SPEC MPI2007 Config Files

(To check for possible updates to this document, please see http://www.spec.org/mpi2007/Docs/ )

Overview

Click one of the following to go to the detailed contents about that item:

I. Introduction

II. Config file options for runspec

III. Config file options for specmake

IV. Config file options for the shell

V. Config file options for readers

VI. Deprecated options

VII. The config file preprocessor

VIII. Output files - and how they relate to your config file

IX. About Alternate Sources

X. Troubleshooting

Contents

I. Introduction

A. What is a config file? (Background: benchmark philosophy.)

B. What does a config file affect?

1. runspec

2. specmake

3. The shell

4. Readers of the results

5. The config file preprocessor

C. Config file structure

1. Comments and whitespace

2. Header section

3. Named sections

a. Precedence of the benchmark specifier

Default benchmark

Named suite

Named benchmark

Order of differing sections does not matter

Order of the same section does matter

b. Precedence of the tuning specifier

c. Precedence of the extension specifier

Extension found in config file

Extension not found in config file

Extension override

d. Combining specifier types

e. Precedence among section types

4. MD5 section

5. Shell-like "here documents" and continued lines

6. Included files

D. Variable substitution

1. By runspec, at startup: $[variable]

2. By runspec, during a run: $variable and ${variable}

2. By the shell: \$VARIABLE

4. By specmake: $(VARIABLE)

5. Example: controlling rank counts in the AIX MPI driver

6. Limitations on variable substitution

7. Unsetting a variable with %undef%

II. Config file options for runspec

A. Options that can also be used on the runspec command line

action check_version delay deletework ext flagsurl http_proxy http_timeout ignore_errors info_wrap_columns iterations mach make_no_clobber nobuild notes_wrap_columns output_format ranks reportable rebuild runlist setprocgroup size table tune verbose

B. Options for runspec that can only be used in a config file

allow_extension_override backup_config basepeak build_in_build_dir check_md5 command_add_redirect difflines env_vars expand_notes expid fail fail_build fail_run ignore_sigint inherit_from ___ keeptmp line_width locking log_line_width _ log_timestamp mailcompress mailmethod mailport mailserver mailto mail_reports make makeflags mean_anyway minimize_rundirs minimize_builddirs no_monitor no_input_handler notes_wrap_indent output_root _____ preenv section_specifier_fatal sendmail src.alt strict_rundir_verify sysinfo_program teeout version_url

III. Config file options for specmake

CC, CXX, FC
CLD, CXXLD, FLD
ONESTEP
OPTIMIZE, COPTIMIZE, CXXOPTIMIZE, FOPTIMIZE
PORTABILITY, CPORTABILITY, CXXPORTABILITY, FPORTABILITY...
RM_SOURCES

IV. Config file options for the shell

_ bench_post_setup _ ______ post_setup monitor_pre_bench monitor_post_bench monitor_wrapper monitor_specrun_wrapper submit

V. Config file options for the output report

A. Field scoping

B. Continued versus fixed-format fields

C. Free-form notes

D. Links in notes sections

E. Attachments

F. Test description

hw_avail license_num notes_test prepared_by sw_avail system_class system_name system_vendor tester test_sponsor

G. Benchmark description

notes_base notes_comp notes_peak notes_port sw_base_ptrsize sw_c_compiler sw_cxx_compiler sw_f_compiler sw_mpi_library sw_mpi_other sw_notes sw_other sw_peak_ptrsize

H. Component attributes

I. Node description(s)

node_tag_label node_tag_order node_tag_count node_tag_hw_vendor node_tag_hw__model node_tag_purpose node_tag_hw_cpu_name node_tag_hw_ncores node_tag_hw_ncoresorder node_tag_hw_ncoresperchip node_tag_hw_nchips node_tag_hw_nthreadspercore node_tag_hw_cpu_char node_tag_hw_cpu_mhz node_tag_hw_fpu node_tag_hw_pcache node_tag_hw_scache node_tag_hw_tcache node_tag_hw_ocache node_tag_hw_memory node_tag_sw_os node_tag_sw_state node_tag_hw_disk node_tag_sw_local_file node_tag_sw_shared_file node_tag_sw_other node_tag_hw_other node_tag_notes

J. Adaptor description(s)

node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_model node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_slot_type node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_data_rate node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_count node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_ports_used node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_driver node_tag1_hw_adaptor_tag2_firmware

K. Interconnect description(s)

interconnect_tag_hw_purpose interconnect_tag_hw_model interconnect_tag_hw_notes interconnect_tag_hw_switch interconnect_tag_hw_switch_count interconnect_tag_hw_switch_ports interconnect_tag_hw_switch_data_rate interconnect_tag_hw_switch_firmware interconnect_tag_hw_topo interconnect_tag_hw_vendor interconnect_tag_label interconnect_tag_order

VI. Deprecated options

A. SPEC/CPU rate runs

B. Feedack-directed optimization

C. Old-style descriptive formats

D. Obsolete hardware designs

E. Automatic thread-level parallelization

VII. The config file preprocessor

A. Defining macros

B. Un-doing macro definition

C. Using macros

D. Conditionals

1.%ifdef .. %endif

2.%ifndef .. %endif

3.%if .. %endif

4.%else

5.%elif

E. Informational directives

1.%warning

2.%error

VIII. Output files - and how they relate to your config file

A. Automatic backup of config files

B. The log file and verbosity levels

1. Search Strings

2. Temporary Debug Logs

3. Definitions of verbosity levels

C. Help, I've got too many logs

D. Finding the build directory

E. Files in the build directory

F. For more information

IX. About Alternate Sources

A. Example: Applying a src.alt

B. Developing a src.alt (brief introduction)

X. Troubleshooting

I. Introduction

I.A. What is a config file? (Background: benchmark philosophy.)

