README
Installation Instructions
EPICS base
Release 3.14.0beta1
What is EPICS base?
The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control Systems (EPICS) is
an extensible set of software components and tools with which
application developers can create a control system. This control system
can be used to control accelerators, detectors, telescopes, or other
scientific experimental equipment. EPICS base is the set of core
software, i.e. the components of EPICS without which EPICS would not
function. EPICS base allows an arbitrary number of target systems,
IOCs (input/output controllers), and host systems, OPIs (operator
interfaces) of various types.
What is new in this release?
This version of EPICS base contains significant changes and offers
major improvements in functionality over previous versions. Please
check the RELEASE_NOTES file in the distribution for description of
changes and release migration details.
Copyright
Please review the COPYRIGHT* files included in the distribution for
legal terms of usage.
Supported platforms
Currently this version of EPICS base has been built on the following
hosts for the following targets. If you are trying to build EPICS base on a
different host or for a different target machine you must get the proper
host/target cross compiler and header files and you will have to create
and add the appropriate new configure files to the
base/configure/os/directory. You can start by copying existing
configuration files in the configure/os directory and then make changes
for your new platforms.
Host platforms (operating system - architecture - <alternate c++
compiler>)
solaris-sparc
solaris-sparc-gnu
linux-x86
win32-x86
win32-x86-borland
Cross compile target platforms (operating system - architecture)
vxWorks-486
vxWorks-68040
vxWorks-68040lc
vxWorks-68060
vxWorks-ppc603
vxWorks-ppc604
vxWorks-pentium
RTEMS-gen68360
RTEMS-mvme167
RTEMS-pc386
Supported compilers
This version of EPICS base has been built and tested using the host
vendor's C and C++ compilers as well as the GNU gcc and g++
compilers. The GNU cross-compilers have been used for all
cross-compiled targets. You may need the host vendor's C++ compiler
in your search path to do EPICS builds. Check definitions of ACC and
CCC in base/configure/os/CONFIG.<host>.<host> or the definitions
for GCC and G++ if ANSI=GCC and CPLUSPLUS=GCC are specified
in CONFIG_SITE.
Software requirements
GNU make
You must use GNU make, gnumake, for any EPICS builds. Set your
path so that a gnumake version 3.70 or later is available.
Perl
You must have perl version 5.0 or later installed. The configure files do
not specify the perl full pathname. You need the perl executable in
your search path.
Unzip and tar (Winzip on WIN32 systems)
You must have tools available to unzip and untar the EPICS base
distribution file.
Tornado 2.0
You must have Tornado 2.0 installed if any of your target systems are
vxWorks systems. Tornado 2.0 provides the cross-compiler and header
files needed to build for these target systems. The full path location to
Tornado 2.0 must be specified in the base/configure/RELEASE or
base/configure/RELEASE.<hostarch> file. You will also need one or
more board support packages. Consult the vxWorks documentation for
details.
Optional GNU compiler requirement for solaris-sparc and
win32-x86 hosts
If you have state notation language source files (*.st files) which require
c preprocessing before conversion to c source, gcc must be in your path.
Host system storage requirements
The GNU zipped tar file is approximately 1.4 MB in size. The unzipped
untarred distribution source tree is approximately 6 MB. The build
created files for each host take approximately 40 MB and the build
created files for each target take approximately 10 MB.
Documentation
EPICS documentation is available on the WWW via the EPICS home
page at APS: URL http://www.aps.anl.gov/Epics
This README.htm is in the base distribution file and will be available
on the IOC software R3.14 EPICS WWW page which can be accessed
from the APS EPICS home page.
WWW pages
EPICS home page at APS
http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics
Other WWW sites
Additional information on EPICS can be found at the
various other WWW links on the EPICS home page at APS.
Mailing Lists
There are five EPICS mailing lists provided by APS. See The
EPICS home page for subscription instructions.
Directory Structure
Distribution directory structure:
base Root directory of the base istribution
base/config R3.13 compatibility build configuration files
base/config/tools Perl and shell scripts used in the R3.13 build
base/configure Operating system independent build config files
base/configure/os Operating system dependent build config files
base/configure/tools Perl and shell scripts used in the build
base/copyright Text files describing software copyrights
base/src All epics base source code in subdirectories
base/src/as Access security
base/src/bpt Break point table
base/src/ca Channel access
base/src/cas Channel access server
base/src/db Database access
base/src/db/test Database access tests
base/src/dbStatic Static database access
base/src/dbtools Database dbLoadTemplate tools
base/src/dev Device support (softDev and testDev)
base/src/gdd General data descriptor
base/src/iocsh Ioc shell command interpreter
base/src/libCom General purpose library code in subdirectories
base/src/libCom/bucketLib Hash bucket
base/src/libCom/calc Algebraic expression interpreter
base/src/libCom/cvtFast Fast number to string conversion
base/src/libCom/cxxTemplates C++ templates and templates tests
base/src/libCom/dbmf Memory management for frequent alloc/free
base/src/libCom/ellLib EPICS double linked list
base/src/libCom/env Default EPICS environment settings
base/src/libCom/error Error handling definitions and routines
base/src/libCom/fdmgr File descriptor manager
base/src/libCom/freeList Memory management using free lists
base/src/libCom/gpHash General purpose hash table
base/src/libCom/logClient Logging client
base/src/libCom/macLib Macro substitution handler
base/src/libCom/misc Miscellaneous utilities
base/src/libCom/osi Operating system independent code
base/src/libCom/osi/os Operating system dependant code in subdirectories
base/src/libCom/taskwd Task watchdog
base/src/libCom/test Test tools (timer, semBinary, semMutex,fdmgr, ?)
