Getting started

Choose the correct version

EXtra-foam can be started on both online and Maxwell clusters. Currently, there are two versions of EXtra-foam deployed. Please always consult your contact person if you are not sure which version to use.

I. Latest version

This is the latest release of EXtra-foam. This version usually contains more features than the stable version.

module load exfel EXtra-foam/beta
extra-foam DETECTOR TOPIC

More info on command line arguments can be obtained as

[user@exflonc12 ~]$ extra-foam --help

 usage: extra-foam [-h] [-V] [--debug] [--redis_address REDIS_ADDRESS]
                   {AGIPD,LPD,DSSC,JUNGFRAUPR,JUNGFRAU,FASTCCD,EPIX100,BASLERCAMERA}
                   {SPB,FXE,SCS,SQS,MID,HED}

 positional arguments:
   {AGIPD,LPD,DSSC,JUNGFRAUPR,JUNGFRAU,FASTCCD,EPIX100,BASLERCAMERA}
                         detector name (case insensitive)
   {SPB,FXE,SCS,SQS,MID,HED}
                         Name of the instrument

 optional arguments:
   -h, --help            show this help message and exit
   -V, --version         show program's version number and exit
   --n_modules N_MODULES
                         Number of detector modules. It is only available for
                         using single-module detectors like JungFrau in a
                         combined way. Not all single-module detectors are
                         supported.
   --debug               Run in debug mode
   --pipeline_slow_policy {0,1}
                         Pipeline policy when the processing rate is slower
                         than the arrival rate (0 for always process the latest
                         data and 1 for wait until processing of the current
                         data finishes)
   --redis_address REDIS_ADDRESS
                         Address of the Redis server

For more details about detector modules, please refer to Geometry.

Note

It sometime takes more than a minute to start EXtra-foam for the first time! This is actually an issue related to the infrastructure and not because EXtra-foam is slow.

Note

If you are connecting to the online or Maxwell clusters via SSH, you will need to enable X11 forwarding by including the -X option.

Note

In order to have a better experience with EXtra-foam on the Maxwell cluster, you should need FastX2 at max-display. There is also a link for downloading the desktop client on the bottom-right corner when you opened max-display and logged in. For more details, please refer to the official website for FastX2 at DESY.

II. Stable version

To start the stable version on online or Maxwell clusters:

module load exfel EXtra-foam
extra-foam DETECTOR TOPIC

III. Test version

To start the test version on online or Maxwell clusters:

module load exfel EXtra-foam/alpha
extra-foam DETECTOR TOPIC

Note

test version is not covered by OCD!

Data analysis in real time

For real-time data analysis, the (calibrated) data is streamed via a Karabo bridge, which is a Karabo device (TrainMatcher) running inside the control network.

Note

Please check the online-clusters available for users at different instruments.

Note

If you are an external user coming to XFEL, EXtra-foam should already have been all setup with all the relevant hostnames/ports. If you are an instrument scientist who wants to know where the Karabo bridges are, please get in touch your local DA contact (or email da-support@xfel.eu).

Data analysis with files

See Stream data from files