A config file contains:

• The instructions for building the benchmarks.
• The instructions for running the benchmarks.
• The description of the system under test.
• The key to result reproducibility.
• The guts, the real controls, the Good Stuff.
• The place where the benchmark philosophy hits the road.

A key decision that must be made by designers of a benchmark suite is whether to allow the benchmark source code to be changed when the suite is used.

If source code changes are allowed:

If source code changes are not allowed:

SPEC has chosen not to allow source code changes for the MPI2007 suite, except under very limited circumstances.

By restricting source code changes, SPEC separates the activity of porting benchmarks, which has a goal of being performance neutral, from the activity of using the benchmarks, where the goal is getting the best score possible. Prior to the first production use of MPI2007, SPEC invested substantial effort to port the suite to as many platforms as practical, including 32 and 64-bit systems; little-endian and big-endian hardware; Unix, Linux, and Microsoft Windows systems.

Are source code changes ever allowed? Normally, no. But if you discover a reason why you believe such a change is essential, SPEC wants to hear about it, and will consider such requests for a future revision of the suite. SPEC will normally not publish MPI2007 results using modified source code, unless such modifications are unavoidable for the target environment, are submitted to the SPEC HPG committee for review, are made available to all users of the suite, and are formally approved by a vote of the SPEC HPG committee.

So, if source code changes are not allowed, but the benchmarks must be compiled in a wide variety of environments, can the users at least write their own makefiles, and use -D options to select different environments? The answer to these two questions are "no", and "yes", respectively:

• No, you can't write your own makefiles.
• But yes, you can select portability options (such as -D).

You do this in the config file, which contains a centralized collection of all the portability options and optimization options for all the benchmarks in the MPI2007 suite. The SPEC tools then automatically generate the makefiles for you.

The config file contains places where you can specify the characteristics of both your compile time and run time environments. A general notation is used to express platform-specific conventions for compiling and running the benchmarks. It allows the advanced user to perform detailed manipulation of makefile options, but retains all the changes in one place so that they can be examined and reproduced.

The config file is one of the key ingredients in making results reproducible. For example, if a customer would like to run the MPI2007 suite on her own SuperHero Model 4 and discover how close results are in her environment to the environment used when the vendor published a MPI2007 result, she should be able to do that using only 3 ingredients:

1. The SPEC MPI2007 media, ordered from SPEC.
2. The software and hardware as specified in the full disclosure when the vendor published the original results.
3. The config file from the vendor's submission.

I.B. What does a config file affect?

A config file contains options targetting five distinct consumers:

1. The runspec tool, which provides overall control of the test,
2. The tool that compiles benchmarks: specmake,
3. Your shell, which is used for certain operations such as submiting to specific processors,
4. Readers of the results, and
5. The config file preprocessor.

To understand how to write a config file effectively, you need to understand which consumer you are addressing at any given point.

The above point seems worth emphasizing:

To understand how to write a config file effectively, you need to understand which consumer you are addressing at any given point.

This section gives you an overview of the consumers; more detail is included in later sections.

I.B.1. runspec

Various aspects of the operation of runspec can be affected by setting options within a config file. You'll find a list of these options in the table of contents for section II - including some that are available both on the runspec command line and some that can only be set within a config file.

For example, if michael.cfg includes the lines:

   output_format = text,ps
   tune          = base
   reportable    = 1
   runlist       = medium

then the defaults for the runspec command would change as specified. A user who types either of the following two commands would get precisely the same effect:

   runspec --config=michael
   runspec --config=michael --output=text,ps --tune=base --reportable medium

I.B.2. specmake

The tool specmake is simply GNU make renamed to avoid any possible conflicts with other versions of make that may be on your system. The options commonly used for specmake are listed in the table of contents for section III.

For example, these config file lines:

   CC           = cc
   CPORTABILITY = -DSPEC_SINGLE_UNDERSCORE
   OPTIMIZE     = -O4

are written to the makefile set that is ultimately used to build the benchmark, and are interpreted by specmake.

I.B.3. The shell

Some config file lines define commands that are handed off to the shell or, on Windows, the command interpreter. The list of these is in the table of contents for section IV.

For example, consider a config file that contains:

submit = let "MP_PROCS=$ranks"; poe $command

When using this config file, runspec will pass the above command to the shell to run the corresponding benchmark binary. It is the shell that actually carries out the requested commands, not runspec, so the syntax of the command depends on whether you are using the Unix shell (/bin/sh) or the Windows command interpreter (cmd.exe).

Because runspec can cause arbitrary commands to be executed,
it is therefore important to read a config file you are given before using it.

I.B.4. Readers of the results

If a SPEC MPI2007 result is published (for example, at http://www.spec.org/), it is expected to contain all the information needed for a reader to understand exactly what was tested. Fields that are informative for readers are listed in the table of contents for section V.

For example, config file lines such as these are addressed to the human reader:

   test_date = Nov-2008
   hw_avail  = Apr-2008
   sw_avail  = May-2008
   node_notes_015  = Note: Node 0 is used as the file server for the cluster.

In addition, for results published by SPEC, the config file itself is available to readers at http://www.spec.org/mpi2007/. The config file is presented as you wrote it, with three exceptions (protected comments, the MD5 section, and rawfile corrections for reader fields). The config file is made available because it is so important to reproducing results, as described in the Introduction. The config file is saved on every run, as a compressed portion of the rawfile, and can be accessed with runspec --rawformat --output_format=config <rawfile>.

