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sics/doc/user/sicsinvoc.htm

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<title> SICS Invocation </title>
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<h1>SICS Invocation</h1>
<p>
SICS means SINQ Instrument Control System.
SICS is a client server system. This means there are at least two programs
necessary to run the experiment. The first
is the
SICServer which does the actual instrument control work. A user rarely needs
to bother about this server program as it is meant to run all the time.
See instructions below if things go wrong.
</p>
<p>
Then there are client programs which interact with the
instrument control server. These client programs implement the status
displays and a command line application which forwards commands to the
SICS server and displays its response. Graphical User Interfaces may
be added at a later time.
The user has only to deal with
these SICS client programs. SICS Clients and the SICServer communicate
with each other through the TCP/IP network.
</p>
<p>
Currently these SICS clients are available:
<uL>
<li> A command line control client for sending commands to the SICS
server and displaying its repsonses.
<li> A status display for the powder diffractometers DMC and HRPT.
<li> A status display for TOPSI.
<li> A status display for SANS.
<li> A status display for FOCUS.
<li> A AMOR control and status program.
<li> A triple axis control and status program.
<li> A SICS variable watcher. This application graphically logs the
change of a SICS variable over time. Useful for monitoring for
instance temperature controllers.
</ul>
</p>
<p>
<h2>Steps necessary for logging in to SICS</h2>
The following actions have to be taken in order to interact with the
SICS server through a client:
<uL>
<li>Start the client application.
<li>Connect the client to a SICS server.
<li>In case of command line clients: authorize yourself as
privileged SICS user.
</uL>
</p>
<h2>Starting SICS client applications </h2>
<p>
These programs can be started on a DigitalUnix system by issuing the
following commands at the command prompt:
<dl>
<DT>sics &
<DD> for the control client.
<DT>powderstatus &
<DD> for the DMC status display client.
<DT>topsistatus &
<DD>for the TOPSI status display.
<DT>sansstatus &
<DD> for the SANS status display.
<DT>focustatus
<DD> for the FOCUS status display.
<DT>amor &
<DD> for the AMOR status display and control application.
<DT>tas &
<DD> for the triple axis status display and control application.
<DT>varwatch &
<DD> for the variable watcher.
</dl>
On a PC you may find icons for starting the different programs on the
desktop.
Each of these clients has usage instructions online which can be displayed
through the help/about menu entry.
</p>
<h2>Connecting</h2>
<p>
After startup any SICS client is not connected to a SICS server and thus not
active. A connection is established through the connect menu of the client.
</p>
<h2>Authorization</h2>
<p>
SICS is a multi user instrument control system. In order to prevent
malicious manipulations of the instrument SICS supports a hierarchy of user
rights. In order to run an experiment you need at least user level privilege.
In order to achieve this privilege you have to invoke the User Parameter/Set
Rights dialog. There you have to enter the apropriate username and password
kindly provided by your instrument scientist.
</p>
<h2>Restarting the Server</h2>
<p>
The SICS server should be running all the time. It is only down if something
went wrong. You can check for the presence of the SICS server by loging in
to the instrument computer and typing <b>CheckSICS</b> at the command
prompt. The output will tell you what is happening. If you need to restart
the SICS server log in as the instrument user at the instrument computer and
invoke the appropriate command to start the server. These are:
<dl>
<DT>DMC
<DD>Computer = lnsa05,User = DMC
<DT>TOPSI
<DD>Computer = lnsa07,User = TOPSI
<DT>SANS
<DD>Computer = lnsa10,User = SANS
<DT>TRICS
<DD>Computer = lnsa18, User = TRICS
<DT>HRPT
<DD>Computer = lnsa11, User = HRPT
<DT>FOCUS
<DD>Computer = lnsa16, User = FOCUS
<DT>AMOR
<DD>Computer = lnsa14, User = AMOR
<DT>TASP
<DD>Computer = lnsa12, User = TASP
<DT>POLDI
<DD>Computer = poldi, User = POLDI
</dl>
For starting the SICS server type <b>startsics</b>. This is a shell script
which will starts all necessary server programs. This script works only on
the instrument computer and in the appropriate instrument account.
</p>
<p>
If all this does not help look under <a href="trouble.htm">trouble shooting
SICS</a>.
</p>
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