# catime
+
+    catime <PV name> [channel count] [append number to pv name if true]
+
+## Description
+
+Channel Access Client Library performance test.
+
+If unspecified, the channel count is 10000. If the "append number to pv
+name if true" argument is specified and it is greater than zero then
+the channel names in the test are numbered as follows.
+
+    <PV name>000000, <PV name>000001, ... <PV name>nnnnnn
+
+

modules/ca/src/client/db_access.h

@@ -516,13 +516,40 @@ struct dbr_ctrl_double{
         dbr_double_t    value;                  /* current value */
 };
 
+/** \brief Returns the size in bytes for a `DBR_XXXX` type with `COUNT` elements.
+ *
+ * If the DBR type is a structure then the value field is the last field in the
+ * structure. If `COUNT` is greater than one then `COUNT-1` elements are
+ * appended to the end of the structure so that they can be addressed as an
+ * array through a pointer to the value field.
+ *
+ * \sa dbr_size, dbr_value_size
+ *
+ * \param[in] TYPE The data type.
+ * \param[in] COUNT The element count.
+ * \returns The size in bytes of the specified type
+ * with the specified number of elements.
+ */
 #define dbr_size_n(TYPE,COUNT)\
 ((unsigned)((COUNT)<0?dbr_size[TYPE]:dbr_size[TYPE]+((COUNT)-1)*dbr_value_size[TYPE]))
 
-/* size for each type - array indexed by the DBR_ type code */
+/** \brief Size in bytes for each `DBR_XXXX` type.
+ *
+ * Array indexed by the `DBR_XXXX` type code.
+ *
+ * \sa dbr_size_n()
+ */
 LIBCA_API extern const unsigned short dbr_size[];
 
-/* size for each type's value - array indexed by the DBR_ type code */
+/** \brief Size in bytes for each type's value.
+ *
+ * Array indexed by the `DBR_XXXX` type code.
+ *
+ * If the type is a structure the size of the value field is returned otherwise
+ * the size of the type is returned.
+ *
+ * \sa dbr_size_n()
+ */
 LIBCA_API extern const unsigned short dbr_value_size[];
 
 #ifndef db_accessHFORdb_accessC
@@ -685,6 +712,14 @@ union db_access_val{
         break; \
     }
 
+/** \brief Returns a constant null terminated string
+ * corresponding to the specified dbr type.
+ *
+ * \param[in] type The data type code.
+ * A member of the set of `DBR_XXXX` in `db_access.h`.
+ *
+ * \returns The const string corresponding to the `DBR_XXXX` type.
+ */
 #define dbr_type_to_text(type)   \
     (  ((type) >= 0 && (type) < dbr_text_dim) ? \
         dbr_text[(type)] : dbr_text_invalid  )

modules/ca/src/tools/Makefile

@@ -24,4 +24,9 @@ cainfo_SRCS = cainfo.c
 
 PROD_LIBS = ca Com
 
+DOCS += caget.md
+DOCS += cainfo.md
+DOCS += camonitor.md
+DOCS += caput.md
+
 include $(TOP)/configure/RULES

modules/ca/src/tools/caget.md

@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+# caget
+
+``` {program} caget
+```
+
+    caget [options] <PV name> ...
+
+## Description
+
+Get and print value for PV(s).
+
+The values for one or multiple PVs are read and printed to stdout. The
+`DBR_...` format in which the data is read, the output format, and a
+number of details of how integer and float values are represented can be
+controlled using command line options.
+
+When getting multiple PVs, their order on the command line is retained
+in the output.
+
+## Options
+
+::: {option} -h
+Print usage information
+:::
+
+### Channel access options
+
+::: {option} -w <sec>
+Wait time, specifies longer CA timeout, default is 1.0 second.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -c
+Asynchronous get (use ca_get_callback instead of ca_get).
+:::
+
+::: {option} -p <prio>
+CA priority (0--99, default 0=lowest)
+:::
+
+### Format and data type options
+
+Default output format is `name value`
+
+::: {option} -t
+Terse mode --- print only value, without name.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -a
+Wide mode `name timestamp value stat sevr` (read PVs as `DBR_TIME_xxx`)
+:::
+
+::: {option} -d <type>
+Request specific dbr type; use   string (`DBR_` prefix may be omitted)
+or number of one of the following types:
+
+:STRING: 0
+:INT: 1
+:SHORT: 1
+:FLOAT: 2
+:ENUM: 3
+:CHAR: 4
+:LONG: 5
+:DOUBLE: 6
+:STS_STRING: 7
+:STS_INT: 8
+:STS_SHORT: 8
+:STS_FLOAT: 9
+:STS_ENUM: 10
+:STS_CHAR: 11
+:STS_LONG: 12
+:STS_DOUBLE: 13
+:TIME_STRING: 14
+:TIME_INT: 15
+:TIME_SHORT: 15
+:TIME_FLOAT: 16
+:TIME_ENUM: 17
+:TIME_CHAR: 18
+:TIME_LONG: 19
+:TIME_DOUBLE: 20
+:GR_STRING: 21
+:GR_INT: 22
+:GR_SHORT: 22
+:GR_FLOAT: 23
+:GR_ENUM: 24
+:GR_CHAR: 25
+:GR_LONG: 26
+:GR_DOUBLE: 27
+:CTRL_STRING: 28
+:CTRL_INT: 29
+:CTRL_SHORT: 29
+:CTRL_FLOAT: 30
+:CTRL_ENUM: 31
+:CTRL_CHAR: 32
+:CTRL_LONG: 33
+:CTRL_DOUBLE: 34
+:STSACK_STRING: 37
+:CLASS_NAME: 38
+:::
+
+### Enum format
+
+::: {option} -n
+Print `DBF_ENUM` value as number (default is enum string)
+:::
+
+### Arrays
+
+Value format: Print number of requested values, then list of values.
+
+By default: print all values.
+
+::: {option} -# <count>
+Print first \<count\> elements of an array.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -S
+Print array of char as a string (long string).
+:::
+
+### Floating point type format
+
+By default: use `%g` format.
+
+::: {option} -e <nr>
+Use `%e` format, with a precision of \<nr\> digits.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -f <nr>
+Use `%f` format, with a precision of \<nr\> digits.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -g <nr>
+Use `%g` format, with a precision of \<nr\> digits.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -s
+Get value as string (honors server-side precision).
+:::
+
+::: {option} -lx
+Round to long integer and print as hex number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -lo
+Round to long integer and print as octal number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -lb
+Round to long integer and print as binary number.
+:::
+
+### Integer number format
+
+By default: print as decimal number.
+
+::: {option} -0x
+Print as hex number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -0o
+Print as octal number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -0b
+Print as binary number.
+:::
+
+### Alternate output field separator
+
+::: {option} -F <ofs>
+Use \<ofs\> as an alternate output field separator.
+:::

modules/ca/src/tools/cainfo.md

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# cainfo
+
+``` {program} cainfo
+```
+
+    cainfo [options] <PV name> ...
+
+## Description
+
+Get and print channel and connection information for PV(s).
+
+All available Channel Access related information about PV(s) is printed
+to stdout.
+
+The {option}`-s` option allows to specify an interest level for calling Channel
+Access' internal report function `ca_client_status()`, that prints lots
+of internal informations on stdout, including environment settings, used
+CA ports etc.
+
+## Options
+
+::: {option} -h
+Print usage information
+:::
+
+### CA options
+
+::: {option} -w <sec>
+Wait time, specifies longer CA timeout, default is 1.0 second.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -s <level>
+Call ca_client_status with the specified interest level
+:::
+
+::: {option} -p <prio>
+CA priority (0--99, default 0=lowest)
+:::
+
+

modules/ca/src/tools/camonitor.md

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# camonitor
+
+``` {program} camonitor
+```
+
+    camonitor [options] <PV name> ...
+
+## Description
+
+Subscribe to and print value updates for PV(s).
+
+## Options
+
+::: {option} -h
+Print usage information
+:::
+
+### CA options
+
+::: {option} -w <sec>
+Wait time, specifies longer CA timeout, default is 1.0 second.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -m <msk>
+Specify CA event mask to use.
+
+\<msk\> is any combination of `v` (value), `a` (alarm), `l` (log/archive),
+`p` (property).
+
+Default event mask is `va`
+:::
+
+::: {option} -p <prio>
+CA priority (0--99, default 0=lowest)
+:::
+
+### Timestamps
+
+Default: Print absolute timestamps (as reported by CA server)
+
+::: {option} -t <key>
+Specify timestamp source(s) and type, with \<key\> containing:
+
+`s` = CA server (remote) timestamps\
+`c` = CA client (local) timestamps (shown in `()`s)\
+`n` = no timestamps\
+`r` = relative timestamps (time elapsed since start of program)\
+`i` = incremental timestamps (time elapsed since last update)\
+`I` = incremental timestamps (time since last update, by channel)\
+
+`r`, `i` or `I` require `s` or `c` to select the time source.
+:::
+
+### Enum format
+
+::: {option} -n
+Print `DBF_ENUM` values as number (default is enum string)
+:::
+
+### Arrays
+
+Array values: Print number of elements, then list of values.
+
+By default: request and print all elements (dynamic arrays supported).
+
+::: {option} -# <count>
+Request and print first \<count\> elements of an array.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -S
+Print array of char as a string (long string).
+:::
+
+### Floating point format
+
+By default: use `%g` format.
+
+::: {option} -e <nr>
+Use `%e` format, with a precision of \<nr\> digits.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -f <nr>
+Use `%f` format, with a precision of \<nr\> digits.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -g <nr>
+Use `%g` format, with a precision of \<nr\> digits.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -s
+Get value as string (honors server-side precision).
+:::
+
+::: {option} -lx
+Round to long integer and print as hex number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -lo
+Round to long integer and print as octal number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -lb
+Round to long integer and print as binary number.
+:::
+
+### Integer number format
+
+By default: print as decimal number.
+
+::: {option} -0x
+Print as hex number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -0o
+Print as octal number.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -0b
+Print as binary number.
+:::
+
+

modules/ca/src/tools/caput.md

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# caput
+
+``` {program} caput
+```
+
+    caput [options] <PV name> <value> ...
+    caput -a [options] <PV name> <no of elements> <value> ...
+
+## Description
+
+Put value to a PV.
+
+The specified value is written to the PV (as a string). The PV's value is read
+before and after the write operation and printed as "Old" and "New" values on
+stdout.
+
+There are two variants to the arguments for this command. For the scalar
+variant without the {option}`-a` flag, all the value arguments provided after
+the PV name are concatenated with a single space character between them, and
+the resulting string (up to 40 characters long unless the {option}`-S` flag is
+given) is written to the specified PV.
+
+The array variant with the {option}`-a` flag writes an array of string values
+to the specified PV. The numeric argument giving the number of array elements
+is actually ignored, the array length to be written is actually controlled by
+the number of values provided on the command line.
+
+## Options
+
+::: {option} -h
+Print usage information
+:::
+
+### CA options
+
+::: {option} -w <sec>
+Wait time, specifies longer CA timeout, default is 1.0 second.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -c
+Asynchronous get (use ca_get_callback instead of ca_get).
+:::
+
+::: {option} -p <prio>
+CA priority (0--99, default 0=lowest)
+:::
+
+### Format options
+
+::: {option} -t
+Terse mode --- print only successfully written value, without name.
+:::
+
+::: {option} -l
+Long mode `name timestamp value stat sevr` (read PVs as `DBR_TIME_xxx`)
+:::
+
+### Enum Format
+
+By default: Auto --- try value as ENUM string, then as index number
+
+::: {option} -n
+Force interpretation of values as numbers
+:::
+
+::: {option} -s
+Force interpretation of values as strings
+:::
+
+### Arrays
+
+By default: put scalar
+
+Value format: all value arguments concatenated with spaces
+
+::: {option} -S
+Put string as an array of chars (long string)
+:::
+
+::: {option} -a
+Put array
+
+Value format: number of values, then list of values
+:::
+

