Add exception on overlong string setting

Also add more tests

.vscode/launch.json

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
             "type": "python",
             "request": "launch",
             "program": "${file}",
-            "console": "integratedTerminal"
+            "console": "integratedTerminal",
+            "justMyCode": false,
         },
         {
             "name": "Debug Unit Test",

CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Added:
 
 - `Allow "status" and "severity" on In record init <../../pull/111>`_
 - `Allow users to reset the list of created records <../../pull/114>`_
+- `Allow arrays of strings to be used with Waveforms <../../pull/102>`_
 
 4.1.0_ - 2022-08-05
 -------------------

docs/reference/api.rst

@@ -342,6 +342,11 @@ All functions return a wrapped `ProcessDeviceSupportIn` or
     field type name.  Otherwise the field type is taken from the initial value
     if given, or defaults to ``'FLOAT'``.
 
+    .. note::
+        When storing arrays of strings, it is possible to store Unicode characters.
+        However, as EPICS has no Unicode support the resultant values will be stored
+        as byte strings. Care must be taken when encoding/decoding the values.
+
 
 The following functions generates specialised records.
 

softioc/builder.py

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 from . import device, pythonSoftIoc  # noqa
 # Re-export this so users only have to import the builder
-from .device import SetBlocking # noqa
+from .device import SetBlocking, to_epics_str_array # noqa
 
 PythonDevice = pythonSoftIoc.PythonDevice()
 
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def Action(name, **fields):
     'uint32':   'ULONG',
     'float32':  'FLOAT',
     'float64':  'DOUBLE',
-    'bytes320': 'STRING',  # Numpy's term for a 40-character string (40*8 bits)
+    'bytes320': 'STRING',  # Numpy term for 40-character byte str (40*8 bits)
 }
 
 # Coverts FTVL string to numpy type
@@ -220,8 +220,8 @@ def _waveform(value, fields):
                 initial_value = numpy.require(initial_value, numpy.int32)
             elif initial_value.dtype == numpy.uint64:
                 initial_value = numpy.require(initial_value, numpy.uint32)
-            elif initial_value.dtype.char in ("S", "U"):
-                initial_value = numpy.require(initial_value, numpy.dtype("S40"))
+            elif initial_value.dtype.char in ('S', 'U'):
+                initial_value = to_epics_str_array(initial_value)
     else:
         initial_value = numpy.array([], dtype = datatype)
         length = _get_length(fields)

softioc/device.py

@@ -351,20 +351,28 @@ class ao(ProcessDeviceSupportOut):
     _ctype_ = c_double
     _dbf_type_ = fields.DBF_DOUBLE
 
+def to_epics_str_array(value):
+    """Convert the given array of Python strings to an array of EPICS
+    nul-terminated strings"""
+    result = numpy.empty(len(value), 'S40')
+
+    for n, s in enumerate(value):
+        if isinstance(s, str):
+            val = EpicsString._ctype_()
+            val.value = s.encode() + b'\0'
+            result[n] = val.value
+        else:
+            result[n] = s
+    return result
+
 
 def _require_waveform(value, dtype):
     if isinstance(value, bytes):
         # Special case hack for byte arrays.  Surprisingly tricky:
         value = numpy.frombuffer(value, dtype = numpy.uint8)
 
     if dtype and dtype.char == 'S':
-        result = numpy.empty(len(value), 'S40')
-        for n, s in enumerate(value):
-            if isinstance(s, str):
-                result[n] = s.encode('UTF-8')
-            else:
-                result[n] = s
-        return result
+        return to_epics_str_array(value)
 
     value = numpy.require(value, dtype = dtype)
     if value.shape == ():
@@ -419,10 +427,6 @@ def _value_to_epics(self, value):
         # common class of bug, at the cost of duplicated code and data, here we
         # ensure a copy is taken of the value.
         assert len(value) <= self._nelm, 'Value too long for waveform'
-        # TODO: line below triggers "DeprecationWarning: Applying '+' to a
-        # non-numerical array is ill-defined. Returning a copy, but in the
-        # future this will error."
-        # Probably should change to numpy.copy?
         return +value
 
     def _epics_to_value(self, value):

softioc/fields.py

@@ -146,5 +146,4 @@ def __set_time(self, address, new_time):
         address[0].secs -= EPICS_epoch
 
 
-# TODO: DbfCodeToNumpy doesn't exist!
 __all__ = ['RecordFactory', 'DbfCodeToNumpy', 'ca_timestamp']

tests/test_record_values.py

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
     "string and so lets test it and prove that shall we?"
 
