SPEC CPU2000: The runspec Command

Last updated: 18-Oct-2001 jh

(To check for possible updates to this document, please see http://www.spec.org/cpu2000/docs/ )


Table of Contents
I. Introduction
	A. Who Needs runspec?
	B. About Config Files
	C. About Defaults
	D. About Disk Usage and Support for Multiple Users

II. Before Using runspec
	Install kit Have a config file Clean the environment Set your path: Unix Set your path: NT Check your disk space

III. Using runspec
	A. Simplest usage
		1. Reportable run
		2. Running selected benchmarks
		3. Output files
	B. Syntax
	C. Actions
	D. Commonly used options
		--action --config --help --ignore_errors --iterations --loose --output_format --rate --rawformat --rebuild --reportable --tune --users
	E. Less commonly used options
		--deletework --extension --machine --make_no_clobber --maxcompares --[no]setprocgroup --size --[no]table --unbuffer --username --verbose --version

IV. Quick reference

I. Introduction

A. Who Needs runspec?

Everyone who uses SPEC CPU2000 needs runspec. It is the primary tool in the suite. It is used to build the benchmarks, run them, and report on their results. All users of CPU2000 should read this document.

B. About Config Files

In order to use runspec, you need a "config file", which contains detailed instructions about how to build and run the benchmarks. You may not have to learn much about config files in order to get started. Typically, you start off using a config file that someone else has previously written.

Where can you find such a config file? There are 2 primary sources:

Look in directory $SPEC/config (Unix) or %SPEC%\config (NT). You may find that there is a already a config file there with a name that indicates that it is appropriate for your system. You may even find that default.cfg already contains settings that would be a good starting place for your system.
Look at the SPEC web site (http://www.spec.org/cpu2000/) for a CPU2000 result submission that used your system, or a system similar to yours. You can download the config file from that submission.

Alternatively, you can write your own, using the instructions in config.html

Note: links to SPEC CPU2000 documents on this web page assume that you are reading the page from a directory that also contains the other SPEC CPU2000 documents. If by some chance you are reading this web page from a location where the links do not work, try accessing the referenced documents at one of the following locations:

www.spec.org/cpu2000/docs/
The $SPEC/docs/ directory on a Unix system where SPEC CPU2000 has been installed.
The %spec%\docs.nt\ directory on a Wind ows/NT system where SPEC CPU2000 has been installed.
The docs/ or docs.nt\ directory on your S PEC CPU2000 distribution cdrom.

C. About Defaults

The SPEC tools have followed two design principles regarding defaults:

There should always be a default for everything
It should be easy to change the defaults

This means (the good news) that something sensible will usually happen, even when you aren't explicit about what you want. But it also means (the bad news) that if something unexpected happens, you may have to look in several places in order to figure out why it behaves differently than you expect.

The order of precedence for settings is:

Highest precedence:	`runspec` command
Middle:	config file
Lowest:	the tools as shipped by SPEC

Therefore, when this document tells you that something is the default, bear in mind that your config file may have changed that setting. If in doubt, check the config file.

D. About Disk Usage and Support for Multiple Users

The structure of the CPU2000 directory tree is:

    $SPEC or %SPEC% - the root directory
       benchspec 
          CFP2000   - floating point benchmarks
          CINT2000  - integer benchmarks
       bin          - tools to run and report on the suite
       config       - config files
       result       - log files and reports
       tools        - sources for the CPU2000 tools

Within each of the individual benchmarks, the structure is:

    nnn.benchmark - root for this benchmark
       Spec       - SPEC metadata about the benchmark
       data        
         all      - data used by all runs (if needed by the benchmark)
         ref      - the real data set, required for all result reporting
         test     - data for a simple test that an executable is functional
         train    - data for feedback-directed optimization
       exe        - compiled versions of the benchmark
       run        - all builds and runs take place here
       src        - the sources for the benchmark

When you find yourself wondering "Where did all my disk space go?", the answer is "The run directories." All build and run activity takes place in numbered run directories - e.g.

