NSLS-DAC: A beamline control and data acquisition package

A LabVIEW(TM)-based software package has been developed to control beamlines and acquire data during energy, motor, voltage, and time scans. Though geared for spectroscopy, the software implements a complete set of teals for operating and monitoring beamline instrumentation. The package presents a graphical interface to the user that is easy to learn for novices, yet highly efficient for experienced researchers. The main code is beamline and hardware independent. Lower level data acquisition drivers have been written for CAMAC and GPIB-based instrumentation. All beamline specific features, such as monochromator control, are contained in a single plug-in library. Users wishing to extend the program's capabilities can add customized scan types (such as DAFS) via a run-time link to external routines.