CCARB 2010-04-09

Present: Lois, Masha, Tom, Ben, Kosta

Agenda:

Status on outstanding work items?

MPI interface needs a new tools bundle release for propagation.

Event service proposal and prototype is available, reviewed well, but has not been voted. It does not include framework-specific event channel definitions. We can let it  simply be used, or we can try to push it through a voting process (which is difficult to justify until a user base has endorsed it). CQOS was probably the most likely user, and is ending.

Whither the specification?

SIDL/Babel is changing. A variety of questions arise as a result, which are summarized here, with consensus views as to the answers.

Q:

1. Extend the spec with contracts?
2. Change whether exceptions are used for certain activities, including getPort?
3. Extend the spec with RMI semantics, flesh out getPortNonBlocking?
4. Issue a 1.0 release of the specification and all supporting tools?
5. ?
6. ?
   

A:

1. Significant work without corresponding budgets. No.
2. No significant benefit; recent complaints about exceptions have been the downstream result of errors in parallel communication libraries.
3. Significant work without corresponding budgets or driving audience. No.
4. Probably a good idea. Current rounds of funding applications will tell if we will have enough continuing use to justify a large effort or a small one here.
5. ?
6. ?
   

Action items

report out to April forum meeting.