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Parallel C User Guide

Version 2.2.2 - July 1991
516 Pages

© 3L Ltd

Introduction

frontcover 3L Parallel C User Guide

Intended Audience

This User Guide accompanies 3L's Parallel C product. It is intended for anyone who wants to use Parallel C to program a transputer system, whether writing a conventional sequential program or using the full support for concurrency which the transputer processor has to offer.

The C Language

There are two main dialects of the C language in common use: these are often referred to as "K&R C" and "ANSI C".

K&R C: This older dialect of C is defined - fairly informally - by The C Programming Language, First Edition[1], by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie, the original authors of the language.

ANSI C: This is defined, in ANS X3.159-1989[3], as the American national standard for the C language. At the time of writing, the same definition was expected to be adopted as an international standard.

The dialect of C accepted by the 3L Parallel C was originally based on K&R C. However, it has been extended by adding most of the features of ANSI C, including, for example, function prototypes and enumerated types. Details of Parallel C's ANSI extensions may be found in section 9.1.

In addition, the run-time library includes nearly all of the features of the ANSI run-time library. Traditional features have been retained as well, for compatibility with other compilers. To this have been added functions providing control of the transputer's special features, such as channel communications, concurrent execution threads, and so on.

Hardware Assumptions

Parallel C can be used with a large variety of development and target transputer systems.

The compiler itself and all the supporting utilities run on a T414 or T800 processor. This manual makes the simplifying assumption that the development environment will be an Inmos IMS B004 transputer evaluation board, or a transputer system which is largely compatible with a B004. This board is a single plug-in card for the standard IBM PC bus, with one transputer and either 1 or 2MB of RAM.

The assumption is also made here that the host computer for the B004 will be an IBM PC with a hard disk drive, or one of the many personal computers compatible with the original IBM machines.

A variety of target processors are supported by Parallel C.

  • The T414 and T800 target environment is assumed to be similar to the development environment described above. Both processors are fully supported by Parallel C. However, early pre-production transputers contained faults which may cause problems with the operation of Parallel C programs. If you will be using early transputer chips, you should check appendix B for details of the problems which you may encounter, and how to get round them.
     
  • The T425 processor can be used with Parallel C if it is treated as if it were a T414; some additional instructions are included in this processor which are not at present accepted by the in-line assembler within Parallel C. If you wish to use these instructions in assembly-language code, you must code them using the opr instruction instead.
     
  • Parallel C can also be used to build programs for the 16-bit T212 and T222 processors. Target environments for these are discussed in chapter 8.

Document Structure

There are four main divisions within this document, as follows:

  • Part I: Getting Started covers installing Parallel C on your machine and verifying that it is operating correctly.
     
  • Part II: Tutorial introduces you to the operation of the compiler and the other tools supplied with Parallel C. In particular, there are tutorial sections explaining parallelism on the transputer and the way in which this can be accessed from Parallel C programs.
     
  • Part III: Reference contains the detailed technical information which you will require to write sophisticated applications for the transputer using Parallel C.
     
  • The appendices at the end of this manual contain supplementary information in a condensed form, such as tables of transputer assembly language mnemonics.

Further Reading

This User Guide does not attempt to teach the C language itself; rather, reference should be made to one of the many introductory texts available. The first - and still one of the best - books about C is the original book describing the language. This is The C Programming Language, First Edition[1], by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie.

As Parallel C includes so many ANSI features, it may be useful to consult the second edition[2] of this book, by the same authors, which describes the standard dialect. However, as certain ANSI features are not supported by Parallel C, beginners in particular may find the first edition preferable. Both editions are available in most bookshops or from the publishers.

The reader is assumed to be reasonably familiar with the operating system of the host computer being used. For personal computers made by IBM, this will usually be PC-DOS, which is supplied with a manual called Disk Operating System Reference[4]. For compatible machines made by other manufacturers, the operating system will usually be MS-DOS, described in Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference[5]. These two operating systems are largely compatible, and their documentation is very similar. We will refer to "MSDOS" in this manual to mean the operating system used on your machine. The term DOS Reference Manual will be used to refer to the appropriate manual.