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbCa.c

@@ -1251,7 +1251,9 @@ static void dbCaTask(void *arg)
                 epicsMutexMustLock(pca->lock);
                 prec = pca->plink->precord;
                 epicsMutexUnlock(pca->lock);
+                dbScanLock(prec);
                 db_process(prec);
+                dbScanUnlock(prec);
             }
         }
         SEVCHK(ca_flush_io(), "dbCaTask");

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbCommon.dbd.pod

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 # in file LICENSE that is included with this distribution.
 #*************************************************************************
 
-=head3 Operator Display Parameters
+=head2 Operator Display Parameters
 
 The B<NAME> field contains the record name which must be unique within an
 EPICS Channel Access name space. The name is supplied by the application
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ record's purpose. Maximum length is 40 characters.
 		size(29)
 	}
 
-=head3 Scan Fields
+=head2 Scan Fields
 
 These fields contain information related to how and when a record processes. A
 few records have unique fields that also affect how they process. These
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ The B<SPVT> field is for internal use by the scanning system.
 		interest(3)
 	}
 
-=head3 Alarm Fields
+=head2 Alarm Fields
 
 Alarm fields indicate the status and severity of record alarms, or determine
 how and when alarms are triggered. Of course, many records have alarm-related
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ initial severity of the record being undefined after the IOC boots.
 		extra("struct scan_element *spvt")
 	}
 
-=head3 Device Fields
+=head2 Device Fields
 
 The B<RSET> field contains the address of the Record Support Entry Table. See
 the Application Developers Guide for details on usage.
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ The B<DPVT> field is is for private use of the device support modules.
 		menu(menuPriority)
 	}
 
-=head3 Debugging Fields
+=head2 Debugging Fields
 
 The B<TPRO> field can be used to trace record processing. When this field is
 non-zero and the record is processed, a trace message will be be printed for
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ database processing can be supported using this.
 =fields TPRO, BKPT
 
 
-=head3 Miscellaneous Fields
+=head2 Miscellaneous Fields
 
 The B<ASG> string field sets the name of the access security group used for this
 record. If left empty, the record is placed in group C<DEFAULT>.

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbCommonInput.dbd.pod

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ These fields usually have the same meaning whenever they are used.
 See also L<Fields Common to All Record Types|dbCommonRecord> and L<Fields Common
 to Output Record Types|dbCommonOutput>.
 
-=head3 Input and Value Fields
+=head2 Input and Value Fields
 
 The B<INP> field specifies an input link. It is used by the device support
 routines to obtain input. For soft analog records it can be a constant, a
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ reads values directly into VAL, bypassing this field.
 The B<VAL> field contains the record's final value, after any needed
 conversions have been performed.
 
-=head3 Device Input
+=head2 Device Input
 
 A device input routine normally returns one of the following values to its
 associated record support routine:
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ to the engineering units value.
 
 =back
 
-=head3 Device Support for Soft Records
+=head2 Device Support for Soft Records
 
 In most cases, two soft output device support modules are provided: Soft Channel
 and Raw Soft Channel. Both allow INP to be a constant, a database link, or a
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ If a value was returned by the link the UDF field is set to FALSE. The device
 support read routine normally returns the status from C<dbGetLink()>.
 
 
-=head3 Input Simulation Fields
+=head2 Input Simulation Fields
 
 The B<SIMM> field controls simulation mode.
 By setting this field to YES or RAW, the record can be switched into
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ The B<SSCN> field specifies the SCAN mechanism to be used in simulation mode.
 This is specifically useful for 'I/O Intr' scanned records, which would
 otherwise never be scanned in simulation mode.
 
-=head3 Simulation Mode for Input Records
+=head2 Simulation Mode for Input Records
 
 An input record can be switched into simulation mode of operation by setting
 the value of SIMM to YES or RAW.

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbCommonOutput.dbd.pod

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ These fields usually have the same meaning whenever they are used.
 See also L<Fields Common to All Record Types|dbCommonRecord> and L<Fields Common to
 Input Records|dbCommonInput>.
 
-=head3 Output and Value Fields
+=head2 Output and Value Fields
 
 The B<OUT> field specifies an output link. It is used by the device support
 routines to decide where to send output. For soft records, it can be a
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ The B<RBV> field contains - whenever possible - the actual read back value
 obtained from the hardware itself or from the associated device driver.
 
 
-=head3 Device Support for Soft Records
+=head2 Device Support for Soft Records
 
 Normally two soft output device support modules are provided, Soft Channel and
 and Raw Soft Channel. Both write a value through the output link OUT.
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ The device support write routine normally calls C<dbPutLink()> which writes a
 value through the OUT link, and returns the status from that call.
 
 
-=head3 Input and Mode Select Fields
+=head2 Input and Mode Select Fields
 
 The B<DOL> field is a link from which the desired output value can be fetched.
 DOL can be a constant, a database link, or a channel access link. If DOL is a
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ value C<closed_loop>. By setting this field a record can be switched between
 supervisory and closed loop mode of operation. While in closed loop mode, the
 VAL field cannot be set via dbPuts.
 
-=head3 Output Mode Selection
+=head2 Output Mode Selection
 
 The fields DOL and OMSL are used to allow the output record to be part of a
 closed loop control algorithm. OMSL is meaningful only if DOL refers to a
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ types with an OIF field and OIF is Full, VAL is set equal to the value obtained
 from the location referenced by DOL; if OIF is Incremental VAL is incremented by
 the value obtained from DOL.
 
-=head3 Invalid Output Action Fields
+=head2 Invalid Output Action Fields
 
 The B<IVOA> field specifies the output action for the case that the record is
 put into an INVALID alarm severity. IVOA can be one of the following actions:
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ in engineering units. If a new severity has been set to INVALID  and IVOA is
 C<Set output to IVOV>, then VAL is set to IVOV and converted to RVAL before
 device support is called.
 
-=head3 Invalid Alarm Output Action
+=head2 Invalid Alarm Output Action
 
 Whenever an output record is put into INVALID alarm severity, IVOA specifies
 an action to take. The record support process routine for each output record
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ If IVOA not one of the above, an error message is generated.
 =back
 
 
-=head3 Output Simulation Fields
+=head2 Output Simulation Fields
 
 The B<SIMM> field controls simulation mode. It has either the value YES or NO.
 By setting this field to YES, the record can be switched into simulation mode
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ The B<SSCN> field specifies the SCAN mechanism to be used in simulation mode.
 This is specifically useful for 'I/O Intr' scanned records, which would
 otherwise never be scanned in simulation mode.
 
-=head3 Simulation Mode for Output Records
+=head2 Simulation Mode for Output Records
 
 An output record can be switched into simulation mode of operation by setting
 the value of SIMM to YES. During simulation, the record will be put into alarm

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbCommonRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 This section contains a description of the fields that are common to all record
 types. These fields are defined in dbCommon.dbd.
 
-See also L<Fields Common to Input Record Types|dbCommonInput> and L<Fields
-Common to Output Record Types|dbCommonOutput>.
+See also L<Fields Common to Input Record Types|dbCommonInput> and
+L<Fields Common to Output Record Types|dbCommonOutput>.
 
 =recordtype dbCommon
 

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbConvert.c

@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ static long getStringChar(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseInt8(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseInt8(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status)
                 return status;
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ static long getStringUchar(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseUInt8(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseUInt8(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status)
                 return status;
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ static long getStringShort(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseInt16(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseInt16(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status)
                 return status;
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ static long getStringUshort(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseUInt16(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseUInt16(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status)
                 return status;
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ static long getStringLong(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseInt32(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseInt32(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status)
                 return status;
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ static long getStringUlong(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseUInt32(psrc, pdst, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseUInt32(psrc, pdst, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status == S_stdlib_noConversion ||
                 (!status && (*end == '.' || *end == 'e' || *end == 'E'))) {
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ static long getStringInt64(const dbAddr *paddr,
             *pdst++ = 0;
         else {
             char *end;
-            long status = epicsParseInt64(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+            long status = epicsParseInt64(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
             if (status)
                 return status;
@@ -946,7 +946,7 @@ static long putStringChar(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseInt8(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseInt8(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status)
             return status;
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ static long putStringUchar(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseUInt8(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseUInt8(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status)
             return status;
@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@ static long putStringShort(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseInt16(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseInt16(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status)
             return status;
@@ -1003,7 +1003,7 @@ static long putStringUshort(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseUInt16(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseUInt16(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status)
             return status;
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@ static long putStringLong(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseInt32(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseInt32(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status)
             return status;
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ static long putStringUlong(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseUInt32(psrc, pdst, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseUInt32(psrc, pdst, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status == S_stdlib_noConversion ||
             (!status && (*end == '.' || *end == 'e' || *end == 'E'))) {
@@ -1074,7 +1074,7 @@ static long putStringInt64(dbAddr *paddr,
 
     while (nRequest--) {
         char *end;
-        long status = epicsParseInt64(psrc, pdst++, 10, &end);
+        long status = epicsParseInt64(psrc, pdst++, dbConvertBase, &end);
 
         if (status)
             return status;
@@ -1178,7 +1178,7 @@ static long putStringEnum(dbAddr *paddr,
         epicsEnum16 val;
         char *end;
 
-        status = epicsParseUInt16(pfrom, &val, 10, &end);
+        status = epicsParseUInt16(pfrom, &val, dbConvertBase, &end);
         if (!status && val < enumStrs.no_str) {
             *pfield = val;
             return 0;
@@ -1219,7 +1219,7 @@ static long putStringMenu(dbAddr *paddr,
             }
         }
 
-        if (!epicsParseUInt16(pfrom, &val, 10, NULL)
+        if (!epicsParseUInt16(pfrom, &val, dbConvertBase, NULL)
             && val < nChoice) {
             *pfield = val;
             return 0;
@@ -1258,7 +1258,7 @@ static long putStringDevice(dbAddr *paddr,
             }
         }
 
-        if (!epicsParseUInt16(pfrom, &val, 10, NULL) && val < nChoice) {
+        if (!epicsParseUInt16(pfrom, &val, dbConvertBase, NULL) && val < nChoice) {
             *pfield = val;
             return 0;
         }

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbDbLink.c

@@ -443,6 +443,17 @@ static long processTarget(dbCommon *psrc, dbCommon *pdst)
     epicsUInt8 pact = psrc->pact;
     epicsThreadId self = epicsThreadGetIdSelf();
 
+#ifdef LOCKSET_DEBUG
+    {
+        lockSet *ls = dbLockGetRef(psrc->lset);
+        assert(ls->owner == self);
+        dbLockDecRef(ls);
+        ls = dbLockGetRef(pdst->lset);
+        assert(ls->owner == self);
+        dbLockDecRef(ls);
+    }
+#endif
+
     psrc->pact = TRUE;
 
     if (psrc->ppn)

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbFastLinkConv.c

@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ static long cvt_st_c(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
         *to = 0;
         return 0;
     }
-    return epicsParseInt8(from, to, 10, &end);
+    return epicsParseInt8(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
 }
 
 /* Convert String to Unsigned Char */
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ static long cvt_st_uc(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
         *to = 0;
         return 0;
     }
-    return epicsParseUInt8(from, to, 10, &end);
+    return epicsParseUInt8(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
 }
 
 /* Convert String to Short */
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ static long cvt_st_s(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
         *to = 0;
         return 0;
     }
-    return epicsParseInt16(from, to, 10, &end);
+    return epicsParseInt16(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
 }
 
 /* Convert String to Unsigned Short */
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ static long cvt_st_us(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
         *to = 0;
         return 0;
     }
-    return epicsParseUInt16(from, to, 10, &end);
+    return epicsParseUInt16(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
 }
 
 /* Convert String to Long */
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ static long cvt_st_l(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
          *to = 0;
          return 0;
     }
-    return epicsParseInt32(from, to, 10, &end);
+    return epicsParseInt32(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
 }
 