    $SPEC/benchspec/CINT2000/164.gzip/run/00000001

To get your disk space back, see the documentation of the various cleaning options, below; or issue a command such as the following (on Unix systems; NT users can select the files with Explorer):

    rm -Rf $SPEC/benchspec/C*/*/run

Because all the build and run activity takes place in separately created directories, the tools are able to provide limited support for multiple users of the same directory tree:

Each numbered run directory is tagged with the name of the user that it belongs to (in the file nnn.benchmark/run/list).
Multiple jobs can be submitted at the same time by one or more users.
Different users can be doing simultaneous builds in different run subdirectories, or even simultaneous runs. (Of course, if multiple jobs compete with each other for resources, it is likely that they will run more slowly.)

The support for multiple users is subject to some limitations:

The directory tree must be writable by each of the users, which means that the users have to trust each other not to modify or delete each others' files.
Directories such as config, result, and exe are not segregated by user, so you can only have one version of (for example) config/phil.cfg or benchspec/CINT2000/164.gzip/exe/gzip_base.les
Support for multiple users has received only limited testing during the development of CPU2000, and may have bugs. If you encounter a problem, please report it to SPEC.

If these limitations cause concern, you should give each user their own copy of the entire SPEC CPU2000 directory tree, and use your operating system's file protection scheme.

II. Before Using runspec

Before using runspec, you need to:

Successfully install CPU2000. Runspec uses perl version 5.005_03, which is installed as specperl when you install CPU2000.
Please see install_guide_unix.html or install_guide_nt.html.
Find a config file. You won't get anywhere unless you have a config file, but fortunately you can get started by using a pre-existing config file. See About Config Files, above.
Make sure that the environment variable SPEC is NOT defined when you start out. If it is already defined (e.g. from a run of some other SPEC benchmark suite), you should undefine it first, e.g. by logging out and logging in, or by using unset.

To check whether the variable is already defined, type
```
   echo $SPEC (Unix)
  or
   echo %SPEC% (NT)
```
On Unix systems, the desired output is nothing at all; on NT systems, the desired output is %SPEC%.

Set your path appropriately for your system type (Unix or NT/Windows 2000)

a. If you are using a Unix system:

Change your current directory to the top-level SPEC directory and

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!  START A BOURNE-COMPATIBLE SHELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!
!             (if you are not already in one)             !
!                                                         !
!  That is, you need to use a command interpreter that    !
!  supports the syntax used by shrc, which tries to be    !
!  highly portable by avoiding proprietary or uncommon    !
!  shell features.  Many shells -- such as ash, bash,     !
!  ksh, and zsh -- provide some degree of compatibility   !
!  with the Bourne shell.   The C shell (csh) definitely  !
!  is NOT compatible with Bourne shell syntax.  If you    !
!  are in doubt, or if you see unexpected error messages  !
!  from shrc, you can usually start a Bourne shell by     !
!  typing 'sh'.                                           !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, source the file shrc. If you prefer some other shell, you can probably spawn it after sourcing shrc; when you do so, please be sure that your new shell does not clear the path variables set up by shrc! For example:

   % cd /usr/rahul/cpu2000
   % sh
   $ . ./shrc        <- that's dot-space-dot-slash-shrc
   $ csh
   %

b. If you are using a Windows/NT system:

Start a command window, then type:

    notepad shrc.bat

and make the appropriate edits for your compiler paths.

Caution: you may find that the lines are not correctly formatted (the text appears to be all run together) when you edit this file. If so, see the section "Using Text Files on NT" in the NT installation guide.

Then set the path using your edited shrc.bat, for example:

    F:\bodo\cpu2000> shrc

Make sure that you have enough disk space. Typically, you will want to have at least 1/2 GB free disk space at the start of a run. Please see About Disk Usage and Support for Multiple Users, above.

