Send messages to SciLog¶

Prerequisites¶

• You have a running BEC IPython client session.
• SciLog messaging is enabled for your deployment or session.

1. Create and send a simple message¶

Create a new SciLog message object from the BEC client and send it:

msg = bec.messaging.scilog.new()
msg.add_text("Beamline is ready for alignment.")
msg.send()

You can also create and send a short message in one line:

bec.messaging.scilog.new("Beamline checks completed.").send()

2. Add formatting and tags¶

SciLog messages support formatted text and tags:

msg = bec.messaging.scilog.new()
msg.add_text("Alignment warning", bold=True, color="yellow")
msg.add_text(" Check the slit positions before continuing.")
msg.add_tags(["alignment", "warning"])
msg.send()

add_text() supports:

• bold=True
• italic=True
• color="red", "green", "yellow", "pink", "blue" or "black"

BEC adds the default bec tag automatically if you do not provide tags yourself.

If you want to change the default tags for the current client session, set them explicitly:

bec.messaging.scilog.set_default_tags(["bec", "beamline-x", "commissioning"])

3. Attach a file¶

Add attachments from a local path before sending the message:

msg = bec.messaging.scilog.new("Attached: latest detector snapshot.")
msg.add_attachment("/path/to/snapshot.png")
msg.send()

For image attachments, you can also provide display dimensions:

msg = bec.messaging.scilog.new("Overview image")
msg.add_attachment("/path/to/overview.png", width=800, height=450)
msg.send()

Attachments must exist on disk and must be smaller than 5 MB.

4. Combine text, tags, and attachments¶

SciLog messages are built from ordered elements. BEC keeps the order in which you add content, so you can structure a message as text, image, text or in any other sequence that fits your note.

In practice, you will often send all parts together:

msg = bec.messaging.scilog.new()
msg.add_text("Beam position before correction:")
msg.add_attachment("/path/to/before.png", width=700)
msg.add_text("Beam position after correction:")
msg.add_attachment("/path/to/after.png", width=700)
msg.send()

You can also combine formatted text, tags, and attachments in one message:

msg = bec.messaging.scilog.new()
msg.add_text("Scan quality check failed.", bold=True, color="red")
msg.add_text(" See the attached plot for details.")
msg.add_tags(["quality-check", "scan"])
msg.add_attachment("/path/to/scan_summary.pdf")
msg.send()

Common pitfalls¶

• bec.messaging.scilog.new() raises an error if SciLog messaging is not enabled for the current deployment or session.
• add_attachment(...) fails if the file does not exist or is larger than 5 MB.
• Default tags are added automatically. If you call set_default_tags(...), those tags are used for later messages in the current client session.