 /* Convert String to Unsigned Long */
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static long cvt_st_ul(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
        *to = 0;
        return 0;
     }
-    status = epicsParseUInt32(from, to, 10, &end);
+    status = epicsParseUInt32(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
     if (status == S_stdlib_noConversion ||
         (!status && (*end == '.' || *end == 'e' || *end == 'E'))) {
         /*
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ static long cvt_st_q(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
          *to = 0;
          return 0;
     }
-    return epicsParseInt64(from, to, 10, &end);
+    return epicsParseInt64(from, to, dbConvertBase, &end);
 }
 
 /* Convert String to UInt64 */
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ static long cvt_st_e(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
     if (!status) {
         epicsEnum16 val;
 
-        status = epicsParseUInt16(from, &val, 10, NULL);
+        status = epicsParseUInt16(from, &val, dbConvertBase, NULL);
         if (!status && val < enumStrs.no_str) {
             *to = val;
             return 0;
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ static long cvt_st_menu(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
             }
         }
 
-        if (!epicsParseUInt16(from, &val, 10, NULL) && val < nChoice) {
+        if (!epicsParseUInt16(from, &val, dbConvertBase, NULL) && val < nChoice) {
             *to = val;
             return 0;
         }
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static long cvt_st_device(const void *f, void *t, const dbAddr *paddr)
             }
         }
 
-        if (!epicsParseUInt16(from, &val, 10, NULL) && val < nChoice) {
+        if (!epicsParseUInt16(from, &val, dbConvertBase, NULL) && val < nChoice) {
             *to = val;
             return 0;
         }

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbIocRegister.c

@@ -233,16 +233,23 @@ static const iocshFuncDef dblaFuncDef = {"dbla",1,dblaArgs,
                                          "Example: dbla(\"alia*\")\n"};
 static void dblaCallFunc(const iocshArgBuf *args) { iocshSetError(dbla(args[0].sval));}
 
-/* dbgrep */
-static const iocshArg dbgrepArg0 = { "pattern",iocshArgStringRecord};
-static const iocshArg * const dbgrepArgs[1] = {&dbgrepArg0};
-static const iocshFuncDef dbgrepFuncDef = {"dbgrep",1,dbgrepArgs,
-                                           "List record names matching pattern.\n"
+/* dbglob */
+static const iocshArg dbglobArg0 = { "pattern",iocshArgStringRecord};
+static const iocshArg dbglobArg1 = { "fields",iocshArgString};
+static const iocshArg * const dbglobArgs[2] = {&dbglobArg0,&dbglobArg1};
+static const iocshFuncDef dbglobFuncDef = {"dbglob",2,dbglobArgs,
+                                           "List record names matching pattern and optionally print field values. \n"
                                            "The pattern can contain any characters that are legal in record names as well as:\n"
                                            " - \"?\", which matches 0 or one characters.\n"
                                            " - \"*\", which matches 0 or more characters.\n\n"
-                                           "Example: dbgrep(\"*gpibAi*\")\n"};
-static void dbgrepCallFunc(const iocshArgBuf *args) { iocshSetError(dbgrep(args[0].sval));}
+                                           "Example: dbglob(\"*gpibAi*\")\n"
+                                           "         dbglob(\"*gpibAi*\",\"VAL DESC\")\n"};
+static void dbglobCallFunc(const iocshArgBuf *args) { iocshSetError(dbglob(args[0].sval,args[1].sval));}
+
+/* dbgrep; alias for dbglob, so it should have the same arguments */
+static const iocshFuncDef dbgrepFuncDef = {"dbgrep",2,dbglobArgs,
+                                           "See dbglob.\n"};
+static void dbgrepCallFunc(const iocshArgBuf *args) { iocshSetError(dbglob(args[0].sval,args[1].sval));}
 
 /* dbgf */
 static const iocshArg dbgfArg0 = { "record name",iocshArgStringRecord};
@@ -598,6 +605,7 @@ void dbIocRegister(void)
     iocshRegister(&dbnrFuncDef,dbnrCallFunc);
     iocshRegister(&dblaFuncDef,dblaCallFunc);
     iocshRegister(&dbliFuncDef,dbliCallFunc);
+    iocshRegister(&dbglobFuncDef,dbglobCallFunc);
     iocshRegister(&dbgrepFuncDef,dbgrepCallFunc);
     iocshRegister(&dbgfFuncDef,dbgfCallFunc);
     iocshRegister(&dbpfFuncDef,dbpfCallFunc);

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbLockPvt.h

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "dbLock.h"
 #include "epicsMutex.h"
 #include "epicsSpin.h"
+#include "epicsThread.h"
 
 /* Define to enable additional error checking */
 #undef LOCKSET_DEBUG

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbScan.c

@@ -680,7 +680,9 @@ int scanOnceCallback(struct dbCommon *precord, once_complete cb, void *usr)
     pushOK = epicsRingBytesPut(onceQ, (void*)&ent, sizeof(ent));
 
     if (!pushOK) {
-        if (newOverflow) errlogPrintf("scanOnce: Ring buffer overflow\n");
+        if (newOverflow)
+            errlogPrintf("%s : " ERL_WARNING " scanOnce: Ring buffer overflow\n",
+                         precord->name);
         newOverflow = FALSE;
         epicsAtomicIncrIntT(&onceQOverruns);
     } else {

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbTest.c

@@ -100,13 +100,59 @@ long dba(const char*pname)
     return 0;
 }
 
+/* split a space separated list of field names and return the number of
+   fields with each field an element of papfields. These elements
+   point to within the fieldnames variable which is modified
+   by the function. memory is allocated for *ppapfields and needs
+   to be freed later by the calling routine */
+static int splitFieldsList(char *fieldnames, char ***ppapfields)
+{
+    char *pnext = fieldnames;
+    int nfields = 0, maxfields = 1;
+    char* saveptr = NULL;
+    /* this may overcount real fields e.g. " VAL " hence maxfields */
+    while (*pnext && (pnext = strchr(pnext, ' '))) {
+        maxfields++;
+        while (*pnext == ' ') pnext++;
+    }
+    *ppapfields = dbCalloc(maxfields, sizeof(char *));
+    pnext = epicsStrtok_r(fieldnames, " ", &saveptr);
+    while(pnext != NULL) {
+        (*ppapfields)[nfields++] = pnext;
+        pnext = epicsStrtok_r(NULL, " ", &saveptr);
+    }
+    return nfields;
+}
+
+static void printFieldsList(DBENTRY *pdbentry, char** papfields, int nfields)
+{
+    int ifield;
+    for (ifield = 0; ifield < nfields; ifield++) {
+        char *pvalue;
+        long status = dbFindField(pdbentry, papfields[ifield]);
+        if (status) {
+            if (!strcmp(papfields[ifield], "recordType")) {
+                pvalue = dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry);
+            }
+            else {
+                printf(", ");
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+        else {
+            pvalue = dbGetString(pdbentry);
+        }
+        printf(", \"%s\"", (pvalue ? pvalue : ""));
+    }
+    printf("\n");
+}    
+
 long dbl(const char *precordTypename, const char *fields)
 {
     DBENTRY dbentry;
     DBENTRY *pdbentry=&dbentry;
     long status;
     int nfields = 0;
-    int ifield;
     char *fieldnames = 0;
     char **papfields = 0;
 
@@ -121,25 +167,8 @@ long dbl(const char *precordTypename, const char *fields)
     if (fields && (*fields == '\0'))
         fields = NULL;
     if (fields) {
-        char *pnext;
-
         fieldnames = epicsStrDup(fields);
-        nfields = 1;
-        pnext = fieldnames;
-        while (*pnext && (pnext = strchr(pnext,' '))) {
-            nfields++;
-            while (*pnext == ' ') pnext++;
-        }
-        papfields = dbCalloc(nfields,sizeof(char *));
-        pnext = fieldnames;
-        for (ifield = 0; ifield < nfields; ifield++) {
-            papfields[ifield] = pnext;
-            if (ifield < nfields - 1) {
-                pnext = strchr(pnext, ' ');
-                *pnext++ = 0;
-                while (*pnext == ' ') pnext++;
-            }
-        }
+        nfields = splitFieldsList(fieldnames, &papfields);
     }
     dbInitEntry(pdbbase, pdbentry);
     if (!precordTypename)
@@ -154,24 +183,7 @@ long dbl(const char *precordTypename, const char *fields)
         status = dbFirstRecord(pdbentry);
         while (!status) {
             printf("%s", dbGetRecordName(pdbentry));
-            for (ifield = 0; ifield < nfields; ifield++) {
-                char *pvalue;
-                status = dbFindField(pdbentry, papfields[ifield]);
-                if (status) {
-                    if (!strcmp(papfields[ifield], "recordType")) {
-                        pvalue = dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry);
-                    }
-                    else {
-                        printf(", ");
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                }
-                else {
-                    pvalue = dbGetString(pdbentry);
-                }
-                printf(", \"%s\"", pvalue ? pvalue : "");
-            }
-            printf("\n");
+            printFieldsList(pdbentry, papfields, nfields);
             status = dbNextRecord(pdbentry);
         }
         if (precordTypename)
@@ -283,14 +295,17 @@ long dbli(const char *pattern)
     return 0;
 }
 
-long dbgrep(const char *pmask)
+long dbglob(const char *pmask,const char *fields)
 {
     DBENTRY dbentry;
     DBENTRY *pdbentry = &dbentry;
     long status;
+    int nfields = 0;
+    char *fieldnames = 0;
+    char **papfields = 0;
 
     if (!pmask || !*pmask) {
-        printf("Usage: dbgrep \"pattern\"\n");
+        printf("Usage: dbglob \"pattern\" \"fields\"\n");
         return 1;
     }
 
@@ -298,24 +313,38 @@ long dbgrep(const char *pmask)
         printf("No database loaded\n");
         return 0;
     }
-
+    if (fields && (*fields == '\0'))
+        fields = NULL;
+    if (fields) {
+        fieldnames = epicsStrDup(fields);
+        nfields = splitFieldsList(fieldnames, &papfields);
+    }
     dbInitEntry(pdbbase, pdbentry);
     status = dbFirstRecordType(pdbentry);
     while (!status) {
         status = dbFirstRecord(pdbentry);
         while (!status) {
             char *pname = dbGetRecordName(pdbentry);
-            if (epicsStrGlobMatch(pname, pmask))
-                puts(pname);
+            if (epicsStrGlobMatch(pname, pmask)) {
+                printf("%s", pname);
+                printFieldsList(pdbentry, papfields, nfields);
+            }
             status = dbNextRecord(pdbentry);
         }
         status = dbNextRecordType(pdbentry);
     }
-
+    if (nfields > 0) {
+        free((void *)papfields);
+        free((void *)fieldnames);
+    }
     dbFinishEntry(pdbentry);
     return 0;
 }
-
+
+long dbgrep(const char *pname, const char *fields) {
+    return dbglob(pname, fields);
+}
+
 long dbgf(const char *pname)
 {
     /* declare buffer long just to ensure correct alignment */

modules/database/src/ioc/db/dbTest.h

@@ -28,8 +28,10 @@ DBCORE_API long dbnr(int verbose);
 DBCORE_API long dbla(const char *pmask);
 /* list infos */
 DBCORE_API long dbli(const char *patern);
-/*list records with mask*/
-DBCORE_API long dbgrep(const char *pmask);
+/*list records filtered by glob pattern*/
+DBCORE_API long dbglob(const char *ppattern,const char *fields);
+/*list records filtered by glob pattern; alias for dbglob*/
+DBCORE_API long dbgrep(const char *ppatern,const char *fields);
 /*get field value*/
 DBCORE_API long dbgf(const char *pname);
 /*put field value*/

modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 #include "dbDefs.h"
 #include "dbmf.h"
@@ -38,7 +39,8 @@
 #include "iocInit.h"
 