I.B.5. The config file preprocessor

There is also a config file preprocessor, which is addressed via lines that begin with % in the first column. The config file preprocessor is a new SPEC tool, introduced with CPU2006 and MPI2007.

I.C. Config file structure

A config file contains:

• A header section.
• An arbitrary number of user-defined named sections, delimited by section markers.
• An automatically-generated MD5 section.

About scope: Every line of the config file is considered to be within the scope of one of the above three. Lines prior to the first section marker are in the scope of the header section. All other lines are either in the scope of the most recently preceding user-defined section marker, or else in the MD5 section.

A line within the scope of a named section may be overridden by a line within the scope of a different named section, according to rules that are described below.

I.C.1. Comments and whitespace

A comment begins with a #, and can be placed anywhere in a config file, either as a trailing end-of-line comment or as a whole line:

#
#   Header comment
#
output_format   = rsf,text,html,csv      # End-of-line comment.

   #> I didn't use the C++ beta version because of Bob's big back-end bug.

Blank lines can be placed anywhere in a config file.

Trailing spaces and tabs are stripped, unless they are preceeded by a backslash:

   CC_PATH=/path/with/no/trailing/spaces

That is turned into "/path/with/no/trailing/spaces". To preserve those trailing spaces, you'd simply add a backslash:

      CC_PATH=/path/with/trailing/spaces\ 

That is turned into "/path/with/trailing/spaces ".

Spaces within a line are usually ignored. Of course, you wouldn't want to spell OPTIMIZE as OPT I MIZE, but you are perfectly welcome to do either of the following:

   OPTIMIZE=-O2
   OPTIMIZE   =  -02

One place where spaces are considered significant is in notes, where the tools assume you are trying to line up your comments in the full disclosure reports. (Notes are printed in a fixed-width font.)

Spaces at the beginning of lines are ignored, except when attempting to address the preprocessor. Preprocessor directives always begin with a percent sign (%) in the first column. You can put spaces after the percent sign, if you wish, as shown by the examples below.

I.C.2. Header section

The header section is simply the first section, prior to the first occurence of a named section.

Most attempts to address runspec itself must be done in the header section. For example, if you want to set reportable=1, you must do so before any occurrences of section markers.

I.C.3. Named Sections

A named section is a portion of the config file that begins with a section marker and continues until the next section marker or the MD5 section is reached. The contents of the named section are applied based upon the precedence rules described in the following sections.

A "section marker" is a four-part string of the form:

   benchmark[,benchmark]*=tuning[,tuning]*=extension[,extension]*=machine[,machine]*:

These are referred to below as the 4 "section specifiers". The allowed values for the section specifiers are:

[*] The "machine" specifier works similarly to the extension specifier, but it does not affect the name of the executable produced, which, in many environments, makes it less useful than the extension specifier. This document does not describe the usage of the "machine" specifier, other than to note that it exists; if you feel particularly courageous, you can experiment with it.

But please be aware that if you use a single config file to build with two different machine settings, you will likely overwrite the original binaries on the second build, since the machine specifier does not affect the name of the generated executable.

Lists may be used in any of the slots in the section marker:

       104.milc,122.tachyon = base,peak = optLevel1,optLevel2 = arch1,arch2:

This capability is new with the MPI2007 and CPU2006 tool sets.

Trailing default section specifiers may be omitted from a section marker. Thus all three of these section markers are equivalent:

   104.milc=base=default=default:
   104.milc=base=default:
   104.milc=base:

Section markers can be entered in any order. Section markers can be repeated; material from identical section markers will automatically be consolidated. That is, you are welcome to start one section, start a different one, then go back and add more material to the first section. But please note that since there is no marker for the header section, you cannot go back to it.

By constructing section markers, you specify how you would like your options applied, with powerful defaulting and overriding capabilities. The next several sections walk through examples to demonstrate precedence, including how sections interact with each other.

I.C.3.a. Precedence of the benchmark specifier

For the benchmark specifier, the precedence is:

  highest   named benchmark
            suite or bset name
  lowest    default

Using default as the benchmark specifier

For example, consider this config file that only mentions default for the benchmark specifier:

   $ cat tmp.cfg
   runlist        = lammps
   size           = mtest
   iterations     = 1
   tune           = base
   output_format  = text
   teeout         = 1
   ranks          = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   $ runspec --config=tmp | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O3 -q64 lammps.cpp
   $ 

The config file above is designed for quick, simple testing: it runs only one benchmark, namely 126.lammps, using the smallest (mtest) workload, runs it only once, uses only base tuning, outputs only the text-format (ASCII) report, and displays the build commands to the screen (teeout). To use it, we issue a runspec command, and pipe the output to grep to search for the actual generated compile command. (Alternatively, on Windows, we could use findstr on the generated log file).

The careful reader may ask, "Why does the runlist reference lammps rather than 126.lammps?" The answer is that the runlist can use benchmark numbers or any abbreviation that is sufficient for uniqueness; any of the following would have the same effect: 126.lammps, 126, or lammps. This is the same rule as for the corresponding option on the command line.

The results show that the tuning applied was the expected -O3 (which mean optimization level 3, for the IBM mpCC compiler). The tools have automatically added -c -o lammps.o to specify where the object file is to be written. The switch -DFFT_NONE was also added automatically.

Using a bset list as the benchmark specifier

The next example differs from the previous one by adding a section marker with medium_cpp, for the C++ benchmarks, as the first section specifier:

   $  cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   medium_cpp=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O4

   $ runspec --config=tmp | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O4 -q64 lammps.cpp
   $

The second OPTIMIZE line is used above because the reference to the C++ benchmarks is considered to be more specific than the overall default.

