Argonne National Laboratory / Advanced Photon Source software for EPICS
Developed at Argonne National Laboratory, QtEDM keeps your MEDM ADL investment, moves to a modern Qt foundation, and gives operators richer plotting, export, search, and audit workflows without forcing a wholesale display rewrite.
QtEDM is part of the MEDM / QtEDM Display Manager Suite developed at Argonne National Laboratory for EPICS display management. It carries forward the practical controls heritage of MEDM while giving EPICS teams a native Qt path for current workstations.
QtEDM keeps the habits, files, and operating model that existing facilities already depend on, then adds the parts people expect from contemporary control-room software.
Facilities have decades of operational knowledge embedded in ADL files. QtEDM reads those displays directly, supports the standard MEDM widget set, and keeps edit and execute workflows familiar for operators and controls engineers.
Qt reduces dependence on aging Motif packaging and improves font, rendering, and desktop integration options.
Find PV, archives, snapshots, sessions, display import, export, and audit workflows solve everyday control-room friction.
Run QtEDM alongside MEDM to validate the shared ADL subset and identify screens that intentionally use QtEDM extensions.
EPICS sites have several display-manager choices. QtEDM is aimed at the specific gap between proven MEDM screen libraries and the need for a maintained Qt runtime.
Best when the facility already owns a large ADL library and wants a Qt-based runtime, familiar operator behavior, and incremental rollout rather than display conversion.
Best when exact Motif-era behavior is still required. QtEDM keeps the same core display format while reducing dependence on aging Motif packaging and rendering behavior.
Best evaluated as another Qt-native EPICS display option. QtEDM's distinguishing case is preserving MEDM-style ADL workflows in the same source family as MEDM itself.
Best when a site is adopting that ecosystem. QtEDM is the lighter transition path when the priority is opening existing MEDM ADL screens with minimal operator retraining.
The value is not only that QtEDM opens legacy screens. It keeps the familiar display model while adding the runtime features current operations expect.
Zoom and pan Cartesian plots in execute mode, then export plot data to CSV or SDDS for follow-up analysis.
Use Heatmap, Waterfall and Archive plots, NTNDArray images, tables, symbols, setpoint controls, and tabbed displays.
Search process variables across open displays and inspect connection status, update rate, and severity in one place.
Record built-in control, plugin-provider, snapshot-restore, and blocked observe-only writes with operator context.
Start with --read-only to keep monitoring and navigation while centrally blocking CA, PVA, soft-PV, snapshot, and plugin writes.
Capture display PVs, compare saved and live values, select nothing by default, and revalidate every chosen write immediately before restore.
Archive Plot loads bounded history from an Archiver Appliance or local provider plugin, then optionally merges live samples.
Convert caQtDM or Qt Designer files to ADL with a preserved source, a versioned mapping report, and visible placeholders for unsupported objects.
Existing graphics, monitors, controls, plots, related displays, and shell commands remain part of the workflow. QtEDM adds new views where the EPICS community has outgrown the old toolkit.
Cursor-centered wheel zoom, axis-specific zoom, drag panning, reset, and export support for engineering analysis.
A QtEDM-only monitor for waveform-versus-time data with zoom, pan, hover readback, image export, and buffered data export.
Render array PVs as 2-D images with profile displays for beam, camera, and detector-style use cases.
Compact status lamps for dense operator screens where state needs to be visible immediately.
Classic MEDM control behavior preserved for existing operator habits and display designs.
Keep macro-driven display navigation and launch patterns that large EPICS screen libraries rely on.
This capture follows the same Help -> Demo path in QtEDM, so reviewers see the built-in soft PVs, changing values, plots, tables, and image displays without requiring an external IOC.