 /* This file is included from dbYacc.y
- * Duplicate some declarations to avoid warnings from analysis tools which don't know about this.
+ * Duplicate some declarations to avoid warnings
+ * from analysis tools that don't know about this.
  */
 static int yyerror(char *str);
 static long pvt_yy_parse(void);
@@ -199,8 +201,9 @@ static void freeInputFileList(void)
 
     while((pinputFileNow=(inputFile *)ellFirst(&inputFileList))) {
         if(fclose(pinputFileNow->fp))
-            errPrintf(0,__FILE__, __LINE__,
-                        "Closing file %s",pinputFileNow->filename);
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+                ": Error closing file '%s': %s\n",
+                pinputFileNow->filename, strerror(errno));
         free((void *)pinputFileNow->filename);
         ellDelete(&inputFileList,(ELLNODE *)pinputFileNow);
         free((void *)pinputFileNow);
@@ -225,7 +228,8 @@ static long dbReadCOM(DBBASE **ppdbbase,const char *filename, FILE *fp,
     char        **macPairs;
 
     if (ellCount(&tempList)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING ": dbReadCOM: Parser stack dirty %d\n", ellCount(&tempList));
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+            ": dbReadCOM: Parser stack dirty %d\n", ellCount(&tempList));
     }
 
     if (getIocState() != iocVoid) {
@@ -274,8 +278,8 @@ static long dbReadCOM(DBBASE **ppdbbase,const char *filename, FILE *fp,
         if (pinputFile->filename)
             pinputFile->path = dbOpenFile(savedPdbbase, pinputFile->filename, &fp1);
         if (!pinputFile->filename || !fp1) {
-            errPrintf(0, __FILE__, __LINE__,
-                "dbRead opening file %s\n",pinputFile->filename);
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": Can't open file '%s'\n", pinputFile->filename);
             free((char*)pinputFile->filename);
             free(pinputFile);
             status = -1;
@@ -294,7 +298,9 @@ static long dbReadCOM(DBBASE **ppdbbase,const char *filename, FILE *fp,
     status = pvt_yy_parse();
 
     if (ellCount(&tempList) && !yyAbort)
-        fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING ": dbReadCOM: Parser stack dirty w/o error. %d\n", ellCount(&tempList));
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+            ": dbReadCOM: Parser stack dirty w/o error. %d\n",
+            ellCount(&tempList));
     while (ellCount(&tempList))
         popFirstTemp(); /* Memory leak on parser failure */
 
@@ -368,7 +374,8 @@ static int db_yyinput(char *buf, int max_size)
                     int exp = macExpandString(macHandle,mac_input_buffer,
                         my_buffer,MY_BUFFER_SIZE);
                     if (exp < 0) {
-                        fprintf(stderr, "Warning: '%s' line %d has undefined macros\n",
+                        fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+                            ": '%s' line %d has undefined macros\n",
                             pinputFileNow->filename, pinputFileNow->line_num+1);
                     }
                 }
@@ -377,8 +384,9 @@ static int db_yyinput(char *buf, int max_size)
             }
             if(fgetsRtn) break;
             if(fclose(pinputFileNow->fp))
-                errPrintf(0,__FILE__, __LINE__,
-                        "Closing file %s",pinputFileNow->filename);
+                fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+                    ": Error closing file '%s': %s\n",
+                    pinputFileNow->filename, strerror(errno));
             free((void *)pinputFileNow->filename);
             ellDelete(&inputFileList,(ELLNODE *)pinputFileNow);
             free((void *)pinputFileNow);
@@ -434,7 +442,7 @@ static void dbIncludeNew(char *filename)
     pinputFile->filename = macEnvExpand(filename);
     pinputFile->path = dbOpenFile(savedPdbbase, pinputFile->filename, &fp);
     if (!fp) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can't open include file \"%s\"\n", filename);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Can't open include file '%s'\n", filename);
         yyerror(NULL);
         free((void *)pinputFile->filename);
         free((void *)pinputFile);
@@ -557,7 +565,7 @@ static void dbRecordtypeFieldHead(char *name,char *type)
             strcmp(pdbFldDes->name, "OUT")==0;
     i = dbFindFieldType(type);
     if (i < 0)
-        yyerrorAbort("Illegal Field Type");
+        yyerrorAbort("Invalid Field Type");
     pdbFldDes->field_type = i;
 }
 
@@ -589,7 +597,7 @@ static void dbRecordtypeFieldItem(char *name,char *value)
         } else if(strcmp(value,"ASL1")==0) {
             pdbFldDes->as_level = ASL1;
         } else {
-            yyerror("Illegal Access Security value: Must be ASL0 or ASL1");
+            yyerror("Invalid 'asl' value, must be ASL0 or ASL1");
         }
         return;
     }
@@ -616,7 +624,7 @@ static void dbRecordtypeFieldItem(char *name,char *value)
         if(sscanf(value,"%hd",&pdbFldDes->special)==1) {
             return;
         }
-        yyerror("Illegal 'special' value.");
+        yyerror("Invalid 'special' value.");
         return;
     }
     if(strcmp(name,"pp")==0) {
@@ -625,13 +633,13 @@ static void dbRecordtypeFieldItem(char *name,char *value)
         } else if((strcmp(value,"NO")==0) || (strcmp(value,"FALSE")==0)) {
             pdbFldDes->process_passive = FALSE;
         } else {
-            yyerror("Illegal 'pp' value, must be YES/NO/TRUE/FALSE");
+            yyerror("Invalid 'pp' value, must be YES/NO/TRUE/FALSE");
         }
         return;
     }
     if(strcmp(name,"interest")==0) {
         if(sscanf(value,"%hd",&pdbFldDes->interest)!=1)
-            yyerror("Illegal 'interest' value, must be integer");
+            yyerror("Invalid 'interest' value, must be integer");
         return;
     }
     if(strcmp(name,"base")==0) {
@@ -640,13 +648,13 @@ static void dbRecordtypeFieldItem(char *name,char *value)
         } else if(strcmp(value,"HEX")==0) {
             pdbFldDes->base = CT_HEX;
         } else {
-            yyerror("Illegal 'base' value, must be DECIMAL/HEX");
+            yyerror("Invalid 'base' value, must be DECIMAL/HEX");
         }
         return;
     }
     if(strcmp(name,"size")==0) {
         if(sscanf(value,"%hd",&pdbFldDes->size)!=1)
-            yyerror("Illegal 'size' value, must be integer");
+            yyerror("Invalid 'size' value, must be integer");
         return;
     }
     if(strcmp(name,"extra")==0) {
@@ -696,7 +704,8 @@ static void dbRecordtypeEmpty(void)
 
     ptempListNode = (tempListNode *)ellFirst(&tempList);
     pdbRecordType = ptempListNode->item;
-    fprintf(stderr, "Declaration of recordtype(%s) preceeded full definition.\n",
+    fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+        ": Declaration of recordtype(%s) preceeded full definition.\n",
         pdbRecordType->name);
     yyerrorAbort(NULL);
 }
@@ -737,10 +746,12 @@ static void dbRecordtypeBody(void)
         field_type = pdbFldDes->field_type;
         if((field_type>=DBF_INLINK) && (field_type<=DBF_FWDLINK))no_links++;
         if((field_type==DBF_STRING) && (pdbFldDes->size==0))
-            fprintf(stderr,"recordtype(%s).%s size not specified\n",
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": recordtype(%s).%s size not specified\n",
                 pdbRecordType->name,pdbFldDes->name);
         if((field_type==DBF_NOACCESS) && (pdbFldDes->extra==0))
-            fprintf(stderr,"recordtype(%s).%s extra not specified\n",
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": recordtype(%s).%s extra not specified\n",
                 pdbRecordType->name,pdbFldDes->name);
     }
     if (ellCount(&tempList))
@@ -801,8 +812,9 @@ static void dbDevice(char *recordtype,char *linktype,
     int                 i,link_type;
     pgphentry = gphFind(savedPdbbase->pgpHash,recordtype,&savedPdbbase->recordTypeList);
     if(!pgphentry) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Record type \"%s\" not found for device \"%s\"\n",
-                    recordtype, choicestring);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Record type '%s' not found for device '%s'\n",
+            recordtype, choicestring);
         yyerror(NULL);
         return;
     }
@@ -814,8 +826,9 @@ static void dbDevice(char *recordtype,char *linktype,
         }
     }
     if(link_type==-1) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Bad link type \"%s\" for device \"%s\"\n",
-                    linktype, choicestring);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Bad link type '%s' for device '%s'\n",
+            linktype, choicestring);
         yyerror(NULL);
         return;
     }
@@ -1077,16 +1090,20 @@ int dbRecordNameValidate(const char *name)
         if(i==0) {
             /* first character restrictions */
             if(c=='-' || c=='+' || c=='[' || c=='{') {
-                fprintf(stderr, "Warning: Record/Alias name '%s' should not begin with '%c'\n", name, c);
+                fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+                    ": Record/Alias name '%s' should not begin with '%c'\n",
+                    name, c);
             }
         }
         /* any character restrictions */
         if(c < ' ') {
-            fprintf(stderr, "Warning: Record/Alias name '%s' should not contain non-printable 0x%02x\n",
-                         name, c);
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+                ": Record/Alias name '%s' contains non-printable 0x%02x\n",
+                 name, c);
 
         } else if(c==' ' || c=='\t' || c=='"' || c=='\'' || c=='.' || c=='$') {
-            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Bad character '%c' in Record/Alias name \"%s\"\n",
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": Bad character '%c' in Record/Alias name \"%s\"\n",
                 c, name);
             yyerrorAbort(NULL);
             return 1;
@@ -1113,7 +1130,7 @@ static void dbRecordHead(char *recordType, char *name, int visible)
         status = dbFindRecord(pdbentry, name);
         if (status == 0)
             return; /* done */
-        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Record \"%s\" not found\n", name);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Record '%s' not found\n", name);
         yyerror(NULL);
         duplicate = TRUE;
         return;
@@ -1124,9 +1141,10 @@ static void dbRecordHead(char *recordType, char *name, int visible)
         if (status == 0) {
             dbDeleteRecord(pdbentry);
         } else {
-            fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING ": Unable to delete record \"%s\".  Not found.\n"
-                    "  at file %s line %d\n",
-                    name, pinputFileNow->filename, pinputFileNow->line_num);
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_WARNING
+                ": Record '%s' not found, can't delete\n"
+                "  at file '%s', line %d\n",
+                name, pinputFileNow->filename, pinputFileNow->line_num);
         }
         popFirstTemp();
         dbFreeEntry(pdbentry);
@@ -1135,8 +1153,9 @@ static void dbRecordHead(char *recordType, char *name, int visible)
     }
     status = dbFindRecordType(pdbentry, recordType);
     if (status) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Record \"%s\" is of unknown type \"%s\"\n",
-                    name, recordType);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Record type '%s' for record '%s' not found\n",
+            recordType, name);
         yyerrorAbort(NULL);
         return;
     }
@@ -1146,23 +1165,24 @@ static void dbRecordHead(char *recordType, char *name, int visible)
     status = dbCreateRecord(pdbentry,name);
     if (status == S_dbLib_recExists) {
         if (strcmp(recordType, dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry)) != 0) {
-            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Record \"%s\" of type \"%s\" redefined with new type "
-                "\"%s\"\n", name, dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry), recordType);
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": %s record '%s' already exists, can't load %s record\n",
+                recordType, name, dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry));
             yyerror(NULL);
-            duplicate = TRUE;
             return;
         }
         else if (dbRecordsOnceOnly) {
-            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Record \"%s\" already defined and dbRecordsOnceOnly set.\n"
-                        "Used record type \"*\" to append.\n",
-                name);
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": Record '%s' already defined; dbRecordsOnceOnly is set,\n"
+                "  so can't modify record.\n", name);
             yyerror(NULL);
             duplicate = TRUE;
         }
     }
     else if (status) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can't create record \"%s\" of type \"%s\"\n",
-                     name, recordType);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Can't create %s record '%s'\n",
+            recordType, name);
         yyerrorAbort(NULL);
     }
 
