Tasks for Fun on StarExec

1. Login
   • Direct your browser to www.StarExec.org.
   • Use the login and password provided for the workshop. Please do not change the password.

2. Use the "spaces->explore" option from the upper righthand menu to explore your spaces. (See the Spaces section of the User Guide).
   • In the lefthand sidebar, expand the root space, and then expand one of the community spaces (TPTP, SMT, SAT).
   • Browse to a space that contains some benchmarks, as indicated in the main panel. The "benchmarks" section heading in the main panel tells how many benchmarks there are in a space.
     • Expand the "benchmarks" section in the main panel.
     • Pop open the details of a benchmark by clicking on the benchmark name. This will open a new tab in your browser.
     • Examine the contents of the benchmark by expanding the "contents" section of the panel. (Don't worry about the "type" section for now.) You can use the "popout" button to get a new tab containing the benchmark.
   • Browse to a space that contains some solvers.
     • Expand the "solvers" section in the main panel.
     • Pop open the details of a solver by clicking on the solver name. This will open a new tab in your browser.
     • A solver has one or more "configuration"s, typically corresponding to different sets of command line parameters (but more complex variations are also possible).
     • Pop open the details of a configuration by clicking on the configuration name. This will open a new tab in your browser.

3. Browse to a space that contains some benchmarks and some solvers. It's time to create and run a job. (See the Jobs section of the User Guide).
   • Create a job by clicking the "create job" button, at the bottom of the page.
     • The job name is provided automatically, based on the date and time.
     • Enter a "description".
     • The community default "post processor" will be selected, as will the "cpu timeout". You can change these if you want, but at first the defaults will be fine.
     • We might ask you to change the "worker queue", but otherwise leave it as all.q.
     • Click the "next" button.
   • Select which solvers you want to use.
     • Choose which solvers' configurations you'd like to use.
     • Don't select too many now - currently there is only a small cluster that we're sharing.
     • Click the "next" button.
   • Select which benchmarks you want to run the solvers on.
     • Select the "choose benchmarks" option, and click the "next" button.
     • Select individual benchmarks (avoid clicking on a benchmark name, which will pop open the details of the benchmark).
     • Don't select too many now - currently there is only a small cluster that we're sharing.
     • Click the "submit" button.
   • You'll be returned to the space page. Expand the "jobs" section in the main panel. The "status" column will indicate when the job is complete. Pop open the details of a job by clicking on the job name. This will open a new tab in your browser.
     • The "job pairs" section will be automatically expanded so you can see the result for each solver configuration for each benchmark. The columns are self explanatory (although the "result" column is dependent on the post processor).
     • Pop open the details of a job pair by clicking on a row of the table (avoid clicking on any text, which will pop open the details of that item).
     • You can look at the "run statistics", "pair attributes" (dependent on the post processor), "output", and "job log" by expanding those sections. The "output" is the stdout from the solver, and probably the most immediately interesting - expand that.
       • You can use the "popout" button to get a new tab containing the output.
       • The "all output" button will download a .tar file with the output.

4. Make your own space with your own benchmarks (See the Benchmarks section of the User Guide).
   • Add a subspace to your user space, by selecting the the user space and clicking the "add subspace" button.
     • Give the space a name and description.
     • Leave "default" permissions blank and the space not "locked".
     • Click the "create" button.
   • Select the new subspace - it will have no benchmarks or solvers.
   • Add benchmarks and solvers to the new subspace.
     • Select a space that you know has some benchmarks you like to use.
     • Expand the "benchmarks" section of the main panel, and drag-and-drop some benchmarks to the new supspace.
     • Similarly, drag-and-drop some solvers into the new subspace.
   • Create and run a job in the new subspace.
   • Upload some benchmarks of your own.
     • Benchmarks have to be uploaded in a .zip or .tgz file. Get some benchmarks and make such a file. (For TPTP users, use benchmarks without include directives for this task - StarExec has great features for supporting dependencies such as include directives, but some advance preparation is required to process them.)
     • When you're ready, make sure you're in the new subspace, and click the "upload benchmarks" button.
     • Select the desired upload parameters.
       • Choose your "benchmarks" archive file for upload.
       • If the benchmarks are in a directory hierarchy, that hierarchy can be used to create a corresponding subspace structure. Choose the desired "upload method".
       • Leave "default" permissions blank (if your "upload method" is to create a subspace structure).
       • Choose a "benchmark type" (this depends on the community you are working in - ask us for help).
       • Select no "dependencies".
     • Click the "upload" button.
   • Create and run a job in the new subspace, using some of your uploaded benchmarks.

5. Advanced task: Upload a solver of your own. (See the Solvers section of the User Guide).
   • Read the user guide on how to do this - the user guide is linked from the home page, which can be accessed at any time by clicking the StarExec logo at the top lefthand of any screen.

6. Logout
   • Use the "account->logout" option from the upper righthand menu.

7. Please (please, please) write down your impressions, suggestions, complaints, and praises. We'll be asking for your feedback in the next session.