[m-dev.] Re: diff: handling of --grade options

[Fergus Henderson]

Tyson Richard DOWD, you wrote:
> > +/*
> > +% These vary from machine to machine, and (for backwards compatibility,
> > +% if nothing else) we want examples such as "GRADE = asm_fast.gc.prof"
> > +% to continue to work, so we can't include these in the grade.
> > +	globals__get_tags_method(Globals, TagsMethod),
> > +	globals__lookup_int_option(Globals, tag_bits, TagBits),
> > +	globals__lookup_bool_option(Globals, unboxed_float, UnboxedFloat),
> > +*/
> 
> When is the commented out code (here and elsewhere) intended to be used? 
> I assume there is going to be a time lag for compatibility.

Well, it won't be used for a while.  Maybe never.

> >  convert_grade_option(Grade0) -->
...
> If this gets any longer, I'd recommend redesigning it to use some
> sort of table

That is a good suggestion.

> What sort of profiling (time or call) triggers this problem?

Time.  I'll put that in the documentation.

> > + at samp{none}, @samp{reg}, @samp{jump}, @samp{asm_jump},
> >  @samp{fast}, @samp{asm_fast},
> > -or one of those with @samp{.gc}, @samp{.prof} or @samp{.gc.prof} appended.
> > +or one of those with @samp{.gc}, @samp{.prof}, and/or @samp{.tr} appended.
> 
> Isn't order important for this?

Yes.  I've modified the documentation so that it mentions this.

> > + at sp 1
> > + at item @code{--profile-time} (grades: any grade containing @samp{.proftime})
> > +Similar to @samp{--profiling}, except that this option only gathers
> > +timing information, not call counts.  For the results to be useful,
> > +call counts for an identical run of your program need to be gathered
> > +using @samp{--profiling} or @samp{--profile-calls}. 
> > +The only advantage of using @code{--profile-time} is that it can give
> 
> The only advantage of using --profile-time *alone* is that....

That doesn't make sense to me.  You don't use --profile-time alone,
you use it in combination with --profile-calls, as mentioned in the
previous sentence.

I understand your point, though, so I'll reword it.

> Also, there's a lot of shared code in ml.in and mgnuc.in.
> Any way to use only one copy of it?

Hmm, I guess we could use AC_SUBST_FILE.  I'll look into it.

-- 
Fergus Henderson <fjh at cs.mu.oz.au>   |  "I have always known that the pursuit
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh>   |  of excellence is a lethal habit"
PGP: finger fjh at 128.250.37.3         |     -- the last words of T. S. Garp.