Specification tree Reference

The PDI specification tree is expressed in YAML.

specification tree root

The specification tree root is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• the types section specifies user-defined datatypes
• the data and metadata sections specify the type of the data in buffers exposed by the application; for metadata, PDI keeps a copy while it only keeps references for data,
• the plugin section specifies the list of plugins to load and their configuration,
• additional sections are ignored.

Example:

metadata:
  my_metadata: int
data:
  my_data:
    type: array
    subtype: double
    size: 5
plugins:
  decl_hdf5: #...
  mpi: #...

array_type

A array_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A array_type_node represents a potentially multi-dimensional array where:

• the value associated to the size key represents the size of the array in each dimension (C order),
• the value associated to the subtype key represents the type of the elements in the array,
• the value associated to the subsize key represents the number of elements to actually use in each dimension (slicing), if specified it must have the same number of elements as size, this defaults to the full array size in each dimension,
• the value associated to the start key represents the index of the first element to actually use in each dimension (slicing), if specified it must have the same number of elements as size, this defaults to the first (0) element in each dimension.

Examples:

type: array
subtype: double
size: 5

type: array
subtype: { type: character, kind: 4 }
size: [ '$size_1d', '$size_2d' ]

char_type

A char_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A char_type represents the C char datatype; it accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: char

character_type

A character_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A character_type_node represents the Fortran character datatype. The value associated to the kind key corresponds to the Fortran kind parameter (character(kind=...)).

Examples:

type: character

type: character
kind: 4

datatype

A datatype can be any of:

• a array_type,
• a char_type,
• a character_type,
• a double_type,
• a float_type,
• a int_type,
• a int16_type,
• a int32_type,
• a int64_type,
• a int8_type,
• a integer_type,
• a logical_type,
• a real_type,
• a record_type,
• a simple_datatype,
• a struct_type,
• any user-defined datatype name.

Amongst these, simple_datatype is the only scalar. All others are dictionaries with a type key used for disambiguation between them. Plugins can add new options that follow the same pattern.

A datatype represents the memory layout and interpretation for data exposed by the user in the data store.

data_map

A data_map is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• each key identifies the name of a buffer exposed to PDI associated to its type.

Example:

my_data_1: int
my_data_2: {type: array, subtype: double, size: 5}

double_type

A double_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A double_type represents the C double type. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: double

$-expression

A $-expression is a scalar whose content matches the following grammar:

/* parsing as a REFERENCE is preferred over OPERATION
   parsing as an OPERATION is preferred over STRING_LITERAL
*/
EXPRESSION     := REFERENCE | OPERATION | STRING_LITERAL

STRING_LITERAL := ( CHAR | '\' '\' | '\' '$'
                  | REFERENCE
                  | '$' '(' OPERATION ')'
                  )*

/* The operator descending precedence order is:
   1. *, /, %: multiplication, division and modulo,
   2. +, -: addition and subtraction,
   3. <, >: less than and greater than,
   4. =: equality,
   5. &: logical AND,
   6. |: logical OR.
*/
OPERATION      := TERM ( OPERATOR TERM )*

TERM           := ( INT_LITERAL | REFERENCE | '(' OPERATION ')' )

REFERENCE      := '$' ( IREFERENCE | '{' IREFERENCE '}' )

IREFERENCE     := ID ( '[' OPERATION ']' | '.' ID )*



INT_LITERAL ~= (0x)? [0-9]+ ( \.  )
ID          ~= [a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*
CHAR        ~= [^$\\]
OPERATOR    ~= [|&=<>+\-\*/%]

The rules for evaluating an expression are close to those of BASH for example.

In addition to raw text, a STRING_LITERAL can contain references to the string value of some data in the store as well as the result of an operation by enclosing it inside a dollar-parenthesis $().

An OPERATION can include logical and arithmetic operators grouped by parenthesis. The basic terms manipulated in an operation can be integer literals or references to the integer value of some data in the store.

A REFERENCE is introduced by a dollar $ sign and optionally enclosed in curly braces {, }. Its value is that of the data or metadata with the associated name. It is always a good idea to have referenced values in the metadata section as it prevents dangling references. Value formatting can be applied using a FMT format_spec string by adding a column : followed by the format_spec after a column just before the closing bracket } (see: https://fmt.dev/latest/syntax.html#grammar-token-format_spec). A direct reference is possible as well as sub-references to:

• array elements using the square brackets [, ] operator,
• record member using dot . operator.

The value-type of an EXPRESSION is as follow:

• if it's a REFERENCE, it has the type of the referenced data in the store,
• if it's a OPERATION, it is integer-valued,
• if it's a STRING_LITERAL, it is string-valued.

In addition, an integer can be interpreted as a string or as a boolean value where zero is interpreted as false and any other value as true.