base/src/libCom/timer Timer
base/src/libCom/tsDefs R3.13 time stamp definitions and routines
base/src/libCom/ring ringPointer: First in first out circular buffers
base/src/libCom/cppStd epicsList: Lists of pointers to objects
base/src/makeBaseApp Perl tool+templates to create ioc app dvl tree
base/src/makeBaseExt Perl tool+templates to create extension dvl tree
base/src/misc Miscellaneous (coreRelease, iocInit, asSub*)
base/src/rec Record support
base/src/registry EPICS support function registry
base/src/rsrv Channel access ioc resource server library
base/src/toolsComm Code for the build tools antelope and e_flex
base/src/util Utilities (ca_test, iocLogServer, startCArepeater)
base/src/vxWorks R3.13 compatibility code specific to vxWorks
base/startup Scripts for setting up path and environment
Install directories created by the build:
base/bin Installed scripts and executables in subdirs
base/lib Installed libraries in arch subdirectories
base/dbd Installed data base definitions
base/include Installed header files
base/include/os Installed os specific header files
base/templates Installed templates
Build related components
base/README* files
README.htm Instructions for setup and building epics base
(i.e. this document)
README.WIN32 Microsoft WIN32 specific instructions
README.cxxTemplates Information about C++ templates in EPICS base
README.niCpu030 NI cpu030 specific instructions
base/startup directory - contains scripts to set environment and path
EpicsHostArch c shell script to set EPICS_HOST_ARCH env variable
EpicsHostArch.pl perl script to set EPICS_HOST_ARCH env variable
Site.profile bourne shell script to set path and env variables
Site.cshrc c shell script to set path and env variables
borland.bat WIN32 bat file to set path and env variables
win32.bat WIN32 bat file to set path and env variables
base/configure directory - contains build definitions and rules
CONFIG.CrossCommon Cross build definitions
CONFIG.gnuCommon Gnu compiler build definitions for all archs
CONFIG_ADDONS Definitions for <osclass> and DEFAULT options
CONFIG_BASE EPICS base tool and location definitions
CONFIG_BASE_VERSION Definitions for EPICS base version number
CONFIG_COMMON Definitions common to all builds
CONFIG_ENV Definitions of EPICS environment variables
CONFIG_SITE Site specific make defintions
CONFIG_SITE_ENV Site defaults for EPICS environment variables
CONFIG Includes configure files and allows variable overrides
RELEASE Location of external products such as Tornado II
RULES Includes appropriate rules file
RULES.Db Rules for database and database definition files
RULES_ARCHS Definitions and rules for building architectures
RULES_BUILD Build and install rules and definitions
RULES_DIRS Definitions and rules for building subdirectories
RULES_JAVA Definitions and rules for java jars and classes
RULES_TOP Rules specific to a <top> dir (uninstall and tar)
Sample.Makefile Sample makefile with comments
base/configure/os directory - contains os-arch specific definitions
CONFIG.<host>.<target> Specific host-target build definitions
CONFIG.Common.<target> Specific target definitions for all hosts
CONFIG.<host>.Common Specific host definitions for all targets
CONFIG.UnixCommon.Common Definitions for Unix hosts and all target
CONFIG.<host>.vxWorksCommon Specific host definitions for all vx targets
CONFIG_COMPAT R3.13 arch compatibility definitions
CONFIG_SITE.<host>.<target> Site specific host-target definitions
CONFIG_SITE.Common.<target> Site specific target defs for all hosts
CONFIG_SITE.<host>.Common Site specific host defs for all targets
base/configure/tools directory - contains Perl scripts used for the build
MakeReleae Unix shell script to create a release tar file
convertRelease.pl Performs consistancy checks on RELEASE files
cp.pl This Perl script copies an existing file
installEpics.pl Installs built files into install directories.
makeDependsTargets.pl Creates targets of include dependency files
makeMakefile.pl Creates a Makefile in O.<arch> dirs
makeMakefileInclude.pl Creates file to be included by Makefile
mkdir.pl Creates a directory (like Unix mkdir)
mkmf.pl Generates dependencies from include stmnts
munch.pl Creates a ctdt.c file for vxWorks targets
mv.pl Renames an existing file.
replaceVAR.pl Changes CapFast VAR(xxx) to $(xxx) notation
rm.pl Quietly removes an existing file.
Building EPICS base (Unix and Win32)
Unpack file
Unzip and untar the distribution file. Use WinZip on
Windows systems.
Set environment variable
Files in the base/startup directory have been provided to help
set required path and other environment variables .
