forked from M-Labs/artiq
89 lines
3.4 KiB
ReStructuredText
89 lines
3.4 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. Copyright (C) 2014, 2015 Robert Jordens <jordens@gmail.com>
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FAQ
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###
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How do I ...
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============
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prevent my first RTIO command from causing an underflow?
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--------------------------------------------------------
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The first RTIO event is programmed with a small timestamp above the value of the timecounter at the start of the experiment. If the kernel needs more time than this timestamp to produce the event, an underflow will occur. You can prevent it by calling ``break_realtime`` just before programming the first event, or by adding a sufficient delay.
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organize parameters in folders?
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-------------------------------
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Folders are not supported yet, use GUI filtering for now. Names need to be unique.
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enforce functional dependencies between parameters?
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---------------------------------------------------
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If you want to override a parameter ``b`` in the PDB to be ``b = 2*a``,
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use wrapper experiments, overriding parameters by passing them to the
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experiment's constructor (``param_override`` argument).
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write a generator feeding a kernel feeding an analyze function?
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---------------------------------------------------------------
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Like this::
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def run(self):
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self.parse(self.pipe(iter(range(10))))
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def pipe(self, gen):
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for i in gen:
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r = self.do(i)
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yield r
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def parse(self, gen):
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for i in gen:
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pass
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@kernel
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def do(self, i):
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return i
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create and use variable lengths arrays in kernels?
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--------------------------------------------------
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Don't. Preallocate everything. Or chunk it and e.g. read 100 events per
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function call, push them upstream and retry until the gate time closes.
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execute multiple slow controller RPCs in parallel without losing time?
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Use ``threading.Thread``: portable, fast, simple for one-shot calls.
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write part of my experiment as a coroutine/asyncio task/generator?
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------------------------------------------------------------------
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You can not change the API that your experiment exposes: ``__init__()``,
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``build()``, ``run()`` and ``analyze()`` need to be regular functions, not
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generators or asyncio coroutines. That would make reusing your own code in
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sub-experiments difficult and fragile. You can however always use the
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scheduler API to achieve the same (``scheduler.yield(duration=0)``)
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or wrap your own generators/coroutines/tasks in regular functions that
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you then expose as part of the API.
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determine the pyserial URL to attach to a device by its serial number?
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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You can list your system's serial devices and print their vendor/product
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id and serial number by running::
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$ python3 -m serial.tools.list_ports -v
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It will give you the ``/dev/ttyUSBxx`` (or the ``COMxx`` for Windows) device
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names.
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The ``hwid:`` field gives you the string you can pass via the ``hwgrep://``
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feature of pyserial
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`serial_for_url() <http://pyserial.sourceforge.net/pyserial_api.html#serial.serial_for_url>`_
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in order to open a serial device.
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The preferred way to specify a serial device is to make use of the ``hwgrep://``
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URL: it allows to select the serial device by its USB vendor ID, product
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ID and/or serial number. Those never change, unlike the device file name.
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See the :ref:`TDC001 documentation <tdc001-controller-usage-example>` for an example of ``hwgrep://`` usage.
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