epicsQt

EPICS Qt 3.8 Release Notes

Release Index

r3.8.3

Release date: 7th November 2022.

general

This is a minor release, manly for some widget enhancements. There are no new widgets.

Note: This is the last release of the 3.8.3 series. Release 3.9.1 will be essentially functionally identical, however it will incorporate those changes that will be need for Qt6 which that are still Qt5.12.8 compatible. EPICS Qt 4.1.1 will be built against Qt6.4; and if it remains Qt5.12.8 compatible will depend on the required number of conditonal compile #ifdef statements.

qeframework

Window Customisation

The windowCustomisation functionality, specified in an xml file, has been modifid to provide a write a value to a nominated PV capability. Example:

    ...
    <Item Name="ROI 1">
          <PV Name="BSXPDS01:$(DEVICE).VAL">
                <Value>12.4</Value>
                <Format>Double</Format>
          </PV>
    </Item>
    ...

This bring the custiomised menu functionality more aligned with a QEPushButto and QEMenuButton. It also supports macro substitution for the PV name and the value if required. Refer to the diocumentation.

The update means the window customisation also now supports macro substitution for program names and arguments.

Tool Tips

Aw mell as the DESCriptiuon and the alarm severity, the default tool tip now includes the alarm status and any available alarm message.

QEMenuButton

The Time and Local Enumeration format options have been removed from the design time QEMenuButton setup dialog. Also some code factorisation between windowCustomisation and QEMenuButton

QSimpleShape

A new heart shape option (for showing heart-beats) has been added. This is also available when using QESimpleShape.

QEPeriodic Dialog

The run time dialog code has ben modified to add a getElementName() function. This has only added to support one of our bespoke plugin modules.

QEPlot

Added properties and associated slot functions to enable and disable trace plotting of a particular plot. This allows, for eample, check boxes to turn on/off trace presentation.

QEStripChart

When the cursor hovers over a display point, as well as drawing a box around the point, we show actual (non-scaled) value in form status. The pop up box now include the PV DESCription.

QEPlotter

The alias (and other) property setter fuctions are now slot functions. The QEPlotter provide a PV label mode selection, PV name, DESCription or alias which brings it in line with the Strip Chart.

QAnalogSlider

All property functions are now public.

QEStringFormatting

This now provides better radix support for data presentation, data entry and also support non base 10 radix for floating point and well as integer numbers. QELabel and the like now have an integer leadingZeros property, and I have dropped the obsolete leading and trailing zero properties.

Bug Fix

Removed the double move of the interface object to thread for the origibnal Channel Access Archive option.

Code Polish

Updated to remove some compiler warning and deprcated function calls, perform some code refactorisation, fixed various typos and comments, and some variable name changes. No functional change as such.

qegui

Removed a compiler warning: the function now returns an actual boolan as opposed to null or none-null pointer.

qeReadArchive

Updated slot function to match the current setArchiveData signal specification.

r3.8.2

Release date: 4th April 2022.

general

This is a minor release for some widget enhancements. There are no new widgets. The qeframework, qeplugin and qegui project files now check for Qt6 and issue an error message.

qeframework

QEPlot, QEPlotter and QEWaveformHistogram.

These widgets now subscribe for zero elements by default. The actual number of elements returned by the server is determined by the record. For example a waveform record will return the number of elements as specified in its .NORD field. This can significantly reduce network bandwidth and client memory usage.

For use with older versions of base or non-IOC servers that do not support this functionality a new property, fullLengthArraySubscriptions, is available to re-instate the previous behavior.

QEStripChart

The write trace to file functionality has been updated to:

offer a default file name derived from the PV name, and
includes the PV name in the output file.

As well as by the context menu, this functionality can now be invoked using a new strip chart slot: writeTraceToFile(int). This can be triggered from any widget then has an int (range 0 to 15) signal, e.g. QEPushButton.

There is also a new property, numberPvsVisible, to set initial number of PVs seen in the PV Item frame.

The QEStripChart now allows transparent colours (i.e. setting the alpha channel) when selecting PV colours.

QEFileImage

This widget has been updated to allow a lightness threshold and colour to be specified, such that where the image’s lightness is greater than or equal the threshold value, the colour is replaced by the threshold colour. Both the threshold and colour are defined as properties and may be updated using slot functions.

Please refer to the updated documentation for this widget for details.

QEPlotter

Updated to set the PV item list width in post construction slot function to ensure consistent and expected behavior.

The QEPlotter now allows transparent colours (i.e. setting the alpha channel) when selecting PV colours.

QEMenuButton

The macro facility for the QEMenuButton widget has been extended to include menu and sub-menu names, PV names, and PV values. It already applies to ui file names, program names and program arguments.

QEDateTime

The widget now allows data time text to be copied to the copy-paste buffer using the context menu. The QEDateTime widgets now all use a single timer object to ensure common application wide synchronisation and use the size hint mechanism rather than setting a minimum size.

QECalcout

The widget now allows boolean inputs (as well as int and double).

QEPvProperties

The AMIM field has been added to for motor record’s set of fields.

Note: The AMIM field is an Australian Synchrotron special.

QEPeriodic

The designer editor setup form now includes the atomic number as well as the element abbreviation in the check box text.

r3.8.1

Formal release date: 31th January 2022.

general

The most significant changes to the EPICS Qt framework for the 3.8 release series are:

Two new widgets, QESelector and QEFromGroupBox.
Re-factored the archive interface code.
Removed many of the deprecated functions.
2D data visualisation updates.
The more “mundane” changes since the previous release.