Using a named suite as the benchmark specifier

A named suite is one case of a bset, with the property that it contains all the benchmarks necessary for a reportable run. The example below uses the medium section marker as the first section specifier, to denote the entire medium sized data suite:

   $  cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   medium=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O4

   $ runspec --config=tmp | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O4 -q64 lammps.cpp
   $

The second OPTIMIZE line is used above because the reference to the medium suite is considered to be more specific than the overall default.

Using a named benchmark as the benchmark specifier

Furthermore, we can add a specifier that mentions lammps by name:

   $  cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   medium_cpp=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O4

   126.lammps=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O5 -qstrict

   $ runspec --config=tmp | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
   $

The third OPTIMIZE line wins above, because it is included in the section that is considered to be the most specific.

Order of differing sections does not matter:

But what if we had said these in a different order?

   $ cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   126.lammps=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O5 -qstrict

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   medium_cpp=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O4

   $ runspec --config=tmp | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp

Notice above that the order of entry is not significant; it's the order of precedence from least specific to most specific.

Order of the same section does matter:

When a specifier is listed more than once at the same descriptive level, the last instance of the specifier is used. Consider this case:

   126.lammps=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O4

   122.tachyon=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O5

   126.lammps=default=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE = -O3

The ending value of OPTIMIZE for 126.lammps is -O3, not -O4.

I.C.3.b. Precedence of the tuning specifier

For the tuning specifier, either base or peak has higher precedence than default.

Here is an example of its use:

   $ cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base,peak
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   default=base=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE       = -O4

   default=peak=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE       = -O5 -qstrict

   $ runspec --config=tmp -T base | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O4 -q64 lammps.cpp
   $ runspec --config=tmp -T peak | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
   $ 

In the above example, we compile 126.lammps twice: once for base tuning, and once for peak. Notice that in both cases the optimizations defined by the more specific section markers have been applied, namely -O4 and -O5 -qstrict, rather than -O3 from default=default=default=default.

I.C.3.c. Precedence of the extension specifier

For the extension specifier, any named extension is at a higher precedence level than the default.

Using an extension found in the config file

Analogous to the example above, the choice of extension specifier determines the level of optimization that is applied:

   $ cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   default=base=myke=default:
   OPTIMIZE       = -O4

   default=base=yusuf=default:
   OPTIMIZE       = -O5 -qstrict

   $ runspec --config=tmp --extension=myke | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O4 -q64 lammps.cpp
   $
   $ runspec --config=tmp --extension=yusuf | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
   $ 
   $ cd $SPEC/benchspec/MPI2007/126.lammps/exe
   $ ls -lt | head -3
   total 9344
   -rwxrwxr-x   1 spec     staff       2330870 Jun 13 09:50 lammps_base.yusuf
   -rwxrwxr-x   1 spec     staff       2446066 Jun 13 09:34 lammps_base.myke
   $

Notice above that two different versions of 126.lammps were built from the same config file, and the default OPTIMIZE setting was overridden the extension rule in each case. Both executables are present in the exe directory for 126.lammps.

Using an extension that is not found in the config file

The previous section demonstrated use of the runspec switch --extension to select among extensions defined in the config file. But what if the extension on the command line is not mentioned in the config file? The example below continues immediately from the example just above:

   $ runspec --config=tmp --extension=yusoff
   runspec v4200 - Copyright 1999-2007 Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation
   ...
   ERROR: The extension 'yusoff' defines no settings in the config file!
          If this is okay and you'd like to use the extension to just change
          the extension applied to executables, please put
       allow_extension_override = yes
          into the header section of your config file.

By default, if you mention an extension on the runspec command line that does not exist in the config file, the tools refuse to build.

Extension override

But if you add allow_extension_override=yes to the top of the config file, then the tools will build or run with the extension you specified, using the same settings as they would have used if no extension had been entered on the runspec command line.

The next example continues with a config file that adds allow_extension_override to the previous example config file:

   $ diff tmp.cfg tmp2.cfg
   0a1
   > allow_extension_override=yes
   $
   $ runspec --config=tmp2 --extension=yusoff | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O3 -q64 lammps.cpp
   $
   $ cd $SPEC/benchspec/MPI2007/126.lammps/exe
   $ ls -lt | head -2
   total 12472
   -rwxrwxr-x   1 spec     staff       1599589 Jun 13 10:02 lammps_base.yusoff

Notice above that although the tools now consent to build with the requested extension, the library settings now falls back to the default, since yusoff does not match any section markers.

(For CPU2000/OMP2001/HPC2002, the tools silently accepted any extension, including typos, which sometimes led to surprising results. MPI2007 tries to reduce surprises by rejecting your typos, unless you set allow_extension_override.)

I.C.3.d. Combining specifier types

If more than one section applies to a particular benchmark without disagreement among them, then all are applied.

Consider this example:

   $ cat tmp.cfg
   runlist       = lammps
   size          = mtest
   iterations    = 1
   tune          = base
   output_format = text
   teeout        = 1
   ranks         = 32

   default=default=default=default:
   CXX            = mpCC_r
   OPTIMIZE       = -O3

   126.lammps=default=default=default:
   submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks

   default=peak=default=default:
   OPTIMIZE       = -O5 -qstrict

   default=default=AIX64=default:
   EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
   EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64

   $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=peak --ext=AIX64 | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
   $ 

Notice above that all three sections applied: the section specifier for 126.lammps, the specifier for peak tuning, and the specifier for extension AIX64.

