Introduction

The software for FIES consists of different modules, that communicate in different ways. On the control PC you will find three programs with a similar structure. The programs are BIAS, FIES and TEMP. They all function in two ways: one can either start them in a command line mode or as daemons, where they receive their commands through named pipes (FIFOS). This way they can be controlled by a different program. For debugging purposes one might prefer the command line mode, where the device controlled can be tested independently.

The BIAS is a special version of the Brorfelde code with the pipe facility included as well as Remote Procedure Calls to the operating system for the telescope (TCS). The coordinates and other telescope information can be demanded and included in the FITS headers this way.

The FIES code controls the few operations possible with the spectrograph like focusing, switching on and off calibration lamps and opening/closing thw two shutters (one for each of the two fibers).

The TEMP code controls the temperature recording system, which has 5 sensors placed at various locations in or outside the spectrograph.

If these codes run as daemons, it is possible to write special programs that send commands to the instrument as a whole, providing a flexible possibility to implement non standard operations.

Normally the user will make the observations using the GUI, which provide the standard command sequences that an observer would normally need. Also the relevant information about the system will be shown like the status of the calibration lamps, shutters etc. The layout is presented graphically in the following figure

Reduction of the images

The images are written to a disk, where they can be accessed by the IRAF package, either running on the same PC as the other programs or preferably on a different PC or workstation.

Status

Jacob should define a communication protocol based on RPC (Remote Procedure Calling) to be used for interprocess communication. He should also provide a simple example of such communication between two programs. The protocol should be described in an official communication document. Priority = high.

Søren should organize a first example of a graphical user interface to FIES including a communication interface and a standalone mode. A list of commands and output provided by the GUI should be prepared in terms of a GUI document.

Søren should after receiving the proper information from Jacob rewrite the FIES BIAS code. It should include ability to communicate with the TCS to get all parameters needed for the FITS headers. It should also contain a communication option making it possible to control BIAS by remote requests using RPC procedure calls. The list of remote commands should be given in a documentation describing the special features of this version of BIAS.

Peter S. is responsible for the 'Sequencer' code, but this general code should be discussed at the NOT and requirements worked out. The requirements must be made available to the whole team as soon as they are ready in order to plan the possible modifications required for the instrument related software, FIES GUI, BIAS, ALFOSC software.