> [which c++]
> 
> - Linux RHEL/SL/CentOS6 - gcc 4.4.7, no C++11.
> - Linux RHEL/SL/CentOS7 - gcc 4.8.5, full C++11, no C++14, no C++17
>

The construct I now always use:

class X {
int a = 0; // do not leave data members uninitialized, see "Non-static data member initializers", N2756 and N2628
}

is only available starting from gcc 4.7, see https://gcc.gnu.org/projects/cxx-status.html

Another nail into the coffin of "pre c++11" c++ and el < el7.

Hmm...

K.O.

> > #5  <signal handler called>
> > #6  bk_swap (event=event
> > #7  0x000244f0 in root_write (log_chn=0x17ec188, pevent=0x0, evt_size=<optimized out>) at src/mlogger.cxx:3364
> > #8  0x0002a8b4 in log_write (log_chn=log_chn
> > #9  0x0002b480 in log_odb_dump_json (log_chn=log_chn
> > #10 0x0002b5c0 in log_odb_dump (log_chn=log_chn
> > #11 0x0002a82c in log_open (log_chn=0x17e9f40, run_number=34, run_number
> 
> Ok, here is our bug. It is trying to write the ODB dump through the ROOT writer. Not gonna work.
> 
> Simple fix. Set ODB "/Logger/Channels/X/Settings/ODB dump" to "n".
> 
> Keep an eye on this for a proper fix
> https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/179/mlogger-root-output-crash-from-odb-dump
> 

partial fix is "in" https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/commits/b9d12098b5d81556a0c7d94b998b51abc4d13bfd

but one still must manually disable writing ODB dumps into this channel.

also double counting of events is not fixed.

this is the most I can do at this moment without setting up at test experiment with a ROOT writer.

K.O.

To convert a MIDAS frontend to C++ follow this checklist:

a) add #include "mfe.h" after include of midas.h and fix all compilation errors.

NOTE: there should be no "extern C"  brackets around MIDAS include files.

NOTE: Expect to see following problems:

a1) duplicate or mismatched declarations of functions defined in mfe.h
a2) frontend_name and frontend_file_name should be "const char*" instead of "char*"
a3) duplicate "HNDLE hDB" collision with hDB from mfe.c - not sure why it worked before, either use HNDLE hDB from mfe.h or use "extern HNDLE hDB".
a4) poll_event() and interrupt_configure() have "source" as "int[]" instead of "int" (why did this work before?)
a5) use of "extern int frontend_index" instead of get_frontend_index() from mfe.h
a6) bk_create() last argument needs to be cast to (void**)
a7) "bool debug" collides with "debug" from mfe.h (why did this work before?)

b) remove no longer needed "extern C" brackets around mfe related code. Ideally there should be no "extern C" brackets anywhere.

c) in the Makefile, change CC=gcc to CC=g++ for compiling and linking everything as C++

c1) fix all compilation problems. most valid C code will compile as valid C++, but there is some known trouble:
- return value of malloc() & co needs to be cast to the correct data type: "char* s = (char*)malloc(...)"
- some C++ compilers complain about mismatch between signed and unsigned values

If you need help with converting your frontend from C to C++, I will be most happy
to assist you - post your compiler error messages to this forum or email them to me privately.

Good luck,
K.O.

> Dear Konstantin and others, our recent discussion stimulated my curiosity and I wrote a small frontend for the trigger board of our 
experiment in C++.

Yay!

> my_frontend.cpp

In MIDAS we are using .cxx, not .cpp, per ROOT coding convention https://root.cern.ch/coding-conventions

> the overall structure is still very C-like

this is object-oriented programming done in C. (actually C++ looks exactly the same if you look behind the curtain)

right now we do not hope to rewrite the slow control class driver framework in C++, but if somebody does it,
we should be happy to add it to midas.

for the mfe.c framework, I have a new C++ class based frontend framework in development (and already in use
in the ALPHA-g experiment at CERN). There is a number of lose ends to polish befire I can add it to midas.
And as usual the last 10% of the work consume 90% of the time.

