[evla-sw-discuss] Talking to AntennaPhysical

[Barry Clark]

I have changed the executor to permit access to some functions in
EvlaAntennaPhysical and VlaAntennaPhysical from a browser, without
having to go through a more developed screen.

For a list of those functions, see 
file:/home/mchost/bclark/NRAO/EVLA/observe/target/docs/index.html
This is my personal area; I presume there is the equivalent somewhere 
off in system land, but I don't know where.

The functions that can be accessed are the functions of a single 
basic data type (void, int, double, boolean, or String).  Returns
will only be interpretable if the return is one of the same basic
data types.

The format of the query to give to the browser is
http://mchost.evla.nrao.edu:8888/executor?operation=askAntenna&method=<method name&antennas=<antenna_list>&argtype=<basic_argument_type>&arg=<argument>

The antenna list is a blank separated list of antennas by ID.  The argument,
arg, need not be included if the argtype=void.

Probably the most useful query at the moment would be, for instance,
http://mchost.evla.nrao.edu:8888/executor?operation=askAntenna&method=resetParameters&antennas=ea16&argtype=void
This causes a new set of parameters to be read from the database for antenna
ea16, including the level setting for the BD IFs.  The new parameters will take
effect at the next source change or setHardware (issued either through the 
operator's screen or via another query).

Another amusing one would be 
http://mchost.evla.nrao.edu:8888/executor?operation=askAntenna&method=takeDevice&antennas=va07&argtype=String&arg=l6a
This would cause antenna va07 to continue observing, but suppress sending
commands to the L6 for IFs AC.

Those methods all return void, so they are not very interesting in that 
respect.  But you might say
http://mchost.evla.nrao.edu:8888/executor?operation=askAntenna&method=isTaken&antennas=ea16 ea18 ea24 ea26&argtype=void
This will tell you whether any of antennas ea16, ea18, ea24, or ea26 has been
taken.