@@ -1181,8 +1201,9 @@ static void dbRecordField(char *name,char *value)
     pdbentry = ptempListNode->item;
     status = dbFindField(pdbentry,name);
     if (status) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "%s Record \"%s\" does not have a field \"%s\"\n",
-                    dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry), dbGetRecordName(pdbentry), name);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": %s record '%s' doesn't have a field '%s'\n",
+            dbGetRecordTypeName(pdbentry), dbGetRecordName(pdbentry), name);
         if(dbGetRecordName(pdbentry)) {
             DBENTRY temp;
             double bestSim = -1.0;
@@ -1207,7 +1228,8 @@ static void dbRecordField(char *name,char *value)
         return;
     }
     if (pdbentry->indfield == 0) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can't set \"NAME\" field of record \"%s\"\n",
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Can't set 'NAME' field of record '%s'\n",
             dbGetRecordName(pdbentry));
         yyerror(NULL);
         return;
@@ -1225,8 +1247,10 @@ static void dbRecordField(char *name,char *value)
         char msg[128];
 
         errSymLookup(status, msg, sizeof(msg));
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can't set \"%s.%s\" to \"%s\" %s : %s\n",
-            dbGetRecordName(pdbentry), name, value, pdbentry->message ? pdbentry->message : "", msg);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Can't set '%s.%s' to '%s' %s : %s\n",
+            dbGetRecordName(pdbentry), name, value,
+            pdbentry->message ? pdbentry->message : "", msg);
         dbPutStringSuggest(pdbentry, value);
         yyerror(NULL);
         return;
@@ -1256,8 +1280,9 @@ static void dbRecordInfo(char *name, char *value)
 
     status = dbPutInfo(pdbentry,name,value);
     if (status) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can't set \"%s\" info \"%s\" to \"%s\"\n",
-                    dbGetRecordName(pdbentry), name, value);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Can't set '%s' info(\"%s\") to '%s'\n",
+            dbGetRecordName(pdbentry), name, value);
         yyerror(NULL);
         return;
     }
@@ -1275,15 +1300,18 @@ static long createAlias(DBENTRY *pdbentry, const char *alias)
     if (status == 0) {
         if (tempEntry.precnode->aliasedRecnode != precnode) {
             if (tempEntry.precnode->aliasedRecnode)
-                fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Alias \"%s\" for \"%s\": name already used by an alias for \"%s\"\n",
-                            alias, dbGetRecordName(pdbentry),
-                            tempEntry.precnode->aliasedRecnode->recordname);
+                fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                    ": Alias '%s' for record '%s' already aliases '%s'\n",
+                    alias, dbGetRecordName(pdbentry),
+                    tempEntry.precnode->aliasedRecnode->recordname);
             else
-                fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Alias \"%s\" for \"%s\": name already used by a record\n",
-                            alias, dbGetRecordName(pdbentry));
+                fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                    ": Alias '%s' for record '%s' is already a record name.\n",
+                    alias, dbGetRecordName(pdbentry));
             status = S_dbLib_recExists;
         } else if (dbRecordsOnceOnly) {
-            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR ": Alias \"%s\" already defined and dbRecordsOnceOnly set.\n",
+            fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+                ": Alias '%s' already defined; dbRecordsOnceOnly is set.\n",
                 alias);
             status = S_dbLib_recExists;
         }
@@ -1320,8 +1348,9 @@ static void dbAlias(char *name, char *alias)
 
     dbInitEntry(savedPdbbase, pdbEntry);
     if (dbFindRecord(pdbEntry, name)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Alias \"%s\" refers to unknown record \"%s\"\n",
-                    alias, name);
+        fprintf(stderr, ERL_ERROR
+            ": Alias '%s' names an unknown record '%s'\n",
+            alias, name);
         yyerror(NULL);
     }
     else if (createAlias(pdbEntry, alias) != 0) {

modules/database/src/ioc/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c

@@ -2635,7 +2635,9 @@ long dbPutString(DBENTRY *pdbentry,const char *pstring)
             }
         }
         break;
-
+    case DBF_NOACCESS:
+        dbMsgPrint(pdbentry, "Can't set array field before iocInit()");
+        /* fall through */
     default:
         return S_dbLib_badField;
     }
@@ -3454,7 +3456,7 @@ void  dbDumpDevice(DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *recordTypeName)
                     " - get_ioint_info()"
                 };
                 int i, n = pdevSup->pdset->number;
-                DEVSUPFUN *pfunc = &pdevSup->pdset->report;
+                DEVSUPFUN *pfunc = (DEVSUPFUN*) &pdevSup->pdset->report;
 
                 printf("\t    number: %d\n", n);
                 for (i = 0; i < n; ++i, ++pfunc) {

modules/database/src/ioc/dbtemplate/dbLoadTemplate.h

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 DBCORE_API int dbLoadTemplate(
-    const char *sub_file, const char *cmd_collect);
+    const char *sub_file, const char *cmd_collect, const char *path);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }

modules/database/src/ioc/dbtemplate/dbLoadTemplate.y

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 #include "osiUnistd.h"
 #include "macLib.h"
@@ -20,7 +21,10 @@
 
 #include "epicsExport.h"
 #include "dbAccess.h"
+#include "dbStaticLib.h"
+#include "dbStaticPvt.h"
 #include "dbLoadTemplate.h"
+#include "osiFileName.h"
 
 static int line_num;
 static int yyerror(char* str);
@@ -335,7 +339,7 @@ static int yyerror(char* str)
 
 static int is_not_inited = 1;
 
-int dbLoadTemplate(const char *sub_file, const char *cmd_collect)
+int dbLoadTemplate(const char *sub_file, const char *cmd_collect, const char *path)
 {
     FILE *fp;
     int i;
@@ -356,8 +360,16 @@ int dbLoadTemplate(const char *sub_file, const char *cmd_collect)
     }
 
     fp = fopen(sub_file, "r");
+    // If the file does not exist locally, and it is not an absolute path...
+    if (!fp && sub_file[0] != OSI_PATH_SEPARATOR[0]) {
+        if (!path || !*path) {
+            path = getenv("EPICS_DB_INCLUDE_PATH");
+        }
+        dbPath(pdbbase, path);
+        dbOpenFile(pdbbase, sub_file, &fp);
+    }
     if (!fp) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "dbLoadTemplate: error opening sub file %s\n", sub_file);
+        fprintf(stderr, "dbLoadTemplate: error opening sub file %s: %s\n", sub_file, strerror(errno));
         return -1;
     }
 

modules/database/src/ioc/dbtemplate/dbtoolsIocRegister.c

@@ -15,23 +15,24 @@
 /* dbLoadTemplate */
 static const iocshArg dbLoadTemplateArg0 = {"filename", iocshArgStringPath};
 static const iocshArg dbLoadTemplateArg1 = {"var1=value1,var2=value2", iocshArgString};
-static const iocshArg * const dbLoadTemplateArgs[2] = {
-    &dbLoadTemplateArg0, &dbLoadTemplateArg1
-};
+static const iocshArg dbLoadTemplateArg2 = {"path1:path2:...", iocshArgString};
+static const iocshArg *const dbLoadTemplateArgs[3] = {
+    &dbLoadTemplateArg0, &dbLoadTemplateArg1, &dbLoadTemplateArg2};
 static const iocshFuncDef dbLoadTemplateFuncDef = {
     "dbLoadTemplate",
-    2,
+    3,
     dbLoadTemplateArgs,
     "Load the substitution file given as first argument, apply the substitutions\n"
     "for each template in the substitution file, and load them using 'dbLoadRecords'.\n\n"
     "The second argument provides extra variables to substitute in the\n"
-    "template files (not the substitution file).\n\n"
+    "template files (not the substitution file). The third argument provides\n"
+    "a list of paths to search through for the subsitution and template files.\n\n"
     "See 'help dbLoadRecords' for more information.\n\n"
-    "Example: dbLoadTemplate db/my.substitutions 'user=myself,host=myhost'\n",
+    "Example: dbLoadTemplate db/my.substitutions 'user=myself,host=myhost' 'path/to/subst:path2/to2/subst2'\n",
 };
 static void dbLoadTemplateCallFunc(const iocshArgBuf *args)
 {
-    iocshSetError(dbLoadTemplate(args[0].sval, args[1].sval));
+    iocshSetError(dbLoadTemplate(args[0].sval, args[1].sval, args[2].sval));
 }
 
 

modules/database/src/ioc/dbtemplate/msi.md

@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # msi: Macro Substitution and Include Tool
 
+``` {program} msi
+```
+
 (msitool)=
 ## Introduction
 
@@ -18,7 +21,9 @@ substitution files accepted by the EPICS IOC's dbLoadTemplate command.
 
 ## Command Syntax
 
-`msi -V -g -o outfile -I dir -M subs -S subfile template`
+``` bash
+msi -V -g -o outfile -I dir -M subs -S subfile template
+```
 
 All parameters are optional. The -o, -I, -M, and -S switches may be
 separated from their associated value string by spaces if desired.
@@ -26,80 +31,89 @@ Output will be written to stdout unless the -o option is given.
 
 Switches have the following meanings:
 
-- **-V**
+::: {option} -V
+Verbose warnings; if this parameter is specified then any undefined
+macro discovered in the template file which does not have an
+associated default value is considered an error. An error message is
+generated, and when msi terminates it will do so with an exit status
+of 2.
+:::
 
-    Verbose warnings; if this parameter is specified then any undefined
-    macro discovered in the template file which does not have an
-    associated default value is considered an error. An error message is
-    generated, and when msi terminates it will do so with an exit status
-    of 2.
-- **-g**
+::: {option} -g
+When this flag is given all macros defined in a substitution file
+will have global scope and thus their values will persist until a
+new value is given for this macro. This flag is provided for
+backwards compatibility as this was the behavior of previous
+versions of msi, but it does not follow common scoping rules and is
+discouraged.
+:::
 
-    When this flag is given all macros defined in a substitution file
-    will have global scope and thus their values will persist until a
-    new value is given for this macro. This flag is provided for
-    backwards compatibility as this was the behavior of previous
-    versions of msi, but it does not follow common scoping rules and is
-    discouraged.
-- **-o _file_**
+::: {option} -o <file>
+Output will be written to the specifed \<file\> rather than to the
+standard output.
+:::
 
-    Output will be written to the specifed file rather than to the
-    standard output.
-- **-I _dir_**
+::: {option} -I <dir>
+This parameter, which may be repeated or contain a colon-separated
+(or semi-colon separated on Windows) list of directory paths,
+specifies a search path for include commands. For example:
 
-    This parameter, which may be repeated or contain a colon-separated
-    (or semi-colon separated on Windows) list of directory paths,
-    specifies a search path for include commands. For example:
+``` bash
+msi -I /home/mrk/examples:. -I.. template
+```
 
-        msi -I /home/mrk/examples:. -I.. template
+specifies that all named files should be searched for in the following locations,
+in the order given:
 
-    specifies that all named files should be searched for in the following locations, 
-    in the order given:
+1.  `/home/mrk/examples`
+2.  `.` (the current directory)
+3.  `..` (the parent of the current directory)
 
-     1. /home/mrk/examples
-     2. . (the current directory)
-     3. .. (the parent of the current directory)
+Note that relative path searching is handled as
 
-    Note that relative path searching is handled as
-    
-        $ cat foo.substitutions
-        file rel/path/bar.template {
-          # contents
-        }
-        $ msi -I . -I /some/path foo.substitutions
-    
-    which will try to find `bar.template` at the path `./rel/path/` followed by
-    `/some/path/rel/path`.
+    $ cat foo.substitutions
+    file rel/path/bar.template {
+      # contents
+    }
+    $ msi -I . -I /some/path foo.substitutions
 
+which will try to find `bar.template` at the path `./rel/path/` followed by
+`/some/path/rel/path`.
+:::
 
-- **-M _substitutions_**
+::: {option} -M <substitutions>
+This parameter specifies macro values for the template instance.
+Multiple macro values can be specified in one substitution
+parameter, or in multiple -M parameters. For example:
 
-    This parameter specifies macro values for the template instance.
-    Multiple macro values can be specified in one substitution
-    parameter, or in multiple -M parameters. For example:
+``` bash
+msi -M "a=aval,b=bval" -Mc=cval template
+```
 
-        msi -M "a=aval,b=bval" -Mc=cval template
+specifies that in the template file each occurrence of:
 
-    specifies that in the template file each occurrence of:
+- `$(a)` or `${a}` is replaced by _aval_
+- `$(b)` or `${b}` is replaced by _bval_
+- `$(c)` or `${c}` is replaced by _cval_
+:::
 
-    - `$(a)` or `${a}` is replaced by _aval_
-    - `$(b)` or `${b}` is replaced by _bval_
-    - `$(c)` or `${c}` is replaced by _cval_
+::: {option} -S <subfile>
+The substitution file. See below for format.
+:::
 
-- **-S _subfile_**
-
-    The substitution file. See below for format.
-- **_template_**
-
-    The input file. If no file is specified then input is taken from
-    stdin, i.e. msi can be used as a filter. See below for a description
-    of commands that can be embedded in the template file.
+::: {option} <template>
+The input file. If no file is specified then input is taken from
+stdin, i.e. msi can be used as a filter. See below for a description
+of commands that can be embedded in the template file.
+:::
 
 It is not possible to display usage by just typing msi since executing
 the command with no arguments is a valid command. To show usage specify
 an illegal switch, e.g.
 