QtEDM is strongest when teams understand which displays remain in the shared MEDM subset and which screens intentionally adopt QtEDM-only features.
| Capability | QtEDM status | Transition note |
|---|---|---|
| Existing MEDM ADL display files | Supported | QtEDM reads and writes the same core ADL format used by MEDM. |
| Standard MEDM widget set | Supported | Graphics, monitors, controls, plots, related displays, and shell commands remain part of the workflow. |
| QtEDM-only extensions | Extension | New controls, tables, image/archive widgets, tabbed containers, plugin objects, and declarative rules use explicit QtEDM ADL blocks. |
| Round-trip back to legacy MEDM | Shared subset | MEDM can use the common ADL subset; displays that rely on QtEDM-only blocks are not behaviorally compatible with legacy MEDM. |
| EPICS Channel Access and PVAccess names | Supported | Use normal CA PV names or the pva:// prefix when PVAccess is required. |
| Observe-only operation | Supported | --read-only visibly blocks writes through built-in, snapshot, soft-PV, and plugin-provider paths. |
| Sessions and PV snapshots | Explicit restore | Layouts never auto-restore; snapshot rows are opt-in and revalidated before every write. |
| caQtDM / Qt Designer import | Report-backed | Version 1 accepts .ui input and classifies mapped, approximated, omitted, and unsupported objects. |
| Local extension API | Version 1 | Reviewed native plugins require metadata and exact Qt, compiler, architecture, and QtEDM compatibility. |
| Qt toolkit version | Qt5 / Qt6 | Qt6 is preferred when available, with Qt5 fallback support in the build notes. |
| Native desktop platforms | Linux / macOS / Windows | QtEDM works natively on Linux, macOS, and Windows when the local Qt, EPICS, SDDS, font, and packaging dependencies are satisfied. |
Use this as a planning guide, then validate representative facility displays with local fonts, macros, EPICS environment, and operator launch scripts.
QtEDM is intentionally recognizable to MEDM users. The difference is that modern plotting, export, search, fonts, and logging are built into the runtime instead of bolted onto operating procedures.
--read-only for monitor-only operation with visible write inhibition.
The strongest selling point for a control-system display manager is not novelty. It is the ability to improve the platform without breaking operating rhythm.
Build QtEDM from the same source distribution and keep the legacy executable available during validation.
Start with representative screens, compare display fidelity, and document any local edge cases.
Adopt QtEDM first where export, plotting, PV search, or Motif packaging pain is already costing time.
Use automated CLI, unit, IOC, and visual tests to keep compatibility measurable as adoption expands.
These answers are intentionally practical: they frame how to test QtEDM with existing displays before a facility-wide switch.
QtEDM is designed to read existing MEDM ADL files and support the standard MEDM widget set. Validate representative screens locally, especially displays that depend on site-specific fonts, scripts, macros, or window-management behavior.
Yes. The recommended migration path is to install QtEDM as a separate executable, keep MEDM available for edge cases, and move operators to QtEDM display by display.
QtEDM-only widgets extend ADL for newer use cases. Those displays should be treated as QtEDM displays and not as fully compatible legacy MEDM screens.
QtEDM supports Channel Access and accepts pva:// PV
prefixes when PVAccess is required.
Use the CLI, unit, IOC, and visual regression tests in this repository, then review important facility screens side by side with MEDM before changing operator launch scripts.
Launch with --read-only. QtEDM stays in EXECUTE mode
for realistic monitoring and navigation, shows a persistent red
observe-only indicator, and blocks writes through built-in CA,
PVA, soft-PV, snapshot, and plugin-provider paths. Blocked
attempts remain distinguishable in the audit log.
QtEDM works natively on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Start with the platform your operators already use, then validate local Qt, EPICS, SDDS, font, and packaging constraints.
Review the active MEDM / QtEDM source distribution and project history on GitHub.
github.com/rtsoliday/medmUse the EPICS Extensions MEDM page for background on the long-running display-manager family.
EPICS Extensions MEDMOpen the reference manual, announcement brief, plugin contract, and repository build notes from this checkout.
QtEDM Reference ManualFor QtEDM problems, comments, or questions, contact soliday@anl.gov. Useful bug reports include the QtEDM version, operating system, EPICS Base version, launch command, display files, and enough detail to reproduce the issue.
The next useful conversation is concrete: build it, open familiar displays, compare behavior, and show where QtEDM removes current operational friction.
make -j4
bin/<OS>-<architecture>/qtedm
# Then choose Help -> Demo for the live soft-PV demo.
make test-qtedm
xdg-open docs/QtEDM.html