EPICS_HOST_ARCH
Before you can build or use EPICS R3.14, the environment
variable EPICS_HOST_ARCH must be defined. A perl
script EpicsHostArch.pl in the base/startup directory has
been provided to help set EPICS_HOST_ARCH. You should
have EPICS_HOST_ARCH set to your host operating
system followed by a dash and then your host architecture,
e.g. solaris-sparc. If you are not using the OS vendor's
c/c++ compiler for host builds, you will need another dash
followed by the alternate compiler name (e.g. "-gnu" for GNU
c/c++ compilers on a solaris host or "-borland" for Borland
c/c++ compilers on a WIN32 host) . See configure/CONFIG_SITE
for a list of supported EPICS_HOST_ARCH values.
PERLLIB
On WIN32, some versions of Perl require that the
environment variable PERLLIB be set to <perl directory
location>.
PATH
As already mentioned, you must have the perl executable
and you may need C and C++ compilers in your search path.
For building base you also must have echo in your search
path. For Unix host builds you also need touch, cpp, cp, rm,
mv, and mkdir in your search path and /bin/chmod must
exist. On some Unix systems you may also need ar and ranlib
in your path, and the c compiler may require ld in your path.
Unix LD_LIBRARY_PATH
If you plan to build EPICS base shared libraries instead of
archive libraries, on Unix systems you will need to add
fullpathname to $(INSTALL_LOCATION)/lib/$(EPICS_HOST_ARCH) to
your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.
Win32 PATH
On WIN32 systems, building shared libraries is the default
setting and you will need to add fullpathname to
$(INSTALL_LOCATION)/bin/$(EPICS_HOST_ARCH) to your path.
Building shared libraries is determined by the value of the
macro SHARED_LIBRARIES in CONFIG_SITE (either YES or NO).
Do site-specific build configuration
Site configuration
To configure EPICS, you may want to modify the default
definitions in the following files:
configure/CONFIG_SITE Build choices. Specify target archs.
configure/CONFIG_SITE_ENV Environment variable defaults
configure/RELEASE TORNADO 2 full path location
Host configuration
To configure each host system, you may override the default
definitions by adding a new file with override definitions into
the configure/os directory. The new file should have the
same name as the distribution file to be overridden except
with CONFIG in the name changed to CONFIG_SITE.
configure/os/CONFIG.<host>.<host> - Host build settings
configure/os/CONFIG.<host>.Common - Host cross build settings
Target configuration
To configure each target system, you may override the
default definitions by adding a new file with override
definitions into the configure/os directory. The new file
should have the same name as the distribution file to be
overridden except with CONFIG in the name replaced by
CONFIG_SITE.
configure/os/CONFIG.Common.<target> - Target cross settings
configure/os/CONFIG.<host>.<target> - Host-target settings
R3.13 compatibility configuration
To configure EPICS base for building with R3.13 extensions
and ioc applications, you must modify the default definitions
in the base/config/CONFIG_SITE* files to agree with definitions
you made in base/configure and base/configure/os files.
Build EPICS base
After configuring the build you should be able to build
EPICS base by issuing the following commands in the
distribution's root directory (base)
gnumake clean uninstall
gnumake
The command "gnumake clean uninstall" will remove all
files and directories generated by a previous build. The
command "gnumake" will build and install everything for
the configured host and targets.
It is recommended that you do a "gnumake clean uninstall"
at the root directory of an EPICS directory structure before
each complete rebuild to ensure that all components will be
rebuilt.
Multiple host platforms
You can build using a single EPICS directory structure on multiple host
systems and for multiple cross target systems. The intermediate and
binary files generated by the build will be created in separate
subdirectories and installed into the appropriate separate host/target
install directories. EPICS executables and perl scripts are installed
into the $(INSTALL_LOCATION)/bin/<arch> directories. Libraries are
installed into $(INSTALL_LOCATION)/lib/<arch>. The default
definition for $(INSTALL_LOCATION) is $(TOP) which is the root
directory in the distribution directory structure, base. Created object
files are stored in O.<arch> source subdirectories, This allows objects
for multiple cross target architectures to be maintained at the same
time. To build EPICS base for a specific host/target combination you
must have the proper host/target c/c++ cross compiler and target header
files and the base/configure/os directory must have the appropriate
configure files.
Example application and extension
A perl tool, makeBaseApp.pl is included in the distribution file. This
script will create a sample application that can be built and then
executed to try out this release of base. Also, a perl script,
makeBaseExt.pl, is included in the distribution file. This script will
create a sample extension that can be built and executed. The
makeBaseApp.pl and makeBaseExt.pl scripts are installed into the
install location bin/<hostarch> directory during the base build.
Instructions for building and executing the 3.14 example application
can be found in the section "Example Application" of Chapter 2, "New
Features for 3.14", in the "IOC Application Developer's Guide
R3.14.0beta1". The "Example Application" section briefly explains
how to create and build an example application in a user created <top>
directory. It also explains how to run the example application on a
vxWorks ioc or a host system and run an example channel access client
on the host system.