V4 Design: Record Processing

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EPICS V4: Record Processing

August 23 2005

Overview

This document described the semantics for V4 record processing. This includes the following:

  • Semantics for Database and Channel Access Links.
  • Semantics for record processing
  • Record Locking
  • Posting database monitors
  • Status and Alarm Severity
  • Access to array and structure fields.

This version is based on feedback from the EPICS core developer's meeting at ANL/APS on July 11th through July 14th. It is also a companion to the V4 Design: dbdInterfaces wiki.

The main motive for the V4 semantics related to record and link processing is that the V3 record processing semantics do not work well for data acquisition applications. An example of data acquisition is:

  • Move sample to new position.
    • Several motors may be involved
    • While moving post monitors to show current position, etc.
  • Sample data
  • Wait until CA client has fetched the data before next move.

SynAPPS provides the Scan, motor, etc records which help with data processing applications. These records process as follows:

  • Record does not complete processing until all inputs, outputs, etc done. Not completing means that they do not call recGblFwdLink until all proccessing is complete. Note that recGblFwdLink is what causes the V3 ioc to complete record processing.
  • While waiting for asynchronous events these records have PACT=0 but keep state that shows it is still active
  • Can be scanned and issue monitors while internal state is active

Leaving PACT 0 but not calling recGblFwdLink was not anticipated when the V3 record processing semantics were created. For V4 it must be posssible for a record to be processed while it is waiting for asynchronous processing to complete.

In V3, if an input link is asynchronous, Process Passive does not wait for asynchronous processing to complete before fetching data. This also complicated data acquisition applications.

V4 record processing is designed to make data acquisition easier. Both input and output links can wait for record processing. This must be done, however, without record support blocking. If blocking makes it easier to implement record support, then the support can spawn a separate thread that does block. Record support can communicate with the separate thread to decide when to complete record processing.

Goals for V4 Record Processing

V4 record processing has the following features not available in V3:

  • All links to other records:
    • Can request that the linked record be processed.
    • Can wait until the linked record completes processing
  • Database links are not processed via recursive calls to dbProcess
  • Lock sets do not exist. Instead each record instance has a lock.
  • Monitors are implemented by database access without requiring calls to post monitors.
  • Channel Access and Database Access can access arrays and structures

V4 Link Semantics

NOTES:

  • Instead of "forward link" the name "process link" is used.
  • Unless stated otherwise, the features described in this section apply to both database and channel access links.

Links are processed as follows:

  • Input Link from another record
    • Optionally request that record be processed.
    • Optionally wait for record to complete processing.
    • Get value.
    • When a record has multiple input links the links can be processed in parallel or sequentially
  • Output Link to another record
    • Put value
    • Optionally request that the record be processed.
      • For database links, if the record is already active or already queued for processing the link request fails.
      • What about channel access links? Perhaps they should also fail.
    • Optionally wait until record completes processing.
    • When a record has multiple output links the links can be processed in parallel or sequentially
  • Process Link
    • request processing
    • Optionally wait until record completes processing.
    • When a record has multiple output links the links can be processed in parallel or sequentially

The following rules are for links which request processing.

  • If record is already being processed the request is ignored.
    • Should the record containing the link have a warning message?
  • Can a record declare that links to particular fields not cause processing?
    • If yes than this should be declared by a record instance
    • If yes than record containing link should have warning message
  • Can a record declare that it can not be processed via process links?
    • If yes than this should be declared by a record instance
    • If yes than record containing link should have warning message

NOTE: wait does NOT mean to block. It means to save state, return, and resume at the saved state when called again.

Processing V4 Database Links

In V3 record linked via database links are processed via recursive calls to dbProcess. In V4 this will no longer be done. For V4 the following is done when a link requests processing:

  1. If the record is active or already queued the request is ignored. Should the requester receive an error?
  2. If the record does not allow link requests to cause processing the request fails.
  3. If neither 1) or 2) are true than the record is queued for processing.

Question. Should these same rules apply to Channel Access Links?

Record Locking

V3 implemented lock sets in order to prevent different threads from simultaneously accessing linked records.

Instead of lock sets V4:

  • Implements a per record instance lock.
  • Defines a rule that allows two records to be locked without deadlocks

Posting Monitors

In V3 monitors are posted when code (record support, device support, database access, etc) calls db_post_event. In V4 database access will itself handle the posting of monitors.

All changes to database fields are done via an interface implemented by database access. This makes it possible for database access to handle monitors.

Database Field Types

The early releases of V4 will support Channel Access and Database Access to the following types of fields:

  • primitive types
  • string
  • one dimensional array of primitive or string
  • struct with fields of following types:
    • primitive
    • string
    • array of primitive or string

Later releases will provide access to more complicated fields.


