Changelog: Difference between revisions

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The midas git repository uses tags to denote specific releases. Tags are of the format <code>midas-YEAR-MONTH-SUFFIX</code>, e.g. <code>midas-2019-06-b</code>. This page details the major changes in each release, and highlights how to update client code to adapt to any changes that are not backwards-compatible.
The midas documentation has moved. See [https://midas.triumf.ca/docs/develop/about/releases/ Release notes] for the new list of changes in each midas release.
 
== 2020-12 ==
 
Release <code>midas-2020-12-a</code>
 
Relevant elog entry - [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/2089 2089 (midas-2020-12-a)]
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* New ODB variable <code>/Experiment/Enable sound</code> can be used to globally prevent mhttpd from playing sounds.
* Lazylogger now supports writing data over SFTP.
* <code>modbvalue</code> elements on custom pages now support an <code>onload()</code> callback as well as <code>onchange()</code>. Most elements now also support a <code>data-validate</code> callback.
* Custom pages can now tie a <code>select</code> drop-down box to an ODB value using <code>modbselect</code>.
* Ability to choose whether the code or the current ODB values take precendence for the "Common" settings of an equipment when starting a frontend. See [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/2014 elog thread 2014] for more details, and the "Upgrade guide" below for instructions.
* Minor improvements to mdump program - support for 64-bit data types and ability to load larger events if needed.
* Minor improvements to History plots and Buffers webpage.
* Various bug fixes
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
==== Updating midas ====
 
<nowiki>
cd $MIDASSYS
git pull
git checkout midas-2020-12-a
git submodule update
cd build
make install</nowiki>
 
==== Updating experiment frontends ====
 
Any frontends that are written in the [[Frontend_user_code|MFE framework]] need to have an extra variable declared. This dictates whether the "Common" settings for an equipment get overwritten by the defaults specified in the [[Equipment_List_Parameters|equipment listing]] part of the code when the frontend is started. The old behaviour was that ODB values are never overwritten by the values in the code.
 
<b>To keep the old behaviour, add this line to your frontend code</b> (somewhere near the equipment listing, in the global scope):
 
<code>BOOL equipment_common_overwrite = false;</code>
 
If you do not add a line like this, your compiler will complain that the variable is undefined.
 
== 2020-08 ==
 
Release <code>midas-2020-08-a</code>
 
Relevant elog entry - [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1987 1987 (midas-2020-08-a)]
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* [[Odbxx|C++ ODB interface]] (think of it like a "magic" std::map that syncs changes with the ODB)
* [[Image_History|Image history]] for logging webcam images and displaying timelapses
* Much improved history plots
* Sequencer page is now javascript-based and more responsive
* UTF-8 clean ODB (complains if any TID_STRING is invalid UTF-8)
* mhttpd updated to mongoose 6.16 with much improved mulththreading
* mhttpd updated to use MBEDTLS in preference to problematic OpenSSL
* MidasConfig.cmake contributed by Mathieu Guigue
* Various bug fixes
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
<nowiki>
cd $MIDASSYS
git pull
git checkout midas-2020-08-a
git submodule update
cd build
make install</nowiki>
 
An ODB key has been deprecated / replaced, and you will be warned about this when you restart mlogger:
 
* <code>/Logger/Message file</code> has been replaced by <code>[[Keys_in_the_ODB_/Logger_tree#Message_dir|/Logger/Message dir]]</code> and <code>[[Keys_in_the_ODB_/Logger_tree#Message_file_date_format|/Logger/Message file date format]]</code>. If your "Message file" used to just say "midas.log", then you can just delete the "Message file" key and leave the new entries blank. If you had a more customised value, then read the linked documentation to see how to use the new keys.
 
== 2020-03 ==
 
Release <code>midas-2020-03-a</code>
 
Relevant elog entry - [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1854 1854 (midas-2020-03-a)]
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* [[Python|Python library wrapping the C++ library, with framework for writing clients and frontends.]]
* New ODB tree [[Webserver_ODB_tree|/Webserver]] that gathers all mhttpd settings in one place, including the new ability for mhttpd to act as a [[Webserver_ODB_tree#Proxy|proxy to other web servers]]
* New javascript-based sequencer page (via the "NewSequencer" link in the mhttpd menu)
* Various bug fixes
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
<nowiki>
cd $MIDASSYS
git pull
git checkout midas-2020-08-a
git submodule update
cd build
make install</nowiki>
 
Then, restart mhttpd and configure the new [[Webserver_ODB_tree|/Webserver]] ODB directory to your liking.
 
