hwserver

This is a light wrapper to https://github.com/mwalsh161/ModuleServer including various shared hardware objects interfaced by python.

Installation

• Install python3 via anaconda.
• Clone a local copy of hwserver (this repository).
• Initialize the ModuleServer submodule with git submodule update --init.
• In the future, when pulling ModuleServer updates, use git submodule update.
• Copy the appropriate modules from example.config to the new file server.config to configure this local instance of hwserver.
• Note that modules named with an underscore _ in front are ignored by the config file, so such modules are effectively commented out.
• Be sure that necessary packages (serial, queue) are installed on the appropriate conda environment.
• These can be installed via conda install serial queue.
• Open up a shell with python3 and conda. Depending upon how anaconda was installed, it might be easiest to open a shell via Anaconda Navigator.
• Start hwserver from the hwserver directory via python server.py.
• You may need to use python3 depending upon how your shell is configured.
• Debugmode can be activated by adding any additional argument such as python server.py 1.
• TODO: instructions for autostart with Windows!

Debugging

• Modules loaded on a hwserver instance are configured by the server.config file, which is not tracked by git. A base configuration is included in example.config. Underscored names are considered "comments" and ignored. This is a useful method to unload a module.
• The server will listen on port 0.0.0.0:36577. MAKE SURE YOUR FILEWALL ALLOWS THIS.
• The core of this repository consists of the instruments associated with it, noteably the msquared infrastructure is particular to how we have it set up, and may differ.
• Be sure that old servers (such as the old PulseBlaster server) are not running; these can conflict with the new hwserver implementation.