gannon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Dennis Gannon) (09/26/90)
A Call for participation: a small group of people has decided to organize an "birds of a feather" session at Supercomputing '90 in New York this year on the topic described below. ********************************************************** SUBJECT: Standardizing parallel trace formats TIME: 7:00 - 10:00 PM DATE: Thursday, November 15 ORGANIZERS: Cherri M. Pancake (Auburn University) Dennis Gannon (Indiana University) Donna Bergmark (Cornell National Supercomputer Facility) Sue Utter (Cornell National Supercomputer Facility) ABSTRACT: Although facilities to trace the execution of parallel programs are widely available, there is no standardized format for trace output. The types of events monitored and the information reported for each event vary considerably from one vendor to the next. This situation complicates the development of tools for trace analysis or replay. To port a tool across parallel systems, the developer must implement a series of translators to handle the diverse formats, perhaps modifying the tool to reflect the presence or absence of certain information. A standardized trace format, supported across vendor lines, would make it possible to adopt tools to a wider range of systems at lower cost. It would also encourage a broader distribution of trace-based tools. This session will address the requirements to be met by such a standard. Recommendations on the form and content of trace records will be presented for discussion. ************************************************************* This is, of course, not a new idea. We understand several groups have recently proposed such standards and we would like to include them in our discussions. We request that anybody with knowledge of such proposals please contact me (gannon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu) AND Sue Utter (psu@cornellf.tn.cornell.edu). Also, to get the discussion started for this sessions, I would like to see comments posted to this notes file as to merit or folly of such a standardization plan. This is especially important if you are not going to the New York meeting but you feel you feel you have a lot to say on this topic. thanks Dennis Gannon CICA & DCS Indiana University