The details of each of these are described below.

Internal changes means the framework now needs acai-1-6-2 or later.

The project files have been updated to generate warning message to indicate there is no more Qt4 support.

qtepics.github.io

Documentation updates.

Re-working the adl2qe tool.

qeBinaries

Following a “nasty” e-mail from github regarding size usage, the qeBinaries repository has been deleted.

qeframework

New widgets

QESelector

This widget provides a combo box that allows the user to select an string from a pre-defined list of strings, which is then written to the connected PV. The set of strings may be defined as a QStringList property or read from a text based configuration file. Please see QESelector.pdf, located in qtepics.github.io repo, for details.

QEFormGroupBox

This widget is a combination QEGroupBox/QEForm widget (it inherits from QEGroupBox and contains a QEForm widget).

Please see QEFormGroupBox.pdf, located in qtepics.github.io repo, for details.

Archive access code refactorisation

The main change is to provide a separate thread for dealing with each archive specified by the QE_ARCHIVE_LIST environment variable. In this way, data may be retrieved from one archive without having to wait for all the archives to complete initialising (i.e. providing a list of available PVs).

The other benefit of this update is that the duplicate PV warning, as in warning that the same PV is available from multiple archives, now works as intended.

Known issue: the number outstanding requests status that appear on the stripchart and in the archive status widget sometimes loses track. This is being investigated.

From a users point of view, e.g. when using stripchart to retrieve historical data, there is no change.

From a developer’s point of view, there is no change unless your code relies on in-directly including required header files. See the change made to rad_control.cpp in the qeReadArchive repo for an example of this.

Deprecated Function Removal

Many, but not all, functions/properties etc. flagged as deprecated have been removed.

The most common is the displayAlarmState boolean property and associated support functions. The property itself has been hidden, as in DESIGNABLE false, for many years and has been supceeded by the displayAlarmStateOptions property.

From a users point of view, designing/using ui files, there is no change. However from a developer’s point of view, e.g. developing third party widgets and plugins base on the EPICS Qt framework, some code changes may be required.

QEStriptChart, QEScratchPad etc.

These widgets (i.e. those that inherited from QEAbstractDynamicWidget) have been modified to update the main window title when a config file successfully loaded or saved.

Utility functions have bbeen added to QECommon to help acheive this, and the saveWidget/restoreWidget functions out of the persistanceManager have been modified to return a boolean success/failure value.

2D Data Visualisation

This is still being developed.

The QESurface is now based on own QESurface widget as opposed to the QT widget. This overcomes a number of issues, the main one being the widgget is displayed in-situ as opposed to being a button that opens a separate window.

A data binning capability has been added.

We now expose the margin as a property in QESpectromgram and the QEWaterfall widgets, and modified the QESpectromgram to allow third party display mamanger/plugin to register a customisation paint function.

Like QEImage (see below) the context menus modified to indicate that flip/rotate is a local data manipulation.

Other Changes

QEPvProperties

Modified PV properties to “know” which fields are potential PV names - the loss of obligatory “:” was the driver at the Australian Synchrotron; but is good for more general users anyway.

In the record_field_list.txt, a field name with an * suffix is both read as a long string and flagged as a PV name, and as such these fields get the usual context menu options (plot strip chart etc.).

Added the aSub input fields (A,B,…U) and output fields (VALA, VALB,…VALU) to the set of available fields, and added the common AMSG and UTAG fields to the record field list file to support base-7.0.6.

Note: the widget code now checks for DBF_CHAR, not CHAR when checking for the field type (needs acai-1-6-2 or later).

QEPushButton QERadioButton and QECheckBox

The button properties have been re-redered to locate the more important properties towards the top of the property editor - no function change per se.

All three headers files have been brought into alignment as far as possible.

QENumbericEdit

Updated to allow an optional in built apply button. When selected the write on change, write on enter etc. options are turned off. The value is written only when the apply button is clicked. The default button text is “A” (for apply), however this can be changed with the applyButtonText property.

Also included a force sign property a la QELabel etc.

Note: the default addUnits property value has changed from true to false.

QEGroupBox

Modified the QEGroupBox designer icon to be more QGroupBox like.

QEImage

Modified the context menu text/legend to emphasis that some of the data manipulation controls are local control only. Added use false colour to the options dialog, and made the use false colour and show time functions slot functions. No functional change per se.

QEMenuButton

The QEMenuButton widget now allows the use macros for the button text.

QEPlot

Allow zero pen width and use this to indicate no trace plot required. Also clears any old data when new connection is being (re-)established.

QEPlotter

Ensure effective plot sizes are no greater than available data size (to avoid seg fault).

QEStripChart

When pruging the Stringchart data list of real-time data points, delete in chunks of 100 rather than individually - reduced CPU load for really fast updating PVs. Also removed potential seg fault situation when attempting to access the description.

QERadioGroup

Removed the overly restrictive minimum size limits.

QESubstitutedLabel

The QESubstitutedLabel text property is now hidden, i,e not designable. The actual text prperty value is created from the labelText property and any substitutions.

qegui

Added a Reconnect All PVs menu option to qegui/qeframework. This will close all the channels on the form, and then re-connect and re-subscribe.

Earlier Releases

Please see the release notes 3.7 page for the the 3.7 series release notes.

Please see the release notes 3.6 page for the the 3.6 series release notes.

Please see the release notes 3.5 page for the the 3.5 series release notes.

Please see the release notes 3.4 page for the the 3.4 series release notes.

Last updated: Mon Nov 7 13:51:00 AEDT 2022

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