III. Using runspec

A. Simplest usage

1. Reportable run

Runspec is easiest to use when:

Some kind person has already compiled the benchmarks.
That kind person provides both the compiled images and their corresponding config file (see About Config Files above).
The config file does not change the defaults in surprising or esoteric ways (see About Defaults above).

In this lucky circumstance, all that needs to be done is to name the config file, select which benchmark suite is to be run: int for CINT2000 or fp for CFP2000, and say --reportable if one wants to attempt a full run that complies with the SPEC CPU2000 run rules.

For example, suppose that Wilfried has given Ryan a config file with some new integer optimizations for a Unix system. Ryan could say:

  % cd /usr/ryan/cpu2000
  % sh
  $ . ./shrc
  $ runspec --config wilfried_new.cfg --reportable int

As a another example, suppose that Reinhold has given Kaivalya an NT config file with changes from 12 August, and Kaivalya wants to run the floating point suite. He might say something like this:

  F:\kaivalya\cpu2000> shrc
  F:\kaivalya\cpu2000> runspec --config reinhold_aug12a --reportable fp

2. Running selected benchmarks

If you want to run a subset of the benchmarks, rather than running the whole suite, you can name them. Since a reportable run uses an entire suite, you'll need to turn off reportable:

  % runspec --config arrian_dec25j.cfg --noreportable 252.eon 181.mcf

3. Output files

Look for the output of your runspec command in the directory $SPEC/result (Unix) or %SPEC%\result (NT). There, you will find log files and result files. More information about log files can be found in config.html.

The format of the result files depends on what was selected in your config file, but will typically include at least .asc for ASCII text, and will always include .raw, for raw (unformatted) run data. More information about result formats can be found below, under --output_format. Note that you can always re-generate the output, using the --rawformat option, also documented below.

.........................................
This concludes the section on simplest usage;
if simple commands such as the above don't seem
to do what you like, then you'll have to keep
reading this document.
.........................................

B. Syntax

The syntax for the runspec command is:

   runspec [options] [list of benchmarks to run]

Options are described in the following sections. There, you you will notice that many options have both long and short names. The long names are invoked using two dashes, and the short names use only a single dash. For long names that take a parameter, you can optionally use an equals sign. Long names can also be abbreviated, provided that you still enter enough letters for uniqueness. For example, the following commands all do the same thing:

   runspec --config=dianne_july25a --debug=99 fp 
   runspec --config dianne_july25a --debug 99 fp 
   runspec --conf dianne_july25a   --deb 99   fp 
   runspec -c dianne_july25a       -v 99      fp

The list of benchmarks to run can be either an entire suite ("int" or "fp") or one or more individual benchmarks. Individual benchmarks can be named, numbered, or both; and they can be abbreviated, as long as you enter enough characters for uniqueness. For example, each of the following commands does the same thing:

   runspec -c jason_july09d --noreportable 187.facerec 168.wupwise
   runspec -c jason_july09d --noreportable 187 168
   runspec -c jason_july09d --noreportable facerec wupwise
   runspec -c jason_july09d --noreportable face wup

It is also possible to exclude a benchmark, using a hat (^, also known as carat, typically found as shift-6). For example, suppose your system lacks a C++ compiler, and you therefore cannot run the benchmark 252.eon. You could run all of the integer benchmarks except eon by entering a command such as this one:

   runspec --noreportable -c kathy_sep14c int ^eon

Note that if hat has significance to your shell, you may need to protect it from interpretation by the shell, for example by putting it in single quotes. On NT, you will need to use both a hat and two quotes for each benchmark you want to exclude, like this:

   E:\cpu2000> runspec --noreportable -c debbie_apr26a int "^gzip" "^eon"

C. Actions

Every time runspec is used, it normally takes some kind of action for the set of benchmarks specified at the end of the command line (or defaulted from the config file). The default action is validate, which means that the benchmarks will be built if necessary, the run directories will be setup, the benchmarks will be run, and reports will be generated.

