Open XAL

Features

Open XAL is designed to be a flexible application framework for developing accelerator physics applications with the following features:

Open Source collaboration with dozens of developers across several sites
Pure Java for cross platform development and deployment
Application Framework for rapidly developing modern applications
Toolbox of Java packages
Collection of applications (over four dozen) and services
EPICS Channel Access support
Ant based build system independent of IDE

API Documentation

More Open XAL documenation will be available as the project progresses.

Open XAL API Javadoc
Browse Main Source Code - Latest Open XAL Code

Building Open XAL

Below are the recommended system configuration tools for building and running Open XAL:

Java J2SE 8 with JDK
Git 2.3 - (required for development only)
Ant 1.9.4 - (required for development only)
JRuby 9.0 - (optional: running JRuby scripts)
Jython 2.7 - (optional: running Jython scripts)

Steps to get the source code and build Open XAL applications and services:

git clone https://github.com/openxal/openxal.git
cd openxal
ant

Please be sure to review and follow the project's specifications before commiting any code back to the project. Specifically, you should always follow the project's coding standards and the versioning rules. Coding for each task should take place on a task specific branch. Tom Pelaia will manage the master branch.

Contributing to Open XAL

Below are the steps for contributing code back to the Open XAL community:

Propose a change to the community at a workshop or start a conversation on a repository and get feedback.

If accepted by the community:

Issue a ticket for the project using the ticket system and take ownership or get someone else to take ownership.

Create a new branch for your ticket using the "milestone.ticketname" convention whether the milestone is represented with "m" followed by the milestone number and "ticketname" is a short name for your ticket. For example, a suitable branch name for a milestone one ticket to implement a formula parser could be "m1.formulaparser".

Implement your code and commit it to your ticket branch.

Notify the owner of the master branch who will then review your changes and merge your code into the master branch.

If not accepted by the community, you might:

Create your own site specific branch using the "site.siteName" prefix such as "site.mylab.master" replacing "mylab" with a short name for your site.

Implement your code and commit it to your site specific branch.

It is preferable to keep your code in synch with the community's branch so we have a coherent path forward with the project.

Please be sure to review and follow the project's specifications before commiting any code back to the project. Specifically, you should always follow the project's coding standards and the versioning rules. Coding for each task should take place on a task specific branch. Tom Pelaia will manage the master branch.

While you are free to maintain your custom site specific branches on the Open XAL GitHub project site, you must still abide by all applicable laws (e.g. copyright laws). For example, don't add jar files or source code that you are not free to distribute to the public under our BSD style license.

Specifications

The following specifications are being implemented.

Software Management Guide (including coding standards)
Versioning
Project Structure
Database Abstraction
Localization
XAL Devices

Supporting Documentation

The following documents and presentations provide supporting information for this project.

Roadmap

Open XAL Phase II Tasks are in progress. The goal is to migrate the current version of XAL used at SNS to a new project more suitable for collaborative development. For deliverables detail, please see the Open XAL Tickets.

Due Date	Progress	Task	Lead	Comment
October 31, 2010	100%	Project Creation Push current SNS modifications to XALDEV. Create new repository trunk and move XALDEV aside. Create new project skeleton in repository. Identify third party jars to retain in core and copy to new repository. Create Ant tasks for building core and database sections.	Tom Pelaia	Creates a skeleton project for Open XAL.
December 31, 2010	100%	Website Development Design and publish Open XAL website.	Tom Pelaia	Ongoing maintenance and content updates continue after due date.
February 15, 2011	100%	Application Framework Migration Determine Application Framework modifications and copy to core.	Tom Pelaia
April 30, 2011	100%	Online Model Development Design and implement new XAL online model.	Christopher Allen
September 30, 2011	100%	Fix Compiler Lint Warnings Fix all compiler warnings when compiling with all lint warnings enabled.	Tom Pelaia
February 28, 2012	100%	JSON Framework Development Design and implement JSON based services framework.	Tom Pelaia
February 28, 2012	100%	Common Package Migration Determine which core packages will be retained, modified (e.g. for database abstraction, removal of deprecated APIs) and where they will reside in the new project structure. Copy retained, unmodified packages to new repository trunk using new package naming convention and project structure Modify and copy remaining retained core packages to new repository.	Tom Pelaia	These packages should exclude services, application framework, online model, devices and test suites.
December 31, 2012	100%	Services Migration Identify, modify and copy retained services to the common services section using new package naming convention.	Tom Pelaia
June 30, 2013	100%	Milestone 1 Tickets Project architecture and JDK 7 migration. Online Model: collaboration integration, state fetching performance, benchmarking. Scan bug fixes.	Collaboration
December 31, 2013	100%	Milestone 2 Tickets Port common XAL applications and services to Open XAL and keep Open XAL synchronized with XAL patches. Split project into common core, extensions, plugins, services and applications. Virtual Accelerator Enhancements. Design and develop robust lattice generator. Online Model machine parameter calculator. Probe Editor Enhancements. Extract WheelSwitch out of external jar and into the main code. Extract matrix operations formerly in Jama into the main code.	Collaboration
June 30, 2014	100%	Milestone 3 Tickets Elapsed Time Mechanism for Bending Dipoles Launcher Application version 1.1 Use Java Generics in Online Model Support Scripts in Application Framework Add convenience class and methods to DispatchQueue Fix JavaDoc errors Build a distributed services system Update the services framework to support web sockets Generate XML Schemas Configurable element mapping Generate Documentation Implement a resource manager for loading resources (adding support for site specific resources and both jar and file based) Support application based extensions Various Bugfixes	Collaboration
September 30, 2014	100%	Milestone 4 Tickets Reduce memory footprint of service communication Partial Trajectory Orbit	Collaboration
December 31, 2014	100%	Milestone 5 Tickets Post the BSD License Create Experiment Automator Application	Collaboration

Pending	Paused	Progress	Done

Meetings and Workshops

Virtual

International Online Video Meetings

2020, Jun. 16: ESS presentation
2018, Mar. 22: ESS presentation
2017, Nov. 21: ESS presentation and SNS presentation
2017, Mar. 28
2016, Aug. 25

In Person

May 2017 Satellite meeting at IPAC'17 in Copenhagen, Denmark
June 2015 CSNS Software Symposium at China Spallation Neutron Source in Dongguan, Guangdong, China
May 2015 Satellite meeting at IPAC in Richmond, VA
March 2014 Workshop at the European Spallation Source in Lund, Sweden
July 2013 Workshop at SNS, Oak Ridge National Lab in Oak Ridge, TN
May 15, 2013 Satellite Meeting at IPAC in Shanghai, China
December 2012 Workshop at FRIB, Michigan State University in Lansing, MI
May 2010 Workshop at SNS, Oak Ridge National Lab in Oak Ridge, TN

Training

January 2014 - Control Room Accelerator Physics course at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School

External Resources

XAL Course Material - U.S. Particle Accelerator School 2008
EPICS
JCA/JNI
JCA/CAJ