V4 Record Processing

This section describes the semantics implemented by dbProcess.

dbProcess maintains a variable processState which is passed to iocRecord and to record support and can also be returned by them.

V4 Processing States

processState is passed to process (iocRecord or record support) and is also returned by process. processState defines the states:

processIdle
record is not being processed
processStart
processing is starting
processInputActive
iocRecord is waiting for input links to complete
processActive
record support is waiting for completion of record specific activity
processOutputActive
iocRecord is waiting for output and process links to complete
processDone
process has completed.

NOTES:

  • Record support can implement substates. For example the sequence record keeps state about which link set it is processing.
  • Individual record types might use only a subset of the above states.
  • V3 link instances had attributes like CA, CP, CPP. For V4 these should be something like:
    • process - a request to process the record before gets or after puts.
    • wait - a request to wait until it has processed all it's input links
    • parallel - OK to allow simultaneous gets or puts


dbProcess

The functionality described in this section will be divided between iocCore and iocRecord. iocRecord is the V4 successor to the V3 dbCommon. For V4 it is a separate software component.

NOTE: FLNK (forward link) is replaced by an array of process links.


When dbProcess is called the action it takes depends on processState.

  • processIdle
    • prepare the record for processing
    • set state = processStart and goto processInputActive
  • processInputActive - call iocRecord
    • If iocRecord returns processInputActive return
    • If iocRecord returns processActive set processState = processStart and goto processActive
    • If iocRecord returns processDone goto processDone
  • processActive - Call record support
    • If record support returns processActive return
    • If record support returns processDone goto processOutputActive
  • processOutputActive - Call iocRecord
    • If iocRecord returns processOutputActive return
    • If iocRecord returns processDone goto state processDone
  • processDone
    • Perform final processing - See below for details.
    • set processState = processIdle
    • return

NOTES:

  • Record support is called with state processStart or processActive. It can return processActive as often as it wants. This supports the semantics of both the motor and sequence records.
  • The semantics support the following model
    • iocRecord processes all its input links and then
    • Record support stays active as long as desired and then
    • iocRecord processes all its output links and then
    • dbProcess does final processing and sets the record idle.


The remaining subsections provide more details about each processState. Keep in mind that some actions are performed by dbProcess, some by iocRecord, some by record support, and some by link support.

processState processIdle

When dbProcess is called with processIdle then it:

  • prepares record for processing
  • calls iocRecord with processState processStart

processState processStart

When iocRecord is called with processState processStart it:

  • initializes severity. See Alarm Processing for details.
  • initializes status. See Alarm Processing for details.
  • starts processing it's input links. Details are given below.
  • returns with processState one of the following:
    • processInputActive - dbProcess will again call iocRecord.
    • processActive - dbProcess will set processState to processStart and call record support.
    • processDone - dbProcess will complete processing. record support will NOT be called and iocRecord will not be called to handle output links

When record support is called with processState processStart it:

  • starts processing
  • returns with processState one of the following:
    • processActive - dbProcess will again call record support
    • processDone - dbProcess will call iocRecord to process it's output links

processState processInputActive

This state means that one or more input links handled by iocRecord have not completed.

When iocRecord detects that all it's input links have completed, it sets processState = processActive and returns. dbProcess will then call record support to start processing.

iocRecord can also return processDone, In this case dbProcess will just do final cleanup and set state back to processIdle. This is done, for example if iocRecord finds the record disabled.

processState processActive

This state means that record support and associated device support are waiting for something to complete. Examples are:

  • wait for links to complete
  • wait for a motor to reach some position.

The record, however, can be processed so that it can report intermediate data values, e.g. the current motor position. For example the record can be periodically scanned.

When record support is called it returns one of:

  • processActive - dbProcess will post monitors and call record support again when it is called.
  • processDone - dbProcess will call iocRecord to process it's output links

processState processOutputActive

This state means that one or more output links handled by iocRecord have not completed.


processState processDone

When both record support and iocRecord have reported that they are done, dbProcess does some final steps and then sets the processState to processIdle.

The final steps are:

  • If the request to process the record included a callback, the callback is called.
  • If other record completion callback requests are present, call them.
  • Monitors???
  • ???
  • The record is set idle.

Links to Other Records

Links can be processed in parallel, sequentially, or a combination of these. iocRecord handles the links in iocRecord and record support handles record specific input links. The support is responsible for implementing sequential or parallel link processing. Link support doeso the actual I/O. The Link support methods provide options specifying if the linked record should be processed and provide a callback to call when link processing completes. It is up to iocRecord or record support to again call dbProcess when all input links complete.