I.C.3.e. Precedence among section types

If sections conflict with each other, the order of precedence is:

     highest     benchmark
                 suite or bset
                 tuning
                 extension
     lowest      machine

And this order can be demonstrated as follows:

    $  cat tmp.cfg
     runlist       = lammps
     size          = mtest
     iterations    = 1
     tune          = base
     output_format = text
     teeout        = 1
     makeflags     = -j30
     ranks         = 32
  
     default=default=default=default:
     CXX            = mpCC_r
     CC             = mpcc_r
     FC             = mpxlf95_r
     OPTIMIZE       = -O3
     EXTRA_LDFLAGS  = -q64
     EXTRA_CXXFLAGS = -q64
     EXTRA_CFLAGS   = -q64
     submit         = poe $command -procs $ranks
  
     medium_c=default=default=default:
     OPTIMIZE       = -O4
  
     126.lammps=default=default=default:
     OPTIMIZE       = -O5 -qstrict
  
     default=peak=default=default:
     OPTIMIZE       = -O5
  
     default=default=AIX64=default:
     OPTIMIZE       = -O
     $
     $ runspec --config=tmp lammps | grep lammps.cpp  
[1]  mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
     $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=peak lammps | grep lammps.cpp
[2]  mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
     $ runspec --config=tmp --extension=AIX64 lammps | grep lammps.cpp
[3]  mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O5 -qstrict -q64 lammps.cpp
     $ 
     $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=base tachyon | grep main.c
[4]  mpcc_r -c -o main.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -O4 -q64 main.c
     $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=peak tachyon | grep main.c
[5]  mpcc_r -c -o main.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -O4 -q64 main.c
     $ runspec --config=tmp --extension=AIX64 tachyon | grep main.c
[6]  mpcc_r -c -o main.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -O4 -q64 main.c
     $
     $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=base GemsFDTD | grep GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o
[7]  mpxlf95_r -c -o GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o -O3 -q64 GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.f90
     $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=peak GemsFDTD | grep GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o
[8]  mpxlf95_r -c -o GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o -O5 -q64 GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.f90
     $ runspec --config=tmp --extension=AIX64 GemsFDTD | grep GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o
[9]  mpxlf95_r -c -o GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o -O -q64 GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.f90
     $ runspec --config=tmp --tune=peak --extension=AIX64 GemsFDTD | grep GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o
[10] mpxlf95_r -c -o GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.o -O5 -q64 GemsFDTD_MPI.fppized.f90
     $ 

Notice above that the named benchmark always wins: lines [1], [2], and [3]. If there is no section specifier that names a benchmark, but there is a section specifier that names a suite or bset, then the suite or bset wins: lines [4], [5], and [6]. If there are no applicable benchmark or suite specifiers, then tuning or extension can be applied: lines [8] and [9]. But if both tuning and extension are applied, tuning wins [10].

I.C.4. MD5 Section

The final section of your config file is generated automatically by the tools when the benchmarks are compiled, and looks something like this:

   __MD5__
   126.lammps=base=none=default:
   # Last updated Thu May 11 08:53:12 2007
   optmd5=a0104c0975ee3b341e73437843df57a9
   baggage=
   compile_options=\
   @eNpz9vcNsFJITlbQBaJ8hfyCksz8vGK9fAVdl+AAV+d454BQINPPxdUp1F1BQUG3wt9YQbdcAR3Y\
   FOeXFiWn2nE5Wyk4O9sqJScrgZn+Tl7+ASG2SiimK3EBrQQa7Obj6B4MlMO0SYnL30oBqNHT1zPK\
   FagCYqsSl4+nnzfYtVgcYpOflJWaXFJshySGsBPkGh8XiMOwmw1W4B8KciySSwGYpEmr
   exemd5=9b42a21f12b1fbb4e87cd9bacd781c43

The "MD5" is a checksum that ensures that the binaries referenced in the config file are in fact built using the options described therein. For example, if you edit the config file to change the optimization level for 126.lammps, the next time the file is used for lammps, the tools will notice the change and will recompile it.

You can optionally disable this behavior, but doing so is strongly discouraged. Not only is the result not reportable, but the binaries you run may not be compiled under the conditions you think they are compiled under. See the acerbic remarks in the description of check_md5, below.

If you would like to see what portions of your config file are used in computing the MD5 hash, runspec with --debug=30 or higher, and examine the log file.

For published results, the published config file (from rawformat --output_format=config) does not include the MD5 section.

I.C.5. Shell-like "here documents" and continued lines

Shell-style "here documents" are supported for setting variables to multi-line values. Continued lines (with \) are also supported:

   $ cat tmp2.cfg
   expand_notes  = 1
   size          = mtest
   runlist       = lammps
   iterations    = 1
   output_format = text

   foo =<<EOT

   This +
   is a +
   test +
   EOT

   bar = \
         and +\
         so  +\
         is  +\
         this+

   notes01 = $foo
   notes02 = $bar

   $ runspec --config=tmp2 | grep txt
           format: ASCII -> /ailuropoda/raj/spec/result/MPIM2007.159.mtest.txt
   $ grep + ../result/*159*txt
       This +
       is a +
       test +
             and +
             so  +
             is  +
             this+
   $

Note: although continued lines are supported, they are rarely used. The more common method of continuation is by appending a number to a field, as described in the section "Field scoping and continuation".

