System and method for targeting commands to concurrent computing units executing a concurrent computing process

• US 9,405,564 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2006
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Inventors: Muellers, Peter D., Benevento, Audrey, Thomas, Kristin
• Primary Examiner(s): WIENER, ERIC A
• Application Number:
  US11/497,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20070300048A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,655 Days
• Field of Search: 715/717, 715/771, 715/772
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3404 for parallel or distributed programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/38 Concurrent instruction execution, e.g. pipeline or look ahead
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45512 Command shells

Abstract

A graphical user interface for a concurrent computing environment that conveys the concurrent nature of a computing environment and allows a user to monitor the status of a concurrent process being executed on multiple concurrent computing units is discussed. The graphical user interface allows the user to target specific concurrent computer units to receive commands. The graphical user interface also alters the command prompt to reflect the currently targeted concurrent computing units.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a user interface based on a current status of a plurality of instances of a computing process,

each instance, of the plurality of instances, executing on a respective device of a plurality of devices,

the generating the user interface. being performed by one or more devices, and the user interface including;

a command line interface,

the command line interface including a command prompt, the command prompt indicating a group of instances of the computing process, of the plurality of instances of the computing process, as a target for executing a command input via the command line interface, the group of instances of the computing process being specified via the command line interface;

providing the user interface for display,

the providing the user interface for display being performed by the one or more devices;

receiving, via the command line interface, a command,

the command being associated with a group of tasks, and

the receiving the command being performed by the one or more devices;

distributing, based on receiving the command, the group of tasks to the group of instances of the computing process to cause the group of instances of the computing process to concurrently process the group of tasks,

the distributing the group of tasks being, performed by the one or more devices; and

modifying the command line interface when an event, relating, to a point of execution of an instance of the computing process of the group of instances of the computing process, occurs during a concurrent processing of one of the group of tasks,

the modifying the command line interface being performed by the one or more devices,

the modified command line interface including information identifying the instance of the computing process and information indicating that the event, relating to the instance of the computing process, has occurred.

2. The method of claim 1, where the group of instances of the computing process includes the plurality of instances of the computing process.

3. The method of claim 1, where the group of instances of the computing process includes more than one instance of the plurality of instances of the computing process.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, during the concurrent processing of the one of the group of tasks, that the instance of the computing process is stopped at a breakpoint; and

providing, for display, information identifying a section of code corresponding to the breakpoint and information indicating that the instance of the computing process is stopped at the breakpoint.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a sequential labeled range, and

identifying the plurality of devices, based on the sequential labeled range.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the group of instances, a result of concurrently processing the group of tasks; and

providing the result for display via the user interface.

7. The method of claim 1, where one or more of the plurality of instances of the computing process originate from a program, and

where at least a subset of the program is written in a MATLAB-compatible language.

8. A system comprising:

a processor to;

generate a user interface based on a current status of a plurality of instances of a computing process,

the user interface including;

a command line interface for accepting a command, the command line interface including a command prompt, the command prompt indicating a group of instances of the computing process, of the plurality of instances of the computing process as a target for executing the command, the group of instances of the computing process being specified via the command line interface;

provide the user interface for display;

receive, via the command line interface, the command,

the command being associated with a group of tasks;

distribute the group of tasks to the group of instances of the computing process to cause the group of tasks to be concurrently processed; and

modify the command line interface when an event, relating to a point of execution of an instance of the computing process, of the group of instances of the computing process, occurs during a concurrent processing of one of the group of tasks,

the modified command line interface including information identifying the instance of the computing process and information indicating that the event has occurred.

9. The system of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

receive, from the group of instances, a result of concurrently processing the group of tasks; and

provide the result for display via the user interface.

10. The system of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

receive, based on distributing the group of tasks, information indicating an updated status of one or more instances of the computing process of the group of instances; and

provide, for display via the user interface, one or more graphical indicators identifying the updated status.

11. The system of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

receive a sequential labeled range, and

identify a group of devices, executing the plurality of instances of the computing process, based on the sequential labeled range.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to;

generate a user interface based on a current status of a plurality of instances of a computing process,

the user interface including a command line interface for accepting a command input via the user interface,

the command line interface including a command prompt,

the command prompt indicating a group of instances of the computing process, of the plurality of instances of the computing process, as a target for executing the command,

the group of instances of the computing process being specified via the command line interface;

provide the user interface for display;

distribute, to the group of instances of the computing process, a group of tasks associated with the command to cause the group of tasks to be concurrently processed,

the command line interface being modified when an event, relating to a point of execution of an instance of the computing process, of the group of instances of the computing process, occurs during a concurrent processing of one of the group of tasks,

the modified command line interface including information identifying the instance of the computing process and information indicating that the event has occurred.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, where the group of instances of the computing process includes all of the plurality of instances of the computing process.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, where the group of instances of the computing process includes more than one, but less than all, of the plurality of instances of the computing process.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, where the command includes information specifying a breakpoint in code associated with the group of task, and

where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to;

receive information indicating that the instance of the computing process is stopped at the breakpoint.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to;

receive a sequential labeled range, and

identify a plurality of devices, executing the plurality of instances of the computing process, based on the sequential labeled range.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to;

receive, based on distributing the group of tasks, information indicating an updated status of one or more instances of the computing process of the group of instances of the computing process; and

provide, for display via the user interface, one or more graphical indicators identifying the updated status of the one or more instances of the computing process.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, where a plurality of devices execute the plurality of instances of the computing process by executing a program, and

where at least a subset of the program is written in a MATLAB-compatible language.