If you want to force a different action, then you can enter one of the following runspec options:

--action build Compile the benchmarks. More information about compiling may be found in config.html, including information about additional files that are output during a build.

--action run Run the benchmarks but do not bother to verify that they got the correct answers. This option is not normally useful, but can be selected if, for example, you are generating a performance trace and wish to avoid tracing some of the tools overhead.

--action setup Setup the run directories. Copy executables and data to work directories.

--action validate
Build (if needed), run, and generate reports

In addition, the following cleanup actions are available (in order by level of vigor):

--action clean Empty all run and build directories for the specified benchmark set. For example, if user Jeff enters the command: runspec --action clean --config may12a fp the tools would remove run directories for the floating point benchmarks which are tagged as belonging to Jeff and which contain benchmarks generated by config file may12a.cfg.

--action trash Same as clean, but do it for all users of this SPEC directory tree.

--action realclean A synonym for --action trash

--action clobber Clean + remove all executables of the current type

--action nuke Remove everybody's run and build directories and all executables

On the other hand, if you prefer to do all cleaning by hand (perhaps after reviewing the results of each run), you can ask the tools to never touch a used run directory. Do this by setting the environment variable: SPEC_CPU2000_NO_RUNDIR_NUKE

Alternative cleaning method:

If you prefer, you can clean disk space by entering commands such as the following (on Unix systems):

    rm -Rf $SPEC/benchspec/C*/*/run
    rm -Rf $SPEC/benchspec/C*/*/exe

NT users can achieve a similar effect using Windows NT Explorer. Notice that the above commands not only empty the contents of the run and exe directories; they also delete the directories themselves. That's fine; the tools will re-create the run and exe directories if they are needed again later on.

D. Commonly used options

Most users of runspec will want to become familiar with the following options.

--action action

Synonym: -a action
Default: validate
Meaning: One of the following actions that runspec can do for you: build clean clobber nuke run setup trash or validate. For more information, see Actions, above

--config name

Synonym: -c name
Default: default.cfg
Meaning: Use config file config/name.cfg. If not specified, the tools will try config/default.cfg

--help

Synonyms: -h, -?
Default: Help text is not displayed.
Meaning: Print helpful text

--ignore_errors

Synonyms: -I, --ignoreerror
Default: Stop on first error.
Meaning: Continue running even if errors occur. Note that a run with --ignore_errors cannot be submitted to SPEC.

--iterations number

Synonym: -n number
Default: 3
Meaning: How many times to run each benchmark. For a reportable run, must be an odd number >= 3.

--loose

Synonyms: -l, --nostrict, --noreportable
Default: loose
Meaning: Unset reportable. For example, suppose that you have a golden config file that is used for reportable runs, and which sets the config file option reportable. But you aren't ready to do a reportable run, because you first want to ensure that the system under test is adequately configured to run the benchmark 252.eon. Since the config file sets the option reportable, the following command will result in an error message:
```
     runspec --config golden --iterations 1 eon
```
as the SPEC tools will inform you that you cannot change the number of iterations on a reportable run. But either of the following commands will override the config file and just run eon once:
```
    runspec --config golden --iterations 1 --loose eon
    runspec --config golden --iterations 1 --noreportable eon
```

--output_format format

Synonym: -o format
Default: all available formats
Meaning: Desired report format, one or more of
- all - all of the following
- asc - ASCII text
- config - config file used for this run
- html - web page
- pdf - Portable Document Format
- ps - Postscript
If more than one option is used, separate them by commas.

--rate

Synonym: -r
Default: speed run (i.e. non-rate)
Meaning: Select rate run instead of speed. Normally you would also specify --users. For example, the following command might be used for a 4-user SPECint_rate2000 run:
```
   runspec --config ken_may12a --rate --users 4 int
```
If you have also entered --rawformat, then the effect of --rate is to format the rawfile for rate even if it was originally a speed run. That is, it is valid to report a single user run as both speed and rate, but only for the case where you first run it as a speed run, and then reformat for rate.

