Runspec Avoidance

Note: links to SPEC ACCEL documents on this web page assume that you are reading the page from a directory that also contains the other SPEC ACCEL documents. If by some chance you are reading this web page from a location where the links do not work, try accessing the referenced documents at one of the following locations:

www.spec.org/accel/Docs/
The $SPEC/Docs/ (Unix) or %SPEC%\Docs\ (Microsoft Windows) directory on a system where SPEC ACCEL has been installed.
The Docs/ directory on your SPEC ACCEL distribution media.

Introduction

This document is for those who prefer to avoid using some of the SPEC-supplied tools, typically because of a need for more direct access to the benchmarks. For example:

Some users want to work directly with benchmark source code and compile by hand, rather than through the SPEC supplied tools. Perhaps an experimental compiler is under development, and it is more convenient to just issue "cc" commands in a sandbox. Perhaps a custom build process is needed in order to add instrumentation.
Some users want to run the benchmarks directly from the command line, rather than via the SPEC supplied tools. Perhaps this is part of a debugging effort, or is needed in order to collect a performance "trace".

If the above describes you, here is a suggested path which should lead quickly to your desired state. This document shows you how to use SPEC's tools for the minimal purpose of just generating work directories, for use as a private sandbox. Note, however, that you cannot do formal, "reportable" runs without using SPEC's toolset.

Environments

Three different environments are referenced in this document, using these labels:

"Unified": The SPEC toolset, the compilers, and the run environment are all on the same system.
"Cross compile": The SPEC toolset and the compilers are on one system; the run time environment is a different system.
"Triple": The SPEC toolset is on one system, the compiler is on a second, and the run time environment is a third.

Steps

Review two rules: Please read just one page from runrules.html, namely "4.5 Research and Academic usage of ACCEL Suite" and "4.4 Required Disclosures"

These run rules sections acknowledge that the suite may be used in ways other than the formal environment that the tools help to enforce; but they warn that if you plan to publish your results, you should be able to state HOW your usage of the suite differs from the standard usage.

So even if you skip over the tools and the run rules today, you should plan a time to come back and learn them later.
Install: Get through a successful installation, even if it is on a different system than the one that you care about. Yes, we are about to teach you how to mostly bypass the tools, but there will still be some minimal use. So you need a working toolset and a valid installation. If you have troubles with the install procedures described in install-guide-unix.html or install-guide-windows.html, please see techsupport.html and we'll try to help you.
Pick a benchmark: Pick a benchmark that will be your starting point.

Choose one benchmark from the ACCEL suite that you'd like to start with. For example, you might start with 363.swim (Fortran) or 101.tpacf (C++).
Pick a config file: Pick a config file for an environment that resembles your environment. You'll find a variety of config files in the directory $SPEC/config/ on Unix systems, or %SPEC%\config\ on Windows, or at www.spec.org/accel with the submitted ACCEL results. Don't worry if the config file you pick doesn't exactly match your environment; you're just looking for a somewhat reasonable starting point.
Fake it: Execute a "fake" run to set up run directories, including a build directory for source code, for the benchmark.

For example, let's suppose that you want to work with 101.tpacf and your environment is at least partially similar to the environment described in the comments for $SPEC/config/example-sgi-linux-phi.cfg

[Other Unix-like systems should behave similarly to the example in this section.]

For example, you could enter the following commands:
```
  % sh      
      ... if you're not already in a Bourne-compatible shell
  $ cd  /myspecdisk/tools/accel/
      ... or wherever you installed the SPEC ACCEL tree
  $ . ./shrc      (that's dot-space-dot-slash-shrc)*
  $ cd config
  $ cp example-sgi-linux-phi.cfg my_test.cfg
  $ go          (to the $SPEC directory)

  $ runspec --fake --loose --size test --device 1  --tune base --config my_test tpacf 
```
This command should report a success for the build, run and validation phases of the test case, but the actual commands have not been run. It is only a report of what would be run according to the config file that you have supplied.
Find the log: Near the bottom of the output from the previous step, notice the location of the log file for this run. The log file contains a record of the commands as reported by the "fake" run. You can find the commands by searching for "%%".
Find the build dir: To find the build directory that was set up in the fake run go to the build directory for that benchmark. For example:,
```
  $ cd $SPEC/benchspec/ACCEL/101.tpacf/build  ( or 'go 101 build' )
  $ ls -ltd *build*
```
The above command prints the names of each build subdirectory, with the most recent first. (On Windows, the analogous comamnd would use reversed slashes, and "$SPEC" is spelt "%SPEC%". Instead of "ls -ltd", you would say something like "dir build*/o:d".) If this is your first time here, there will be only one directory listed, e.g. build_base_mic.0000.

You can work in this build directory, make source code changes, and try other build commands without affecting the original sources.
Copy the build dir (triple only): If you are using a unified or cross-compile environment, you can skip to the next step. But if you are using a triple environment, then you will want to package up the build directory with a program such as tar -- a handy copy is in the bin directory of your SPEC installation, as spectar. Then, you will move the package off to whatever system has compilers.

