Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!well!rchrd From: rchrd@well.sf.ca.us (Richard Friedman) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran Subject: Re: "Force-90" from Pacific Sierra???? Message-ID: <24311@well.sf.ca.us> Date: 19 Apr 91 06:35:19 GMT References: Distribution: comp Lines: 55 mccalpin@perelandra.cms.udel.edu (John D. McCalpin) writes: >I am looking for some information on a Fortran parallelizer >called (something like) "Force-90" from Pacific Sierra. >Anybody out there have any info or experience? >-- Sure do. Its called FORGE. Its a layered product, so if you get the parallelizer option for hypercubes it becomes MIMDIZER (dont blame me for that name! %-) FORGE by itself will restructure FORTRAN77 codes for vectorization (e.g. CRAY). It also has a very sophisticated program browser that utilizes a global database. The browser provides a trace/query function that lets you find things in the program that no context editor would find. E.g. show me everwhere in the program that the variable IX is used as the second subscript in arrays, even when IX is aliased thru subprogram calls. FORGE also has a runtime performance monitor that times subprograms and do loops. FORGE inserts calls to library routines around DO loops and on subprogram entry exit. The timing report summarizes time s spent in each routine, each loop, and produces a dynamic call tree. It is very detailed and allows the user to pinpoint exactly where the program is spending its time. With the parallelizer option FORGE/MIMDIZER will analyze loops for SIMD and MIMD architectures (e.g. CRAY YMP or INTEL/NCUBE). Loops are analyzed globally (ie. a do loop and all the subroutines it calls) and will insert directives for synchronization etc. (e.g. CRAY Microtasking). For MIMD it will two single dimension data decomposition. The great thing about FORGE/MIMDizer is that it works on real industrial strength programs, not toy demos. It is basically a workstation CASE tool written in C under UNIX. It also has an interface to SCCS and supports a "cpp-like" syntax for conditional compilation directives. It runs on a number of platforms (SUN, IRIS, ULTRIX, CRAY UNICOS). An NEC SX3 version is under development and discussions have begun re the Connection Machine. It is certainly NOT public domain and costs a reasonable amount considering the man-hours involved in its development. For further information, you could contact me. But only because you asked. This is not a commercial, so no flames please. The last time I talked about what we were doing at PSR I got my fingertips burned. -- /\=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/\ \/Richard Friedman (415)540-5216 | rchrd@well.sf.ca.us \/ /\Pacific-Sierra Rsrch (Berkeley) | or well!rchrd@apple.com /\ \/=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\/