> the MIDAS frontend mfe.c has still only the C version (I couldn't find any mfe.cxx). 
> This means that all the points of contact between the MIDAS frontend code and the user frontend code must be C compatible
> (no C++ features or name mangling).

this will change with the switch to C++, mfe.c will become mfe.cxx and I shall add the required definitions to mfe.h (or midas.h, TBD)

> To accomplish this I needed to slightly modify the midas.h header file like this:
> +#ifdef __cplusplus
> +extern "C" {
> +#endif
>  INT device_driver(DEVICE_DRIVER *device_driver, INT cmd, ...);

I intend for all "extern "C"" to go away, everything will use the C++ linkage (and name mangling). This will break existing frontends
and I will need to write clear instructions on converting them to the new scheme.

> I also tested the new strcomb1 function and it seems to work OK.

good.

> I have attached a source file to show how I implemented the device driver in C++

Yup, looks familiar, I have a couple of C++ frontends written like this, too.

K.O.

• my_frontend.cpp
  
• driver/class/my_class_driver.cpp
  
• driver/device/my_device_driver.cpp
  

@@ -1141,7 +1141,13 @@ typedef struct eqpmnt {
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
 INT device_driver(DEVICE_DRIVER *device_driver, INT cmd, ...);
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif

some semi-random thoughts:

no templates strictly means you can't use std::string, std::vector etc.

printf is in any case part of C++ (#include <cstdio>), but std::ostreams can be faster (for std::cout, endl line causes buffer flushing, whereas "\n" does not flush the buffer but printf
always flushes the buffer), and formatting is possible (though very long winded).  printf does not allow to print things other than simple data, e.g. BANK_HEADER* bh; printf( "%?", *bh);

I've been writing all our DAQ code in C++ for a while now.

> > >
> > > With the removal of the requirement to make it possible to write MIDAS frontends in C, we can switch the MIDAS 
> > > default build to C++ and start using C++ features in the MIDAS API (std::string, std::vector, etc).
> > > 
> 
> C++ is a big animal. Obviously we want to use std::string, std::vector and similar improvements over plain C (we already use "//" for comments).
> 
> But in keeping with the Camel's nose fable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel%27s_nose), there are some parts of C++ we definitely do not want to use in MIDAS. Even the C++ FAQ talks 
> about "evil features", see https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/big-picture#use-evil-things-sometimes
> 
> Here is my list of things to use and to avoid. Comments on this are very welcome - as everybody's experience with C++ is different (and everybody's experience is very valuable and very 
> welcome).
> 
> - std::string, std:vector, etc are in. I am already using them in the MIDAS API (midas.h)
> - extern "C" is out, everything has to be C++, will remove "extern "C"" from all midas header files.
> - exceptions are out, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1736146/why-is-exception-handling-bad
> - std::thread and std::mutex are in, at least for writing new frontends, but see discussion of "cannot use c++11". (maybe replace ss_mutex_xxx() with out own std::mutex look-alike).
> - heavy use of templates and heavy use of argument overloading is out - just by looking at the code, impossible to tell what function will be called
> - "auto" is on probation. I need to know if "auto v=f()" is an integer or a double when I write "auto w=v/2" or "auto w=v/2.0". see 
> https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/180216/does-auto-make-c-code-harder-to-understand
> - unreadable gibberish is out (lambdas, etc)
> - C-style malloc()/free() is in. C++ new and delete are okey, but "delete[]" confuses me.
> - C-style printf() is in. C++ cout and "<<" gunk provide no way to easily format the output for easy reading.
> 
> K.O.

Dear Konstantin,

even if I am still quite young and have only limited experience (but not null), I would like to give my two cents. I have reflected a bit about the C++ issue, also because I am developing a 
brand new MIDAS interface for the WAGASCI-T2K experiment, and I feel that the future of MIDAS could influence the future of our DAQ system, too. I'll start from the conclusions: I completely 
agree with you on a practical level, even if I kind of disagree on an "ethical" level.

What you propose in essence is to migrate the MIDAS core from pure C to a version of C with some fancy C++ features. Let's say a kind of C+ with only one plus. Theoretically speaking, even if 
on the surface C and C++ are very similar, they are completely different languages and require different mindsets (and I am sure that everyone is aware of it). This is the reason why even if I 
would have preferred to develop the MIDAS frontend for our experiment in C++, I have chosen to stick to pure C because I feel that MIDAS is still very C-like in its architecture (or from what 
I can see from the documentation). So I wanted to "keep on track" for better internal coherence. What I mean is that, if someone told me to port a C project of mine to C++, I would end up 
rewriting it almost completely, instead of just modifying it (I really don't know how much of the MIDAS core has been written with C++ in mind, so if a large part of it is already C++-like, 
please ignore my comment above).

