The general control of tokamak plasmas has evolved considerably over t
he past few years with an increase in the plasma pulse length, an incr
ease in the control of additional heating and fueling, and an increase
in the degree to which the shape of the plasma can be varied. The Tok
amak Configuration Variable (TCV) is specifically designed to explore
the operational benefits of plasma shaping over a wide variety of plas
ma shapes. Consequently, considerable attention has been given to the
control of the poloidal field coil currents that impose the desired sh
ape. All aspects of the control of TCV plasmas, from the diagnostic me
asurements to the power supplies, via particular control algorithms an
d overall supervision are discussed.