Naming Conventions for Control System Devices

Note: this document is currently being updated. Notably, the examples are not yet finalized.

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Defining a Naming Convention for devices in the LCLS Control System has been an iterative process. The first version was a variation on the existing SLAC SLC Naming Scheme. With the LCLS and the addition of X-Ray transport lines and experimental halls, we decided to extend the Original LCLS scheme to what is described here.

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Format Summary

Devices are named with a sequence of characters in the following format:
*DeviceType* : *Area* : *Position*
An example of a device name looks like this:

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*QUAD*

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 : *IN20*

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 : *122*

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There are functions and parameters associated with devices, which also need to be identified. An _Attribute_ field provides that information:

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*DeviceType*

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 : *Area*

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 : *Position*

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 : *Attribute*

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The _DeviceType_ and _Position_ fields also have optional characters.  We can denote optional symbols with *\[* and *\]*, so the names can be described as:

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*\[*

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 DeviceType *\]*

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 *DeviceDetail*

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 : *Area

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 *

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:

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 *\[*

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 PositionPrefix *\]*

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 *Position*

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 : *Attribute*

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*To summarize*:

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Constraints

• All fields are required to be Upper Case characters.
• The entire name is currently restricted to 28 characters or less.
• The DeviceType is between 3 and 9 characters in length. The generic type of device is denoted by 3 or 4 characters, and may optionally be followed by an underscore with 3 or 4 more characters to indicate details of that device.
• The Area field is 4 characters in length, and describes one of the 21 areas currently in the LCLS Accelerator.
• The Position field can be up to 4 characters in length, which includes either an optional 1-character position prefix followed by 3 digits (for devices associated with the beam line) or 2-character prefix followed by an index for non-beam-line devices which are itemized.
• The Attribute field must be 12 characters or less.

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