Anyway, on a practical level, I completely agree with your approach, because I imagine that a complete rewrite of MIDAS is off the table but, at the same time, some new C++ features like 
better string and vector handling are very tempting to use. Moreover, in general, physicists are more familiar with the C syntax than with the C++ one (but thanks to ROOT that is changing). As 
for the use of MIDAS in embedded devices, I have no experience so I refrain from judging. So, in the particular case of MIDAS, what you propose is probably the best and only option.

As far as the C++ standard to adopt, I would say that the C++11 standard is the best fit for the T2K experiment since the official OS for T2K is CentOS7 and, out of the box, it supports C++11 
only. Anyway, I acknowledge that there are many other experiments and requirements. For the records, I do development on Ubuntu 18.04.

Best regards
Giorgio

> >
> > With the removal of the requirement to make it possible to write MIDAS frontends in C, we can switch the MIDAS 
> > default build to C++ and start using C++ features in the MIDAS API (std::string, std::vector, etc).
> > 

C++ is a big animal. Obviously we want to use std::string, std::vector and similar improvements over plain C (we already use "//" for comments).

But in keeping with the Camel's nose fable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel%27s_nose), there are some parts of C++ we definitely do not want to use in MIDAS. Even the C++ FAQ talks 
about "evil features", see https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/big-picture#use-evil-things-sometimes

Here is my list of things to use and to avoid. Comments on this are very welcome - as everybody's experience with C++ is different (and everybody's experience is very valuable and very 
welcome).

- std::string, std:vector, etc are in. I am already using them in the MIDAS API (midas.h)
- extern "C" is out, everything has to be C++, will remove "extern "C"" from all midas header files.
- exceptions are out, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1736146/why-is-exception-handling-bad
- std::thread and std::mutex are in, at least for writing new frontends, but see discussion of "cannot use c++11". (maybe replace ss_mutex_xxx() with out own std::mutex look-alike).
- heavy use of templates and heavy use of argument overloading is out - just by looking at the code, impossible to tell what function will be called
- "auto" is on probation. I need to know if "auto v=f()" is an integer or a double when I write "auto w=v/2" or "auto w=v/2.0". see 
https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/180216/does-auto-make-c-code-harder-to-understand
- unreadable gibberish is out (lambdas, etc)
- C-style malloc()/free() is in. C++ new and delete are okey, but "delete[]" confuses me.
- C-style printf() is in. C++ cout and "<<" gunk provide no way to easily format the output for easy reading.

K.O.

>
> With the removal of the requirement to make it possible to write MIDAS frontends in C, we can switch the MIDAS 
> default build to C++ and start using C++ features in the MIDAS API (std::string, std::vector, etc).
> 

Consider the most basic C++ construct, std::string, and observe how many member functions are annotated "c++11", "c++17", etc:
https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/basic_string

For MIDAS this means that we cannot target "a" C++ or "the" C++, we have to chose between C++ "before C++11", C++11, C++17 
(plus the incoming c++20).

For example, the ROOT 6 package requires C++11 *and* g++ >= 4.8.

Now consider the platforms we use at TRIUMF:

- Linux RHEL/SL/CentOS6 - gcc 4.4.7, no C++11.
- Linux RHEL/SL/CentOS7 - gcc 4.8.5, full C++11, no C++14, no C++17
- Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS - gcc 7.3.0, full C++11, full C++14, "experimental" C++17.
- MacOS 10.13 - llvm 10.0.0 (clang-1000.11.45.5), full C++11, full C++14, full C++17.

(see here for GCC C++ support: https://gcc.gnu.org/projects/cxx-status.html)
(see here for LLVM clang c++ support: https://clang.llvm.org/cxx_status.html)

As is easy to see from the std::string reference how C++17 has a large number of very useful new features.