-    msi -help
+``` bash
+msi -help
+```
 
 
 ## Exit Status
@@ -167,9 +181,9 @@ template file itself. These commands are:
 
 Lines containing commands must be in one of these forms:
 
-  - include "_filename_"
+-   {samp}`include "{filename}"`
 
-  - substitute "_name1=value1, name2=value2, ..._"
+-   {samp}`substitute "{name1=value1, name2=value2, ...}"`
 
 White space is allowed before and after the command verb, and after the
 quoted string. If embedded quotes are needed, the backslash character \
@@ -227,11 +241,11 @@ dbTemplate format. We will discuss each separately.
 ### Regular format
 
     global {gbl_var1=gbl_val1, gbl_var2=gbl_val2, ...}
-    {var1=set1_val1, var2=set1_val2, ...}
-    {var2=set2_val2, var1=set2_val1, ...}
+        {var1=set1_val1, var2=set1_val2, ...}
+        {var2=set2_val2, var1=set2_val1, ...}
     global {gbl_var1=gbl_val3, gbl_var2=gbl_val4, ...}
-    {var1=set3_val1, var2=set3_val2, ...}
-    {var2=set4_val2, var1=set4_val1, ...}
+        {var1=set3_val1, var2=set3_val2, ...}
+        {var2=set4_val2, var1=set4_val1, ...}
 
 The template file is output with macro substitutions performed once for
 each set of braces containing macro replacement values.
@@ -241,12 +255,12 @@ each set of braces containing macro replacement values.
 
     global {gbl_var1=gbl_val1, gbl_var2=gbl_val2, ...}
     pattern {var1, var2, ...}
-    {set1_val1, set1_val2, ...}
-    {set2_val1, set2_val2, ...}
+        {set1_val1, set1_val2, ...}
+        {set2_val1, set2_val2, ...}
     pattern {var2, var1, ...}
     global {gbl_var1=gbl_val3, gbl_var2=gbl_val4, ...}
-    {set3_val2, set3_val1, ...}
-    {set4_val2, set4_val2, ...}
+        {set3_val2, set3_val1, ...}
+        {set4_val2, set4_val2, ...}
 
 This produces the same result as the regular format example above.
 
@@ -320,8 +334,8 @@ The file template contains
 and the file `substitute` is
 
     global {family=Kraimer}
-    {first=Marty}
-    {first=Irma}
+        {first=Marty}
+        {first=Irma}
 
 The following is the output produced:
 
@@ -340,8 +354,8 @@ Let the command be:
 The file pattern contains
 
     pattern {first,last}
-    {Marty,Kraimer}
-    {Irma,Kraimer}
+        {Marty,Kraimer}
+        {Irma,Kraimer}
 
 and template is the same as the previous example:
 
@@ -365,16 +379,16 @@ Let the command be
 `xxx.substitutions` is
 
     file template {
-    pattern {first,last}
-    {Marty,Kraimer}
-    {Irma,Kraimer}
-    pattern {last,first}
-    {Smith,Bill}
-    {Smith,Mary}
+        pattern {first,last}
+            {Marty,Kraimer}
+            {Irma,Kraimer}
+        pattern {last,first}
+            {Smith,Bill}
+            {Smith,Mary}
     }
     file template {
-    {first=Marty,last=Kraimer}
-    {first=Irma,last=Kraimer}
+        {first=Marty,last=Kraimer}
+        {first=Irma,last=Kraimer}
     }
 
 `template` is the same as in the previous example.

modules/database/src/ioc/misc/Makefile

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2002 The Regents of the University of California, as
 #     Operator of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
 # EPICS BASE is distributed subject to a Software License Agreement found
-# in file LICENSE that is included with this distribution. 
+# in file LICENSE that is included with this distribution.
 #*************************************************************************
 
 # This is a Makefile fragment, see src/ioc/Makefile.

modules/database/src/ioc/misc/iocInit.c

@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 #include "devSup.h"
 #include "drvSup.h"
 #include "epicsRelease.h"
+#include "epicsConvert.h"
 #include "initHooks.h"
 #include "iocInit.h"
 #include "link.h"
@@ -129,6 +130,16 @@ static int iocBuild_1(void)
         errlogPrintf("iocBuild: " ERL_ERROR " Aborting, bad database definition (DBD)!\n");
         return -1;
     }
+
+    {
+        /* fall back to "old" decimal-only conversion if EPICS_DB_CONVERT_DECIMAL_ONLY
+           is set and does not look like meaning no/false/0 */
+        const char* dec_only = getenv("EPICS_DB_CONVERT_DECIMAL_ONLY");
+        if (dec_only && *dec_only && !strchr("nNfF0", *dec_only)) {
+            dbConvertBase = 10;
+        }
+    }
+
     epicsSignalInstallSigHupIgnore();
     initHookAnnounce(initHookAtBeginning);
 

modules/database/src/std/filters/filters.dbd.pod

@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ express that space character as an escaped character C<\x20> or C<\u0020> inside
 a quoted string, otherwise the space will mark the end of the channel name to
 the link parsing code inside the IOC.
 
-=head4 Example Filters
+=head3 Example Filters
 
 Given a record called C<test:channel> the following would all apply a channel
 filter C<f> to the VAL field of that record, giving the filter two numeric
@@ -230,7 +230,9 @@ This filter is used for two purposes:
 
 =head4 Parameters
 
-=head4 No parameters (an empty pair of braces)
+=over
+
+=item No parameters (an empty pair of braces)
 
 Retrieve the record value as normal, but replace the timestamp with the time the
 value was fetched (or an update was sent). This is useful for clients that can't
@@ -239,7 +241,7 @@ indicates when the record last processed, which could have been days or even
 weeks ago for some records, or set to the EPICS epoch if the record has never
 processed.
 
-=head4 Numeric type C<"num">
+=item Numeric type C<"num">
 
 The following values are accepted for this parameter:
 
@@ -262,7 +264,7 @@ The following values are accepted for this parameter:
 Note that C<epicsUInt32> cannot be transferred over Channel Access; in that
 case, the value will be converted to C<epicsFloat64>.
 
-=head4 String type C<"str">
+=item String type C<"str">
 
 The following values are accepted for this parameter:
 
@@ -275,7 +277,7 @@ The following values are accepted for this parameter:
 
 =back
 
-=head4 Epoch adjustment C<"epoch">
+=item Epoch adjustment C<"epoch">
 
 The following values are accepted for this parameter:
 
@@ -288,6 +290,8 @@ The following values are accepted for this parameter:
 
 =back
 
+=back
+
 =head4 Examples
 
  Hal$ caget -a 'test:invalid_ts.{"ts":{}}'

modules/database/src/std/link/links.dbd.pod

@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ link(calc, lnkCalcIf)
 =head3 Calculation Link C<"calc">
 
 A calculation link is an input link that can evaluate mathematical expressions
-on scalar (double-precision floating-point) values obtained from up to 12 child
+on scalar (double-precision floating-point) values obtained from up to 21 child
 input links, and returns a double-precision floating-point result. The
 expression is evaluated by the EPICS Calc engine, and the result is returned as
 the value of the link.
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ record will be placed in C<LINK/MAJOR> alarm. If not and the C<minor> expression
 evaluates to non-zero the record will be placed in C<LINK/MINOR> alarm state.
 
 A calculation link can also be an output link, with the scalar output value
-being converted to a double and provided to the expression as C<VAL>. Up to 12
+being converted to a double and provided to the expression as C<VAL>. Up to 21
 additional input links can also be read and provided to the expression as above.
 The result of the calculation is forwarded to a child output link specified in
 the link's C<out> parameter.
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ An optional expression that returns non-zero to raise a minor alarm.
 =item args
 
 A JSON list of up to 12 input arguments for the expression, which are assigned
-to the inputs C<A>, C<B>, C<C>, ... C<L>. Each input argument may be either a
+to the inputs C<A>, C<B>, C<C>, ... C<U>. Each input argument may be either a
 numeric literal or an embedded JSON link inside C<{}> braces. The same input
 values are provided to the two alarm expressions as to the primary expression.
 
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ result should be displayed. Equivalent to the C<PREC> field of a record.
 
 =item time
 
-An optional string containing a single upper or lower-case letter C<A> ... C<L>
+An optional string containing a single upper or lower-case letter C<A> ... C<U>
 which must correspond to an input provided in the C<args> parameter. When the
 record containing such a link has C<TSEL> set to -2 (epicsTimeEventDeviceTime)
 the record's timestamp field C<TIME> will be read from the indicated input link

modules/database/src/std/link/lnkCalc.c

@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ static jlif_result lnkCalc_string(jlink *pjlink, const char *val, size_t len)
     if (clink->pstate == ps_time) {
         char tinp;
 
-        if (len != 1 || (tinp = toupper((int) val[0])) < 'A' || tinp > 'L') {
+        if (len != 1 || (tinp = toupper((int) val[0])) < 'A' || tinp >= 'A' + CALCPERFORM_NARGS) {
             errlogPrintf("lnkCalc: Bad 'time' parameter \"%.*s\"\n", (int) len, val);
             return jlif_stop;
         }

modules/database/src/std/rec/aSubRecord.c

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 #include "alarm.h"
 #include "cantProceed.h"
+#include "epicsStdio.h"
 #include "dbDefs.h"
 #include "dbEvent.h"
 #include "dbAccess.h"
@@ -141,8 +142,8 @@ static long init_record(struct dbCommon *pcommon, int pass)
         if (pfunc) {
             pfunc(prec);
         } else {
-            recGblRecordError(S_db_BadSub, (void *)prec,
-                "aSubRecord::init_record - INAM subr not found");
+            fprintf(stderr, "%s.INAM " ERL_ERROR " function '%s' not found\n",
+                    prec->name, prec->inam);
             return S_db_BadSub;
         }
     }
@@ -153,8 +154,8 @@ static long init_record(struct dbCommon *pcommon, int pass)
         if (pfunc)
             prec->sadr = pfunc;
         else {
-            recGblRecordError(S_db_BadSub, (void *)prec,
-                "aSubRecord::init_record - SNAM subr not found");
+            fprintf(stderr, "%s.SNAM " ERL_ERROR " function '%s' not found\n",
+                    prec->name, prec->snam);
             return S_db_BadSub;
         }
     }

modules/database/src/std/rec/aSubRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ This flag controls value, log (archive) and alarm change events.
 The input links from where the values of A,...,U are fetched
 during record processing.
 
-=fields INPA, INPB, INPC, INPD, INPE, INPF, INPG, INPH, INPI, INPJ, INPK, INPL, INPM, INPN, INPO, INPP, INPQ, INPR, INPS, INPT, INPU
+=fields INPA - INPU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ during record processing.
 Thse fields hold the scalar or array values fetched through the input links
 INPA,...,INPU.
 
