Varian MPC Pumps

Note

The DQA3 pumps are tested on QATrack+ v3.1. QCPump is not compatible with QATrack v0.3.X

Varian’s automated Machine Performance Check (MPC) stores its results in CSV files on disk which makes it easy to review those results using third party programs (thanks Varian!).

How The MPC Pump Works

The MPC Pump works by periodically searching the va_transer\TDS directory for any Results.csv files and then grouping the data from the csv files together and uploading that data to QATrack+. The data from the Results.csv files are combined based on the following three factors:

  1. The machine they were performed on. QCPump uses the serial number from the MPCChecks directories to match with a QATrack+ Unit. For example, for an MPC directory like:

    NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV

    QCPump considers the serial number to be 1234. In order to upload results to QATrack+, QCPump must be able to find a QATrack+ unit with its serial number set to 1234.

  2. The type of MPC check that was run. QCPump will retrieve data from the following MPC directory types:

    1. GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV

      e.g. NDS-WKS-SN####-YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS-####-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV\Results.csv

    2. BeamCheckTemplate{energy}{beam_type}

      e.g. NDS-WKS-SN####-YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS-####-BeamCheckTemplate6x\Results.csv

    3. GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch

      e.g. NDS-WKS-SN####-YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS-####-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv

    4. EnhancedMLCCheckTemplate6x

      e.g. NDS-WKS-SN####-YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS-####-EnhancedMLCCheckTemplate6x\Results.csv

    results from a. and b. are grouped together into a single set of results to upload to QATrack+, while “enhanced” results from c. and d. are uploaded on their own.

  3. The date & time the results files were generated. For the GeometryCheckTemplate & BeamCheckTemplate check types, QCPump will combine results from a period of N minutes into a single data set.

For example, given the following list of directories and Results.csv files with a time grouping window of 20 minutes:

NDS-WKS-SN5678-2020-06-25-07-10-30-0000-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN5678-2020-06-25-07-20-30-0000-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN6789-2020-09-30-09-15-17-0011-EnhancedMLCCheckTemplate6x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate18x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate9e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate12e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate16e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate20e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-03-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate18x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate9e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate12e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate16e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate20e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-03-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv

the results would be grouped as:

# Group 1) SN 5678, 2020-06-25 07:10, Enhanced Couch Checks
NDS-WKS-SN5678-2020-06-25-07-10-30-0000-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv

# Group 2) SN 5678, 2020-06-25 07:20, Enhanced Couch Checks
# Even though these results were performed within 20min of Group 1),
# they are not grouped together because they are an "Enhanced" check type.
NDS-WKS-SN5678-2020-06-25-07-20-30-0000-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv

# Group 3) SN 6789, 2020-09-30 09:15, Enhanced MLC Checks
NDS-WKS-SN6789-2020-09-30-09-15-17-0011-EnhancedMLCCheckTemplate6x\Results.csv

# Group 4) SN 6789, 2020-11-06 09:59, Beam and Geometry Checks
# These are grouped together because they are not "enhanced" check types and
# all occurred within 20min of each other
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-09-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate18x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate9e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate12e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate16e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate20e\Results.csv


# Group 5) SN 1234, 2020-11-06 03:21, Enhanced Couch Checks
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-10-03-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv

# Group 6) SN 1234, 2020-11-06 11:59, Beam and Geometry Checks
# These are grouped together because they are not "enhanced" check types and
# all occurred within 20min of each other. They are not grouped with Group 4)
# results because they occurred at least 20 min after the last result from Group 4
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-11-59-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate10xFFF\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate18x\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate6e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-01-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate9e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate12e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate16e\Results.csv
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-02-21-0000-BeamCheckTemplate20e\Results.csv

# Group 7) SN 1234, 2020-11-06 12:03, Enhanced Couch Checks
NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-03-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch\Results.csv

Configuring QATrack+ for MPC Data

In order to upload MPC data to QATrack+ you need to do a bit of setup work in QATrack+ first.

