itaps-parallel Assignments for parallel interface, due before 2/5 phone conf

[Onkar Sahni]

Sorry for many messages. I have now attached three things:

1) Our assignment on overall communication requirement (one change from
before prefix_getNumPartsPar - not sure.), see CommInterface.h.

2) Our assignment on entity level functionality, see EntityLevelComments.txt.

3) Overall comments and concerns (overlaps my and/or other peoples
previous inputs), see OverallComments.txt.

Thanks,
Onkar

>
> I have attached other part of assignment on entity functionality.
>
> As I mentioned earlier, a function to get residence parts of an entity on
> inter-part boundary will be helpful. See example in the end of attachment.
>
> Thanks,
> Onkar
>
>>
>> I have attached part of my assignment which discusses communication
>> requirement of functions at high level.
>>
>> Other part of assignment on entity functionality will follow (hopefully
>> before end of today).
>>
>> I will also try to send general overall comments and concerns for ITAPS
>> parallel interface.
>>
>>> ------------------------
>>> Questions for everyone:
>>>
>>> -  When we specify a part handle, must we always also specify a
>>> partition
>>> handle?  That is, should a part be uniquely identified by the pair
>>> (partition_handle, part_handle), just as entities are uniquely
>>> identified
>>> by
>>> (mesh_instance, entity_handle)?   "No" is the most convenient answer to
>>> this
>>> question; if parts are uniquely identified by only the part handle, we
>>> can
>>> do the entity-set argument overloading that we discussed at bootcamp.
>>> We
>>> can also remove the partition_handle argument from many of the
>>> functions.
>>> I
>>> had previously argued for use of the tuple, but many things would be
>>> easier
>>> if we didn't need it.  Can all the implementations generate part
>>> handles
>>> that are unique within an iMesh_Instance, rather than within a
>>> partition?
>>
>>   As of now, we (RPI) are considering a parent/root/primary partition
>> for
>> any single mesh-instance (i.e., parent-partition<->mesh-instance is
>> one-to-one), and hence, part IDs are unique in an mesh instance (and
>> parent-partition).
>>
>>> -  With iterators over parts or part boundaries, is it necessary to
>>> have
>>> separate interface functions for getNext, reset, and end, or will the
>>> standard iMesh functions for getNext, reset, and end suffice?  That is,
>>> once
>>> an iterator is initiated, do we need to continue passing the part
>>> handle
>>> and, perhaps, neighbor-part id, to the iterator, or can the iterator
>>> "remember" these just as it remembers entity type and topology?  If we
>>> can
>>> re-use the iMesh getNext, reset and end, we can remove six functions
>>> from
>>> Carl's sixteen functions, bringing the count back to his original
>>> estimate
>>> of ten.
>>
>>   I think it sounds fine and we can support this.
>>
>>> -  Which functions should operate on single parts and/or entities, and
>>> which
>>> should have array versions (function_name and function_nameArr)?  I
>>> included
>>> both wherever we had a comment "Need single-part and array-part
>>> versions"
>>> in
>>> the combined document, but I won't be offended if we remove some of the
>>> functions.
>>
>>   Not sure as of now.
>>
>>> -  Since global IDs for entities are not used anywhere in the
>>> interface,
>>> I
>>> propose their generation and use should be a service on top of the
>>> interface
>>> rather than part of the interface.  What say you?
>>
>>    Sounds fine.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Onkar
>>
>>> In the last phone conf, someone suggested that we put together a draft
>>> of
>>> the syntax for the capabilities on which we agreed.  So I added syntax
>>> from
>>> Carl's, Onkar's and Tim's past emails to our Combined document.  For
>>> readability, I turned the file into a C header file; the discussions
>>> from
>>> the Combined document are now comments in the C file.  The file is
>>> attached.
>>>
>>> For now, I'd rather not discuss:
>>> -  values of "prefix_".
>>> -  my use of "//" for comments being non-standard for some C compilers.
>>> -  my inconsistent use of "const" (unless I used it for a return
