Newsgroups: comp.parallel.mpi
From: alves@pandora.uc.pt (Alexandre Alves)
Subject: ANNOUNCING WPVM 1.0 !  PVM for MS WINDOWS
Organization: Eng Inf. POLOII - COIMBRA
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 1995 02:55:38
Message-ID: <alves.127.0002ED27@pandora.uc.pt>




                           WPVM 1.0
          Parallel Virtual Machine for Microsoft Windows

                              by 
                        Alexandre Alves

                  Department of Computer Science
                  University of Coimbra - PORTUGAL

              Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestao 
       Instituto Politecnico de Viana do Castelo - PORTUGAL 


SUMMARY
---------
WPVM (Windows Parallel Virtual Machine) is a software package that permits a heterogeneous
collection of MS Windows computers hooked together by a network to be used as a single large 
parallel computer. 
WPVM is based on the original PVM package (version 3.3.0) from the Oak ridge National Laboratory.
WPVM machines can coexist in a virtual machine with UNIX computers running the Oak Ridge 
original PVM.


Copyright Notice
----------
(C) 1994 by Alexandre A. R. Alves - PORTUGAL
Using and distributing WPVM
WPVM may be used in any way, at no cost. In may be distributed by any means, 
provided that the original files as supplied by the author remain intact and no charge is made 
other than for reasonable distribution costs.
You do not need to register to use WPVM or buy a license. 
WPVM may be placed on any archive or BBS system although I would appreciate people to download 
it from the official Web site and fill the form with general data before downloading the package 
so that I can gain insight on what kind of people/organizations

WPVM may not be used for commercial or industrial purposes without a prior license agreement with the author.



OFFICIAL WEB SITE
-------------------
WPVM can be downloaded from:
http://pandora.uc.pt/wpvm



Versions available
-------------------
WPVM is provided in two different flavors. One for Windows 3.x - 16 bits
and another for Windows 95/NT - 32 bits.
It was developed using the Borland 4.5 C++ compiler.
However, the libraries provided in the package can be linked with WPVM 
applications compiled with any other 'C' compilers.
WPVM uses the Windows sockets standard v1.0 (WINSOCK).



Written Information on WPVM
-----------------------------
More information about WPVM internals can be obtained in the 
official WPVM Web site.
Other information can be found in the official PVM Web site:
http://www.epm.ornl.gov/pvm/pvm_home.html


Requirements to run WPVM
--------------------------
Any personal computer (intel 386 and further) running MS Windows with the TCP-IP stack installed.


BUGS
----
WPVM was successfully tested with the "official" PVM implementation's test 
program that can be downloaded from:
http://www.netlib.org/pvm3/pvm_test.tar.gz
However if you find some, use the Web interface to send me bug reports at:
http://pandora.uc.pt/wpvm/bug_rep.html


COMPILING AND LINKING WPVM PROGRAMS:
---------------------------------------

To build a WPVM program you have to link the WPVM libaries with your application program.
There are two different sets of libraries available:
one for Win16 (Windows 3.x) and other for Win32 (Windows 95/NT).
You can use your favourite compiler, either Visual C or BCC to compile
your WPVM applications.

Besides the WPVM general library there is also an external WPVM group library in the same way of the
original PVM.

The user interface of your WPVM application can be built using the standard Windows API.
However, if you prefer to use the usual stdio interface of UNIX, there is a library
(PVMSH??.lib) included with WPVM that provides you those UNIX routines (printf, getchar, 
gettimeoftheday, etc..). Using this library you can easily port existing PVM applications
to WPVM without almost any source changes.
An important aspect to remember when using this shell library is to change the
entry point of your program from "int main()" to "int pvm_main".


Advices for Win16 Users:
- Choose the large segmented memory model.
- Change all the "int" declarations by "PVMINT".
  This is required for the sake of compatibility:
  PVMINT is a "long" value in Win16 and an "int"
  value in Win32.
  
Some application examples can be found in the "EXAMPLES" directory 


Using WPVM with PVM in an heterogeneous environment
-----------------------------------------------------

WPVM can coexist in a virtual machine with the original PVM.
If the master of the virtual machine is WPVM, you have to give it
information on how to access the UNIX machines to be enrolled in the environment.
You have to be a owner of accounts on those UNIX machines and provide the WPVM master daemon
with the username and password of your UNIX accounts (which should be the same in all the machines).
Concerning the Windows machines, you don't have to worry about any security issues as Windows
does not have any protection mechanisms. The rshell/rexec daemons implemented by WPVM do not
worry about user authentication (they let anyone connect..).
To configure the WPVM master daemon you should use the "Control-Manual Startup" menu.




------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandre A. R. Alves                        
Departamento de Eng. Informatica     tel: 351.39.7000000 (global)
Universidade de Coimbra              tel: 351.39.7000072 (direct)
Polo II                              tel: 1236           (local)
Vila Franca- Pinhal de Marrocos	     fax: 351.39.701266 
3030 COIMBRA - PORTUGAL              email:alves@pandora.uc.pt  
------------------------------------------------------------------------

