source: drsdaq/History.txt@ 9428

Modification history of drsdaq program
--------------------------------------

23/3/2009   Changed 'Events' entry in run header. It now gives the number of
            events in the current file.
24/3/2009   Copied into FACT subversion directory. Updated location of
            configuration file and PixelMap.txt (in config/ in repository).
                Improved PrintMessage() and error outputs.
26/3/2009   Added PixelMap translation to communication with HV control.
30/3/2009   Added feedback gain. Checked into repository.
1/4/2009    Changed many 'char *' to 'const char *' to honour compiler warning
            on ihp-pc26 (newer version of g++ than on eth-vme02)
2/4/2009    Introduced check for magic number in RawDataCTX.cc
3/4/2009    Added frequency and scale factor transmission to socket protocol
6/4/2009    Allowed reading of data via read command also while DAQ is active.
22/4/2009   Included sizes of RunHeader, EventHeader and BoardStructure in
            RunHeader and changed some data widths in RunHeader to U32 to
                increase compatibility with Magic raw data format. Unique run
                numbers are now generated using the file LastRunNumber.
28/4/2009   Raw file writing uses now writev() and is changed entirely to
            Linux system calls instead of C++ library functions. Introduced
                new magic number that indicates an error while writing. More
                extensive error checking for I/O functions. Requesting zero events
                will let run go until stopped manually. Feedback writes slow data.
29/4/2009   DAQ writes run summary to slow data file.
14/5/2009   Streamlined raw data format.
18/5/2009   Included some version and size checking in RawDataCTX.cc.
19/5/2009   Subversion revision number included in run header. Added human readable
            date and time to slow data.
28/5/2009   Replaced NCMCBoards by NBoards for clarity. Added line editing
            capability with the readline library.
29/5/2009   Number of lines in log file limited to configurable number.
4/6/2009    Config file can contain array of numbers. Reading of config file now
            safe for buffer overflow. RawDataCTX class take the possibility of
                varying event data size into account.
12/6/2009   Trigger cells (determined using DRS class GetTriggerCell()) are
            stored as array of integers in event data. RawDataCTX class pointer
                'Data' changed from short* to char*.
16/6/2009   Data is not rotated by copying in memory, but by saving to disk in
            correct order using writev() (10% gain in rate)
18/6/2009   Run date is now calculated with a change to the next date on 13:00 UTC.
9/7/2009    SlowData class is now independet of PrintMessage() method, thus more
                universal
14/7/2009   Fixed assignment of trigger type in event header (now 0  is hardware
            trigger, 1 software trigger). Fixed pointer-arithmetic for trigger cell
                writing if first board written to disk is not physically first board.       
28/7/2009   Added configuration parameters SlowDataPath and DefaultFrequency. All
            configuration parameters are now mandatory: if one is not found, the
                program terminates.
5/8/2009    Streamlined DRS response calibration (removing unnecessary
            initialisation steps)
10/8/2009   Socket interface to hvcontrol only checks, if first reponse starts with
            'OK', otherwise assumes command to hvcontrol failed.
22/9/2009   The 'start' command will now start the DAQ without disk writing, but
            with invocation of the feedback.
23/9/2009   Fixed bug in RawDataCTX.cc: sequential event number in a file is only
            the same as the event number in the run for the first file part
16/12/2009  Removed automatic gain adaption in feedback (caused spikes in the correction)
9/3/2010        Feedback now depended on DIM for communication with bias server.
                        Started migration to DRS4 (last tested revision as daqct3 for DRS2 is 161).
                        DRS class will not run anymore with DRS2 FPGA firmware.
11/3/2010       Removed SlowData class.                 
12/3/2010       Removed local configuration and logging.
30/4/2010       Command 'start' now starts a normal run as 'take', but data is written to
                        /dev/null, the run number is -1.
4/5/2010        Removed socket server, added DIM command handler (thus cannot communicate
                        with ddd over socket anymore). Added DIM service containing full event.
18/5/2010       Rate of event service adjustable with command 'update'.
21/5/2010       Fix so that 'exit' command also works as DimCommand.
20/7/2010       Replaced mutex with Lock()/Unlock() from Evidence class, introduced DIM
                        feedback state service, streamlined PrintMessage().
27/7/2010       Removed feedback from drsdaq. Feedback is now a separate DIM server and
                        invoked through a DIM command. Last revision with feedback integrated into
                        drsdaq is 264.
30/7/2010       Published some run-related information as DIM service.