The open trace format (OTF) and open tracing for HPC

ABSTRACT

The Open Trace Format (OTF) is a DOE-sponsored initiative to help deliver open, scalable performance tracing tools for HPC systems. OTF is an open specification of trace information to provide a target for trace generation and to allow trace analysis and visualization tools to operate efficiently at large scale. The Technical University of Dresden and ParaTools, Inc. developed the first version OTF with support from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.The BOF has two goals. First, we will report on the current status of OTF. This will include a review of the OTF specification and a description of the OTF reader/writer library to be released into open source at SC06. We will also report on recent ports of the library to HPC platforms.The second goal is to invite community involvement in the OTF initiative and to establish a working group chartered with evolving the OTF specification in the future.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.5 Testing and Debugging
          Subjects: Tracing

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.5 Testing and Debugging
          Subjects: Testing tools (e.g., data generators, coverage testing)
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.4 Processors

General Terms:
Design, Verification