References to these and other documents mentioned in this manual are collected in a bibliography, which can be found on page 487.

Conventions

Text Conventions

Throughout this manual, text printed in this typeface represents direct verbatim communication with the computer: for example, pieces of C text, commands to MS-DOS and responses from the computer.

In examples, text printed in this typeface is not to be used verbatim: it represents a class of items, one of which should be used. For example, this is the format of one kind of compilation command:

t8c source-file

This means that the command consists of:

  1. The word "t8c", typed exactly like that.
     
  2. A source-file: not the text source-file, but an item of the source-file class, for example "myprog.c".

Installation Directory

As we shall see in chapter 1, it is possible to install the Parallel C compiler and its associated software in any directory. By default, however, it will be installed in directory \tc2v2, and throughout the rest of the User Guide it will be assumed that this is what has been done. Users who have chosen to install the software in another directory should replace the directory \tc2v2, wherever it is mentioned, by the name of their own installation directory.

Contents

	Introduction
		Intended Audience
		The C Language
		Hardware Assumptions
		Document Structure
		Further Reading
		Conventions
			Text Conventions
			Installation Directory

1	Installing the Compiler
	1.1	Installation Directory
	1.2	Installing the Software
	1.3	The Search Path
	1.4	Environmental variable 3LCC_INC

2	Confidence Testing

3	Developing Sequential Programs
	3.1	Editing
	3.2	Compiling
	3.3	Linking
		3.3.1	Linking More than One Object File
		3.3.2	Indirect Files
		3.3.3	Calling the Linker Directly
		3.3.4	Libraries
	3.4	Running
		3.4.1	Using C Programs as MS-DOS Commands
		3.4.2	Command-Line Arguments
		3.4.3	I/O Redirection and Piping
	3.5	Memory Use
		3.5.1	Default Memory Mapping
		3.5.2	Alternative Memory Mapping
		3.5.3	Limit on Program Memory

4	Introduction to Parallel C
	4.1	Abstract Model
	4.2	Hardware Realisation
	4.3	Software Model
	4.4	Simultaneous Input
	4.5	Parallel Execution Threads
	4.6	Configuring an Application
	4.7	Processor Farms

5	Developing Parallel Programs
	5.1	Configuring One User Task
		5.1.1	Hardware Configuration
		5.1.2	Software Configuration
		5.1.3	Building the Application
	5.2	More than One User Task
		5.2.1	Inter-Task Communication Functions
	5.3	Building Multi-Task Systems
	5.4	Multi-Transputer Systems
	5.5	Simultaneous Input
	5.6	Multi-Threaded Tasks
		5.6.1	Creating Threads
		5.6.2	Threads versus Tasks
	5.7	Debugging
	5.8	Estimating Memory Requirements

6	Global Input/Output
	6.1	One Transputer
	6.2	More than One Transputer
	6.3	More than One Multiplexer
	6.4	Limits
	6.5	Termination of an Application

7	Processor Farms
	7.1	The Worker Task
	7.2	The Master Task
	7.3	The net Package
		7.3.1	Functions net_send and net_receive
		7.3.2	The net_broadcast function
	7.4	Building the Application
		7.4.1	Configuration File
	7.5	Running the Example
	7.6	Heterogeneous Networks

8	Developing T2 Programs
	8.1	Compiling
	8.2	The Compiler in T2 Mode
		8.2.1	Language Restrictions
		8.2.2	Pre-defined Macros
		8.2.3	Data-type Representations
		8.2.4	Compiler Error Messages
	8.3	Linking T2 Tasks
	8.4	Linker Support for the T2
		8.4.1	Linker Command Switches
		8.4.2	The Bootstrap
	8.5	The Run-Time Library
		8.5.1	Functions Defined in alt.h
		8.5.2	Functions Defined in chan.h
		8.5.3	Functions Defined in chanio.h
		8.5.4	Functions Defined in ctype.h
		8.5.5	Functions Defined in locale.h
		8.5.6	Functions Defined in par.h
		8.5.7	Functions Defined in sema.h
		8.5.8	Functions Defined in setjmp.h
		8.5.9	Functions Defined in signal.h
		8.5.10	Functions Defined in stdlib.h
		8.5.11	Functions Defined in string.h
		8.5.12	Functions Defined in thread.h
		8.5.13	Functions Defined in timer.h
	8.6	Running T2 Programs
		8.6.1	Using the Configurer to Boot a T2
		8.6.2	Piping Code into a T2
	8.7	Parameters to Main