Alas, at TRIUMF we still run MIDAS on many SL6 machines where C++11 and C++17 is not normally available. I estimate another 1-2 
years before all our SL6 machines are upgraded to RHEL/SL/CentOS7 (or Ubuntu LTS).

This means we cannot use C++11 and C++17 in MIDAS yet. We are stuck with pre-C++11 for now.

Remarks:
- there will be trouble right away as both Stefan and myself do MIDAS development on MacOS where full C++17 is available and is 
tempting to use. (as they say, watch this space)
- it is possible to install a newer C++ compiler into RHEL/SL/CentOS 6 and 7 systems, but we are loath to require this (same as we 
are loath to require cmake for building MIDAS) - the "I" in MIDAS means integrated, meaning "does not require installing 100 
additional packages before one can use it".
- the MS Windows situation is unclear, but since one has to install the C++ compiler as an additional package anyway, I do not see 
any problem with requiring C++17 support, with a choice of MS compilers, GCC and LLVM. I doubt we will support anything older 
than Windows 10.

K.O.

For a long time now we have keep the core of midas (odb.c, midas.c, etc) compatible with plain C and by default 
we have built the MIDAS library using the plain C compiler. Over time, we have switched most MIDAS programs 
(mhttpd, mlogger, mdump, odbedit, etc) to C++ (with happy results). (and for a long time now, all of MIDAS 
could be build as C++, even if the default build remained plain C).

The main reason for keeping the core of MIDAS as C has been to allow writing MIDAS frontends in C - for 
example, in environments with no C++ compilers or no C++ runtime (VxWorks) or where C++ had too much 
overhead (small memory machines, etc).

Today, all concerns against using C++ seem to have receded into the past. C++ compilers are now always 
available, even for small embedded systems. C++ overheads are now well understood and one can easily write 
C++ code that is as efficient as C for using limited CPU and memory resources. (While at the same time, today's 
embedded systems tend to have more CPU and RAM than "big" MIDAS DAQ machines had in the past - 1GHz 
CPU, 1GB RAM is pretty typical for embedded ARM).

As examples of small hardware where MIDAS frontends written in C++ worked just fine, consider the T2K ND280 
FGD data collector running on XILINX FPGA with a 300MHz PowerPC and 128 Mbytes of RAM (standard Linux 
kernel) and the GRIFFIN Clock distribution module control running on a Microsemi FPGA with a 300MHz ARM 
CPU (ucLinux without an MMU). More typical Cyclone-5 ARM SoCs with 1GB RAM and 1GHz CPU run standard 
Linux (CentOS7) and can build MIDAS natively (no need for cross-compiling).

With the removal of the requirement to make it possible to write MIDAS frontends in C, we can switch the MIDAS 
default build to C++ and start using C++ features in the MIDAS API (std::string, std::vector, etc).

Next to consider is "which C++ should we use?".

K.O.

> 
> > BTW, I do not think the ROOT writer (and rmlogger) get much use these days ...
> 
> yes, I agree with you that ROOT files are not suitable to store "first level" data, but this is a very
> useful solution when you are developing a software DAQ and you need some (quick) spectra in order
> to verify some code...
> 


I confirm that we are keeping the ROOT writer, sometimes it is useful.

Also sorry about all the bugs in that code, it pretty much gets no testing this days, other than by people who try to use it.


K.O.

> #5  <signal handler called>
> #6  bk_swap (event=event
> #7  0x000244f0 in root_write (log_chn=0x17ec188, pevent=0x0, evt_size=<optimized out>) at src/mlogger.cxx:3364
> #8  0x0002a8b4 in log_write (log_chn=log_chn
> #9  0x0002b480 in log_odb_dump_json (log_chn=log_chn
> #10 0x0002b5c0 in log_odb_dump (log_chn=log_chn
> #11 0x0002a82c in log_open (log_chn=0x17e9f40, run_number=34, run_number

Ok, here is our bug. It is trying to write the ODB dump through the ROOT writer. Not gonna work.

Simple fix. Set ODB "/Logger/Channels/X/Settings/ODB dump" to "n".

Keep an eye on this for a proper fix
https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/179/mlogger-root-output-crash-from-odb-dump

K.O.