-=fields A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U
+=fields A - U
 
 =cut
 
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ INPA,...,INPU.
 Field types of the input value fields.
 The choices can be found by following the link to the menuFtype definition.
 
-=fields FTA, FTB, FTC, FTD, FTE, FTF, FTG, FTH, FTI, FTJ, FTK, FTL, FTM, FTN, FTO, FTP, FTQ, FTR, FTS, FTT, FTU
+=fields FTA - FTU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ Note that access to the C<NOT> field from C code must use the field name in
 upper case, e.g. C<< prec->NOT >> since the lower-case C<not> is a reserved
 word in C++ and cannot be used as an identifier.
 
-=fields NOA, NOB, NOC, NOD, NOE, NOF, NOG, NOH, NOI, NOJ, NOK, NOL, NOM, NON, NOO, NOP, NOQ, NOR, NOS, NOT, NOU
+=fields NOA - NOU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ word in C++ and cannot be used as an identifier.
 These fields specify how many array elements the input value fields currently
 contain.
 
-=fields NEA, NEB, NEC, NED, NEE, NEF, NEG, NEH, NEI, NEJ, NEK, NEL, NEM, NEN, NEO, NEP, NEQ, NER, NES, NET, NEU
+=fields NEA - NEU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1035,7 +1035,7 @@ contain.
 The output links through which the VALA ... VALU field values are sent
 during record processing, provided the subroutine returned 0.
 
-=fields OUTA, OUTB, OUTC, OUTD, OUTE, OUTF, OUTG, OUTH, OUTI, OUTJ, OUTK, OUTL, OUTM, OUTN, OUTO, OUTP, OUTQ, OUTR, OUTS, OUTT, OUTU
+=fields OUTA - OUTU
 
 =cut
 	field(OUTA,DBF_OUTLINK) {
@@ -1149,7 +1149,7 @@ during record processing, provided the subroutine returned 0.
 These fields hold scalar or array data generated by the subroutine which will
 be sent through the OUTA ... OUTU links during record processing.
 
-=fields VALA, VALB, VALC, VALD, VALE, VALF, VALG, VALH, VALI, VALJ, VALK, VALL, VALM, VALN, VALO, VALP, VALQ, VALR, VALS, VALT, VALU
+=fields VALA - VALU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1369,7 +1369,7 @@ be sent through the OUTA ... OUTU links during record processing.
 The previous values of the output fields.
 These are used to determine when to post events if EFLG is set to C<ON CHANGE>.
 
-=fields OVLA, OVLB, OVLC, OVLD, OVLE, OVLF, OVLG, OVLH, OVLI, OVLJ, OVLK, OVLL, OVLM, OVLN, OVLO, OVLP, OVLQ, OVLR, OVLS, OVLT, OVLU
+=fields OVLA - OVLU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1526,7 +1526,7 @@ These are used to determine when to post events if EFLG is set to C<ON CHANGE>.
 Field types of the output value fields.
 The choices can be found by following a link to the menuFtype definition.
 
-=fields FTVA, FTVB, FTVC, FTVD, FTVE, FTVF, FTVG, FTVH, FTVI, FTVJ, FTVK, FTVL, FTVM, FTVN, FTVO, FTVP, FTVQ, FTVR, FTVS, FTVT, FTVU
+=fields FTVA - FTVU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1703,7 +1703,7 @@ The choices can be found by following a link to the menuFtype definition.
 
 These fields specify how many array elements the output value fields may hold.
 
-=fields NOVA, NOVB, NOVC, NOVD, NOVE, NOVF, NOVG, NOVH, NOVI, NOVJ, NOVK, NOVL, NOVM, NOVN, NOVO, NOVP, NOVQ, NOVR, NOVS, NOVT, NOVU
+=fields NOVA - NOVU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1860,7 +1860,7 @@ These fields specify how many array elements the output value fields may hold.
 These fields specify how many array elements the output value fields currently
 contain.
 
-=fields NEVA, NEVB, NEVC, NEVD, NEVE, NEVF, NEVG, NEVH, NEVI, NEVJ, NEVK, NEVL, NEVM, NEVN, NEVO, NEVP, NEVQ, NEVR, NEVS, NEVT, NEVU
+=fields NEVA - NEVU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1996,7 +1996,7 @@ contain.
 These fields specify how many array elements the old value fields currently
 contain.
 
-=fields ONVA, ONVB, ONVC, ONVD, ONVE, ONVF, ONVG, ONVH, ONVI, ONVJ, ONVK, ONVL, ONVM, ONVN, ONVO, ONVP, ONVQ, ONVR, ONVS, ONVT, ONVU
+=fields ONVA - ONVU
 
 =cut
 

modules/database/src/std/rec/aiRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -67,23 +67,29 @@ converted into engineering units and placed in the VAL field as follows:
 =over
 
 =item 1.
+
 RVAL is converted to a double and ROFF is added to it.
 
 =item 2.
+
 If ASLO is non-zero the value is multiplied by ASLO.
 
 =item 3.
+
 AOFF is added.
 
 =item 4.
+
 If LINR is C<NO CONVERSION> the units conversion is finished after the above
 steps.
 
 =item 5.
+
 If LINR is C<LINEAR> or C<SLOPE>, the value from step 3 above is multiplied by
 ESLO and EOFF is added to complete the units conversion process.
 
 =item 6.
+
 Any other value for LINR selects a particular breakpoint table to be used on the
 value from step 3 above.
 

modules/database/src/std/rec/aoRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -689,13 +689,17 @@ Routine process implements the following algorithm:
 
 =over
 
-=item 1. Check to see that the appropriate device support module
+=item 1. 
+
+Check to see that the appropriate device support module
 exists. If it doesn't, an error message is issued and processing is
 terminated with the PACT field set to TRUE. This ensures that processes
 will no longer be called for this record. Thus error storms will not
 occur.
 
-=item 2. Check PACT: If PACT is FALSE call fetch_values and convert
+=item 2. 
+
+Check PACT: If PACT is FALSE call fetch_values and convert
 which perform the following steps:
 
 =over
@@ -742,20 +746,28 @@ calculated in, using the formula RVAL = (RVAL -AOFF) / ASLO - ROFF.
 
 =back
 
-=item 3. Check alarms: This routine checks to see if the new VAL causes
+=item 3. 
+
+Check alarms: This routine checks to see if the new VAL causes
 the alarm status and severity to change. If so, NSEV, NSTA and y are
 set. It also honors the alarm hysteresis factor (HYST). Thus the value
 must change by at least HYST before the alarm status and severity is
 reduced.
 
-=item 4. Check severity and write the new value. See Invalid Alarm
+=item 4. 
+
+Check severity and write the new value. See Invalid Alarm
 Output Action for details on how invalid alarms affect output records.
 
-=item 5. If PACT has been changed to TRUE, the device support write
+=item 5. 
+
+If PACT has been changed to TRUE, the device support write
 output routine has started but has not completed writing the new value.
 In this case, the processing routine merely returns, leaving PACT TRUE.
 
-=item 6. Check to see if monitors should be invoked:
+=item 6. 
+
+Check to see if monitors should be invoked:
 
 =over
 
@@ -772,7 +784,9 @@ monitors are invoked.
 
 =back
 
-=item 7. Scan forward link if necessary, set PACT and INIT FALSE, and
+=item 7. 
+
+Scan forward link if necessary, set PACT and INIT FALSE, and
 return.
 
 =back

modules/database/src/std/rec/biRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -331,23 +331,25 @@ Routine process implements the following algorithm:
 =over
 
 =item 1.
+
 Check to see that the appropriate device support module exists. If it
 doesn't, an error message is issued and processing is terminated with
 the PACT field still set to TRUE. This ensures that processes will no
 longer be called for this record. Thus error storms will not occur.
 
 =item 2.
+
 C<readValue()> is called. See L<Input Records> for details.
 
 =item 3.
+
 If PACT has been changed to TRUE, the device support read routine has
 started but has not completed reading a new input value. In this case, the
 processing routine merely returns, leaving PACT TRUE.
 
 =item 4.
-Convert.
 
-=back
+Convert.
 
 =over
 
@@ -368,17 +370,15 @@ if status is 2, set status = 0
 
 =back
 
-=over
-
 =item 5.
+
 Check alarms: This routine checks to see if the new VAL causes the alarm
 status and severity to change. If so, NSEV, NSTA and LALM are set. Note
 that if VAL is greater than 1, no checking is performed.
 
 =item 6.
-Check if monitors should be invoked:
 
-=back
+Check if monitors should be invoked:
 
 =over
 
@@ -396,9 +396,8 @@ NSEV and NSTA are reset to 0.
 
 =back
 
-=over
-
 =item 7.
+
 Scan forward link if necessary, set PACT FALSE, and return.
 
 =back

modules/database/src/std/rec/boRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ the HIGH field is configured.
 
 recordtype(bo) {
 
-=head3 Scan Parameters
+=head2 Scan Parameters
 
 The binary output record has the standard fields for specifying under what
 circumstances the record will be processed.
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ These fields are described in L<Scan Fields|dbCommonRecord/Scan Fields>.
 
 =fields SCAN, PHAS, EVNT, PRIO, PINI
 
-=head3 Desired Output Parameters
+=head2 Desired Output Parameters
 
 The binary output record must specify where its desired output originates.
 The desired output needs to be in engineering units.
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ for information on hardware addresses and links.
 
 =fields DOL, OMSL
 
-=head3 Convert and Write Parameters
+=head2 Convert and Write Parameters
 
 These parameters are used to determine where the binary output writes to
 and how to convert the engineering units to a raw signal. After VAL is set
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ device back to 0 after I<N> number of seconds.
 
 =fields DTYP, OUT, VAL, RVAL, HIGH, ZNAM, ONAM
 
-=head3 Conversion Parameters
+=head2 Conversion Parameters
 
 The ZNAM field has the string that corresponds to the 0 state, and the ONAM
 field holds the string that corresponds to the 1 state. These fields, other
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ the device or link to 1, then changes it back to 0 after I<N> number of seconds.
 
 =fields ZNAM, ONAM, HIGH
 
-=head3 Output Specification
+=head2 Output Specification
 
 The OUT field specifies where the binary output record writes its output.
 It must specify the address of an I/O card if the record sends its output
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ for information on the format of the database and channel access addresses.
 Also, see L<Device Support For Soft Records> in this chapter for more on output
 to other records.
 
-=head3 Operator Display Parameters
+=head2 Operator Display Parameters
 
 These parameters are used to present meaningful data to the operator, The
 C<get_enum_str()> record support routine can retrieve the state string
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ Parameters> for more on the record name (NAME) and description (DESC) fields.
 
 =fields ZNAM, ONAM, NAME, DESC
 
-=head3 Alarm Parameters
+=head2 Alarm Parameters
 
 These parameters are used to determine the binary output's alarm condition
 and to determine the severity of that condition. The possible alarm
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ common to all record types.
 
 =fields ZSV, OSV, COSV, IVOA, IVOV
 
-=head3 Run-Time Parameters
+=head2 Run-Time Parameters
 
 These parameters are used by the run-time code for processiong the binary
 output. They are not configurable using a configuration tool. They
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ The WPDT field is a private field for honoring seconds to hold HIGH.
 
 =fields ORAW, MASK, RBV, ORBV, LALM, MLST, RPVT, WDPT
 
-=head3 Simulation Mode Parameters
+=head2 Simulation Mode Parameters
 
 The following fields are used to operate the record in simulation mode.
 
@@ -376,11 +376,9 @@ for more information on simulation mode and its fields.
 	}
 
 
-=head2 Record Support
+=head2 Record Support Routines
 
-=head3 Record Support Routines
-
-=head2 C<init_record>
+=head3 C<init_record>
 
 This routine initializes SIMM if SIML is a constant or creates a channel
 access link if SIML is PV_LINK. If SIOL is a PV_LINK a channel access link
@@ -398,19 +396,19 @@ or initialzed to 0 if DOL is zero, and UDF is set to FALSE.
 If device support includes C<init_record()>, it is called. VAL is set using
 RVAL, and UDF is set to FALSE.
 