Introduction

		Overview
		Standard Syntactic Metalanguage

9	C Compiler Reference
	9.1	The C Language
		9.1.1	ANSI Features
		9.1.2	Special Features
		9.1.3	System-dependent Features
	9.2	The C main Function
	9.3	Running the Compiler
	9.4	Compiler Switches
		9.4.1	Default Switches
		9.4.2	Controlling Output Files
		9.4.3	Controlling Object Code
		9.4.4	Controlling Code Patch Sizes
		9.4.5	Controlling Debugging
		9.4.6	Controlling #include Processing
		9.4.7	Macro Definitions
		9.4.8	Information from the Compiler
	9.5	Predefined Macros
	9.6	Handling of #include Files
	9.7	Assembly Language
		9.7.1	When to Use Assembly Language
		9.7.2	Assembly Language Syntax
		9.7.3	Literal Operands
		9.7.4	Variables as Operands
		9.7.5	Accessing Complex Structures
		9.7.6	Labels and Jumps
		9.7.7	Literal Machine Code
		9.7.8	Errors
	9.8	Data-type Representations
		9.8.1	Integral Data Types
		9.8.2	Pointer Types
		9.8.3	Floating Types
		9.8.4	Alignment and Complex Types
	9.9	Compiler Error Messages
		9.9.1	Compiler Error Message Format
		9.9.2	Fixing Errors Detected by the Compiler
		9.9.3	List of Error Messages
		9.9.4	Errors in Assembler Language

10	The C Run-Time Library
	10.1	Introduction
		10.1.1	Purpose of the Run-Time Library
		10.1.2	Versions of the Run-Time Library
		10.1.3	Conventions
		10.1.4	Header Files
		10.1.5	Errors <errno.h>
		10.1.6	Limits <float.h> and <limits.h>
		10.1.7	Common Definitions <stddef.h>
	10.2	Alt Package <alt.h>
	10.3	Diagnostics <assert.h>
	10.4	Neighbouring Transputers <boot.h>
	10.5	Channels <chan.h>
	10.6	Character Handling <ctype.h>
		10.6.1	Character Testing Functions
		10.6.2	Character Mapping Functions
	10.7	Accessing DOS Functions <dos.h>
	10.8	Localisation <locale.h>
	10.9	Mathematics <math.h>
		10.9.1	Treatment of Error Conditions
		10.9.2	Trigonometric Functions
		10.9.3	Hyperbolic Functions
		10.9.4	Exponential and Logarithmic Functions
		10.9.5	Power Functions
		10.9.6	Nearest Integer, Absolute Value and Remainder Functions
	10.10	Processor Farm Communications <net.h>
	10.11	Synchronising Access to Run-Time Library <par.h>
	10.12	Semaphores <sema.h>
	10.13	Emulating the filter Task <serv.h>
	10.14	Nonlocal Jumps <setjmp.h>
	10.15	Signal Handling <signal.h>
	10.16	Variable Arguments <stdarg.h>
	10.17	Input/Output <stdio.h>
		10.17.1	Stream I/O
		10.17.2	Binary I/O
		10.17.3	Text I/O
		10.17.4	Operations on Files
		10.17.5	File Access Functions
		10.17.6	Formatted Input/Output Functions
		10.17.7	Character Input/Output Functions
		10.17.8	Direct Input/Output Functions
		10.17.9	File Positioning Functions
		10.17.10	Error Handling Functions
	10.18	General Utilities <stdlib.h>
		10.18.1	String Conversion Functions
		10.18.2	Pseudo-Random Sequence Generation Functions
		10.18.3	Memory Management Functions
		10.18.4	Communication with the Environment
		10.18.5	Searching and Sorting Utilities
		10.18.6	Integer Arithmetic Functions
		10.18.7	Multibyte Character Functions
		10.18.8	Multibyte String Functions
	10.19	String Handling <string.h>
		10.19.1	Copying Functions
		10.19.2	Concatenation Functions
		10.19.3	Comparison Functions
		10.19.4	Search Functions
		10.19.5	Miscellaneous Functions
	10.20	Threads <thread.h>
	10.21	Date and Time <time.h>
	10.22	Transputer Timers <timer.h>