Hi,

> > if I use 'rmlogger' to write ROOT event files after few seconds from
> > START rmlogger fails with this:
> > 
> >  *** Break *** segmentation violation
> > 
> > I realized that removing bk_swap(...) from line 3364 of mlogger.cxx
> > it works fine...
> 
> Please post a stack trace from this crash. Thanks.

this is the stack trace;

I'm running 'rmlogger' on Raspberry PI with ROOT 6.16;
events come from a SBC (Single Board Computer) and either CPU
are "Little Endian"...

Regards,
Gennaro

***********************************************************


MIDAS logger started. Stop with "!"

 *** Break *** segmentation violation

===========================================================
There was a crash.
This is the entire stack trace of all threads:
===========================================================
#0  0x756fdc90 in __GI___waitpid (pid=pid
entry=11806, stat_loc=stat_loc
entry=0x7eae8c9c, options=options
entry=0) at ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/waitpid.c:29
#1  0x75698c60 in do_system (line=<optimized out>) at ../sysdeps/posix/system.c:148
#2  0x76eb97e0 in TUnixSystem::Exec (shellcmd=<optimized out>, this=0xa5db8) at /opt/root-
6.16.00/core/unix/src/TUnixSystem.cxx:2119
#3  TUnixSystem::StackTrace (this=0xa5db8) at /opt/root-6.16.00/core/unix/src/TUnixSystem.cxx:2413
#4  0x76ebbf00 in TUnixSystem::DispatchSignals (this=0x1084bd8, sig=kSigSegmentationViolation) at /opt/root-
6.16.00/core/unix/src/TUnixSystem.cxx:3644
#5  <signal handler called>
#6  bk_swap (event=event
entry=0x1a67a30, force=force
entry=0) at src/midas.c:15580
#7  0x000244f0 in root_write (log_chn=0x17ec188, pevent=0x0, evt_size=<optimized out>) at src/mlogger.cxx:3364
#8  0x0002a8b4 in log_write (log_chn=log_chn
entry=0x17e9f40, pevent=pevent
entry=0x1a67a20) at src/mlogger.cxx:4217
#9  0x0002b480 in log_odb_dump_json (log_chn=log_chn
entry=0x17e9f40, event_id=<optimized out>, run_number=run_number
entry=34) at src/mlogger.cxx:1675
#10 0x0002b5c0 in log_odb_dump (log_chn=log_chn
entry=0x17e9f40, event_id=event_id
entry=-32768, run_number=run_number
entry=34) at src/mlogger.cxx:1689
#11 0x0002a82c in log_open (log_chn=0x17e9f40, run_number=34, run_number
entry=829024) at src/mlogger.cxx:3944
#12 0x0002cac8 in tr_start (run_number=829024, error=0x22 <error: Cannot access memory at address 0x22>) at 
src/mlogger.cxx:5696
#13 0x00041d4c in rpc_execute (sock=682044, buffer=0xadf08 " exiting...", buffer
entry=0x7eaeb8e4 "\377\377\377", convert_flags=25074760) at src/midas.c:13327
#14 0x0004a9b8 in rpc_server_receive (idx=23285872, sock=<optimized out>, check=<optimized out>) at src/midas.c:14665
#15 0x0004f794 in ss_suspend (millisec=403244, msg=26819264) at src/system.c:4159
#16 0x00046d68 in cm_yield (millisec=millisec
entry=1000) at src/midas.c:5145
#17 0x00021a1c in main (argc=<optimized out>, argv=<optimized out>) at src/mlogger.cxx:6204
===========================================================


