Steven S. Lumetta and David E. Culler

EECS Department
University of California, Berkeley
Technical Report No. UCB/CSD-94-828
August 1994

http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1994/CSD-94-828.pdf

This report describes Mantis, a graphical debugger for the Split-C language. Split-C is a parallel extension of C which retains the straightforward translation from source code to executable code necessary for high performance programming of parallel machines. Mantis supports the bulk synchronous and individual node viewpoints which together dominate the design of Split-C programs. Execution can be managed for all nodes as a group or for each node individually. Finally, state and invariants can be checked with a variety of methods, each capable of understanding the abstractions which define Split-C. The graphical interface is simple enough for new users to understand with minimal effort yet powerful enough to allow experienced users to work effectively. Using a straightforward example, we illustrate the process of using Mantis to find both simple and more subtle bugs. We then summarize the important features of Mantis by topic.

Mantis currently runs on the Thinking Machines Corp. CM-5 and is built using a Tcl/Tk graphical user interface linked to a modified version of the Free Software Foundation's gdb debugger. Mantis made its debut at U. C. Berkeley during the Spring 1994 semester and was used heavily by the parallel computation course.

BibTeX citation:

@techreport{Lumetta:CSD-94-828,
    Author = {Lumetta, Steven S. and Culler, David E.},
    Title = {Mantis User's Guide, Version 1.0},
    Institution = {EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley},
    Year = {1994},
    Month = {Aug},
    URL = {http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1994/5846.html},
    Number = {UCB/CSD-94-828},
    Abstract = {This report describes Mantis, a graphical debugger for the Split-C language. Split-C is a parallel extension of C which retains the straightforward translation from source code to executable code necessary for high performance programming of parallel machines. Mantis supports the bulk synchronous and individual node viewpoints which together dominate the design of Split-C programs.  Execution can be managed for all nodes as a group or for each node individually. Finally, state and invariants can be checked with a variety of methods, each capable of understanding the abstractions which define Split-C. The graphical interface is simple enough for new users to understand with minimal effort yet powerful enough to allow experienced users to work effectively. Using a straightforward example, we illustrate the process of using Mantis to find both simple and more subtle bugs. We then summarize the important features of Mantis by topic. <p>Mantis currently runs on the Thinking Machines Corp. CM-5 and is built using a Tcl/Tk graphical user interface linked to a modified version of the Free Software Foundation's gdb debugger. Mantis made its debut at U. C. Berkeley during the Spring 1994 semester and was used heavily by the parallel computation course.}
}

EndNote citation:

%0 Report
%A Lumetta, Steven S.
%A Culler, David E.
%T Mantis User's Guide, Version 1.0
%I EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley
%D 1994
%@ UCB/CSD-94-828
%U http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1994/5846.html
%F Lumetta:CSD-94-828