1 INTRODUCTION

The software described in this manual is intended to be used in the ESO VLT project by ESO and authorized external contractors only.

While every precaution has been taken in the development of the software and in the preparation of this document, ESO assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damage resulting from the use of the software or of the information contained herein.

1.1 Purpose

This document is the User Manual of the CCS/LCC - Common Access Interface (CAI), version 1.14.

The Common Access Interface is built on top of the database access functions provided by CCS and LCC, making direct accesses to dynamically resolved attributes easier and faster.

This interface provides also services for dynamic access of functions on LCU only.

It is intended to provide all the necessary information to use this software to develop application software running on LCU and WS.

The manual assumes that the reader has a good knowledge of UNIX, VxWorks, C language and is familiar with VxWorks and Unix development environments.

In addition to the Introduction section, this manual contains 4 major sections:

User's Guide, describing the functionality provided by the software, including examples of utilization.

Reference Manual, describing all the functions available to the applications and the application developers.

Installation Guide, describing how to install and make the software ready to be used.

Error Messages, providing the list of errors and diagnostic messages.

1.2 Scope

The CCS/LCC Common Access Interface Software provides an additional set of common functions to the CCS/LCC services and which shall be available on each WS/LCU that requires it.

This implementation consists of one single module (on LCU) / library (on WS):

· cai CCS/LCU Common Access Interface module

· libcai.a CCS/WS Common Access Interface library

The following environments are required to run and make the software described:

· LCU :

· VxWorks Operating System version 5.2 or higher,

· LCU Common Software DEC95 Release

· WS:

· VLT Common Software DEC95 Release

1.3 Reference Documents

The following documents contain additional information and are referenced in the text:

[1] VLT-PRO-ESO-10000-0228, 1.0 10/03/93 --- VLT Software Programming Standards

[2] VLT-MAN-ESO-17210-0619, 1.3 17/08/95 --- CCS Central Common Software User Manual

[3] VLT-MAN-SBI-17210-0001, 2.5 19/01/96 --- LCU Common Software User Manual

[4] VLT-SPE-ESO-17210-0718, 1.2 21/06/95 --- CCS/LCC - Common Access Interface

Functional Specification and Design Document

[5] VLT-MAN-ESO-17200-0642, 1.5 22/01/96 --- VLT Common Software Installation Manual

[6] VLT-MAN-ESO-17200-0981, 1.0 15/01/96 --- VLT Software Problem Report Change Request

User Manual

1.4 Abbreviations and Acronyms

The following abbreviations and acronyms are used in this document:

API Application Programmatic Interface

CAI CCS/LCC Common Access Interface

CCS Central Control Software

DB On-Line Database

DCL Device Control Library (see SDL)

HW Hardware

LCC LCU Common Software

LCU Local Control Unit

SDL Single Device Library (see DCL)

SW Software

TBD To Be Defined

VLT Very Large Telescope

WS WorkStation (Unix)

1.5 Stylistic Conventions

The following styles are used:

bold in the text, for commands, filenames, pre/suffixes as they have to be typed.

italic in the text, for parts that have to be substituted with the real content before typing.

teletype for examples.

<name> in the examples, for parts that have to be substituted with the real content before typing.

bold and italic are also used to highlight words.

1.6 Naming Conventions

This implementation follows the naming conventions outlined in [1].

1.7 Problem Reporting / Change Request

The procedure follows the recommendations stated in [6].

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