Userspace components?

I'm curious exactly what determines what the determining factor or purpose for running a component in userspace is. It seems that all of the standard LinuxCNC components running in userspace have NML channels so I assume this has something to do with it. I'm curious if there is another purpose for this.

Userspace is for non time-critical programs that typically need kernel systems that can't be run in hard realtime.

Chris M

it is also more comfortable to use NML channels so users can interfear this to there own needs as so many building wear things to control
mutch like Functions in Programming Languages to use by different Modues

If you may tell us here what you try to adchife we may help you in a mutch different way

pl7i92 wrote:

If you may tell us here what you try to adchife we may help you in a mutch different way

I was just trying to understand when you would want to create a userspace component rather than a RT component if you were to make one.

I'm working on a component with a friend, I don't write any programming but I explain all the logic and pins and such. He doesn't have any problem with C. I bounced the idea of adding the NML channel to the component because it needs some visibility in Python, which is what brought me to the question of whether it should turn up a userspace component.

I was able to figure out plenty of methods other than the NML to interface various things so I was kind of curious when it would actually be necessary for a user space component. For example, using hal-python and making the connections to component pins you can pretty much get whatever is necessary into Python without stat. I have a custom GUI that needs to save a config file and I need it to set parameters like the ini. I just have a python config parser read/write the config file as a .inc that I #INCLUDE in the ini and I can "setp" in hal files with [SECTION]Parameter like you would for the ini file. Just trying to figure out at what point I'd hit a wall with an RT component. Seems like there's pretty much a way to get almost everything done with the RT component.

The only thing I've used python for is fo remap and screen handlers. Everything else in a RT component written in C.