Universal programming interface with concurrent access

Software · Thu Oct 07 00:00:00 EDT 2004

OSTI ID:1230752

Alferov, Oleg

There exist a number of devices with a positioning nature of operation, such as mechanical linear stages, temperature controllers, or filterwheels with discrete state, and most of them have different programming interfaces. The Universal Positioner software suggests the way to handle all of them is with a single approach, whereby a particular hardware driver is created from the template and by translating the actual commands used by the hardware to and from the universal programming interface. The software contains the universal API module itself, the demo simulation of hardware, and the front-end programs to help developers write their own software drivers along with example drivers for actual hardware controllers. The software allows user application programs to call devices simultaneously without race conditions (multitasking and concurrent access). The template suggested in this package permits developers to integrate various devices easily into their applications using the same API. The drivers can be stacked; i.e., they can call each other via the same interface.

• Short Name / Acronym: Universal Positioner; 001760IBMPC00
• Version: 00
• Programming Language(s): Medium: X; OS: Windows 2000 or later.; Compatibility: PC
• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1230752
• Country of Origin: United States