Create an API Token

In order to upload your data to QATrack+ via the API you will require an API token. See the QATrack+ documentation for how to create an API token. You may wish to create a dedicated user in QATrack+ just for use with QCPump. The user will only need a single permission in order to upload data: qa | test list instance | Can add test list instance.

Configure Your Unit’s Serial Numbers

In order to determine which unit to upload MPC results to, QCPump queries the QATrack+ API to look for a unit with a serial number matching the MPC directory it finds results in. For example if QCPump finds a Results.csv file in a directory like “NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-11-06-12-03-21-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch” then it will look for a unit configured in QATrack+ with a serial number of 1234. If QCPump can’t find a unit with a matching serial number, the MPC results from that directory will be ignored.

Configure Test Lists

You will need 1 or more test lists to record the MPC data uploaded by QCPump.

  1. A test list named “MPC: Beam and Geometry Checks” to record data from GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV & BeamCheckTemplate{energy}{beam_type} MPC results.

  2. A test list named “MPC: Enhanced Couch Checks” to record data from GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkVEnhancedCouch results files.

  3. A test list named “MPC: Enhanced MLC Checks” to record data from EnhancedMLCCheckTemplate6x results files.

These test lists should have tests with macro names corresponding to the name of results in the Results.csv files. The Results.csv files have names like the following:

IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterSize [mm]
IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterMVOffset [mm]
IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterKVOffset [mm]
BeamGroup/BeamOutputChange [%]
BeamGroup/BeamUniformityChange [%]
BeamGroup/BeamCenterShift [mm]
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCMaxOffsetA [mm]
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCMaxOffsetB [mm]
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCMeanOffsetA [mm]
GantryGroup/GantryAbsolute [°], -0.09, 0.3, Pass
GantryGroup/GantryRelative [°], 0.11, 0.3, Pass

and QCPump transforms these names into valid QATrack+ macro names using the following rules:

  1. All slashes (/) and spaces are converted into underscores (_)

  2. Unit replacements are made as follows:

    • [mm] is replaced with mm,

    • [%] is replaced with per,

    • [°] is replaced with deg

  3. The beam energy/type is appended to the macro name

  4. The macro name is lowercased.

Examples of this substitution from a Results.csv file in a directory called NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-12-01-01-00-00-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV are:

IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterSize [mm] --> isocentergroup_isocentresize_mm_6x
BeamGroup/BeamOutputChange [%] -->  beamgroup_beamoutputchange_per_6x
GantryGroup/GantryAbsolute [°] --> gantrygroup_gantryabsolute_deg_6x

Warning

Currently results for individual MLC leaves are not included. Any result which starts with any of these 4 strings:

CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCLeavesA/MLCLeaf
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCLeavesB/MLCLeaf
CollimationGroup/MLCBacklashGroup/MLCBacklashLeavesA/MLCBacklashLeaf
CollimationGroup/MLCBacklashGroup/MLCBacklashLeavesB/MLCBacklashLeaf

will not be included in the api payload.

As a further example, the following Results.csv file found in a directory with the name NDS-WKS-SN1234-2020-12-01-01-00-00-0009-GeometryCheckTemplate6xMVkV

Name [Unit], Value, Threshold, Evaluation Result
IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterSize [mm], 0.3, 0.5, Pass
IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterMVOffset [mm], 0.26, 0.5, Pass
IsoCenterGroup/IsoCenterKVOffset [mm], 0.25, 0.5, Pass
BeamGroup/BeamOutputChange [%], -0.17, 2, Pass
BeamGroup/BeamUniformityChange [%], 0.31, 2, Pass
BeamGroup/BeamCenterShift [mm], 0.07, 0.5, Pass
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCMaxOffsetA [mm], 0.33, 1, Pass
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCMaxOffsetB [mm], 0.38, 1, Pass
CollimationGroup/MLCGroup/MLCMeanOffsetA [mm], 0.24, 1, Pass
...
GantryGroup/GantryAbsolute [°], -0.09, 0.3, Pass

would result in an API payload like this:

