The timeName() function simply returns the dimensionedScalar::name() which holds
the user-time name of the current time and now that timeName() is no longer
virtual the dimensionedScalar::name() can be called directly. The timeName()
function implementation is maintained for backward-compatibility.
now all path functions in 'IOobject' are either templated on the type or require a
'globalFile' argument to specify if the type is case global e.g. 'IOdictionary' or
decomposed in parallel, e.g. almost everything else.
The 'global()' and 'globalFile()' virtual functions are now in 'regIOobject'
abstract base-class and overridden as required by derived classes. The path
functions using 'global()' and 'globalFile()' to differentiate between global
and processor local objects are now also in 'regIOobject' rather than 'IOobject'
to ensure the path returned is absolutely consistent with the type.
Unfortunately there is still potential for unexpected IO behaviour inconsistent
with the global/local nature of the type due to the 'fileOperation' classes
searching the processor directory for case global objects before searching the
case directory. This approach appears to be a work-around for incomplete
integration with and rationalisation of 'IOobject' but with the changes above it
is no longer necessary. Unfortunately this "up" searching is baked-in at a low
level and mixed-up with various complex ways to pick the processor directory
name out of the object path and will take some unravelling but this work will
undertaken as time allows.
When an OpenFOAM simulation runs in parallel, the data for decomposed fields and
mesh(es) has historically been stored in multiple files within separate
directories for each processor. Processor directories are named 'processorN',
where N is the processor number.
This commit introduces an alternative "collated" file format where the data for
each decomposed field (and mesh) is collated into a single file, which is
written and read on the master processor. The files are stored in a single
directory named 'processors'.
The new format produces significantly fewer files - one per field, instead of N
per field. For large parallel cases, this avoids the restriction on the number
of open files imposed by the operating system limits.
The file writing can be threaded allowing the simulation to continue running
while the data is being written to file. NFS (Network File System) is not
needed when using the the collated format and additionally, there is an option
to run without NFS with the original uncollated approach, known as
"masterUncollated".
The controls for the file handling are in the OptimisationSwitches of
etc/controlDict:
OptimisationSwitches
{
...
//- Parallel IO file handler
// uncollated (default), collated or masterUncollated
fileHandler uncollated;
//- collated: thread buffer size for queued file writes.
// If set to 0 or not sufficient for the file size threading is not used.
// Default: 2e9
maxThreadFileBufferSize 2e9;
//- masterUncollated: non-blocking buffer size.
// If the file exceeds this buffer size scheduled transfer is used.
// Default: 2e9
maxMasterFileBufferSize 2e9;
}
When using the collated file handling, memory is allocated for the data in the
thread. maxThreadFileBufferSize sets the maximum size of memory in bytes that
is allocated. If the data exceeds this size, the write does not use threading.
When using the masterUncollated file handling, non-blocking MPI communication
requires a sufficiently large memory buffer on the master node.
maxMasterFileBufferSize sets the maximum size in bytes of the buffer. If the
data exceeds this size, the system uses scheduled communication.
The installation defaults for the fileHandler choice, maxThreadFileBufferSize
and maxMasterFileBufferSize (set in etc/controlDict) can be over-ridden within
the case controlDict file, like other parameters. Additionally the fileHandler
can be set by:
- the "-fileHandler" command line argument;
- a FOAM_FILEHANDLER environment variable.
A foamFormatConvert utility allows users to convert files between the collated
and uncollated formats, e.g.
mpirun -np 2 foamFormatConvert -parallel -fileHandler uncollated
An example case demonstrating the file handling methods is provided in:
$FOAM_TUTORIALS/IO/fileHandling
The work was undertaken by Mattijs Janssens, in collaboration with Henry Weller.
Added the option '-subDict' to specify a sub-dictionary if multiple
replacement sets are present in the same file. This also provides
backward compatibility by setting '-subDict dictionaryReplacement'
