snl

What problem does it solve?

This Skill helps you author EPICS State Notation Language (SNL) programs that coordinate concurrent state machines and reliably react to Process Variable (PV) changes.

Core Features & Use Cases

• State machine authoring for EPICS: Define program, one or more ss (state sets), state, entry/exit blocks, and when(...) transitions for deterministic control flows.
• PV interaction patterns: Connect variables to PVs with assign, keep them updated with monitor, and synchronize transitions using sync/syncq with evflag.
• Async communication and integration: Perform pvGet/pvPut operations (including queued monitoring and completion checks) and embed C helpers via SNL escaped C code.
• Use Case: Implement an IOC-side controller that monitors operator commands and sensor limits, raises safety states on threshold violations, and performs coordinated initialization via event-flag synchronization across multiple state sets.

Quick Start

Ask the AI to generate an SNL .st program named "interlockControl" that monitors {prefix}:start, {prefix}:fault, and {prefix}:status, uses an evflag to gate transitions, and includes embedded C code to compute a derived status string before updating a PV.