== 2019-09 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2019-09-a</code> through <code>midas-2019-09-i</code>
 
Relevant elog entries - [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1706 1706 (midas-2019-09)], [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1747 1747 (midas-2019-09-e)], [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1749 1749 (midas-2019-09-g)] and [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1750 1750 (midas-2019-09-i)]
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* New javascript-based history plots (old image-based plots are available via the "OldHistory" link in the mhttpd menu)
* Reduced memory and CPU usage of mhttpd web pages
* Latest version of mxml
* Support for MySQL 8+, which removed the my_global.h header
* Various bug fixes
 
=== Bug fixes ===
 
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/187/drivers-bus-rs232cxx-does-not-compile 187 - drivers/bus/rs232.cxx does not compile after transition to C++]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/186/drivers-bus-tcpipcxx-does-not-compile 186 - drivers/bus/tcpip.cxx does not compile after transition to C++]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/130/mysql-prepare-doesnt-recover-from-mysql 130 - Mysql::Prepare() doesn't recover from MySQL connection going away]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/188/shouldnt-memset-structs-containing-std 188 -  Shouldn't memset structs containing std::string]
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
If updating from a version before <code>2019-06</code>, take special note of the upgrade instructions for that version - you will have to update your client code to adapt to C++.
 
<nowiki>
# Grab the new code
cd $MIDASSYS
git checkout develop
git pull
git checkout midas-2019-09-a
git submodule update
git pull
# Finally, update mxml by updating the submodules
git submodule update --recursive
cd build
cmake ..
make
make install
</nowiki>
 
== 2019-06 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2019-06-a</code>, <code>midas-2019-06-b</code>.
 
Relevant elog entries - [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1564 1564 (midas-2019-06 with cmake and c++)] and [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1526 1526 (How to convert C midas frontends to C++)].
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* Migration from C to C++. '''You will have to make changes to your clients''' (see upgrade guide below).
* Ability to compile using cmake/cmake3 as well as make. To use cmake, you can either build manually with <code>mkdir build; cd build; cmake ..; make; make install</code>, or use the handy shortcut <code>make cmake3</code>. '''Note that the location where libraries and executables are built has changed''' - the OS-specific subdirectories (e.g. <code>/linux/lib</code>) has been replaced by a common <code>/lib</code> and <code>/bin</code>.
* mxml and mscb are now included as git submodules. See the "upgrade guide" instructions for how to checkout the latest version of these modules.
 
=== Bug fixes ===
 
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/183/mhttpd-expand_env-is-broken 183 - mhttpd could write garbage to midas.log, which would break webpages that try to show messages]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/181/sequencer-mhttpd-race-condition-causes 181 - race condition between msequencer and mhttpd could make sequencer webpage buttons useless]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/171/use-of-rpc_ftcp-is-not-thread-safe 171 - make RPC calls more thread-safe]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/180/remove-the-static-modifier-from-the-str 180 - addition of strcomb1 which is thread-safe; strcomb will be deprecated]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/179/mlogger-root-output-crash-from-odb-dump 179 - don't try to send an ODB dump to mlogger's ROOT output, as it would crash mlogger]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/184/broken-empty-elog 184 - don't trap the user in an error loop if elog doesn't exist]
* Minor fixes and stability improvements
 
=== Known issues ===
 
* cmake/cmake3 - ZLIB support is not detected, so gzipped files cannot be written by the logger. Will be fixed in the next release, or you can update midas to a commit after August 2.
* mxml can segfault due to a double free. Will be fixed in the next release, or you can update mxml to commit f6fc49d: <code>cd mxml; git checkout f6fc49d; cd ..</code> and re-compile midas.
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
==== Updating midas ====
 
<nowiki>
# Grab the new code
cd $MIDASSYS
git checkout develop
git pull
git checkout midas-2019-06-b
git submodule update
git pull
git submodule update --init # this will checkout correct versions of mxml and mscb
 
# Tidy up the old build - be sure to delete the deprecated linux directory!
make clean
make cclean
rm -rf linux/bin
rm -rf linux/lib
rmdir linux
 
# Build the new midas
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
make install</nowiki>
 
If you have a script that sets up environment variables, you should change <code>PATH</code> from <code>$MIDASSYS/linux/bin</code> to <code>$MIDASSYS/bin</code>.
 
You should then restart <code>mserver</code>, <code>mlogger</code>, <code>mhttpd</code>, and any other midas programs that you run.
 
==== Cleanup old packages that are now submodules ====
 
As mxml and mscb are included as submodules now, you can remove the external packages that were downloaded previously (assuming they aren't used by other experiments on the same machine). E.g.
 
<nowiki>rm -r $HOME/packages/mxml # new location $MIDASSYS/mxml
rm -r $HOME/packages/mscb # new location $MIDASSYS/mscb</nowiki>
 
==== Update experiment frontends ====
 
The migration from C to C++ is one of the biggest user-facing changes in midas for a long time. Unfortunately it requires manual work from experimenters to update their client code:
 
