This page defines each term the book uses with a specific meaning. The pages
use each term only in the meaning given here.
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|
| ACF | Access security configuration file that an input/output controller (IOC) loads with asSetFilename |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange |
| CA | Channel Access, the EPICS network protocol that caget and caput use |
| CI | Continuous integration: the GitHub Actions workflows under .github/workflows/ |
| DBD | Database definition file |
| ELF | Executable and Linkable Format, the Linux binary format that readelf reads |
| EPICS | Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System |
| GCC | GNU Compiler Collection |
| IOC | Input/output controller: a process that serves EPICS records |
| IPv4 | Internet Protocol version 4 |
| NTP | Network Time Protocol |
| OS | Operating system |
| PR | Pull request |
| PV | Process variable: a named record field that clients read and write |
| PVA | pvAccess, the EPICS network protocol that pvget and pvxget use |
| RHEL | Red Hat Enterprise Linux |
| RPATH | Run-time search path entry in an ELF file; the link option --enable-new-dtags writes a RUNPATH entry instead |
| RUNPATH | Run-time library search path entry in an ELF file, written when the link uses --enable-new-dtags |
| SHA-256 | Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit |
| TCP | Transmission Control Protocol |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
$ORIGIN | The directory of the loaded ELF file; a RUNPATH entry that starts with it is relative to that file |
| configuration type | The <module>_CONF_TYPE value of a module: auto for a generated conf.<module> rule, custom for a hand-written one |
| declared dependencies | The <module>_DEPS list: the build.<module> targets that build before the module |
| installed tree | The directory $(INSTALL_LOCATION)/<release>/<os_id>-<os_version>/<base_version>, which make print-INSTALL_LOCATION_EPICS prints |
| module key | The upper-case name of a module’s SRC_* variables in configure/RELEASE, such as ASYN |
| module set | The EPICS modules that configure/RELEASE declares, each with a pin |
MODULESGEN.mk | The generated file configure/MODULESGEN.mk that holds each module’s repository URL, install directory, and source directory |
null.base | The empty target that stands for EPICS base as the root of every declared dependency list |
| pin | The tag or commit, SRC_TAG_<module_key>, that a module source checks out |
| release triple | The three variables SRC_NAME_<module_key>, SRC_TAG_<module_key>, and SRC_VER_<module_key> that declare one module |
| repository override | A SRC_GITURL_<module_key> line in configure/CONFIG_MODS for a module hosted outside epics-modules |
| unversioned link | The link modules/<module> that make symlinks creates to the versioned directory; modules/seq for the sequencer |
| vendor directory | The directory vendor/ in the installed tree that holds the uldaq and open62541 libraries |
| versioned directory | The install directory modules/<module>-<version> of one module; modules/seq-<version> for the sequencer |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| gate | The strict form of a check that stops a build or a CI run on a finding |
| lost runpath | A shared library in the installed tree that needs another library of the tree but has no $ORIGIN RUNPATH entry to find it |
| report form | The form of a check that prints its findings and exits 0 |
| strict form | The form of a check that exits with a failure code on a finding |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| carry patch | A patch under patch/ that carries an upstream fix onto the pinned EPICS base or pvxs source |
| carry set | Every carry patch whose name starts with the pinned version of its source |
| fixed module patch | A patch under patch/ with a fixed name for one module, applied by its own patch.<name>.apply target |
| version-anchored name | A carry patch name that starts with the source version, so a version bump drops the whole carry set |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| common iocsh fragment | One of the *.iocsh files that make install copies to modules/commonIocsh/iocsh in the installed tree |
| enable macro | A fragment macro that defaults to #--, which comments out an optional part; an empty value enables that part |
| evidence directory | The directory that verify_caputlog.py creates with --output; it must not exist beforehand |
IOCSH_TOP | The IOC macro that names the installed modules/commonIocsh directory; an IOC loads a fragment as $(IOCSH_TOP)/iocsh/<fragment>.iocsh |
| serial configuration file | An iocsh file that an IOC owns and that calls setSerialParams.iocsh once per serial port |
| soft IOC | A prebuilt IOC program that loads records from a database file, such as softIoc of EPICS base or softIocPVX of the pvxs module |