--rawformat rawfiles

Synonym: -R rawfile
Default: Do not use rawformat mode.
Meaning: Take an existing run and just generate the reports. This option is useful if (for example) you are just doing ASCII output during most of your runs, but now you would like to create additional reports for one or more especially interesting runs. To create the html and postscript files for experiment number 324, you could say:
```
   runspec --rawformat --output_format html,ps \
      result/CINT2000.324.raw
```
You can achieve the same effect by using rawformat:
```
   rawformat --output_format html,ps \
      result/CINT2000.324.raw
```
For more information about rawformat, please see utility.html

--rebuild

Synonym: -D
Default: Do not rebuild unless binary is missing or does not match the config file.
Meaning: Delete existing binaries and recompile. Use this if, for example, you have installed a new version of your compiler and want to force a rebuild of the benchmarks.

--reportable

Synonyms: -s, --strict, --noloose
Default: loose
Meaning: Wherever it is practical to do so in an automated fashion, enforce the CPU2000 run rules, so as to produce a result which is suitable for public reporting and/or submission to SPEC. Note that this option forces various other options, such as iterations odd and >=3.

--tune tuning

Synonyms: --tuning tuning, -T tuning
Default: base
Meaning: Selects tuning to use: base, peak, or all. For a reportable run, must be either base or all. Reportable runs always run base first, then peak.

--users number

Synonyms: -u number
Default: 1
Meaning: Use number copies for a SPECrate run. See --rate.

E. Less commonly used options

--deletework

Synonym: -d
Default: Do not delete working directories.
Meaning: Delete run directories and re-populate. Use this if you suspect that the run directories may have been corrupted, for example due to a system crash during setup of an earlier run. You might also use this if you just wish to ensure clean run directories, but note that the tools will automatically provide what they deem to be a sufficient level of cleaning.

--extension name

Synonyms: --ext name, -e name
Default: none
Meaning: Extension to build or run. Normally used only if the config file has been written to handle more than one extension. The config file author should tell you what extensions to enter under which circumstances.

--machine name

Synonym: --mach name, -m name
Default: none
Meaning: The machine to build for or to run. Normally used only if the config file has been written to handle more than one machine type. The config file author should tell you what machines are supported by the config file.

--make_no_clobber

Synonym: -C
Default: clobber
Meaning: Do not delete existing object files before attempting to build. This option should only be used for troubleshooting a problematic compile. It is against the run rules to use it when building binaries for an actual submission.
For a better way of troubleshooting a problematic compile, see the information about specmake in utility.html

--maxcompares N

Synonym: --max_active_compares N
Default: the same as number specified for --users
Meaning: Set the number of concurrent compares to N. This option is useful if you have multiple CPUs and are doing a rate run. Do not exceed the value that was specified for --users.

--setprocgroup, --nosetprocgroup

Synonyms: none
Default: --setprocgroup
Meaning: Attempt to create all processes in a single group. Improves the chances that ^C will get the whole run, not just one of the children.

--size size

Synonyms: -i size, --input size
Default: ref
Meaning: Selects size of input data to run: test, train, or ref. Reportable runs always use ref. You might choose to use a smaller data size while debugging a set of compilation options.

--table, --notable

Synonyms: none
Default: --table
Meaning: For ASCII reports, include a detailed table of all runs

--unbuffer

Synonym: -f
Default: buffer
Meaning: Do not buffer output. For SPEC CPU95, there were occasional complaints about redundant output when a child process would flush its buffer. If similar problems occur for CPU2000, try --unbuffer.

--username name

Synonym: -U name
Default: same as current process
Meaning: Name of user. Useful if multiple users are sharing a SPEC tree. Please see "About Disk Usage and Support for Multiple Users", above.

