SEQ run mode

[Insomnia1437]

The run mode setting of SEQ RAM seems strange. Inside mrmShared/Db/mrmSoftSeq.template, no automatic mode field is specified in $(P)RunMode-Sel though $(P)RunMode-RB has.

record(mbbo, "$(P)RunMode-Sel") {
...
  field(VAL,  "1") # default to Single
  field(ZRVL, "0")
  field(ONVL, "2")
  field(ZRST, "Normal")
  field(ONST, "Single")
...
}
record(mbbi, "$(P)RunMode-RB") {
...
  field(ZRVL, "0")
  field(ONVL, "1")
  field(TWVL, "2")
  field(ZRST, "Normal")
  field(ONST, "Automatic")
  field(TWST, "Single")
...
}

Only normal and single modes are defined here. https://github.com/epics-modules/mrfioc2/blob/cbd59887b52a7ebe4a96addc3e2c8f67b1a70dd4/mrmShared/src/mrmSeq.cpp#L815-L822

[jerzyjamroz]

@Insomnia1437 , I checked it and it looks like the author removed that on purpose and it is the residual remain that will never occur. Do you have any use cases of that Automatic mode?

[Insomnia1437]

Currently, no. But if I want to run some automatic tests for EVM&EVR, then this feature can be helpful. If you think it is better to revert the change, perhaps I can fix it.

[zioven]

@Insomnia1437 @jerzyjamroz

We have found a use case for the Automatic mode and we have a working solution for one of our customers.

A word of caution: as @jerzyjamroz commented this mode does come with it's set of challenges, one of them is how to stop the sequence...

Let me know, if there is interest for this in the community and I can provide a pull request.