{
    "unit_test_collection": "https://qatrack.example.com/api/qa/unittestcollections/1234/",
    "work_started": "2020-12-01 01:00",
    "work_completed": "2020-12-01 01:01",
    "user_key": "1234-2020-12-01-01-01",
    "day": 0,
    "tests": {
        isocentergroup_isocentersize_mm_6x: {"value": 0.3},
        isocentergroup_isocentermvoffset_mm_6x: {"value": 0.26},
        # ...
        beamgroup_beamoutputchange_per_6x: {"value": -0.17},
        # ... and so on
        gantrygroup_gantryabsolute_deg: {"value": -0.09}
        # ... and so on
    }
}

Therefore you will need to configure Simple Numerical tests for your test lists with these macro names (or a subset of them). The names of the tests can be anything you like, but naming your test the same as the names in the Results.csv file might be a good idea. So a Test List might look like:

MPC Beam And Geometry Example Test List

MPC Beam And Geometry Example Test List

Note

If QCPump detects that not all tests results for a given test list are included when it tries to upload results. It will automatically skip those results and attempt to upload the data again. This allows QCPump to upload partial result sets when e.g. you only run a single beam in MPC but your test list is configured to receive results from multiple beam types.

Assign Test Lists to Units

Once you have created these Test Lists in QATrack+ you need to assign them to units you want to record DQA3 data for.

MPC QCPump Configuration Options

MPC

TDS Directory

The “TDS directory” where MPC results are stored. Examples may be I:\TDS or \\\YOURSERVER\VA_Transer\TDS

Fast Search

Restricts the search for Results.csv files to MPCChecks subdirectories. MPCChecks is the official Varian directory name and unless you have MPCResults in folders named something other than “MPCChecks”, it is recommended you leave this setting on for performance reasons.

Days of history

The number of prior days you want to look for data to import. This should generall be 1 unless you are doing an initial import of historical results

Results group time interval (min)

Enter the time interval (in minutes) for which results should be grouped together. That is to say, for Beam & Geometry checks how large of a time window should be used to consider MPC results part of the same session. This value should be a little bit longer than the typical time it takes you to run all your morning MPC checks.

Wait for results (min)

Wait this many minutes for more results to be written to disk before uploading grouped results. In order to ensure all results from an MPC session, are written to disk, QCPump will wait this many minutes after the most recent Results.csv file it finds for a given machine before uploading results to QATrack+.

QATrack+ API

Api Url

Enter the root api url for the QATrack+ instance you want to upload data to. For Example http://yourqatrackserver/api

Auth Token

Enter an authorization token for the QATrack+ instance you want to upload data to

Throttle

Enter the minimum interval between data uploads (i.e. a value of 1 will allow 1 record per second to be uploded)

Verify SSL

Set to False if you want to bypass SSL certificate checks (e.g. if your QATrack+ instance is using a self signed certificate)

Http Proxy

QCPump will try to autodetect your current proxy settings. However if you want to manually provide a proxy url you may do so. Proxy authentication url e.g. http://10.10.1.10:3128 or socks5://user:pass@host:port

Https Proxy

QCPump will try to autodetect your current proxy settings. However if you want to manually provide a proxy url you may do so.Proxy authentication url e.g. https://10.10.1.10:3128 or socks5://user:pass@host:port

Test List (depends on QATrack+ API)

Name

Enter a template for searching QATrack+ for the name of the Test List you want to upload data to. The default is :

MPC: {{ check_type}}

In the template {{ check_type }} will be replaced by either:

  • Beam and Geometry Checks

  • Enhanced Couch Checks

  • Enhanced MLC Checks

depending on the results being uploaded