5. CCF Widgets

The CCF (ELT ICS Camera Control Framework) widgets provide ready-to-use PySide6 widgets for monitoring and controlling the CCF subsystem. Each widget encapsulates the communication facades it needs, the OLDB (Online Database) paths it monitors, and the UI logic for display and interaction.

All CCF widgets share the same base architecture:

• They inherit from BaseMalWidget

• They override _setup_facades() to register the MAL facades they need

• They use a frozen @dataclass to build OLDB paths from dcs_db_prefix

• They call _update_db_models() to bind Taurus labels to OLDB data points

• They call _init_gui() to wire up Qt signals for UI interactions

• remove_bgrole() is called automatically at the end of __init__, allowing QSS themes to control widget appearance uniformly

5.1. Widget Constructor Signatures

All widgets accept parent, base_uri, and dcs_db_prefix as their first three parameters. Some widgets require additional parameters for camera, pipeline, or publisher identification.

Widget	Additional Parameters
CcfStateWidget	none
CcfSetupWidget	none
CcfAcquisitionWidget	camera_name: str
CcfRecordingWidget	camera_name: str
CcfPipelineWidget	pipeline_name: str, remote_ddt_dic: dict
CcfBaseRecipeWidget	pipeline_name: str, recipe_name: str, named_attributes: dict[str, str] | None
CcfBasePublisherWidget	pipeline_name: str, publisher_name: str, named_attributes: dict[str, str] | None
CcfDdtPublisherWidget	pipeline_name: str, publisher_name: str, remote_ddt_uri: str | None

5.2. Instantiating a Widget

The basic pattern is:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfStateWidget

base_uri = "zpb.rr://127.0.0.1:12091"
dcs_db_prefix = "cii.oldb:///ccftest/testdcs"

state_widget = CcfStateWidget(self, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix)
layout.addWidget(state_widget)

Note

The dcs_db_prefix is typically queried from the running CCF application at startup using a synchronous MAL call to DcsCmds.GetConfig("sys::oldb_prefix"). See the ccfGui Design Decisions chapter for details.

5.3. OLDB Paths Dataclasses

Each widget pairs with a frozen dataclass that constructs OLDB paths from the dcs_db_prefix and optional identifiers. These dataclasses are visible in the public API via the module __init__.py.

For example, CcfStateOldbPaths:

@dataclass(frozen=True)
class CcfStateOldbPaths:
    dcs_db_prefix: str

    @property
    def state_path(self) -> str:
        return f"{self.dcs_db_prefix}/sm/state"

    @property
    def simulated_path(self) -> str:
        return f"{self.dcs_db_prefix}/status/server/simulation"

5.4. Widget Descriptions

5.4.1. CcfStateWidget

Displays the CCF state machine state and simulation status via Taurus labels. Provides controls to send Init, Enable, Disable commands through the STD IF.

CcfStateWidget displaying state machine state and simulation status

The widget connects to the StdCmdsFacade and DcsCmdsFacade via the base_uri. OLDB paths are built from CcfStateOldbPaths.

Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfStateWidget

state_wdg = CcfStateWidget(parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix)
layout.addWidget(state_wdg)

5.4.2. CcfAcquisitionWidget

Handles acquisition control and displays acquisition statistics. Shows acquisition mode, frame rate, throughput, jitter, lost frames, and the frame counter for a given camera.

CcfAcquisitionWidget showing acquisition mode, statistics, and frame counter

Requires camera_name to construct camera-specific OLDB paths.

Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfAcquisitionWidget

acq_wdg = CcfAcquisitionWidget(parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "testsimcamera1")
layout.addWidget(acq_wdg)

5.4.3. CcfSetupWidget

Provides exposure configuration controls. Displays and allows editing of:

• Exposure time

• Frame rate

• Number of frames

• Binning (X, Y)

• ROI window (start X, start Y, width, height)

CcfSetupWidget providing exposure configuration and ROI window controls

Displays current values via Taurus labels bound to OLDB data points. Sends configuration changes as DcsCmds.Setup commands triggered by the “Setup” button for exposure parameters and the “Set Window” button for window parameters.

Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfSetupWidget

setup_wdg = CcfSetupWidget(parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix)
layout.addWidget(setup_wdg)

5.4.4. CcfRecordingWidget

Manages raw data recording sessions. Shows recording status, session ID, remaining time, start/end times, frames processed and remaining, files generated, and the total recorded size.

CcfRecordingWidget managing raw data recording sessions

Requires camera_name for camera-specific OLDB paths.

Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfRecordingWidget

rec_wdg = CcfRecordingWidget(parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "testsimcamera1")
layout.addWidget(rec_wdg)

5.4.5. CcfPipelineWidget

A composite widget that dynamically assembles recipe and publisher widgets for a given pipeline. It discovers available recipes and publishers from OLDB at construction time, then creates sub-widgets for each.

Pipeline-level settings include enabled state, output queue size, and frame skipping. Each recipe and publisher is wrapped in a CollapseButton for expand/collapse behavior.