# Update your Makefile
## Update library search path for code that links against libmidas or mfe.o (<code>$MIDASSYS/linux/lib</code> becomes <code>$MIDASSYS/lib</code>)
## If you reference mxml in your Makefile, change the include path to <code>$MIDASSYS/mxml</code>
## If you explicitly have the compiler as <code>gcc</code>, change it to <code>g++</code>
# Update frontend code to use mfe.h and build as C++
## Add <code>#include "mfe.h"</code> after including <code>midas.h</code>
## Remove <code>extern C</code> brackets around mfe-related code. Ideally there should be no <code>extern C</code> brackets anywhere.
## Ensure that <code>frontend_name</code> and <code>frontend_file_name</code> are <code>const char*</code> rather than <code>char*</code>.
## If you define your own global <code>HNDLE hDB</code>, change it to <code>extern HNDLE hDB</code> to pick up the one provided by mfe.
## Ensure that <code>poll_event</code> and <code>interrupt_configure()</code> use <code>INT</code> rather than <code>INT[]</code> for the <code>source</code> argument.
## If you use <code>extern int frontend_index</code>, change it to use the <code>get_frontend_index()</code> function from mfe.h instead.
## Ensure that the last argument to <code>bk_create</code> is cast to <code>(void**)</code>
# Try to compile, and fix any more compilation errors. Examples may include:
## Duplicate or mismatched declarations of functions defined in mfe.h (fix the mismatched declarations in your code)
## <code>bool debug</code> colliding with declaration in mfe.h (suggest to rename the variable in the client)
## Return value of <code>malloc()</code> etc needs to be cast to the correct data type (e.g. <code>char* s = (char*)malloc(...)</code>)
 
An example diff of a frontend is:
 
<nowiki>
  #include "midas.h"
+ #include "mfe.h"
  #include "msystem.h"
  #include "utils1.h"
 
- #ifdef __cplusplus
- extern "C" {
- #endif
 
- char *frontend_name = FE_NAME;
+ const char *frontend_name = FE_NAME;
 
- HNDLE hDB;
+ extern HNDLE hDB;
 
- #ifdef __cplusplus
- }
- #endif
 
- extern "C" int frontend_index;
 
  INT frontend_init() {
-  printf("We are running as frontend index %d", frontend_index);
+  printf("We are running as frontend index %d", get_frontend_index());
    return SUCCESS;
  }
 
- extern "C" INT interrupt_configure(INT cmd, INT[] source, PTYPE adr) {
+ INT interrupt_configure(INT cmd, INT source, PTYPE adr) {
  return 0;
  }</nowiki>
 
 
== 2019-05 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2019-05-cxx</code> and <code>midas-2019-05-before-cmake</code> were development tags that are not intended to be used more widely.
 
== 2019-03 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2019-03-f</code> through <code>midas-2019-03-h</code>.
 
Relevant elog entries: [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1513 1513 (midas-2019-03-f)], [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1530 1530 (midas-2019-03-g)], [https://midas.triumf.ca/elog/Midas/1543 1543 (midas-2019-03-h)].
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* ODB and event buffer access is now fully thread-safe
* Stability improvements
 
=== Bug fixes ===
 
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/99/db_lock_database-not-protected-against 99 - Protect against recursive calls to db_lock_database() that could cause corruption]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/173/mhttpd-redirection-from-old-odb-paths-goes 173 - Fix redirection from old URL scheme to new scheme]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/167/rpc_client_call-forgets-who-it-is-calling 167 - Avoid RPC timeouts for clients that have already been closed]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/115/need-validation-of-event-size 115 - Better error messages if events are too big]
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
<nowiki>
cd $MIDASSYS
git pull
git checkout midas-2019-03-h
make clean
make</nowiki>
 
== 2019-02 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2019-02-a</code> and <code>midas-2019-02-b</code>.
 
=== Improvements ===
 
* Format of ODB dumps in midas files can now be specified using new ODB key <code>/Logger/Channels/<N>/Settings/ODB dump format</code>. '''Note that the default dump format is now json'''; if your analysis tools parse the ODB dump at the start/end of your midas files, you may want to change the setting to <code>xml</code>.
* Location of most recent end-of-run ODB dump can be set using new ODB key <code>/Logger/ODB Last Dump File</code>.
* New <code>mhttpd_exec_script()</code> javascript function to execute a custom script.
* Rationalised and more secure URL scheme for webpages served by mhttpd
* Conversion of many midas pages to more responsive design
* Stability and usability improvements
 
=== Bug fixes ===
 
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/58/fetest-crazy-data-rate 58 - Reduce data rate of test programs]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/153/problems-with-symbolic-links-in-alias-odb 153 - Simplified creation of webpage aliases in the /Alias tree]
* [https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/136/odb-error-with-link-to-open-record 136 - Fix bug in db_validate_open_records() and 'sor' command in odbedit tht could cause an abort]
 
=== Upgrade guide ===
 
<nowiki>
cd $MIDASSYS
git pull
git checkout midas-2019-02-b
make clean
make</nowiki>
 
== 2018-12 ==
 
Release <code>midas-2018-12-a</code>.
 
== 2017-10 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2017-10-a</code>.
 
== 2017-07 ==
 
Releases <code>midas-2017-07-a</code> through <code>midas-2017-07-c</code>.

Latest revision as of 22:00, 30 October 2026

The midas documentation has moved. See Release notes for the new list of changes in each midas release.

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