I.C.6. Included files

It is possible to include another file in your config file. A typical use for this feature might be to keep all the software information in the main config file, but to include the hardware information about the current System Under Test (SUT) in another file. For example:

   $ cat tmp.cfg
   output_format = text
   iterations    = 1
   size          = mtest
   sw_compiler   = myC V1.0
   sw_avail      = Mar-2007
   runlist       = lammps
   include: SUT.inc

   default=base:
   OPTIMIZE = -O
   $ cat SUT.inc
   hw_model = SuperHero IV
   hw_avail = Feb-2008

   $ runspec --config tmp | grep txt
           format: ASCII -> /manas/spec/result/MPI2007.160.mtest.txt
   $ grep avail ../result/*160.mtest.txt
    [...]       Hardware availability: Feb-2008
    [...]       Software availability: Mar-2007
   $ 

Notice above that the report mentions both the hardware and software dates.

I.D. Variable Substitution

I.D.1. By runspec, at startup: $[variable]

Substitution for variables of the form $[variable] happens immediately after the config file is read by runspec. Any value that's set in the config file and is visible in the scope where the variable is used can be substituted. Because of the named section scoping restriction, if you want to use variable substitution to note your optimization flags, the notes for the individual benchmarks must be in those benchmarks' sections:

122.tachyon=peak=default=default:
PEAKFLAG=-gofast
# The following will turn into what you expect
notes_peak_400_1=I use $[PEAKFLAG]

122.tachyon=base=default=default:
BASEFLAG=-besafe
# The following will turn into what you expect:
notes_base_400_1=I use $[BASEFLAG]
# The following will NOT WORK:
notes_base_400_2=My brother likes $[PEAKFLAG]

You can't substitute variables that don't exist or whose values aren't known when the config file is read.

Wrong:

ext = foo

default:
OPTIMIZE = -xO2
notes01 = my ext is $[ext]

default=default=bar:
OPTIMIZE = -xO1
notes02 = my ext is $[ext]

This doesn't work because the sorting of which extensions to use doesn't happen until after the config file is processed. In this particular example, it's obvious (to you) what the value should be, but the tools aren't as clever as you are.

Perhaps the most useful variable is the one for the top of the SPEC MPI2007 tree, $[top], often found in contexts such as:

    flagsurl = $[top]/myflagsdir/myflagsfile.xml

Variables of possible interest might include:

You can substitute with most options that you enter into the config file, including: action, allow_extension_override, backup_config, basepeak, check_md5, check_version, command_add_redirect, config, delay, deletework, difflines, env_vars, expand_notes, expid, ext, fake, flagsurl, http_proxy, http_timeout, ignore_errors, ignore_sigint, info_wrap_columns, iterations, line_width, locking, log_line_width, mach, mail_reports, mailcompress, mailmethod, mailport, mailserver, mailto, make, make_no_clobber, makeflags, mean_anyway, minimize_builddirs, minimize_rundirs, no_input_handler, no_monitor, notes_wrap_columns, notes_wrap_indent, output_format, output_root, rawformat, rebuild, reportable, runlist, section_specifier_fatal, sendmail, setprocgroup, size, strict_rundir_verify, sysinfo_program, table, teeout, tune, username, verbose, version_url.

You can also print out the value of additional variables that you may have created.

Here is a sample config file that illustrates square bracket variable substitution:

$ cat x.cfg
expand_notes = 1
runlist      = medium
action       = validate
myfriend     = jamiemeow
output_root  = /tmp
flagsurl     = $[top]/Docs/flags/flags-advanced.xml

notes01      = Today, I am running $[runlist] in $[top] on a $[OS] system 
notes02      = Today the flags file is $[flagsurl]
notes03      = Today, my favorite friend is $[myfriend]

$ runspec --config=x  --fakereportable | grep txt
        format: ASCII -> /tmp/result/MPI2007.002.txt
$ grep Today /tmp/result/MPI2007.002.txt
     Today, I am running medium in /spec/mpi2007 on a unix system 
     Today the flags file is /spec/mpi2007/Docs/flags/flags-advanced.xml
     Today, my favorite friend is jamiemeow

You can't use square brackets to substitute variables whose value changes during a run or build.

Wrong:

default=default=default=default:
#        I executed ''
notes0 = I executed '$[command]'

What did you expect?

Don't worry -- you'll receive a warning if you use a variable that the tools don't know about. It's up to you to heed them.

I.D.2 By runspec, during a run: $variable, ${variable}

The second round performed by runspec uses Perl variable interpolation. Only Perl scalars (denoted by a leading $) can be interpolated. For example, notes001 below uses the log file number (generated by the tools) and the hardware availability date (which was set directly):

$ cat tmp.cfg
runlist       = lu
tune          = base
size          = mtest

iterations    = 1
output_format = text

expand_notes  = 1
hw_avail      = May-2007
notes001      = This run is from log.$lognum with hw_avail $hw_avail

$ runspec -c tmp | grep txt
        format: ASCII -> /spec/david/result/MPIM2007.029.mtest.txt
$ grep with ../result/*029*txt
     This run is from log.029 with hw_avail May-2007
$ 

In this case, $hw_avail could also have been substituted in the first round by writing it as $[hw_avail]. In general, for variable interpolation, the earlier the better.

To put text immediately after a variable, you need to make it possible for the parser to see the variable that you want, by using braces:

   % tail -2 tmp.cfg
   notes001 =You have done ${lognum}x runs tonight, go to bed.

   % runspec -c tmp | grep txt
      format: ASCII -> /john/result/MPIM2007.103.mtest.txt
   % grep done /john/result/MPIM2007.103.mtest.txt
      You have done 103x runs tonight, go to bed.

Interpolation won't always do what you wish it might do: for example, some variables are only defined at certain times, and your submit or notes line might be interpolated at a different time. When debugging a config file that uses variable interpolation, you will probably find --size mtest useful.