--verbose n

Synonyms: --debug n, -v n
Default: 5
Meaning: Set verbosity level to a level between 1 and 99. For more information, see config.html

--version

Synonym: -V
Default: Print short version information.
Meaning: Print detailed version information for the SPEC CPU tool suite.

IV. Quick reference

`-a`	Same as `--action`
`--action` action	Do: `build clean clobber nuke run setup trash or validate`
`-C`	Same as `--make_no_clobber`
`-c`	Same as `--config`
`--config` file	Set config file for `runspec` to use
`-D`	Same as `--rebuild`
`-d`	Same as `--deletework`
`--debug`	Same as `--verbose`
`--deletework`	Force work directories to be rebuilt
`-e`	Same as `--extension`
`--ext`	Same as `--extension`
`--extension` ext	Set the extension
`-f`	Same as `--unbuffer`
`-h`	Same as `--help`
`--help`	Print usage message
`-I`	Same as `--ignore_errors`
`-i`	Same as `--size`
`--ignore_errors`	Continue with benchmark runs even if some fail
`--ignoreerror`	Same as `--ignore_errors`
`--input`	Same as `--size`
`--iterations` N	Run each benchmark N times
`-l`	Same as `--loose`
`--loose`	Do not produce a reportable result
`--noloose`	Same as `--reportable`
`-m`	Same as `--machine`
`--mach`	Same as `--machine`
`--machine` name	Set the machine type
`--make_no_clobber`	Do not delete existing object files before building.
`--max_active_compares`	Same as `--maxcompares`
`--maxcompares` N	Set the number of concurrent compares to N
`-n`	Same as `--iterations`
`--noreportable`	Same as `--loose`
`-o`	Same as `--output_format`
`--output_format` format	Generate report, one or more of: `asc html pdf ps config`
`-R`	Same as `--rawformat`
`-r`	Same as `--rate`
`--rate`	Do a throughput (rate) run
`--rawformat`	Format raw file
`--rebuild`	Force a rebuild of binaries
`--reportable`	Produce a reportable result
`-s`	Same as `--reportable`
`--[no]setprocgroup`	[Don't] try to create all processes in one group.
`--size`	Select data set, one of: `test train ref`
`--strict`	Same as `--reportable`
`--nostrict`	Same as `--loose`
`-T`	Same as `--tune`
`--[no]table`	Do [not] include a detailed table of results
`--tune`	Set the tuning levels to one of: `base peak all`
`--tuning`	Same as `--tune`
`-u`	Same as `--users`
`--users`	Set the number of users for a rate run
`-U`	Same as `--username`
`--unbuffer`	Turn output buffering off
`--username`	Name of user to tag as owner for run directories
`-v`	Same as `--verbose`
`--verbose`	Set verbosity level for messages to N
`-V`	Same as `--version`
`--version`	Output lots of version information
`-?`	Same as `--help`

`--action build`	Compile the benchmarks. More information about compiling may be found in config.html, including information about additional files that are output during a build.
`--action run`	Run the benchmarks but do not bother to verify that they got the correct answers. This option is not normally useful, but can be selected if, for example, you are generating a performance trace and wish to avoid tracing some of the tools overhead.
`--action setup`	Setup the run directories. Copy executables and data to work directories.
--action validate	Build (if needed), run, and generate reports
In addition, the following cleanup actions are available (in order by level of vigor):
`--action clean`	Empty all run and build directories for the specified benchmark set. For example, if user Jeff enters the command: runspec --action clean --config may12a fp the tools would remove run directories for the floating point benchmarks which are tagged as belonging to Jeff and which contain benchmarks generated by config file may12a.cfg.
`--action trash`	Same as clean, but do it for all users of this SPEC directory tree.
`--action realclean`	A synonym for --action trash
`--action clobber`	Clean + remove all executables of the current type
`--action nuke`	Remove everybody's run and build directories and all executables