new EMC distribution/site

[shackle <shackle-at-cme.nist.gov>]

I have placed a new EMC distribution on the sourceforge website this time.

You can get it either from 

ftp://download.sourceforge.net/pub/sourceforge/EMC/

or

http://sourceforge.net/projects/EMC

and then clicking on the download link near the right side under the heading
 "Latest File Releases"

There are now 2 types of distribution files.

the emcbin-* files contain only:

*  pre-compiled binaries, 
* the example nc programs and configuration files
* the tkl/tk scripts

 but no C/C++ source. Which means after downloading there should be no
 compiling necessary. (There is an install script which just copies librcs.so
to the
 /usr/lib directory.)

the emcsrc-* files contain source code for both EMC and the RCS library. The
install scripts should now be generic enough to install the same files on
either linux 2.0.36 or linux 2.2.14 or if your lucky other versions we haven't
even tried.

There is also a couple of scripts in emc/scripts/generic if you want to build
your own set of distribution files.

packupbin creates the emcbin-* files
packupsrc creates the emcsrc-* files
make_emc_distribution creates both and runs tests 
to make sure all the correct files are checked into CVS and up-to-date,
included
in each archive, and will compile etc.
 
------------------
If anyone else is interested in uploading files to source forge.

1. Tell me, I think i need to set permissions on your sourceforge account.

2. ftp to download.sourceforge.net (you need to use a real FTP client that
allows
uploads not just netscape). cd to the "incoming" directory, upload your files.

3. Login to sourceforge and go to 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/EMC

4. Click on "Project Admin" on the left side about 3/4 of the way down, 
then "[Edit/Add File Releases]" near the right/bottom corner, then "[Add/Edit
 Releases]" on the line for the EMC package. You can either add a new release
or
 edit an existing one to add additional files to an existing release. Either
way you
 will get to a large HTML form where among other things you can select the
files
 that are currently in the incoming directory that should be moved to the EMC
 directory.

--------------------------------------


Here are the release notes for this ditribution.





1. FYI-- we're using SourceForge now. It doesn't affect the releases
		      but it's worth noting here.

		      2. Fixed problem in emc/src/emcmot/emcstepmot.c, the old
stepper motor
		      algorithm, that cleared the .ini file params for P, I, D,
etc.

		      3. Fixed problem in emctaskmain.cc that caused an
indefinite pause
		      when M1 was the last line in a program. This is allowed,
without an
		      M2, so that program snippets can be fed from our
feature-based
		      programming controller without an M2 which would reset
the modes. Also
		      fixed a problem where the EMC reported done when a final
M1 was still
		      paused. This included added a check for the outstanding
command being
		      done, as well as the interp list being empty. Previously
only the
		      interp list length was checked, so the outstanding
command could still
		      have been ready to run after we reported done.

		      4. Cleaned up handling of synchronization of interpreter
with the
		      external world by removing CANON_UPDATE_POSITION and
doing the update
		      of the canonEndPoint values in GET_EXTERNAL_POSITION.
This should have
		      no net effect. The original effect is to update the end
point when an
		      abort was done, to fix the problem where motion was slow
after an
		      abort. 

		      5. Added probing.

		      6. Added operator information messages to TkEMC/emcsh.cc,
so that
		      operator messages don't pop up in a window labeled
"Error". Now, NC
		      messages, e.g., (MSG,Load tool 1) pop up in a window
labeled
		      "Information".

		      7. Added bidirectional lead screw compensation. Files of
compensation
		      points look like this (these sample comp values are
exaggerated):

		      0.000000	      0.000000	      -0.001279
		      0.100000	      0.098742	      0.051632
		      0.200000	      0.171529	      0.194216
		      0.300000	      0.292485	      0.291030
		      0.400000	      0.439511	      0.367981
		      0.500000	      0.451323	      0.493962
		      0.600000	      0.618011	      0.618044
		      0.700000	      0.669925	      0.735979
		      0.800000	      0.798637	      0.787879
		      0.900000	      0.889286	      0.927685
		      1.000000	      1.007024	      0.959853
		      ...

		      where the first column is the commanded axis position,
the second
		      column is the measured position (like with a laser) in
the forward
		      direction, and the last column is the measured position
in the reverse
		      direction.

		      You specify these files in the .ini file for each axis
with the
		      [AXIS_#] COMP_FILE = <filename>, e.g.,

		      [AXIS_0]
		      ...
		      COMP_FILE = x.cmp

		      This entry is optional. If it's not there, no
compensation is done.

		      8. There was a bug in stg2.c which meant that the 2
variables that should
		      both store the IO base address of the Servo-To-Go card
could be out of sync. One variable was used for amplifier/motor/encoder inputs
and outputs and the other for miscellaneous digital IO, such as the HOME
switch. Now both should either be set automatically or both preset. The module
parameter FIND_STG_BASE_ADDRESS which defaults to one can be set to zero to
disable the automatic search of IO addresses for the STG board. This affects
only model two drivers such as stg2mod.o not stgmod.o.

		      9. Added new install scripts and a script
emc/script/generic/make_emc_distribution that can be used to make the set of
EMC distribution files.

		      10. The distribution files were changed from having a
binary of rcslib and source for EMC to either full source (both EMC and RCSLIB)
emcsrc-* or full binary
		      emcbin-*.






-- Will



-------------------------------------------------
William Penn Shackleford III			shackle-at-nist.gov
National Institute of Standards & Technology	Tel:	(301) 975-4286
100 Bureau Drive Stop 8230			FAX:	(301) 990-9688
Gaithersburg MD  20899	USA
http://www.isd.mel.nist.gov/personnel/shackleford/
Office Location: Bldg. 220 Rm A253