For example, you might say something like this:
```
  $ spectar -cvf  -  build_base_mic.0000 | specxz > mybuild.tar.xz
  $ ftp
  ftp> op buildsys
  Connected to buildsys
  Name: whoever
  Password:
  ftp> bin
  ftp> put mybuild.tar.xz
```
Note that the above example assumes that you have versions of xz and tar available on the system that has compilers, which you will use to unpack the compressed tarfile, typically with something like this:

xz -dc mybuild.tar.xz | tar -xvf -
Build it: Generate an executable using the build directory. If you are using a unified or cross-compile environment, then you can say commands such as these:
```
  $ cd build_base_mic.0000
        ...assuming only one such build directory
  $ specmake clean
        ...only if there is a previous build 
  $ specmake
  icpc -c -o args.o -DSPEC_ACCEL -DSPEC -O3 -xSSE4.2 -xAVX -g -traceback 
       -lintelocl -lcl_logger -task_executor -ltbb_preview -ltbbmalloc
       -DCL_USE_DEPRECATED_OPENCL_1_1_APIS -I/opt/intel/opencl/include 
       args.cc
  ... 
```
You can also carry out a dry run of the build, which will display the build commands without attempting to run them, by adding -n to the specmake command line. You might find it useful to capture the output of specmake -n to a file, so it can easily be edited, and used as a script.

Re-build with (for example) different optimization flags:
```
  $ vi Makefile.spec
        ...edit the values of the CPPOPTIMIZE and perhaps EXTRA_LDFLAGS variables
  $ specmake clean
  $ specmake
  icpc -c -o args.o -DSPEC_ACCEL -DSPEC -O3 -xSSE4.2 -xAVX -g -traceback 
       -lintelocl -lcl_logger -task_executor -ltbb_preview -ltbbmalloc
       -DCL_USE_DEPRECATED_OPENCL_1_1_APIS -I/opt/intel/opencl/include 
       args.cc
  ... 
```
If you are trying to debug a new system, you can prototype changes to Makefile.spec or even to the benchmark sources.

If you are using a triple environment, then presumably it's because you don't have specmake working on the system where the compiler resides. But fear not: specmake is just GNU make under another name, so whatever make you have handy on the target system might work fine with the above commands. If not, then you'll need to extract the build commands from the log and try them on the system that has the compilers.
Figure out the correct name for the binary: Once you have built an executable image, figure out its new name. You can either rename it now, in the build directory; or you can do so when you copy it to the run directory (next step). The new name will need to be of the form:

<exename>_<tuning>.<extension>

where:
- exename is typically the same as the name of the benchmark, but not always. The precise string can be found by saying
  grep exename $SPEC/benchspec/ACCEL/nnn.benchmark/Spec/object.pm
  (On Windows, of course, you would spell "$SPEC" as "%SPEC%", turn the slashes around, and use findstr)
- tuning is either base or peak
- extension is the extension specified in your config file.
For example, if you are working with 101.tpacf and your config file has the line

ext=mic

you would rename your executable to tpacf_exe_base.mic
Place the binary in the run dir: Using techniques similar to those used to find the build directory, find the run directory established above, and place the binary into it. If you are using a unified or cross-compile environment, you can copy the binary directly into the run directory; if you are using a triple environment, then you'll have to retrieve the binary from the compilation system using whatever program (such as ftp) you use to communicate between systems.

In a unified environment, the commands might look something like this:
```
  $ go tpacf run
  $ ls -td run* 
  run_base_test_mic.0000
  $ cd run_base_test_mic.0000
  $ cp ../build_base_mic.0000/tpacf_exe_base.mic  . 
```
Copy the run dir: If you are using a unified environment, you can skip this step. Otherwise, you'll need to package up the run directory and transport it to the system where you want to run the benchmark. For example:
```
  $ cd $SPEC/benchspec/ACCEL/101.tpacf/run
  $ spectar cvf  -  run_base_test_mic.0000 | specxz > myrun.tar.xz
  $ ftp
  ftp> op runsys
  Connected to runsys
  Name: whoever
  Password:
  ftp> bin
  ftp> put myrun.tar.xz
```
Note that the above example assumes that you have versions of bzip2 and tar available on the run time system, which you will use to unpack the compressed tarfile, typically with something like this:

xz -dc myrun.tar.xz | tar -xvf -

Run it: If you are using a unified environment, you are now ready to try "specinvoke":

  $ specinvoke -n
        ... shows the command line that executes the benchmark, in this example 

# specinvoke r6392
#  Invoked as: specinvoke -n
# timer ticks over every 1000 ns
# Use another -n on the command line to see chdir commands and env dump
# Starting run for copy #0
../run_base_test_mic.0000/tpackf_exe_base.mic --device 1 -i small/Datapnts.1,small/Randompnts.1 ...

  $ specinvoke -h
        ... explains other options to specinvoke, including '-i #' 
            for running multiple iterations
  $ specinvoke
        ... executes that command line

If you are using a cross-compile or triple environment, then you won't be able to use specinvoke. Instead, you'll need to extract the run commands from the log and enter them by hand.

Save your work: Important: if you are at all interested in saving your work, move the run/build* and run/run* directories to some safer location. That way, your work areas will not be accidentally deleted the next time someone comes along and uses one of runspec cleanup actions..
Repeat: Admittedly, the large number of steps that it took to get here may seem like a lot of trouble. But that's why you started with a simple benchmark and the simplest workload (--size test in the fake step). Now that you've got the pattern down, it is hoped that it will be straightforward to repeat the process for the other available workloads: --size=train and --size=ref, and then for additional benchmarks.

But if you're finding it tedious... then maybe this is an opportunity to sell you on the notion of using runspec after all, which automates all this tedium. If the reason you came here was because runspec doesn't work on your brand-new environment, then perhaps you'll want to try to get it built, using the hints in tools-build.html.

Validation

Note that this document has only discussed getting the benchmarks built and running. Presumably at some point you'd like to know whether your system got the correct answer. At that point, you can use specdiff, which is explained in utility.html.

* dot-space-dot-slash-shrc is the safe way to type it. If you use Linux/bash, or if you have the current directory in your path, you can probably type ". shrc" (dot-space-shrc) with no problems.