 # The numpy dtype of all arrays of strings
-DTYPE_STRING = "S40"
+NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING = "S40"
 
 
 def record_func_names(fixture_value):
@@ -194,15 +194,12 @@ def record_values_names(fixture_value):
         ),
         numpy.ndarray,
     ),
-
-    # TODO: Unicode versions of below tests?
-
     (
         "wIn_byte_string_array",
         builder.WaveformIn,
         [b"AB123", b"CD456", b"EF789"],
         numpy.array(
-            ["AB123", "CD456", "EF789"], dtype=DTYPE_STRING
+            ["AB123", "CD456", "EF789"], dtype=NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING
         ),
         numpy.ndarray,
     ),
@@ -211,7 +208,35 @@ def record_values_names(fixture_value):
         builder.WaveformOut,
         [b"12AB", b"34CD", b"56EF"],
         numpy.array(
-            ["12AB", "34CD", "56EF"], dtype=DTYPE_STRING
+            ["12AB", "34CD", "56EF"], dtype=NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING
+        ),
+        numpy.ndarray,
+    ),
+    (
+        "wIn_unicode_string_array",
+        builder.WaveformIn,
+        ["12€½", "34¾²", "56¹³"],
+        numpy.array(
+            [
+                b'12\xe2\x82\xac\xc2\xbd',
+                b'34\xc2\xbe\xc2\xb2',
+                b'56\xc2\xb9\xc2\xb3'
+            ],
+            dtype=NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING
+        ),
+        numpy.ndarray,
+    ),
+    (
+        "wOut_unicode_string_array",
+        builder.WaveformOut,
+        ["12€½", "34¾²", "56¹³"],
+        numpy.array(
+            [
+                b'12\xe2\x82\xac\xc2\xbd',
+                b'34\xc2\xbe\xc2\xb2',
+                b'56\xc2\xb9\xc2\xb3'
+            ],
+            dtype=NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING
         ),
         numpy.ndarray,
     ),
@@ -220,7 +245,7 @@ def record_values_names(fixture_value):
         builder.WaveformIn,
         ["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"],
         numpy.array(
-            ["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"], dtype=DTYPE_STRING
+            ["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"], dtype=NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING
         ),
         numpy.ndarray,
     ),
@@ -229,7 +254,7 @@ def record_values_names(fixture_value):
         builder.WaveformOut,
         ["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"],
         numpy.array(
-            ["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"],  dtype=DTYPE_STRING
+            ["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"],  dtype=NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING
         ),
         numpy.ndarray,
     ),
@@ -539,10 +564,19 @@ def is_valid(configuration):
                         "scalar. Therefore we skip this check.")
                     continue
 
+                # caget on a waveform of strings will return unicode. Have to
+                # convert it manually to binary.
                 if isinstance(rec_val, numpy.ndarray) and len(rec_val) > 1 \
                         and rec_val.dtype.char in ["S", "U"]:
+                    result = numpy.empty(len(rec_val), NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING)
+                    for n, s in enumerate(rec_val):
+                        if isinstance(s, str):
+                            result[n] = s.encode('UTF-8', errors= 'ignore')
+                        else:
+                            result[n] = s
+                    rec_val = result
                     # caget won't retrieve the full length 40 buffer
-                    rec_val = rec_val.astype(DTYPE_STRING)
+                    rec_val = rec_val.astype(NUMPY_DTYPE_STRING)
 
             record_value_asserts(
                 creation_func, rec_val, expected_value, expected_type
@@ -958,7 +992,46 @@ def test_waveform_rejects_overlong_values(self):
         w_in = builder.WaveformIn("W_IN", [1, 2, 3])
         w_out = builder.WaveformOut("W_OUT", [1, 2, 3])
 
+        w_in_str = builder.WaveformIn("W_IN_STR", ["ABC", "DEF"])
+        w_out_str = builder.WaveformOut("W_OUT_STR", ["ABC", "DEF"])
+
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
             w_in.set([1, 2, 3, 4])
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
             w_out.set([1, 2, 3, 4])
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+            w_in_str.set(["ABC", "DEF", "GHI"])
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+            w_out_str.set(["ABC", "DEF", "GHI"])
+
+    def test_waveform_rejects_late_strings(self):
+        """Test that a waveform won't allow a list of strings to be assigned
+        if no list was given in initial waveform construction"""
+        w_in = builder.WaveformIn("W_IN", length=10)
+        w_out = builder.WaveformOut("W_OUT", length=10)
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            w_in.set(["ABC", "DEF"])
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            w_out.set(["ABC", "DEF"])
+
+    def test_waveform_rejects_long_array_of_strings(self):
+        """Test that a waveform of strings won't accept too long strings"""
+        w_in = builder.WaveformIn(
+            "W_IN",
+            initial_value=["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"]
+        )
+        w_out = builder.WaveformIn(
+            "W_OUT",
+            initial_value=["123abc", "456def", "7890ghi"]
+        )
+
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+            w_in.set(["1", "2", "3", "4"])
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+            w_out.set(["1", "2", "3", "4"])
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            w_in.set([VERY_LONG_STRING])
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            w_out.set([VERY_LONG_STRING])