Initialization

A parallel file is initialized by a series of required and optional parameters. The following are all required to initialize a parallel file.

name

The name of the sepfile.

tag

The tag used by the serial program (e.g. < , >, tag2=).

usage

How the file is to be used as input (INPUT) or output (OUTPUT).

isect_dict

A python dictionary object that links the job descriptor with the section number it corresponds to.

In addition there several optional parameters available.

type

The distribution method for the file. Currently three options are amiable:

BLOCK,

different elements of the distributed axis are grouped together;

SPREAD,

elements along the axis are distributing in a round robin fashion; or

COPY,

the file is shared among all of the sections. If input, the file will be copied to all the nodes. If output, the sectioned files were added together to form the final output. The file will also be shared among all processes running on the node. In order to avoid multiple processes overwriting themselves a simple file locking mechanism is available (see the programming section).

axis

The axis the data is distributing along. Required for all distribution methods except COPY.

reuse_par

A parameter string to include when the file is being reused. This is only applicable in the case of COPY distribution type.