PLACE Glossary
- binary format
- Binary files are not stored using characters from any readable language
and are instead written in mathematical values stored as bytes. To read
the data in a binary file, you generally need use a program which
understands the binary format of the file. PLACE saves files in the NumPy
binary format, meaning it can be read using the numpy library in Python.
- command
- Elm uses commands to complete actions safely. Things like writing data to
disk or sending information over a port can fail, so Elm handles these
things for us. This doesn’t mean these things cannot fail, it just means
that Elm will simplify the process of checking for failure by doing most
of the checking for us. Read more
- experiment
- Within the PLACE context, an experiment refers to any execution of the
PLACE software. In older versions of PLACE, this may also be referred to
as a scan.
- message
- Elm uses messages to communicate changes made by the user, along with some
other internal changes. So, for example, when the user picks a new option
in a dropdown menu, a message is generated in the code to update the model
to reflect the user’s change.
- metadata
- Data about data. This is used by PLACE to describe the values contained in
the NumPy data file produced by PLACE. It will contain the original configuration
options used to start the experiment along with other information.
- module
- Previously, this term was used to describe the code used to drive one
instrument in the modular PLACE ecosystem. However, since both Elm and
Python refer to code as a module, this term became ambiguous. Referring to
all the code for one instrument as a “plugin” is now preferred, with each
plugin typically being composed of at least one Elm module for the user
interface and one Python module for the server-side execution. See
plugin.
- PLACE
- Python Laboratory Automation, Control, and Experimentation.
- plugin
- Refers to an independent group of files which instruct PLACE how to
interact with specific hardware. Typically, this includes both a Python
backend module and an Elm frontend module with the user. PLACE supports
dynamic interaction with properly written plugins.
- priority
- All PLACE modules are given a priority value which determines their order
of execution during an experiment. Instruments with lower values are
executed earlier in the rotation than those with higher values. Arguments
can be made that this is backwards, but that would still be true if the
order was reversed. Instruments with the same priority are not executed in
parallel (yet), and PLACE with just select one to go first.
- scan
- Legacy term. See experiment.