Some things that you might choose to interpolate include:

Variable interpolation is most commonly used to paramaterize the MPI driver when a benchmark is invoked by the submit directive. In the two examples below, $command is replaced with the invocation of each benchmark, including the name of the executable and its parameters, and $ranks is replaced by the number of ranks that is to be used with that benchmark for the base or peak run:

submit = poe $command -procs=$ranks

or

env_vars     = 1
ENV_MP_PROCS = $ranks
submit = poe $command

If you'd like a complete list of the variables that you can use in your commands (relative to the config file you're using), set runspec's verbosity to 35 or higher (-v 35) and do a run that causes a command substitution to happen, with expand_notes=1.

I.D.3. By the shell: \$VARIABLE

Substitution by the shell - or by the windows command interpreter - uses backslash dollar sign. Because Perl variables look a lot like shell variables, you need to specially protect shell variables if you want to prevent Perl from trying to interpret them. Notice what happens with the protected and unprotected versions:

$ cat tmp.cfg
runlist              = mcf
size                 = mtest
tune                 = base,peak
iterations           = 1

output_format        = text 
teeout               = 1
expand_notes         = 1

default=peak=default=default:
submit = echo "home=$HOME; spec=$SPEC;" > /tmp/chan; $command

default=base=default=default:
submit = echo "home=\$HOME; spec=\$SPEC;" > /tmp/nui; $command
$ runspec --config=tmp > /dev/null
$ cat /tmp/chan
home=; spec=;
$ cat /tmp/nui
home=/home/chris; spec=/spec/mpi2007;
$ 

In the first submit command, $HOME and $SPEC were gobbled up by runspec. But since those are not the names of variables that can be interpolated, empty strings were the result. In the second command, the backslashes prevented runspec from interpreting the variables, so they were seen by the shell instead.

I.D.4. By specmake: $(VARIABLE)

Variables with a dollar sign and parentheses, aka "round brackets", are substituted by specmake. For example:

    COMPILER_DIR=/usr/local/bin/
    CC=$(COMPILER_DIR)cc

For a more extensive example of variable substitution handled by specmake, see the SPEC CPU2000 example at www.spec.org/cpu2000/docs/example-advanced.cfg. Search that file for LIBS, and note the long comment which provides a walk-through of a complex substitution handled by specmake. Note: a MPI2007 version of that example will be provided at a later date; but the concepts, from the CPU2000 example, are expected to work in a similar fashion for MPI2007.

Deprecated feature alert: Although it is also possible to pass information to specmake using curly brackets: ${SPECMAKE}, this is not recommended. Instead, you should consistently use curly brackets to address runspec and round brackets to address specmake. It is possible that a future version of runspec may insist on interpolating curly brackets itself, rather than allowing specmake to do so.

I.D.5. Example: controlling rank counts in the AIX MPI driver

Here is a simple but useful example of controlling the rank counts in the MPI benchmarks. First, the benchmarks are invoked using the form

	submit = poe $command

The poe is the MPI driver for the AIX operating system. The command is the variable containing the invocation of the benchmark executable with its parameters, and is assigned by runspec in the Perl variable interpolation phase. Given that the ranks count has been assigned on the command-line:

	runspec --ranks 32 ...

or at the top of the config-file:

	ranks = 32

here are several ways that the ranks can be specified to the poe driver:

[1]      submit = poe $command -procs $ranks           # Ranks are set by an explicit parameter to "poe".

[2]      env_vars = 1                                  # "poe" reads the ranks from the environment variable "MP_PROCS".
         ENV_MP_PROCS=$ranks
         submit = poe $command

[3]      submit = let "MP_PROCS=$ranks"; poe $command  # Here the environment variable is set in the shell-execution stage.

[4]      submit = let "COUNT=$ranks"; poe $command -procs \$COUNT   # Here assigned to an intermediate shell variable.

The first three cases rely strictly on variable interpolation. In case [4], the $ranks and $command are expanded in the variable-interpolation stage, while the $COUNT is not expanded because of its preceding '\'. The string that is passed to the shell has the form

	     COUNT=32; poe ... -procs $COUNT

where ... is the expansion of the $command parameter.

I.D.6. Limitations on variable substitution

Once runspec hands control over to specmake or to the shell, the results of further substitution are invisible to runspec. For this reason, you can't say:

Wrong:

MYDIR         = /usr/gretchen/compilers
FC            = $(MYDIR)/f90
notes_comp001 = compiler: $(FC)

However, there are a couple of ways to get around this restriction. The best way for global settings is to use the preprocessor:

%define MYDIR /usr/gretchen/compilers
FC            = %{MYDIR}/f90
notes_comp001 = compiler: %{MYDIR}/f90

That leaves a little to be desired, though, doesn't it? If your Fortran compiler is changed to 'f2001', you still need to remember to change it in two places. You could of course define a whole macro for this:

%define MYFC /usr/gretchen/compilers/f90
FC            = %{MYFC}
notes_comp001 = compiler: %{MYFC}

But what if you have a config file where FC might be set in multiple places, and you really want to know how it was set right here? In that case, use a combination of the preprocessor and variable substitution:

$ cat right_here.cfg 
%define MYDIR /usr/gretchen/compilers

default=base:
FC            = %{MYDIR}/f2001
notes_comp001  = For base, we used this Fortran: $[FC] 

127.wrf2=peak:
FC            = %{MYDIR}/f77
notes_comp002 = For 127.wrf2 peak, we used this Fortran: $[FC]

$ runspec -c right_here.cfg --fakereportable fp | grep txt       
        format: ASCII -> /usr/gretchen/spec/result/MPI2007.179.txt
$ tail -15 ../result/*179.txt