The lines below might hint at the cause of the crash.
You may get help by asking at the ROOT forum http://root.cern.ch/forum
Only if you are really convinced it is a bug in ROOT then please submit a
report at http://root.cern.ch/bugs Please post the ENTIRE stack trace
from above as an attachment in addition to anything else
that might help us fixing this issue.
===========================================================
#6  bk_swap (event=event
entry=0x1a67a30, force=force
entry=0) at src/midas.c:15580
#7  0x000244f0 in root_write (log_chn=0x17ec188, pevent=0x0, evt_size=<optimized out>) at src/mlogger.cxx:3364
#8  0x0002a8b4 in log_write (log_chn=log_chn
entry=0x17e9f40, pevent=pevent
entry=0x1a67a20) at src/mlogger.cxx:4217
#9  0x0002b480 in log_odb_dump_json (log_chn=log_chn
entry=0x17e9f40, event_id=<optimized out>, run_number=run_number
entry=34) at src/mlogger.cxx:1675
#10 0x0002b5c0 in log_odb_dump (log_chn=log_chn
entry=0x17e9f40, event_id=event_id
entry=-32768, run_number=run_number
entry=34) at src/mlogger.cxx:1689
#11 0x0002a82c in log_open (log_chn=0x17e9f40, run_number=34, run_number
entry=829024) at src/mlogger.cxx:3944
#12 0x0002cac8 in tr_start (run_number=829024, error=0x22 <error: Cannot access memory at address 0x22>) at 
src/mlogger.cxx:5696
#13 0x00041d4c in rpc_execute (sock=682044, buffer=0xadf08 " exiting...", buffer
entry=0x7eaeb8e4 "377377377", convert_flags=25074760) at src/midas.c:13327
#14 0x0004a9b8 in rpc_server_receive (idx=23285872, sock=<optimized out>, check=<optimized out>) at src/midas.c:14665
#15 0x0004f794 in ss_suspend (millisec=403244, msg=26819264) at src/system.c:4159
#16 0x00046d68 in cm_yield (millisec=millisec
entry=1000) at src/midas.c:5145
#17 0x00021a1c in main (argc=<optimized out>, argv=<optimized out>) at src/mlogger.cxx:6204
===========================================================

Hi,

> I confirm this problem - event counter is incremented by root_write() and by log_write() after calling 
> root_write() through the WriterRoot::wr_write().
> 
> I will try to fix this for the next release of midas, keep an eye on it here:
> https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/177

thanks !

> BTW, I do not think the ROOT writer (and rmlogger) get much use these days, as most experiments we do 
> today have data in binary formats that do not fit naturally for storage into ROOT TTree objects. We mostly 
> record digitized waveforms and such and they are best stored in binary midas files. The ROOT analyzer 
> would read them using the midasio.h classes from the ROOTANA package.

yes, I agree with you that ROOT files are not suitable to store "first level" data, but this is a very
useful solution when you are developing a software DAQ and you need some (quick) spectra in order
to verify some code...

Regards,
Gennaro

Hi,

> I confirm this problem - event counter is incremented by root_write() and by log_write() after calling 
> root_write() through the WriterRoot::wr_write().
> 
> I will try to fix this for the next release of midas, keep an eye on it here:
> https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/177

thanks !

> BTW, I do not think the ROOT writer (and rmlogger) get much use these days, as most experiments we do 
> today have data in binary formats that do not fit naturally for storage into ROOT TTree objects. We mostly 
> record digitized waveforms and such and they are best stored in binary midas files. The ROOT analyzer 
> would read them using the midasio.h classes from the ROOTANA package.

yes, I agree with you about this, but to have a "quick and dirty" plot on some ADC channels
can be a very nice "temporary" solution when you are developing your software DAQ...

Regards,
Gennaro

> BTW2, for recording MIDAS data, ROOT I/O uses the wrong compression - they compress using gzip, 
> which is too slow compared to LZ4 on one side and does not compress as well as BZIP2 on the other side.
> 
> K.O.

the midas release 2019-03 is ready for general use.

main changes from previous releases (midas-2017-10, midas-2018-12 and midas-2019-02):

- change to the midas URL scheme
- removal of cm_watchdog()
- rewrite of event buffer code (and fix of hard to trigger event buffer corruption bug)
- fully thread safe odb and event buffer code (except for rpc_send_event())
- corrected compatibility problems wrt older versions of midas when serving custom web pages via odb /custom/path

To obtain this release, either checkout the top of branch feature/midas-2019-03 (recommended)
or checkout the tag midas-2019-03-f.

K.O.

> I realized that if I use 'rmlogger' to write events in ROOT format,
> each event is counted twice;
> 
> to fix the problem I commented line 3446 of mlogger.cxx (inside root_write 
> function):
> 
>  //log_chn->statistics.events_written++;
> 

I confirm this problem - event counter is incremented by root_write() and by log_write() after calling 
root_write() through the WriterRoot::wr_write().

