"Output file absent" when running "test" project-"uppercase" application

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jack

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Joined: 28 Jan 10
Posts: 8
China
Message 30722 - Posted: 28 Jan 2010, 19:30:11 UTC

Hi, I am new to BOINC project development. Here is my concern:

I installed boinc-client, boinc-manager in linux machines.

I have ran the virutal server which I downloaded from boinc web page. And then follow "Quick start" to set up the project "test" and run the application "uppercase".
Clients work pretty good, successfully downloads workunits, and caculates the workunit.
But when they tried to upload the output file, it reports 'Output file *** for *** absent' after finished as below:

Tue 09 Sep 2008 12:24:55 PM EDT|boinc_test|Starting task wu_uppercase_05_0 using uppercase version 700
Tue 09 Sep 2008 12:24:56 PM EDT|boinc_test|Computation for task wu_uppercase_05_0 finished
Tue 09 Sep 2008 12:24:56 PM EDT|boinc_test|Output file wu_uppercase_05_0_0 for task wu_uppercase_05_0 absent

I wonder if there is some packages missing in those defective clients.

Thanks very much and waiting.
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jack

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China
Message 30724 - Posted: 28 Jan 2010, 21:05:08 UTC - in response to Message 30722.  

hello....anyone helps?

please just tell if you can successfully run "test" project-"uppercase" application. That is also much appreicated. At least you let me know if it is possible to work fine.

Thanks.
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Profile Gundolf Jahn

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Posts: 1069
Germany
Message 30726 - Posted: 28 Jan 2010, 21:22:06 UTC - in response to Message 30724.  

You'll have to be patient. :-)

It takes some hours, sometimes days, until someone knowledgeable comes by.

In the meantime, you could try an advanced forum search for your keywords, preferably with a search limit greater than 30 days.

Gruß,
Gundolf
Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)
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Richard Haselgrove
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Message 30727 - Posted: 28 Jan 2010, 22:13:49 UTC

The "output file" in question is supposed to be generated by your scientific research application: at this early stage in testing, by the sample "uppercase" application included in the BOINC software suite.

I don't actually know whether "uppercase" is designed to produce an output file, but I assume it is - if it's going to mimic the scientific research process, an output file is usually a significant part of the research.

So your (temporary, surrogate) science application is failing to produce any science. That usually indicates an error condition: look in the message log of the workstation - not the server - that was supposed to be mimicing the cloud clients that will be doing your science when you go live. There should be an error number, either in the message log or in the stderr.txt file. From that error number, you will have to work out why the application failed to run.

But remember: 'Output file absent' is always a symptom of an earlier failure, not a problem in itself.
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jack

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Message 30728 - Posted: 29 Jan 2010, 3:07:20 UTC - in response to Message 30727.  

Thanks Richard!!
Could you specify which log i should check?
I tried to run other projects, like SETI, it works fine.

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Eric Myers
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Message 30731 - Posted: 29 Jan 2010, 17:40:37 UTC - in response to Message 30728.  

What about input file? If uppercase has no input file it will not create an output file. And it won't get an input file unless the "workunit template" specifies one. So check that your template is correct. No guarantees this is the problem, but that is what I would check first.


-- Eric Myers

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -- William Butler Yeats
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jack

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Message 30738 - Posted: 31 Jan 2010, 9:58:04 UTC - in response to Message 30731.  

Today I find something new!

I modified the file in /template/uc_result.
Before I changed, the output open-file is "out". That means in Boinc client machine, in directory /slot/0, if there is the outfile named "out", BOINC client will upload this file to BOINC server.
I am quite sure that now the "out" file is absent after computation. That is why I got the error "Output file absent".

And actually I can see the stderr.txt and in file there.

So I made a change, in /template/uc_result, making the open-file is "stderr.txt". That means the output file of the application "uppercase" is "stderr.txt" rather than "out". So after the computation, "stderr.txt" is the file to upload.

That change works. "stderr.txt" can be uploaded to BOINC server.

However, I got some questions still:
1. the change is working. That means the template is ok. But why "out" file is not able to generate?
2. stderr.txt content is listed below. What does it mean?
3. How to test the "uppercase" application? I just want to make sure it can generate the output file "out" in standalone mode.

Thanks in advance and waiting for reply.
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jack

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Message 30739 - Posted: 31 Jan 2010, 10:15:36 UTC - in response to Message 30738.  

Here is the stderr.txt of uppercase application. Sorry for missing it in last post.
===============================================

SIGSEGV: segmentation violation
Stack trace (12 frames):
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu(boinc_catch_signal+0x64)[0x805ad84]
[0xb8045400]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x806260f]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x8062788]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x80598f7]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x8056d37]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x805715c]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x80573b0]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x80574f5]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x804ad07]
/lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe5)[0xb7e99775]
../../projects/192.168.1.113_angel/uppercase_1.1_i686-pc-linux-gnu[0x804a8c1]

Exiting...
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Profile Gundolf Jahn

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Message 30740 - Posted: 31 Jan 2010, 11:21:28 UTC - in response to Message 30739.  

SIGSEGV: segmentation violation

Obviously, the application doesn't run to completion, which explains the lack of an output file.

Gruß,
Gundolf
Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)
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jack

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Message 30743 - Posted: 31 Jan 2010, 13:38:57 UTC - in response to Message 30740.  

Yes, I agree.
How can I debug?

Is there any lib I have missed in BOINC client?

The uppercase application is generated while I made the test project. I did not write the source code.

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jack

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Message 30749 - Posted: 1 Feb 2010, 0:33:51 UTC - in response to Message 30743.  

Root cause found!
uppercase application is only able to turn pure lower case text file to upper case text case. But sample_generator makes the workunit, a text file as "in", with mixed case: upper and lower. So the uppercase application in Linux BOINC client runs in error.

I modified the code and provide a new version for Linux and Windows. Now uppercase V2 runs well on both platform. Every workunit status is now "Ready to report", not "Output file absent" any more.


I found it by browsing source code with BOINC source
Boinc source\samples\example_app\uc2.cpp

Thanks very much for everyone's help.

I hope this post will help others as well.
Thanks again.
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davidv1992

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Netherlands
Message 30766 - Posted: 2 Feb 2010, 16:48:05 UTC - in response to Message 30749.  

Could you post the changes you made to the source, I am bumping into the same problem but am unable to spot exactly where it goes haywire.
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jack

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Message 30772 - Posted: 3 Feb 2010, 3:04:10 UTC - in response to Message 30766.  

What change are you referring to?

uc2.cpp is deployed along with boinc source code.
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cederstrom

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Message 31063 - Posted: 16 Feb 2010, 16:51:35 UTC - in response to Message 30772.  

What change are you referring to?
uc2.cpp is deployed along with boinc source code.


I too have these problems. Did you just compile the content of /sample/example_app with
$ autoreconfig -if
$ ./configure
$ make

and then copied the executable into the /project/project_name/apps/app_name/app_name_version/ and the signed it manually?
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Message boards : Server programs : "Output file absent" when running "test" project-"uppercase" application

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