>>> argument
>>> --
>>> oops!)
>>> -  whether or not this file would actually compile.
>>>
>>> Here are your assignments:
>>>
>>> ALL:  Please give your opinions of the questions below. Some are simple
>>> questions resulting from the fact that I'm not used to ITAPS code
>>> conventions.
>>>
>>> Mark M. and Lori:
>>> -  Review all functions at a high level to identify gaps and
>>> duplications
>>> in
>>> capability.  Suggest functions that should be added or removed.
>>> -  Review all functions at a high level to determine whether our syntax
>>> is
>>> generally consistent with ITAPS' conventions and generally consistent
>>> within
>>> the document.  You shouldn't catch every detail; just let us know
>>> whether
>>> someone who is comfortable with other ITAPS interfaces would find this
>>> interface comfortable as well.
>>>
>>> Mark M and Onkar:
>>> -  Review all functions at a high level and indicate whether their use
>>> of
>>> communication will be definite, likely, or nonexistent.  If they incur
>>> communication, will the communication be global (e.g., MPI_Allreduce)
>>> or
>>> point-to-point (e.g., MPI_Send/MPI_Recv)?  We'll eventually modify the
>>> function names to indicate whether or not they incur communication.
>>>
>>> Onkar:
>>> -  Review in detail the Entity Functionality section.  This section has
>>> the
>>> entity copying capability, including the add/remove copies that you
>>> discussed in the last phone conf.
>>>
>>> Vitus:
>>> -  Propose the communication functions needed to support
>>> prefix_sendEntArrToParts and prefix_receiveEntArrToParts.
>>>
>>> Carl:
>>> -  Should functions prefix_getEntSets and prefix_getNumEntSets be added
>>> to
>>> Carl's sixteen functions?  They appear to be analogous to
>>> prefix_getEntities and prefix_getNumOfType.
>>> -  Review in detail the Part Functionality section.
>>>
>>> Tim:
>>> -  Review in detail the Partition Functionality section.
>>>
>>> ------------------------
>>> Questions for everyone:
>>>
>>> -  When we specify a part handle, must we always also specify a
>>> partition
>>> handle?  That is, should a part be uniquely identified by the pair
>>> (partition_handle, part_handle), just as entities are uniquely
>>> identified
>>> by
>>> (mesh_instance, entity_handle)?   "No" is the most convenient answer to
>>> this
>>> question; if parts are uniquely identified by only the part handle, we
>>> can
>>> do the entity-set argument overloading that we discussed at bootcamp.
>>> We
>>> can also remove the partition_handle argument from many of the
>>> functions.
>>> I
>>> had previously argued for use of the tuple, but many things would be
>>> easier
>>> if we didn't need it.  Can all the implementations generate part
>>> handles
>>> that are unique within an iMesh_Instance, rather than within a
>>> partition?
>>>
>>> -  With iterators over parts or part boundaries, is it necessary to
>>> have
>>> separate interface functions for getNext, reset, and end, or will the
>>> standard iMesh functions for getNext, reset, and end suffice?  That is,
>>> once
>>> an iterator is initiated, do we need to continue passing the part
>>> handle
>>> and, perhaps, neighbor-part id, to the iterator, or can the iterator
>>> "remember" these just as it remembers entity type and topology?  If we
>>> can
>>> re-use the iMesh getNext, reset and end, we can remove six functions
>>> from
>>> Carl's sixteen functions, bringing the count back to his original
>>> estimate
>>> of ten.
>>>
>>> -  Which functions should operate on single parts and/or entities, and
>>> which
>>> should have array versions (function_name and function_nameArr)?  I
>>> included
>>> both wherever we had a comment "Need single-part and array-part
>>> versions"
>>> in
>>> the combined document, but I won't be offended if we remove some of the
>>> functions.
>>>
>>> -  Since global IDs for entities are not used anywhere in the
>>> interface,
>>> I
>>> propose their generation and use should be a service on top of the
>>> interface
>>> rather than part of the interface.  What say you?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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