11	Alphabetic List of Run-time Library Entries

12	The Linker
	12.1	Command Line
	12.2	File Name Conventions
	12.3	The Output File
	12.4	Indirect Files
	12.5	Libraries
	12.6	The Executable Image
	12.7	Map Files
	12.8	T2 Support
		12.8.1	Switch /Msize
		12.8.2	Switch /Asize
		12.8.3	Switches /FC, /FA, /FS, and /FH
		12.8.4	Modified /F Switches
		12.8.5	Switch /Rsize
	12.9	Debug Tables
	12.10	Summary of Switches
	12.11	Using Batch Files
	12.12	Duplicate Definitions
	12.13	Messages

13	The mempatch Utility
	13.1	Identifying mempatch
	13.2	Invoking mempatch
	13.3	Re-invoking mempatch

14	The decode Utility
	14.1	Usage
		14.1.1	Compilation for the Decoder
		14.1.2	Running the Decoder
	14.2	Features of the decode Program
	14.3	Other Languages

15	The Worm Utility
	15.1	Notes

16	The tnm Utility

17	The tunlib Utility

18	Configuration Language Reference
	18.1	Standard Syntactic Metalanguage
	18.2	Configuration Language Syntax
		18.2.1	Low Level Syntax
		18.2.2	Numeric Constants
		18.2.3	String Constants
		18.2.4	Identifiers
		18.2.5	Statements
		18.2.6	PROCESSOR Statement
		18.2.7	WIRE Statement
		18.2.8	TASK Statement
		18.2.9	CONNECT Statement
		18.2.10	PLACE Statement
		18.2.11	BIND Statement

19	Flood-Fill Configurer Reference
	19.1	User Task Protocol
		19.1.1	Master Task's Ports
		19.1.2	Worker Task's Ports
	19.2	Packet Format

20	Task Data Sheets

Appendices

A	Distribution Kit
	A.1	Directory \tc2v2
	A.2	Directory \tc2v2\examples

B	Compatibility with T414A and T800A
	B.1	Problems with T414A
		B.1.1	Restriction on Message Lengths
		B.1.2	Problems with Timers
	B.2	Problems with T800A
		B.2.1	Floating-Point Conversion Problems
		B.2.2	Instruction Decode Problems

C	Building a Network
	C.1	Network Principles
	C.2	Network Requirements
		C.2.1	Requirements for Links
		C.2.2	Requirements for System Services
	C.3	Connecting a Network

D	Summary of Option Switches
	D.1	Compiler Switches
	D.2	Linker Switches
	D.3	afserver Switches
	D.4	General Purpose Configurer Switches

E	Transputer Instructions
	E.1	Pseudo-Instructions
	E.2	Prefixing Instructions
	E.3	Direct Instructions
	E.4	Operations
	E.5	T4-only Instructions
	E.6	T8-only Instructions
		E.6.1	Floating Point Instructions
		E.6.2	Other T8-only Instructions

F	Compatibility Functions
	F.1	Introduction
		F.1.1	ASCII Control Codes <ascii.h>
		F.1.2	Channel Communications <chanio.h>
		F.1.3	Variable Arguments <varargs.h>
	F.2	Low-Level I/O
	F.3	Alphabetic List of Compatibility Functions

G	Mandelbrot Program Listings
	G.1	Mandelbrot Example Master Task
	G.2	Mandelbrot Example Worker Task
	G.3	Header File
	G.4	Configuration File

H	ASCII Code Chart

	Bibliography
	Index

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