If is OK for dbProcess to be called multiple times while links are being processed.

Mutual Exclusion

V3 implemented lock sets, i.e. when a record was being processed it and all records linked via database links were locked.

Lock sets solved two Mutual Exclusion problems:

  • V3 allowed dbProcess to be called recursively.
    • process passive database links and forward links were implemented via recursive calls to dbProcess
    • Lock sets prevented deadly embrace problems for circular links.
  • No puts could be done to an record in a lock set while record processing is active.
    • For synchronous records this guarantees that no fields are modified except by record processing itself.
    • For asynchronous records this guarantee is not valid.


V4 does not call dbProcess recursively. Instead a process request is queued. The request fails if either of the following is true:

  • The record is active.
  • The record is already queued.

Note that if all linked records are passive and the same priority then all processing can occur without any context switches. The following occurs:

  • A request is made to a thread to call dbProcess.
    • The request is put on a queue associated with the thread.
  • Sometime later the request is dequeued and dbProcess is called.
    • For each link process request the request is put on the queue for the same thread
    • After all requests are queued dbProcess returns
  • The thread takes each request off the queue and calls dbProcess for the associated linked record
    • When all linked records finish processing a request is queued to call dbProcess for the original record
  • The request for the original record is removed from the queue and it's dbProcess is again called.
    • The record completes.

This leaves the question of what should be done about mutual exclusion.

Each record instance has an associated lock maintained by dbAccess. When dbProcess is called it takes the lock. Before it returns it unlocks. Thus iocRecord and record support do not need to lock or unlock.

Other code that needs access to fields of a record instance must call dbLock before accessing any fields and dbUnlock after all accesses are complete.

This leaves the problem of how to access fields from two different record instances simultaneously. For example code that implements database access needs such access. Code that needs such access must call dbLockLink before accessing the linked record and dbUnlockLink after access.

dbLockLink is implemented as follows:

  • Each Record instances has a unique ordinal number
  • Assume Record X has a link to record Y
  • If the ordinal number of X is less than that of Y
    • Just call dbLock for record Y
  • If the ordinal numnber of X is less than that of Y
    • call dbUnlock for X
    • call dbLock for Y
    • call dbLock for X

dbUnlockLink just calls dbUnlock for the linked record.

Posting Modifications

The document "V4 Design: dbdIterfaces" provides a design that allows dbAccess to detect all changes to fields of an IOC record.

dbAccess handles all posting on monitors without requiring any help from the code that modifies database fields.

Monitors are handled as follows:

Each field of a record instance has an associated "modified" bit.

Monitors will be handled via the calls to dbLock/dbUnlock.

  • When dbLock is called all modify bits are false.
  • Each field modification causes the associated modify bit to be set true.
  • When dbUnlock is called it
    • posts all fields that have changed
    • sets the associated modify bit false

Note that when dbLockLink is called it may call dbUnlock, which will post any changes. Record suppot needs to be aware that this can happen. If it want fields to update only at the end of record processing, it can keep private variables and then modify fields at the end of record processing.

The following is the initial attempt to describe how monitors are implemented.

The following definitions are used:

  • monitor - A client has asked to be notified when a field value changes.
  • post - Create storage, copy the current value of the field into the storage, and pass the storage to the monitor subsystem.


The problem is how to implement posting. Separate discussions is required for the following: 1) primitive fields, 2) string fields, 3) structured fields, and 4) array fields.

The following are just some thoughts.

  • primitive fields - No problems.
  • string fields - Memory is an issue.
    • Should there be a way to postpone posting until the monitor is ready to retrieve the value?
    • If so who decides?
  • struct fields - Memory is again an issue.
    • Structure with only primitive field or string should be posted immediately but what about array fields?
    • Who decides?
    • How?
  • array fields - memory is an issue
    • It should be possible to post small arrays of primitive type.
    • Large arrays should not be posted until monitor system is ready to accept the data.
      • It should also be possible to just notify the client that the array changed but the client must issue a read request to retrieve the data.

