This page contains information about using EPICS with MATLAB and Java in the LCLS Development and Production environments.
Attention:
All scripts in this page are assuming that your current shell is Bash.
- If you are using some other shell such as tcsh, you can switch to bash in your current session by typing "bash" in your terminal.
- If you wish to switch permanently to Bash as your default shell here are some instructions:
In order to change your default shell at login from tcsh (or any other shell) to Bash, please execute the following command on a Linux server on the AFS network, such as a rhel6-64* node. (You will be prompted for your password during this process):
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After that, close the terminal and open a new one. You will be using Bash as the default shell.
You can check if all went well with the following command in a new Terminal window:
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matpva
- matpva is a powerful extension that provides seamless integration between MATLAB and EPICS 7 through the Python P4P module.
How to use matpva
matpva: Integrate EPICS7 into MATLAB using PVAccess for Python (P4P) module
How to test matpva
How to test matpva in DEV and PROD (lcls and facet)
Java
At the time of this writing, the latest version of Java available in Development and Production is 1.8.0_181 (64-bit). In order to use this Java version, source the following scripts depending on your environment:
- Development
/afs/slac/g/lcls/physics/setup/javaSetup-R1.8.0_181.bash - Production
/usr/local/lcls/physics/setup/javaSetup-R1.8.0_181.bash
For Oracle compatibility, the Oracle client used must also be compiled for 64-bit. In order to use the supported 64-bit Oracle client, source the following scripts depending on your environment:
- Development
/afs/slac/g/lcls/tools/oracle/oracleSetup-R11.2.0.4.bash
- Production
/usr/local/lcls/tools/oracle/oracleSetup-R11.2.0.4.bash
EPICS Java APIs
The EPICS Java APIs are located at:
- Development
/afs/slac/g/lcls/epics/java - Production
/usr/local/lcls/epics/java
At these locations you will be able to find the following libraries:
- epicsCoreJava
Includes EPICS 7 (pvaccess, ntypes, pvdata) and JCA libraries - pvaClientJava
Includes pvaClientJava library developed by Marty Kraimer phoebus
This repository contains the whole phoebus code (replacement for the CS-Studio backend) but it also contains the new pva client library developed by Kay Kasemir.exampleJava
Includes a set of examples of client and server code for PVAcess.
MATLAB
Click the version name of MATLAB shown below to move to the detailed instructions for each version.
Installation
For MATLAB admins (epicsmgr group members) only:
- New versions (versions later than 2012a) of MATLAB should be installed in the 3rd-party software package area under the matlab folder:
- Development: /afs/slac/g/lcls/package/matlab
- Production: /usr/local/lcls/package/matlab - Inside the matlab directory, versions should be installed in folders that correspond to their MATLAB version, e.g. 2012a, 2019a, 2020a, 2022b, etc.
At the time of this writing, the latest version of MATLAB deployed for LCLS Development and Production is 2022b.
Individual AFS user accounts in the LCLS Development environment default to set up and use MATLAB 2020a unless overridden.
The default MATLAB versions for shared login accounts in Production are as follows:
| Account | Default MATLAB version |
|---|---|
| physics | 2012a |
| softegr | 2019a |
| laci | 2012a |
License servers for Matlab network licenses
In order to support the latest version of Matlab, the network license service had to be migrated to a newer operating system. The new service is running on servers license701, license702, and license703 (replacing license1, license2, and license3).
Linux users using bash or similar shells should update their environment with the command:
export MLM_LICENSE_FILE=27010@license701,27010@license702,27010@license703
If you are using csh or tcsh, the equivalent command is:
setenv MLM_LICENSE_FILE "27010@license701,27010@license702,27010@license703"
https://slacprod.servicenowservices.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0011921
Running MATLAB
To use one of the supported versions of MATLAB, you need to set up your environment following the appropriate procedures.
Configuring MATLAB
For the Development and Production environments, a set of working configuration files is already provided for users and invoked upon login. Users can override the usage of these files by having their own custom files in the folder where they launch MATLAB (see: Creating A Custom MATLAB Environment).
MATLAB is non-standard Unix software and does not adhere to values set by PATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, CLASSPATH, and other global environment variables that are used by most other Unix software. Instead, MATLAB uses the following configuration files to set its environment:
- Parameters for the Java JVM that runs inside of MATLAB are configured via a java.opts file
- The classpath is configured via a classpath.txt file
- The library search path is configured via a librarypath.txt file
For questions on the installation and deployment of MATLAB in Development or Production, please contact:
- Kuktae Kim (TID-ACS)
- Pascual, Patrick James (EED Systems Group)
java.opts
Description: This file is used to pass variables and configurations to the Java JVM used by MATLAB.
Location:
<matlabroot>/bin/<architecture>/java.opts
e.g., in Development environment: /afs/slac/g/lcls/package/matlab/2019a/bin/glnxa64/java.opts
classpath.txt
Description: This file is used to augment the Java classpath used by MATLAB.
Location:
<matlabroot>/toolbox/local/classpath.txt
e.g., in Development environment: /afs/slac/g/lcls/package/matlab/2019a/toolbox/local/classpath.txt
librarypath.txt
Description: This file is used to augment the library search path used by MATLAB.
Location:
<matlabroot>/toolbox/local/librarypath.txt
e.g., in Development environment: /afs/slac/g/lcls/package/matlab/2019a/toolbox/local/librarypath.txt
Creating A Custom MATLAB Environment
If you need to use a MATLAB environment configuration that does not match the default environment provided in Development or Production, you will need to create your own java.opts, classpath.txt or librarypath.txt files in your working directory prior to launching MATLAB.
It is strongly recommended to only override the files needed in your local workspace, since MATLAB will inspect your current working directory before looking at the global configuration files.
If you need to connect to a different set of EPICS servers, copy the java.opts file from one of the locations above to your local working directory and modify it according to your needs.
If you need to test a new JAR file, copy the classpath.txt file from one of the locations above to your local working directory and modify it according to your needs.
If you need to test a new library to add to the library path, copy the librarypath.txt file from one of the locations above to your local working directory and modify it according to your needs.
Never try to modify the existing global configuration files. If you need changes made to the global configuration files, consult the MATLAB admins for LCLS Development and Production (TID-ACS and EED Systems Group). Any changes to the global MATLAB configuration must be approved and implemented by those groups.
Known issues
1. When MATLAB 2022b starts, you will see the following error message: Warning: X does not support locale en_US.UTF-8
This is a known issue in MATLAB R2022b Update 5. The bug that triggers the warning when starting up MATLAB will be resolved in the upcoming update.
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