BIGCOUNTERS(OPCSDEFS) Optical Printer Control System BIGCOUNTERS(OPCS)
NAME
bigcounters - sets the style of the onscreen counters
SYNOPSIS
bigcounters on # big counters (same as 'large')
bigcounters off # small font counters (same as 'mocon')
bigcounters large # (K2.xx) big counters, takes 17 lines on display
bigcounters nixie # (K2.xx) "nixie" counters, maximizes digits
bigcounters mocon # (K2.xx) small font counters, showing ALL mocon channels
bigcounters small # (K2.xx) small font counters, takes 3 lines on display
DESCRIPTION
This command controls the style of counter display you see
at the top of the OPCS screen.
In OPCS K1.xx the only options were 'on' and 'off'.
The other options were added in K2.xx and up.
The best display for simple printing is either 'bigcounters on'
(default) or 'bigcounters nixie', the latter a slightly smaller
size allowing for more digits per counter, but both sizes easy to
read from across a room.
For motion control moves, it's best to have 'bigcounters mocon',
which shows the small printer counters, and the positions of all
channels A-P. This way while axes are moving, you can monitor
all their positions in realtime.
The absolute smallest counters are 'bigcounters small', which take up
only the top 3 lines of the screen, leaving the rest for the camera
operator's command history.
With one of the above commands in your OPCSDEFS.OPC file,
the system will always start up with the mode you prefer.
COUNTER OVERFLOWS
The software internally manages frame numbers in 32-bits,
and therefore can handle values in the range of +/-2 billion.
However, the counter /display/ has a digit limit, and the
counters will 'clock over' (similar to a car's odometer)
if the number of digits goes beyond the display's limits.
For 'bigcounters yes' (See BIGCOUNTERS(OPCSDEFS)), the limit
is 6 digits, i.e. -99,999 thru 999,999.
For 'bigcounters nixie', in K2.10 and up supports 8 digits,
i.e. -9,999,999 thru 99,999,999.
In either case, when the counter overflows, it 'clocks over'
to zero. In version K2.10 and up, a hash flag appears to the
left of the counters warning of counter overflow, e.g.
..or in "ASCII art", that would be:
######################################################################
#### ## ## ##
### ## ## #### ##
## ## ## # ## ## ##
## ## ## ## ## ## ##
#### ## ## ## ## ##
### ## ## ## ## ##
## ## ## # ## ## ##
## ## ## ## #### ##
#### ## ## ##
######################################################################
Similarly, negative underflows (counts below zero) unclock to
zero displaying a negative sign prefix.
For 'bigcounters yes', counter progression works this way, where
'//' represents the hashmark:
Actual Frame 'bigcounter yes' Display
------------ ------------------------
-100,002 // -2 <-- wraps to -2, shows hashmark
-100,001 // -1 <-- wraps to -1, shows hashmark
-100,000 // 0 <-- wraps to -0, shows hashmark
-99,999 -99,999
-98,999 -98,999
: :
-1 -1
0 0
1 1
: :
999,998 999,998
999,999 999,999
1,000,000 // 0 <-- wraps to 0, shows hashmark
1,000,001 // 1 <-- wraps to 1, shows hashmark
: :
For 'bigcounters nixie', in version K2.10 and up, counter progression
works this way:
Actual Frame 'bigcounters nixie' Display
------------ ---------------------------
: :
-10,000,002 // -2 <-- wraps to -2, shows hashmark
-10,000,001 // -1 <-- wraps to -1, shows hashmark
-10,000,000 // -0 <-- wraps to -0, shows hashmark
-9,999,999 -9,999,999
-9,999,998 -9,999,998
: :
-1 -1
0 0
1 1
: :
99,999,998 99,999,998
99,999,999 99,999,999
100,000,000 // 0 <-- wraps to 0, shows hashmark
100,000,001 // 1 <-- wraps to 1, shows hashmark
100,000,002 // 2 <-- wraps to 2, shows hashmark
: :
This 'clock over' behavior is only true of the display..
the software still internally keeps track of actual positions,
so that commands like 'cam >2000000' will still work correctly.
Note that 'bigcounters small' and 'bigcounters mocon' does not
clip digits at all, and can display the full abilities of 32bit
numbers.
> Use 'bigcounters small' to maximize operator's screen history
(21 lines of screen history)
> Use 'bigcounters mocon' monitors all channels for motion control moves.
(18 lines of screen history)
> Use 'bigcounters nixie' for normal printing and medium sized counters.
(14 lines of screen history)
> Use 'bigcounters large' for normal printing and largest counters.
(12 lines of screen history)
HISTORY
In K1.xx, only 'on' and 'off' were available, which are the
equivalent of 'large' and 'mocon' respectively in K2.00 and up.
In version K2.00 the options "small", "nixie", "mocon" and "large"
were added to make it easier to specify the 4 different counter styles.
BUGS/LIMITATIONS
See above regarding display counter overruns.
In OPCS K1.xx and older, errors detected in OPCSDEFS files do not print
the line number on which the error was detected.
In K2.00 and up, errors include the line number.
ORIGIN
Gregory Ercolano, Los Feliz California 12/15/89