Parallel Performance Wizard v3.2 User Manual

PPW User Manual

Thank you for downloading the Parallel Performance Wizard (PPW) tool, version 3.2. This user manual describes how to install and use PPW.

We hope that you find PPW useful for troubleshooting performance problems in your applications. Should you encounter any problems while using PPW, please report them using our Bugzilla website. You may also report feature requests using this website. We want our software to remain as bug-free as possible and appreciate any feedback that might help us improve our tool.

If this is your first time using PPW or you are not very familiar with PPW, we recommend reading the PPW concepts chapter (see PPW Concepts) first.

• PPW Concepts: An overview of concepts used by PPW
• Installing PPW: How to install PPW
• Analyzing UPC Programs: How to use PPW with UPC programs
• Analyzing SHMEM Programs: How to use PPW with SHMEM programs
• Analyzing MPI Programs: How to use PPW with MPI programs
• Analyzing C Programs: How to use PPW with sequential C programs
• Managing Overhead: Tips on how to reduce measurement overhead
• Frontend GUI Reference: Browsing performance data with the frontend
• Eclipse PTP Integration: PPW Integration with Eclipse PTP
• API Reference: How to use PPW's measurement API
• Command Reference: References for command-line tools
• Concept Index: Index of all terms used in this manual

--- The Detailed Node Listing ---

PPW Concepts

• Perf Analysis Intro: A brief background on exper. perf. analysis
• Profile Terminology: Terminology used to describe profile data
• PPW Workflow: Describes PPW's general workflow

Installing PPW

• Frontend Installation: How to install the frontend
• Backend Installation: How to install the backend
• Analysis Baseline Measurement: How to obtain analysis baseline values

Analyzing UPC Programs

• Compiling UPC Programs: Compiling your application for analysis
• Running UPC Programs: Getting perf. data from your application
• Recording Phase Data in UPC: How to record data based on program phases
• Further UPC Examples: Where to find more examples

Analyzing SHMEM Programs

• Compiling SHMEM Programs: Compiling your application for analysis
• Running SHMEM Programs: Getting perf. data from your application
• Recording Phase Data in SHMEM: How to record data based on program phases
• Further SHMEM Examples: Where to find more examples

Analyzing MPI Programs

• Compiling MPI Programs: Compiling your application for analysis
• Running MPI Programs: Getting perf. data from your application
• Recording Phase Data in MPI: How to record data based on program phases
• Further MPI Examples: Where to find more examples

Analyzing C Programs

• Compiling C Programs: Compiling your application for analysis
• Running C Programs: Getting perf. data from your application
• Recording Phase Data in C : How to record data based on program phases
• Further C Examples: Where to find more examples

Managing Measurement Overhead

• Selective Instrumentation: Controlling the instrumentation process
• Selective Measurement: Controlling measurement during runtime
• Using Selective File: Controlling measurment by excluding specific events
• Throttling: Dynamically reducing overhead at runtime

Frontend GUI Reference

• GUI Overview: Overview of the PPW GUI
• Profile Table: The profile table visualization
• Tree Table: The tree table visualization
• Data Transfers: Data transfers visualization
• Array Distribution: Array distribution visualization
• Profile Charts: Profile charts visualizations
• Analysis Menu: Description of analyses offered by PPW
• Analysis Visualizations: Analysis visualizations
• Jumpshot Introduction: Intro to the Jumpshot timeline viewer

Eclipse PTP Integration

• Eclipse PTP Overview: Overview of Eclipse and Eclipse PTP
• Eclipse Tool Installation: Installation of Eclipse Tools
• UPC Project Creation: Creating a UPC Project
• Using PPW within Eclipse: Using PPW within Eclipse

API Reference

• UPC Measurement API: Measurement API for UPC programs
• SHMEM Measurement API: Measurement API for SHMEM programs
• C Measurement API: Measurement API for Seq. C programs
• MPI Measurement API: Measurement API for MPI programs

Command Reference

• ppw: PPW frontend GUI
• ppwjumpshot: Bundled version of the Jumpshot trace viewer
• ppwprof: Displays text versions of performance data
• ppwprof.pl: Simple profile performance browser Perl script

Help browser

• ppwhelp: PPW online help browser

Compiler wrappers and run utilities

• ppwcc: C compiler wrapper script (sequential C)
• ppwshmemcc: SHMEM compiler wrapper script (C using SHMEM)
• ppwmpicc: C/MPI compiler wrapper script
• ppwupcc: UPC compiler wrapper script
• ppwrun: Utility to set PPW measurement options at runtime

File conversion utilities

• par2cube: Converts PAR profile data to CUBE format (KOJAK)
• par2tau: Converts PAR profile data to TAU's profile format
• par2yaml: Converts PAR profile data to YAML format (raw ASCII)
• par2otf: Converts PAR trace data to OTF format (VampirNG)
• par2slog2: Converts PAR trace data to SLOG-2 format (Jumpshot)

Miscellaneous utilities

• ppw-config: Displays information about PPW installation
• ppw-showopts: Shows what measurement options are in effect
• ppwresolve.pl: Resolves function names and callsites as VMAs
• ppwparutil.pl: Generates a profile-only PAR file from input PAR file
• ppwcomminfo.pl: Provides simple views of communication data