Ferdi Franceschini 2006-08-17 16:31 The SICS batch manager reads commands from a Tcl script and executes them, you can use Tcl loops and logical constructs in the batch file, see the Tcl command reference.   The batch manager command is exe. Refer to the command reference section below for syntax and usage. Following is an example of an advanced batch file which runs some twotheta scans and omega scans several times each.  The batch execution has been made dynamically configurable by using two tcl arrays, "scan()" and "batch()", to hold parameters for the scan commands and the loops.  This means that the user can change the number of points per scan or the number of iterations in the loops from the command line before executing the batchfile.  The 'if' statements at the start of the file initialise the arrays if they don't already exist.  # This is an example of a dynamically configurable batch file. # Set default values for the batch and scan parameters. if { [info exists scan(np)] == 0 } { set scan(np) 5 } if { [info exists scan(mode)] == 0 } { set scan(mode) timer } if { [info exists scan(preset)] == 0 } { set scan(preset) 1.0 } if { [info exists batch(repeatnum)] == 0 } { set batch(repeatnum) 3 } clientput "Starting batch of twotheta scans" MyScan add twotheta 50 0.01 for {set i 0} {$i < $batch(repeatnum)} {incr i} { clientput "twotheta scan: $i" MyScan run $scan(np) $scan(mode) $scan(preset) } MyScan clear clientput "Starting batch of omega scans" MyScan add omega 50 0.01 for {set i 0} {$i < $batch(repeatnum)} {incr i} { clientput "omega scan: $i" MyScan run $scan(np) $scan(mode) $scan(preset) } Assuming that the file is called batch.tcl, the user could execute it as follows set scan(np) 100 exe batch.tcl The run command does not wait for a move to complete before it returns, this means that the batch manager will execute any following commands straight away.  If you want move an axis and then perform some action after the move is completed you should use the drive command instead of run. The following batch file will print the message after the move is complete. drive omega 5 clientput "omega is has reached five degrees" The batch buffer manager handles the execution of batch files. It can execute batch files directly. Additionally, batch files can be added into a queue for later processing. The batch buffer manager supports the following commands described below.  The command for controlling the batch manager is called exe exe append 'tcl commands' don't know the syntax. nha Append some tcl commands. exe buffername directly load the buffer stored in the file buffername and execute it. The file is searched in the batch buffer search path. exe batchpath newpath Without an argument, this command lists the directories which are searched for batch files. newpath sets a new search path. It is possible to specify multiple directories by separating them with colons. exe clear Clears the queue of batch buffers. For safety, use in conjuction with exe clearupload exe clearupload Clears partially uploaded batch buffers. exe enqueue buffername Appends buffername to the queue of batch buffers to execute. exe forcesave filename Will overwrite an existing batch file without warning. exe info prints the name of the currently executing batch buffer exe info stack prints the stack of nested batch files (i.e. batch files calling each other). exe info range name Without an argument prints the range of code currently being executed. name prints the range of code executing in named buffer within the stack of nested buffers. The reply looks like: number of start character = number of end character = line number exe info text name Without an argument prints the code text currently being executed. name prints the range of code text executing in the named buffer within the stack of nested buffers. exe interest Switches on automatic notification about starting batch files, executing a new bit of code or for finishing a batch file. This is most useful for SICS clients watching the progress of the experiment. exe print buffername Prints the content of the batch buffer buffername to the screen. exe queue Prints the content of the batch buffer queue. exe run Starts executing the batch buffers in the queue. exe save filename Save the commands to a batch file.  Returns an error if you try to overwrite an existing batch file exe syspath newpath Without an argument, this command lists the system directories which are searched for batch files. newpath sets a new system search path. It is possible to specify multiple directories by separating them with colons. exe upload Prepare the batch manager to upload a new set of commands from the client