TotalView Versions 8.5 and 8.6
Today's tip is to let you know about changes that occurred in 8.5 and changes you'll soon see in 8.6. Version 8.5 is already shipping and 8.6 is now in beta test.
Support for IBM Cell Broadband Engine
Recently version 8.5 shipped. This version added support for the IBM Cell Broadband Engine. Its architecture is quite different from traditional architectures--it's certainly different from other architectures we support. The chip has a PowerPC front end that communicates with 8 specialized cores having a different architecture. Sets of these chips are often contained in a blade and sets of blades are connected together in a cluster.
Having a debugger that understands and models this new architecture is critical in finding problems.
TotalView ReplayEngine 1.0
This new product is now in beta test and is a separately licensed product that works within TotalView. The ReplayEngine records state information about your program as it executes within TotalView. At any time, you can stop program execution and move backwards to view these read-only states within the Process window. If ReplayEngine is installed, you'll see new buttons on the toolbar that let you move back.
Being able to move back to previous states means that when you see a problem, you can locate where things began to go wrong and why they did. You no longer have to make guesses, restart your program to get to where you hope the problem is, and then determine the cause. And, if you guessed wrong, you need to restart again, then stopping earlier then you did the last time. With ReplayEngine, you can see where things went wrong and why.
To sign up for the ReplayEngine beta, go to http://www.totalviewtech.com/Support/beta/ReplayEngine.php.
Remote Display
This product is also in beta test and you'll receive it when you upgrade to version 8.6. Remote Display lets you create a TotalView running on a different machine than the one you are currently using. You can then interact with that remote TotalView.
Your local system must be running one of the following: linux-x86, linux-x86-64, or Microsoft Windows XP or Vista. Remote Display also supports PBS Pro and LoadLeveler.
To sign up for the Remote Display beta, go to http://www.totalviewtech.com/Support/beta/beta_form.php.
tvscript
This product is also in beta test and you'll also receive it when you upgrade to version 8.6. tvscript is a shell command that lets you run TotalView in batch mode. Arguments to this command let you set actionpoints and enable the Memory Debugger. When an actionpoint is hit or some other event occurs, tvscript logs information about the program's current state. In addition, you can create Tcl/CLI callback routines that interact with your program at the time the program stops executing.
If execution can continue after logging information, it will.
While there are many ways you can use tvscript, it was requested by customers who wanted to run nightly regression tests.
To sign up for the tvscript beta, go to http://www.totalviewtech.com/Support/beta/beta_form.php.
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