Alarm Processing

The V4 semantics for status and severity have the following goals:

  • alarmSeverity has the same values as for V3
  • status is independent of alarmSeverity, i.e. it just reports a status.
  • a record starts processing with alarmSeverity = "NO_ALARM" and status empty.
  • status will ONLY be posted if it has changed since the last time it was posted.
  • alarmSeverity will ONLY be posted if it has changed since the last time it was posted

The semantics that implement these goals are:

  • When a record starts processing the following is done
    • The status is saved in previousStatus
    • status is set to an empty string
    • The alarmSeverity is saved in previousAlarmSeverity
    • alarmSeverity is set to NO_ALARM
  • When the status is modified
    • If the new status is different than previousStatus
      • previousStatus is set to the new status
      • the status modified bit is set
  • When the alarmSeverity is modified
    • If the new alarmSeverity is different than previousAlarmSeverity
      • previousAlarmSeverity is set to the new alarmSeverity
      • the alarmSeverity modified bit is set
  • When monitors are posted
    • If status != previousStatus the status modified bit is set
    • If alarmSeverity != previousAlarmSeverity the alarmSeverity modified bit is set
    • If the status modified bit is set the status is posted and previousStatus set equal to status
    • If the alarmSeverity modified bit is set the alarmSeverity is posted and previousAlarmSeverity set equal to alarmSeverity

Question: What is done by iocRecord and what by database access?

Channel Access/ Database Access field types

NOTE: This topic still needs lots of discussion.

Overview

This section discusses how IOC database fields are accessed by channel access or via database links.

For the initial V4 implementation only the following types of data will be accessable. (Later releases of V4 will support more complicated types.)

  • primitive types
  • string
  • enum
  • one dimensional array of primitive or string
  • struct with fields of following types:
    • primitive
    • string
    • enum
    • one dimensional array of primitive or string


Other fields will only be available as one of the above types. For example a DbfLink field will appear as a string.

Since the field view provides access to subfields of a field and to elements of an array, information from every DbfType is available.

As an example if a Database Definition is 

    struct(calcInpLink) {
        field(link,link(in))
        field(value,float64)
    };
    
    struct(calcInpLink) {
        field(link,link(in))
        field(value,float64)
    ...
        field(inp,array(struct(calcInpLink)[]))
    ...
    }

Then if a client attaches to process variable: 

    record.field(calcInpLink[1].link)

The data will be presented as a string describing the link. An example of a string value is: 

    acro9440(0,5)


primitive types

This includes DbfBool, DbfOctet, DbfInt16, ... , DbfFloat64. These do not present any problems. The scalar value is transfered.

string

A string is just a UTF_8 encoded character string

DbfMenu and DbfEnum

Handled as an enum


DbfLink and DbfDevice

Both of these have the following:

  • choiceName A string that selects the link or device support.
  • dataStruct Each support has an associated struct for configuration.

How should the be made available? Perhaps:

The field appears as a string with the following syntax:

choiceName(structAssignmentList)

where structAssignmentList has the same syntax as defined in "V4 DB Record Instance Syntax"

timeStamp

This is just transfered a struct with two fields:

  • int64 secondsSinceEpoch
  • int32 nanoSeconds

struct

The database definition syntax allows a struct to be composed of fields of any DbfType. Database access, however, will only allow access to structs with fields of the following types:

  • primitive - DbfBool,...,DbfFloat64
  • DbfString
  • DbfArray of primitive type or string

The individual fields can be accessed directly so this discussion only involves access to the entire structure.

Note that if a struct contains a field that is a DbfStruct, the struct field itself will not be available but it is possible to access the DbfStruct field itself if it is contains fields of the above types.

The following two forms of access available.

  • Access by clients that have knowledge of the structure -
    • In this case the data is transfered as a sequence of field values.
    • Do this via dataAccess property catalog.
  • Access by clients that do not know about the structure -
    • The structure value is presented as a string that has the structAssignmentList syntax defined in "V4 DB Record Instance Syntax"
    • Is this needed? Can we just require that client know property catalog?


array

Arrays of the following types are accessable:

  • primitive - DbfBool,...,DbfFloat64
  • DbfString

Note that arrays of structs are not accessable in the early V4 releases.

Arrays still need lots more discussion!!!

Database Access is implemented so that record/link/device support can transfer an array in segments. Examples:

  • If the array is a circular buffer, it is presented in two segements
  • If the array is stored in hardware, e.g. a transient recorder, the array can be read from the hardware and passed to the client in segments.

The database definition syntax allow an array to be any of the basic types, i.e. DbfBool,...,DbfFloat64, DbfString, DbfArray, DbfStruct.

Database access only allows access to arrays of the following types.

  • primitive - DbfBool,...,DbfFloat64
  • DbfString

An individual element of an array of type DbfStruct can be accessed directly if it satisfies the criteria for accessing a DbfStruct.

How to prevent two clients from trying to access the same array simultaneously?

  • Does it matter?
  • If application wants to allow only single access let the apllication solve the problem
    • runControl records are one solution
    • Other solutions can be envisioned
  • Conclusion is that this is not a database responsibility


MDArray

Not implemented if the early V4 releases.

Associated Data

The typical example is a client that asks for timeStamp, severity, status, and data.

These will be handled automatically as described in "Posting Modifications"

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