                          Compiler Invocation Notes
                          -------------------------
     For base, we used this Fortran: /usr/gretchen/compilers/f2001 
     For 127.wrf2 peak, we used this Fortran: /usr/gretchen/compilers/f77

    SPEC and SPECfp are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance
    Evaluation Corporation.  All other brand and product names appearing
    in this result are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
    respective holders.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For questions about this result, please contact the tester.
For other inquiries, please contact webmaster@spec.org.
Copyright 2007 Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation
Generated on Wed Aug  2 09:39:53 2007 by SPEC MPI2007 ASCII formatter v4626
$ 

I.D.7. Unsetting a variable with %undef%

It is sometimes useful to be able to undo the setting of a variable that is defined in a lower-precedence section. This is easily accomplished using the special value %undef%:

  $ cat gnana.cfg
   teeout = yes
   action = build
   runlist = lammps

   default=default:
   OPTIMIZE  = -O3
   COPTIMIZE = -O5

   126.lammps=peak:
   COPTIMIZE = %undef%

   $ runspec --config=gnana --tune=base | grep lammps.cpp
   c++ -c -o lammps.o -DFFT_NONE -O3 -O5 lammps.cpp
   $ runspec --config=gnana --tune=peak | grep lammps.cpp
   c++ -c -o lammps.o -DFFT_NONE -O3 lammps.cpp
   $ go lammps
   /spec/gnana/kit91/benchspec/MPI2007/126.lammps
   $ cd run/build_peak_none.0000/
   $ grep OPT Make*
   Makefile.spec:COPTIMIZE        = 
   Makefile.spec:OPTIMIZE         = -O3

As you can see in the peak compilation, the -fast flag was not present because the setting for COPTIMIZE had been deleted.

II. Config file options for runspec

This section documents options that control the operation of runspec itself.

II.A. Options that can also be used on the runspec command line

The following items can be specified in a config file, and have the same meaning as if they are specified on the runspec command line. Please see runspec.html for details.

In general, if options can be specified on both the runspec command line and in a config file, the command line will win vs. items specified in the header section, but will not win over items specified in named sections. Effectively, the order of precedence is:

   named sections (highest)
   command line
   header section (lowest)

In the table that follows, the "Use In" column indicates where the option can be used:

SPEC MPI2007 V1.1 note: if you select basepeak=1 for a benchmark, the number of ranks in peak will be forced to be the same as in base. In SPEC MPI2007 V1.0, selection of the number of ranks could differ, but this was deemed to be an error. If you want to run the same tuning in both base and peak, while changing the number of ranks, you will need to build two binaries with the same compiler switches.

   http_proxy     = http://webcache.tom.spokewrenchdad.com:8080 

II.B. Options for runspec that can only be used in a config file

The following options control the operation of runspec, but can not be specified on the command line. Instead, they must be specified in the config file.

In the table that follows, the "Use In" column indicates where the option can be used:

Note that requesting a parallel build with makeflags = -j N causes multiple processors to be used at build time. It has no effect on how multiple processors are used at run time, and so does not affect how you report on parallelism.

benchspec/CPU2006/nnn.benchmark/build/build... (Unix) or
benchspec\CPU2006\nnn.benchmark\build\build... (Windows)

benchspec/CPU2006/nnn.benchmark/run/build... (Unix)
benchspec\CPU2006\nnn.benchmark\run\build... (Windows)

   $ ls -l bwaves_base.tmp3
   -rwxrwxr-x   1 david ptg       304964 May 16 10:16 bwaves_base.tmp3
   $ ldd bwaves_base.tmp3 | head -3
           libmvec.so.1 =>  /lib/libmvec.so.1
           libfui.so.2 =>   (file not found)
           libfai.so.3 =>   (file not found)
   $ 

   check_md5=0
   env_vars=1
   410.bwaves:
   ENV_LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/spec/david/lovecraft/lib

122.tachyon=default:
#> I am posting this config file for use by others in the
#> company, but am forcing it to fail here because
#> I want to force users to review this section.
#>
#> Once you find your way here, you should test whether
#> bug report 234567 has been fixed, by using the first
#> line below.  If it has not been fixed, then use the
#> second.  In either case, you'll need to remove the
#> fail_build.
#>
#>   - Pney Guvaxre
#>     Boomtime, the 66th day of Confusion in the YOLD 3172

# OPTIMIZE = -Osuperduper
# OPTIMIZE = -Omiddling
fail_build = 1

   $ cat -n tmp8.cfg
        1  iterations = 1
        2  size       = mtest
        3  teeout     = yes
        4
        5  default=default:
        6  OPTIMIZE = -O1 
        7
        8  medium_c,medium_cpp=default:
        9  OPTIMIZE = -O2
       10
       11  122.tachyon=default:
       12  OPTIMIZE = -O3 
       13  CC = mpcc_r
       41
       15  126.lammps=peak:
       16  inherit_from = 122.tachyon:default:default:default
       17  CXX = mpCC_r
   $ runspec --config tmp8 --tune base lammps | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O2 lammps.cpp
   $ runspec --config tmp8 --tune peak tachyon | grep lammps.cpp
   mpCC_r -c -o lammps.o -DSPEC_MPI -DNDEBUG -DFFT_NONE -O3 lammps.cpp
   

   mailto=fast.guy@welovebenchmarks.org
   output_format=text,mail

   mailto=fast.guy@welovebenchmarks.org
   output_format=text,mail
   mail_reports=text

III. Config file options for specmake

Most commonly used variables: