Short Guide to PANDACONTROL
Invoking PANDACONTROL:
(typically already done when you start your experiment)
Login: your username and password on panda4 computer,
if needed start X-Server (startx) and open a terminal window. Enter
panda - starts the instrument control software.
You can start only one (master) copy which allows for active commands. Other copies are slave copies
(read only).
To adapt PANDACONTROL to your personal needs, you may edit and run the file start_propxxx.py in
your ~/pandascripts directory. In the hopefully rare case that a bug makes pandacontrol to be blocked use
the command: killall python on another terminal of panda4 to kill pandacontrol. With the command mv
/data/.slave /data/.master you have to erase the slave flag manually. Then just restart pandacontrol!
Devices on PANDA:
PANDACONTROL provides devices for all physical movements of PANDA, as well as logical devices
as mono, ana, det for complex units. A complete device list is given verso.
Typical devicenames consist of a 3 letter shortcut like ms1. There is a general rule for these shortcuts:
first letter for the part of PANDA ( m = monochromator, a = analyzer, s = sample table),
second letter for the type of the device ( t = translation, g = goniometer),
third letter for the individual device, i.e. sgx : sample table / goniometer / tilt around x –axes.
Simple commands:
read(device) readout the value of the device
status(device) gets the current state of the device ( = ‘idle’ / ‘busy’ / ‘error’)
get(device,’parametername’) gets the current value of a device parameter, for ex. ‘min’
set(device,’parametername’,value) sets the current value of a device parameter
move(device,target) starts the device to move to the new target
wait(device) wait for the device to be idle
maw(device,target) move and wait
switch(device,target) switches device to target value
count(preset) counts for preset time or monitor (mode choosen before)
countmode( ‘time’ or ‘mon1’) time or monitor1 rate choosen for preset
stop(device) stop( ) stops movement of device, stops all default devices
CRTL-C stops all default devices if no command is available ; breaks script
NicmClearStop() resets stop flag
NicmGetStop() read stop flag (0 / 1) for use inside scripts
NicmSetPm(PM_STANDARD) set the print mode
reset(device) status flags to zero, determinates position by encoder
ki(wavevector) / kf(wavevector) move mono / ana for this wavevector; sets const. ki / kf mode
run(‘filename’) execute the file as script
Simple Scan Commands:
sscan(device,start,step,numberofsteps,preset) single sided scan
cscan(device,center,step,stepsperside,preset) centered scan around center
psearch(device,startvalue,range,threshold) peaksearch in a value range of a device
timescan(interval,numberofpoints,preset,’xmgrace’) time dependent counting
Scans and commands for the reciprocal space:
At PANDA the wavevector ki /kf have the unit A-1. The energy transfers may be given in either
Thz or meV using the command to set this unit. Once set the following commands will interpret the
given energy transfers in the selected unit.
SetEneryTransferUnit(‘meV’ or ‘Thz’) set the energy transfer unit used with scan commands
GetEneryTransferUnit() get the energy transfer unit used with scan commands
SetOpMode(‘CK(IorF)’) sets the operation mode (for inelastic (Q,ω)-positions)
calpos(h,k,l, ν,k(i_or_f)) ) calculates spectrometer angles for a (Q,ν)-position
pos() drive spectrometer to previously calpos(Q,ν)-position
Qscan(h,k,l, ν,dh,dk,dl,dν,numberofsteps,k(i_or_f),monitor) universal TAS-scan
qlscan(h,k,l, ν,dq,dν,stepsperside,k(i_or_f),monitor) longitudinal scan across Q(h,k,l)
qtscan(h,k,l, ν,dq,dν,stepsperside,k(i_or_f),monitor) transverse scan across Q(h,k,l)
qcscan(h,k,l, ν,dh,dk,dl,dν,stepsperside,k(i_or_f),monitor) centered scan in Q-hw space)
Command line utilities for quick data visualization and analysis:
In general the user may want to treat the data with his proper tools. The data file format is ASCII.
Some utilities can be used on a terminal command line being in the data directory (e.g. /data/2006):
scanplot prefix list_of_filenumbers xcol ycol option
loads the data into a XmGrace window for further manipulation
prefix: common part of filenames before underscore ( e.g. propxxx)
list_of_filenumbers: comma separated list of filenumbers ( 1001,1002,…)
xcol: column number for x data ( 0 for simple scans; 4,5,6 h,k,l 7 E)
ycol: column number for y data (4 for detector countrate)
option: none, norm, fit, normfit (norm- normalize to monitor; fit – gauss fit with background)
concat prefix list_of_filenumbers
joins the given files into one file with suffix .joined ( without check )
prefix: common part of filenames before underscore ( e.g. propxxx)
list_of_filenumbers: comma separated list of filenumbers ( 1001,1002,…)
sum prefix list_of_filenumbers
sums the equivalent datapoints of the files into one file with suffix .summed ( without check )
prefix: common part of filenames before underscore ( e.g. propxxx)
list_of_filenumbers: comma separated list of filenumbers ( 1001,1002,…)
scanlist –experiment=propxxx lists all scans of a proposal with the header
Movable objects (following the neutron’s path):
Device description extention unit special command
ms1 mono slit 1 2…45 mm
mth mono theta 0…90 deg
mtt mono two theta -26…-120 deg
ss1 sample slits 1 [Link] 0…23 mm
[Link] -23…0
[Link] 0…52 mm
[Link] -52…0
sth sample rotation (theta) 3…355 deg
stt sample two theta 11…126 deg
sgx, sgy sample gonio x-/y-dir. -16…16 deg -2..2 CM
stx, sty, stz sample translation x-/y-/z-dir. -20…20 mm
ss2 sample slits 2 [Link] etc. see ss1 mm
ath analyzer crystal theta 0…180 deg
att analyzer crystal two theta -120…100 deg
afh analyzer focus horizontal 0…300 steps
ana analyzer complete axis kf A-1
mono mono complete axis ki A-1
Switchable objects (following the neutron’s path):
Device description values
ca1 collimator before mono none, 20m, 40m, 60m, guide
sat sample attenuator 0…20
Sample environment
Device description commands description
s_T Temperature controller move(s_T,target) sets setpoint to target
read(s_T) reads sample temperature
set(s_T,’ramprate’,value) sets ramp, [value]=K/min
sTA, sTB regulation / sample read(sTA) reads thermometer