-=head2 C<process>
+=head3 C<process>
 
 See next section.
 
-=head2 C<get_enum_str>
+=head3 C<get_enum_str>
 
 Retrieves ASCII string corresponding to VAL.
 
-=head2 C<get_enum_strs>
+=head3 C<get_enum_strs>
 
 Retrieves ASCII strings for ZNAM and ONAM.
 
-=head2 C<put_enum_str>
+=head3 C<put_enum_str>
 
 Checks if string matches ZNAM or ONAM, and if it does, sets VAL.
 
@@ -418,96 +416,107 @@ Checks if string matches ZNAM or ONAM, and if it does, sets VAL.
 
 Routine process implements the following algorithm:
 
-=over 1
+=over
 
 =item 1.
+
 Check to see that the appropriate device support module exists. If it
 doesn't, an error message is issued and processing is terminated with
 the PACT field still set to TRUE. This ensures that processes will no
 longer be called for this record. Thus error storms will not occur.
 
 =item 2.
-If PACT is FALSE
 
-=back
+If PACT is FALSE
 
 =over
 
 =item *
+
 If DOL holds a link and OMSL is C<closed_loop>
 
 =over
 
 =item *
+
 get values from DOL
 
 =item *
+
 check for link alarm
 
 =item *
+
 force VAL to be 0 or 1
 
 =item *
+
 if MASK is defined
 
 =over
 
 =item *
+
 if VAL is 0 set RVAL = 0
 
 =back
 
 =item *
+
 else set RVAL = MASK
 
 =back
 
 =back
 
-=over
-
 =item 3.
+
 Check alarms: This routine checks to see if the new VAL causes the alarm
 status and severity to change. If so, NSEV, NSTA, and LALM are set.
 
 =item 4.
+
 Check severity and write the new value. See L<Invalid Output Action Fields|dbCommonOutput/Invalid Output Action Fields>
 for more information on how INVALID alarms affect output.
 
 =item 5.
+
 If PACT has been changed to TRUE, the device support write output routine
 has started but has not completed writing the new value. in this case, the
 processing routine merely returns, leaving PACT TRUE.
 
 =item 6.
+
 Check WAIT. If VAL is 1 and WAIT is greater than 0, process again with a
 VAL=0 after WAIT seconds.
 
 =item 7.
+
 Check to see if monitors should be invoked.
 
-=back
-
-=over 1
+=over
 
 =item *
+
 Alarm monitors are invoked if the alarm status or severity has changed.
 
 =item *
+
 Archive and value change monitors are invoked if MLST is not equal to VAL.
 
 =item *
+
 Monitors for RVAL and for RBV are checked whenever other monitors are
 invoked.
 
 =item *
+
 NSEV and NSTA are reset to 0.
 
 =back
 
-=over
+=item 8.
 
-=item 8
 Scan forward link if necessary, set PACT FALSE, and return
 
 =back
@@ -527,7 +536,7 @@ are primarily interested in the following fields:
 
 Device support consists of the following routines:
 
-=head4 long report(int level)
+=head4 C<long report(int level)>
 
 This optional routine is called by the IOC command C<dbior> and is passed the
 report level that was requested by the user.
@@ -537,7 +546,7 @@ information at higher levels, or to select different types of information with
 different levels.
 Level zero should print no more than a small summary.
 
-=head4 long init(int after)
+=head4 C<long init(int after)>
 
 This optional routine is called twice at IOC initialization time.
 The first call happens before any of the C<init_record()> calls are made, with
@@ -545,41 +554,46 @@ the integer parameter C<after> set to 0.
 The second call happens after all of the C<init_record()> calls have been made,
 with C<after> set to 1.
 
-=head2 C<init_record(precord)>
+=head4 C<init_record(precord)>
 
-This routine is optional. If provided, it is called by record support
+This routine is optional. If provided, it is called by the record support's
 C<init_record()> routine. It should determine MASK if it is needed.
 
 =over
 
 =item *
+
 0: Success. RVAL modified (VAL will be set accordingly)
 
 =item *
+
 2: Success. VAL modified
 
 =item *
+
 other: Error
 
 =back
 
-=head2 C<get_ioint_info(int cmd, struct dbCommon *precord, IOSCANPVT *ppvt)>
+=head4 C<get_ioint_info(int cmd, struct dbCommon *precord, IOSCANPVT *ppvt)>
 
 This routine is called by the ioEventScan system each time the record is
 added or deleted from an I/O event scan list. C<cmd> has the value (0,1) if
 the record is being (added to, deleted from) an I/O event list. It must be
 provided for any device type that can use the ioEvent scanner.
 
-=head2 C<write_bo(precord)>
+=head4 C<write_bo(precord)>
 
 This routine must output a new value. It returns the following values:
 
 =over
 
 =item *
+
 0: Success
 
 =item *
+
 other: Error.
 
 =back

modules/database/src/std/rec/calcRecord.c

@@ -159,9 +159,9 @@ static long special(DBADDR *paddr, int after)
 #define indexof(field) calcRecord##field
 
 static long get_linkNumber(int fieldIndex) {
-    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(A) && fieldIndex <= indexof(L))
+    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(A) && fieldIndex < indexof(A) + CALCPERFORM_NARGS)
         return fieldIndex - indexof(A);
-    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(LA) && fieldIndex <= indexof(LL))
+    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(LA) && fieldIndex < indexof(LA) + CALCPERFORM_NARGS)
         return fieldIndex - indexof(LA);
     return -1;
 }

modules/database/src/std/rec/calcRecord.dbd.pod

@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ These fields are described in L<Scan Fields|dbCommonRecord/Scan Fields>.
 
 =head3 Read Parameters
 
-The read parameters for the Calc record consist of 12 input links INPA,
-INPB, ... INPL. The fields can be database links, channel access links, or
+The read parameters for the Calc record consist of 21 input links INPA -
+INPU. The fields can be database links, channel access links, or
 constants. If they are links, they must specify another record's field or a
 channel access link. If they are constants, they will be initialized with
 the value they are configured with and can be changed via C<dbPuts>. They
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ See L<Address
 Specification|https://docs.epics-controls.org/en/latest/guides/EPICS_Process_Database_Concepts.html#address-specification>
 for information on how to specify database links.
 
-=fields INPA, INPB, INPC, INPD, INPE, INPF, INPG, INPH, INPI, INPJ, INPK, INPL
+=fields INPA - INPU
 
 =head3 Expression
 
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ radians to degrees
 
 The expression uses the values retrieved from the INPx links as operands,
 though constants can be used as operands too. These values retrieved from
-the input links are stored in the A-L fields. The values to be used in the
+the input links are stored in the A-U fields. The values to be used in the
 expression are simply referenced by the field letter. For instance, the
 value obtained from INPA link is stored in the field A, and the value
 obtained from INPB is stored in field B. The field names can be included in
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ the expression which will operate on their respective values, as in A+B.
 Also, the RNDM nullary function can be included as an operand in the
 expression in order to generate a random number between 0 and 1.
 
-=fields A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L
+=fields A - U
 
 The keyword VAL returns the current contents of the VAL field (which can be
 written to by a CA put, so it might I<not> be the result from the last time
@@ -492,12 +492,12 @@ modifiable at run-time. They are used to process the record.
 The LALM field is used to implement the hysteresis factor for the alarm
 limits.
 
-The LA-LL fields are used to decide when to trigger monitors for the
+The LA-LU fields are used to decide when to trigger monitors for the
 corresponding fields. For instance, if LA does not equal the value A,
 monitors for A are triggered. The MLST and ALST fields are used in the same
 manner for the VAL field.
 
-=fields LALM, ALST, MLST, LA, LB, LC, LD, LE, LF, LG, LH, LI, LJ, LK, LL
+=fields LALM, ALST, MLST, LA - LU
 
 =cut
 
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ manner for the VAL field.
 		promptgroup("30 - Action")
 		special(SPC_CALC)
 		pp(TRUE)
-		size(80)
+		size(160)
 		initial("0")
 	}
 	field(INPA,DBF_INLINK) {
@@ -575,6 +575,60 @@ manner for the VAL field.
 		promptgroup("42 - Input G-L")
 		interest(1)
 	}
+	field(INPM,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input M")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("43 - Input M-R")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPN,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input N")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("43 - Input M-R")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPO,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input O")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("43 - Input M-R")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPP,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input P")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("43 - Input M-R")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPQ,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input Q")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("43 - Input M-R")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPR,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input R")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("43 - Input M-R")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPS,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input S")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("44 - Input S-U")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPT,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input T")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("44 - Input S-U")
+		interest(1)
+	}
+	field(INPU,DBF_INLINK) {
+		prompt("Input U")
+		special(SPC_MOD)
+		promptgroup("44 - Input S-U")
+		interest(1)
+	}
 	field(EGU,DBF_STRING) {
 		prompt("Engineering Units")
 		promptgroup("80 - Display")
@@ -733,6 +787,42 @@ manner for the VAL field.
 		prompt("Value of Input L")
 		pp(TRUE)
 	}
+	field(M,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input M")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(N,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input N")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(O,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input O")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(P,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input P")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(Q,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input Q")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(R,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input R")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(S,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input S")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(T,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input T")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
+	field(U,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Value of Input U")
+		pp(TRUE)
+	}
 	field(LA,DBF_DOUBLE) {
 		prompt("Prev Value of A")
 		special(SPC_NOMOD)
@@ -793,6 +883,51 @@ manner for the VAL field.
 		special(SPC_NOMOD)
 		interest(3)
 	}
+	field(LM,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of M")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LN,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of N")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LO,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of O")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LP,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of P")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LQ,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of Q")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LR,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of R")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LS,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of S")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LT,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of T")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
+	field(LU,DBF_DOUBLE) {
+		prompt("Prev Value of U")
+		special(SPC_NOMOD)
+		interest(3)
+	}
 	field(LALM,DBF_DOUBLE) {
 		prompt("Last Value Alarmed")
 		special(SPC_NOMOD)
@@ -813,7 +948,7 @@ manner for the VAL field.
 		prompt("Reverse Polish Calc")
 		special(SPC_NOMOD)
 		interest(4)
-		extra("char	rpcl[INFIX_TO_POSTFIX_SIZE(80)]")
+		extra("char	rpcl[INFIX_TO_POSTFIX_SIZE(160)]")
 	}
 
 =head2 Record Support
@@ -911,7 +1046,7 @@ Archive and values change monitors are invoked if ADEL and MDEL conditions
 are met.
 
 =item *
-Monitors for A-L are checked whenever other monitors are invoked.
+Monitors for A-U are checked whenever other monitors are invoked.
 
 =item *
 NSEV and NSTA are reset to 0.

modules/database/src/std/rec/calcoutRecord.c

@@ -355,6 +355,15 @@ static long special(DBADDR *paddr, int after)
       case(calcoutRecordINPJ):
       case(calcoutRecordINPK):
       case(calcoutRecordINPL):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPM):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPN):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPO):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPP):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPQ):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPR):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPS):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPT):
+      case(calcoutRecordINPU):
       case(calcoutRecordOUT):
         lnkIndex = fieldIndex - calcoutRecordINPA;
         plink   = &prec->inpa + lnkIndex;
@@ -406,9 +415,9 @@ static long special(DBADDR *paddr, int after)
 #define indexof(field) calcoutRecord##field
 
 static long get_linkNumber(int fieldIndex) {
-    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(A) && fieldIndex <= indexof(L))
+    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(A) && fieldIndex < indexof(A) + CALCPERFORM_NARGS)
         return fieldIndex - indexof(A);
-    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(LA) && fieldIndex <= indexof(LL))
+    if (fieldIndex >= indexof(LA) && fieldIndex < indexof(LA) + CALCPERFORM_NARGS)
         return fieldIndex - indexof(LA);
     return -1;
 }