Examples:

'$my_data'

'($my_data + 3) % 6'

'${my_data.subarray[0]} * 42'

'my name is ${my_name}'

'${my_data:05d}'
'${my_data:b}'
'${my_data:1.5f}'
'${my_data:>15s}'

float_type

A float_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A float_type represents the C float type. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: float

int_type

A int_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A int_type represents the C int type. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: int

int16_type

A int16_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A int16_type represents the C int16_t type from the <stdtypes.h> header. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: int16

int32_type

A int32_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A int32_type represents the C int32_t type from the <stdtypes.h> header. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: int32

int64_type

A int64_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A int64_type represents the C int64_t type from the <stdtypes.h> header. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: int64

int8_type

A int8_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A int8_type represents the C int8_t type from the <stdtypes.h> header. It accepts no parameter.

Example:

type: int8

integer_type

A integer_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A integer_type represents the Fortran integer datatype. The value associated to the kind key corresponds to the Fortran kind parameter (integer(kind=...)). If missing, the default kind of the Fortran implementation is used.

Examples:

type: integer

type: integer
kind: 2

intexpr_seq

A intexpr_seq is a sequence where each element of the sequence is a integer-valued $-expression.

Example:

[ 1, '2', '$size', '$other_size + 2' ]

intexpr_or_seq

A intexpr_or_seq can be any of:

• a integer-valued $-expression,
• a intexpr_seq.

In that context, a simple $-expression is interpreted as a shortcut for a sequence containing a single $-expression.

For example, the following value:

"$x + 2"

is interpreted as if it was:

[ "$x + 2" ]

logical_type

A logical_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A logical_type represents the Fortran logical datatype. The value associated to the kind key corresponds to the Fortran kind parameter (logical(kind=...)). If missing, the default kind of the Fortran implementation is used.

Examples:

type: logical

type: logical
kind: 1

struct_member_desc

A struct_member_desc is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• the value associated to the type key identifies the type of this member, all other keys required for this datatype must be present.

Examples:

type: struct
members:
  - my_char: char

type: struct
members:
  - my_long: int64
  - my_array:
      type: array
      subtype: int64
      size: [10, 10]

See struct_type for more examples.

record_member_desc

A record_member_desc is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• the value associated to the disp key identifies the displacement in bytes from the base address of the record and the address of this specific member,
• the value associated to the type key identifies the type of this record, all other keys required for this datatype must be present.

Examples:

type: record
buffersize: 1
members:
  my_char:
        disp: 0
        type: char

type: record
buffersize: 808
members:
  my_long:
    disp: 0
    type: int64
  my_array:
    disp: 8
    type: array
    subtype: int64
    size: [10, 10]

See record_type for more examples.

struct_members_omap

A struct_members_omap is an ordered mapping that contains the following keys:

• each key identifies the name of a member and the value associated to it describes the member itself.

See struct_type for an example.

types_map

A types_map is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• each key identifies the name of new user-defined datatype and the value associated to it describes the type

record_members_map

A record_members_map is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• each key identifies the name of a member of the record and the value associated to it describes the member itself.

See record_type for an example.

plugin_map

A plugin_map is a mapping that contains the following keys:

• each key identifies the name of a plugin to load associated to its configuration; the content of the configuration depends on the plugin.

Have a look at the plugins documentation to see the specification tree they accept.

See specification tree root for an example.

real_type

A real_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A real_type represents the Fortran real datatype. The value associated to the kind key corresponds to the Fortran kind parameter (real(kind=...)). If missing, the default kind of the Fortran implementation is used.

Examples:

type: real

type: real
kind: 8

struct_type

A struct_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A struct_type represents a "struct", aka C "struct", C++ "class". Buffersize and members displacemnts will be calculated by the PDI.

Example:

type: struct
members:
  - first_int: int32
  - seconf_int: int32

record_type

A record_type is a mapping that contains the following keys:

A record_type represents a "record" where:

• the value associated to the buffersize key represents the overall size of the record, including potential padding,
• the value associated to the members key lists all members of the record with given displacements.

Example:

type: record
buffersize: 8
members:
  first_int:
    disp: 0
    type: int32
  seconf_int:
    disp: 4
    type: int32

simple_datatype

A simple_datatype is a scalar.

It is interpreted as a shortcut for a mapping with a single key type whose value is the provided scalar and therefore another datatype.

For example, the following value:

"my_type"

is interpreted as if it was:

{ type: "my_type" }

plugin_path

A path to directory where PDI should search for plugins. It can be single path:

plugin_path: "/home/user123/plugins"

or array of paths (PDI will take first match):

plugin_path: ["/home/user123/plugins", "/usr/lib/pdi/plugins"]