DANTE: control system for DAΦNE based on Macintosh and LabVIEW

Abstract DANTE (DAΦNE new tools environment) is the control system for the DAΦNE Φ-factory under construction at the Frascati National Laboratories of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). The main design goal has been to keep the software simple and easy to debug. Commercial components have been used whenever possible, with a preference for widely diffused and well established products, as opposed to“standards”. Macintosh computers are used throughout the system and LabVIEW has been chosen as development environment. We strongly oppose the “start from scratch” philosophy.