I will try to fix this for the next release of midas, keep an eye on it here:
https://bitbucket.org/tmidas/midas/issues/177

BTW, I do not think the ROOT writer (and rmlogger) get much use these days, as most experiments we do 
today have data in binary formats that do not fit naturally for storage into ROOT TTree objects. We mostly 
record digitized waveforms and such and they are best stored in binary midas files. The ROOT analyzer 
would read them using the midasio.h classes from the ROOTANA package.

BTW2, for recording MIDAS data, ROOT I/O uses the wrong compression - they compress using gzip, 
which is too slow compared to LZ4 on one side and does not compress as well as BZIP2 on the other side.

K.O.

> > if I use 'rmlogger' to write ROOT event files after few seconds from
> > START rmlogger fails with this:
> > 
> >  *** Break *** segmentation violation
> > 
> > I realized that removing bk_swap(...) from line 3364 of mlogger.cxx
> > it works fine...
> 
> Please post a stack trace from this crash. Thanks.
>

bk_swap() should not activate normally. (Unless you are sending events from a big-endian 
machine. Hmm... maybe you do. What are you running on and where are you generating 
events, what CPU is there "cat /proc/cpuinfo").

there is also possibility of malformed event.

please print the value of pbh->flags, in hex. (if you can print the value of all the other data 
fields in pbh, that would be good, too).

K.O.

> if I use 'rmlogger' to write ROOT event files after few seconds from
> START rmlogger fails with this:
> 
>  *** Break *** segmentation violation
> 
> I realized that removing bk_swap(...) from line 3364 of mlogger.cxx
> it works fine...

Please post a stack trace from this crash. Thanks.

K.O.

For the record, I am stumped by this problem. We have definitely ruled out any data overflow inside the midas message code (there are no 
long messages sent). My only guess is that the frontend itself is corrupting the midas message buffer, but this corruption
must be unlikely lucky to corrupt just the "_" character (and maybe what follows it) from the "MSG_" header inside the buffer.

If indeed this is memory corruption inside the frontend, to find and fix it, one would have to roll out valgrind and other malloc() debugging 
tools and good luck...

K.O.



> > > [dfe01,INFO] Slow control equipment initialized
> > > dfe: src/midas.c:838: cm_msg_flush_buffer: Assertion `rp[3]=='_'' failed.
> > > if I remove line 838 from midas.c (fixing message length) the problem disappear...
> > 
> > Thank you for reporting this problem.
> > 
> > It is very strange, the check is for message start "MSG_", why "M", "S" and "G" are there
> > but "_" is missing? And you remove the check for "_" and the rest of the message is also okey?
> > Very odd.
> 
> if I remove the check for "_" then the first message is empty and next messages are ok...
> If I don't remove the check the frontend fails at start and I find these lines in midas.log:
> 
> 14:46:29.719 2019/03/19 [dfe01,INFO] Program dfe01 on host lxaria02 started
> 14:46:29.731 2019/03/19 [dfe01,INFO] Dome FE initialized
> 14:46:29.737 2019/03/19 [dfe01,ERROR] [system.c:4709:recv_tcp2,ERROR] unexpected connection closure
> 14:46:29.737 2019/03/19 [dfe01,ERROR] [midas.c:12814:recv_event_server,ERROR] recv_tcp2(header) returned -1
> 14:46:29.737 2019/03/19 [dfe01,ERROR] [midas.c:14699:rpc_server_receive,ERROR] recv_event_server() returned -1, abort
> 14:46:29.737 2019/03/19 [dfe01,TALK] Program 'dfe01' on host 'lxaria02' aborted
>  
> > You can also add this code "assert(4+3*sizeof(int)+len < 1020)" in cm_msg_buffer() right before
> > rb_increment_wp() - it this assert fails, we definitely determine that we have a buffer overflow.
> 
> I added assert you suggested in cm_msg_buffer() function before rp_increment_wp() and 
> result is always the same at same line:
> 
> [dfe01,INFO] Dome FE initialized
> Dome0001-rc:
> [dfe01,INFO] Slow control equipment initialized
> dfe: src/midas.c:839: cm_msg_flush_buffer: Assertion `rp[3]=='_'' failed.
> Aborted
> 
> Regards,
> Gennaro