TOP-C (Task Oriented Parallel C/C++)

This documents version 2.5.0 of
`TOP-C' (Task Oriented Parallel C/C++),
last updated September, 2004.

1. `TOP-C' Copying Conditions
2. Quick Start: Installation and Test Run
3. Overview of `TOP-C/C++'
4. Writing `TOP-C' Applications
5. Compiling and Invoking `TOP-C' Applications
6. Debugging and Tracing
7. Performance and Long Jobs
8. Advanced Features of `TOP-C'
9. `TOP-C' Raw Interface for Parallelizing Sequential Code
10. Acknowledgements
A. Summary of `TOP-C' Commands
B. Example `TOP-C' Application
C. Using a Different `MPI' with TOP-C
Function Index
Variable Index
Concept Index

 -- The Detailed Node Listing ---

Overview of `TOP-C/C++'

3.1 Programmer's Model
3.2 Three Key Concepts for TOP-C
3.3 Distributed and Shared Memory Models

Programmer's Model

3.1.1 Structure of a TOP-C Program
3.1.2 Four Callback Functions
3.1.3 Task Input and Task Output Buffers
3.1.4 The `TOP-C' Algorithm

Task Input and Task Output Buffers

Defining Application Task Buffers
Marshaling (Serialization) and Heterogeneous Architectures

Writing `TOP-C' Applications

4.1 The Main TOP-C Library Calls
4.2 Callback Functions for TOPC_master_slave()
4.3 Actions Returned by CheckTaskResult()
4.4 TOP-C Utilities

Compiling and Invoking `TOP-C' Applications

5.1 Compiling TOP-C Applications
5.2 Command Line Options in TOP-C Applications
5.3 Invoking a TOP-C Application in Sequential Memory
5.4 Invoking a TOP-C Application in Distributed Memory
5.5 Invoking a TOP-C Application in Shared Memory

Invoking a TOP-C Application in Distributed Memory

5.4.1 Writing Procgroup Files for `MPINU'
5.4.2 If Slaves Fail to Start

Debugging and Tracing

6.1 Debugging by Limiting the Parallelism
6.2 Debugging with `--TOPC-safety'
6.3 TOP-C and POSIX signals
6.4 Tracing Messages
6.5 Stepping Through a Slave Process with `gdb'
6.6 Segmentation faults and other memory problems

Performance and Long Jobs

7.2 Strategies for Greater Concurrency
7.3 Improving Performance
7.4 Long Jobs and Courtesy to Others

Advanced Features of `TOP-C'

8.1 Testing for Task Continuations and Redos
8.2 Aborting Tasks
8.3 Memory Allocation for Task Buffers
8.4 Optimizing TOP-C Code for the Shared Memory Model
8.5 Modifying TOP-C Code for the Sequential Memory Model
8.6 Caveats

Memory Allocation for Task Buffers

8.3.1 Avoiding malloc and new with Task Buffers
8.3.2 Using TOPC_MSG_PTR() to Avoid Copying Large Buffers
8.3.3 Allocation and Freeing of Task Buffers for TOPC_MSG_PTR()
8.3.4 Marshaling Complex Data Structures into `TOP-C' Task Buffers

Optimizing TOP-C Code for the Shared Memory Model

8.4.1 Reader-Writer Synchronization
8.4.2 Thread-Private Global Variables
8.4.3 Sharing Variables between Master and Slave and Volatile Variables
8.4.4 SMP Performance

`TOP-C' Raw Interface for Parallelizing Sequential Code

9.1 `TOP-C' raw functions
9.2 Parallelizing `for' Loops
9.3 Parallelizing `while' Loops