CcfPipelineWidget with dynamically assembled recipe and publisher sub-widgets

The widget uses get_datapoint_value() to read the adapter type for each publisher and instantiates the appropriate widget subclass:

• ifw::ccf::stdpub::PubDdt → CcfDdtPublisherWidget

• Any other adapter → CcfBasePublisherWidget

Publishers also accept a named_attributes parameter that maps discovered datapoint names to custom display labels. The widget’s _PUBLISHER_NAMED_ATTRIBUTES dict in ccfpipelinewidget.py defines these mappings per adapter type:

_PUBLISHER_NAMED_ATTRIBUTES: dict[str, dict[str, str]] = {
    "ifw::ccf::stdpub::PubRtms": {
        "max_rate": "Max Rate",
        "bpp": "Bpp",
        "address": "Address", ... },
    "ifw::ccf::stdpub::PubFits": {
        "nb_of_frames": "Number of Frames",
    },
}

When a recipe needs adapter-specific handling, the commented block in ccfpipelinewidget.py shows how to dispatch to a specialized widget subclass. For example:

adapter_type = get_datapoint_value(
    f"{oldb_paths.recipes_path}/{recipe_name}/adapter"
)
if adapter_type == "ifw::ccf::stdrec::RecCustom":
    widget = CcfCustomRecipeWidget(...)
else:
    widget = CcfBaseRecipeWidget(
        ..., named_attributes=named_attributes)

The remote_ddt_dic parameter is a dictionary mapping remote DDT broker URIs for DDT publishers. Each key is a publisher name and the corresponding value is the broker URI used by CcfDdtPublisherWidget for remote connection. For example:

remote_ddt_dic = {
    "publisher0": "zpb.rr://10.10.10.10:12011/broker",
    "publisher1": "zpb.rr://10.10.10.11:12021/broker",
}

A publisher not listed in the dictionary will use the local broker.

Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfPipelineWidget

pipeline_wdg = CcfPipelineWidget(
    parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "pipeline0", remote_ddt_dic
)
tab_widget.addTab(pipeline_wdg, "pipeline0")

5.4.6. Publisher Widgets

The publisher widgets display and control settings for data publishers within a pipeline. They all share the same pipeline_name and publisher_name parameters.

5.4.6.1. CcfBasePublisherWidget

Base publisher widget displaying enabled state, start time, status, frames handled, and volume handled. Dynamically discovers additional OLDB datapoints under the publisher’s setup path (properties/setup/dcs/{pipeline}/{publisher}/) and adds them as TaurusLabel widgets. Sets the Taurus format based on OLDB data type: doubles use "{:~.3f}" (3 decimal places), integers use "{0}". The named_attributes parameter provides custom display labels for discovered datapoints. Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfBasePublisherWidget

widget = CcfBasePublisherWidget(
    parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "pipeline0", "publisher0",
    named_attributes={"max_rate": "Max Rate", "port": "Port"},
)

5.4.6.2. CcfDdtPublisherWidget

Specialized subclass of CcfBasePublisherWidget for the PubDdt adapter. Inherits all base functionality and adds:

• “Open DDT Viewer” button that launches ddtViewer via QProcess

• Remote Broker label showing the remote DDT broker URI or “Not Used”

• DDT-specific named attributes (ddt_broker, ddt_id, ddt_max_rate)

Subclasses of CcfBasePublisherWidget (which inherits BaseMalWidget) override _setup_adapter_specific() to inject their UI elements. This widget provides the pattern for adding adapter-specific controls. Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfDdtPublisherWidget

widget = CcfDdtPublisherWidget(
    parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "pipeline0", "publisher0",
    remote_ddt_uri="zpb.rr://10.10.10.10:12011/broker",
)

5.4.7. Recipe Widget

5.4.7.1. CcfBaseRecipeWidget

Base widget for pipeline recipes. Displays and controls recipe enabled state, adapter configuration, and delay. Dynamically discovers additional OLDB datapoints under the recipe’s setup path (properties/setup/dcs/{pipeline}/{recipe}/), skipping enabled and delay which are always bound statically. Discovered datapoints are formatted the same as publishers: doubles use "{:~.3f}", integers use "{0}". The named_attributes parameter provides custom display labels. Example:

from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfBaseRecipeWidget

widget = CcfBaseRecipeWidget(
    parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "pipeline0", "recipe0",
    named_attributes={"exposure_time": "Exp. Time"},
)

To create a specialized recipe widget for a specific adapter, subclass CcfBaseRecipeWidget and override _setup_adapter_specific(). The base class handles facade registration and remove_bgrole():

class CcfCustomRecipeWidget(CcfBaseRecipeWidget):
    def __init__(self, parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix,
                 pipeline_name, recipe_name, custom_param=None):
        super().__init__(
            parent, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, pipeline_name, recipe_name
        )
        self._custom_param = custom_param

    def _setup_adapter_specific(self):
        # Add custom UI elements here
        pass

5.5. Connection State Handling

All CCF widgets inherit connection state handling from BaseMalWidget. Each widget registers its facades via register_facade() during _setup_facades(), and the base class automatically monitors all of them. When any registered facade disconnects, the widget visually grays out, providing immediate feedback to the user.

5.6. Laying Out a Basic Panel

A typical panel groups widgets by function. Here is an example layout:

from taurus.external.qt.QtCore import Slot

from ifw.wdglib.comm import ConnectionManager
from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfStateWidget
from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfSetupWidget
from ifw.wdglib.widgets.ccf import CcfPipelineWidget

base_uri = "zpb.rr://127.0.0.1:12091"
dcs_db_prefix = "cii.oldb:///ccftest/testdcs"

conn_mgr = ConnectionManager()
conn_mgr.auto_connect = True

# State and setup widgets
state_wdg = CcfStateWidget(self, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix)

setup_wdg = CcfSetupWidget(self, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix)

pipeline_wdg = CcfPipelineWidget(
    self, base_uri, dcs_db_prefix, "pipeline0", {}
)

# Add to layout
std_dock_layout.addWidget(state_wdg)
dcs_dock_layout.addWidget(setup_wdg)
pipeline_tab.addTab(pipeline_wdg, "pipeline0")

This pattern follows the same approach used in ccfGui, where widgets are added to layouts defined in a Qt Designer .ui file.