require3 - EPICS module for dynamically loading functionality at runtime

In general, EPICS IOCs are built as statically or dynamically linked executables. require3 provides a third option: dynamically load the EPICS module during IOC startup.

In order to do this, require3 provides a wrapper utility, iocsh that calls and configures softIocPVX from EPICS base and allows you to have a startup script that looks like

require iocstats

iocshLoad("$(iocstats_DIR)/iocStats.iocsh", "IOCNAME=test")

iocInit

which will load the EPICS module iocstats and run a custom snippet from that in order to load and configure the various records that it provides.

require3 provides at its heart three main components:

• An extension of the EPICS build system in order to build support modules to be loaded at runtime
• A shell function require that is used to dynamically load support modules during IOC startup
• A wrapper, iocsh, that configures and runs the default executable (softIocPVX)

For more information, please see the official documentation.