A software upgrade for the SNS wire-scanner

The SNS Beam Instrumentation Group has designed new software for all wire scanners at SNS. The original wire-scanner software was written by one of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) partners, Los Alamos National Laboratory. This software was designed for the types of wire-scanners initially planned and their usage at that time. New variations in the wire-scanner hardware added gearing, different position read-back methods, and a timing card. The new software handles these hardware variations in a flexible manner through configuration control files. The software upgrade allows the user to synchronize the stepping of the fork with external applications, such as with loss monitors to calibrate energy dependence of the beam losses caused by the wire. Another new functionality allows physicists to select what part of the beam pulse is used to determine the transverse profile after the data has been taken. This avoids timeconsuming rescans in case the timing was not initially correct. The new software, also a LabVIEW program, is structured around a state-machine with sequence capabilities to manage the complexities of stepping through a scan and interacting with the user. This paper discusses the new software features, the implementation, and the obtained results of field tests.