TABLIX(1)						       Tablix User's Manual							 TABLIX(1)

NAME

tablix2_benchmark - Tablix benchmark utility

SYNOPSIS

tablix2_benchmark benchmark [ options ] " Tablix options " file

DESCRIPTION

Tablix	is a powerful free software kernel for solving general timetabling problems. It uses a coarse-grained parallel genetic algorithm in combi-
nation with other techniques to construct sensible timetables from XML formatted problem descriptions. Tablix can run on a single host as well	as
on a heterogeneous parallel virtual machine using PVM3.

tablix2_benchmark  is used to test the effect of different Tablix command line options on the final result. In most tests Tablix is started multi-
ple times with the same input file to provide more reliable results. Each time Tablix is started, three variables are measured: the fitness  value
of  the  resulting  timetable,	serial	number of the last generation and elapsed time (in seconds). When a test is finished, the average for each
variable, as well as the maximum and minimum values are printed on standard output. The exact format depends on each test.

The actual timetables that are generated during these tests are stored under a temporary file names in the current directory and are deleted after
tablix2_benchmark exits.

In  some  cases  tests	can  take  several days to complete. Because the genetic algorithm can in some cases go into an endless loop, it is always
advisable to limit Tablix execution time with the -t option. This way at  least  the  maximum  execution  time	for  a	test  can  be  calculated.
tablix2_benchmark will detect when the time limit set by the -t option was reached. This information will be included in the final statistics.

OPTIONS

The following tests are supported:

tablix2_benchmark --single ";OPTIONS" file
 Execute  a single Tablix run using and print the results.  OPTIONS parameter is mandatory and contains options that will be passed to the tablix2
 process.

tablix2_benchmark --multiple N ";OPTIONS" FILE
 Execute N Tablix runs and print the statistics.  OPTIONS parameter is mandatory and contains options that will be passed to the tablix2 process.

tablix2_benchmark --graph START STEP STOP ";OPTIONS" FILE
 Execute multiple Tablix runs. The character " N " in OPTIONS is substituted for an integer that is changed from START to STOP by STEP . Output is
 gnuplot friendly.

tablix2_benchmark --multi-graph M START STEP STOP ";OPTIONS" FILE
 Execute multiple Tablix runs. The character " N " in OPTIONS is substituted for an integer that is changed from START to STOP by STEP .  M Tablix
 runs are executed for each value of N . Output is gnuplot friendly (use errorbars).

EXAMPLES

The following test can be for example used to see the minimum grade, that can be reached with this configuration file:

     tablix2_benchmark --multiple 5 "-t 90 -n 5" sample.xml

Tablix will be started five times. Each time with five computing nodes and with 90 minute time limit.

tablix2_benchmark can also provide useful data for developers. Following test can be used to check the effect of the number of computing nodes	on
the total time required to obtain the result:

     tablix2_benchmark --multi-graph 5 1 1 10 "-t 90 -n N" sample.xml > stats.txt

Tablix	will be started 50 times. 5 times for each value of N (which in this case means the number of nodes). Ten values of N will be probed: from
1 to 10 with steps of 1. The output will be redirected to stats.txt . A graph of average computing time versus number of nodes can  then  be  pro-
duced in gnuplot with the following command:

     plot "test.txt" using ($1):($8):($9):($10) with yerrorbars

BUGS

tablix2_benchmark  utility depends on a number of common UNIX programs (mktemp, grep, sed, awk, ...) that may not be available on all systems. The
script is not currently capable of properly detecting if any required programs are missing.

AUTHOR

Tomaz Solc (tomaz.solc@tablix.org)

SEE ALSO

tablix2(1), Tablix User's Manual, Tablix modules HOWTO, Tablix on Morphix HOWTO

Tomaz Solc							    2005-09-03								 TABLIX(1)