HieraAnalyses – a tool for hierarchical analysis of parallel programs. (11th December 2009)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Seraphim, Thatyana de Faria Piola; Seraphim, Enzo; Travieso, Gonzalo
• Is Part Of: International journal of high performance systems architecture. Volume 2:Number 1(2009)
• Page Start: 58
• Page End: 67
• Publication Date: 2009-12-11
• Subjects: trace files -- performance analysis -- parallel programming -- XML -- object-oriented framework; Computer architecture -- Periodicals; Computer systems -- Periodicals; High performance computing -- Periodicals; 004.205
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-6528

Abstract

Detailed information for performance analysis of parallel programs can be collected through trace files. Generally, trace files contain a register of individual events that occurred during program execution. Considering that the events traced are commonly of low level, like communication operations in a parallel system, and that it is increasingly common for the application programmer to use higher level abstractions (e.g., a parallel eigenvalues routine), a semantic gap exists between the collected information and the concepts used for the development of the application, hindering an effective use of that information. In this work, a new approach to trace files is proposed, where the files retain information about the different hierarchical levels in the application. The files follow an XML format, where routines are XML tags, with auxiliary routines called during its execution as child tags. The approach is demonstrated by its implementation for the MPI library level and the OOPS level, this last one being an object-oriented framework with higher level abstractions for the development of parallel programs that uses MPI for its implementation. To complement the work, some analysis tools using the file format are presented.