Server Specification File
A server specification file describes all valid parameters,
input variables, and output variables of a server process.
The Designer's Interface checks this information to
ensure proper use of the server.
Communication between the interface and server is done
using a standard ASCII format, described by the
server input/output language.
There is a set of Perl utilities
available to adapt servers to the server language.
The Perl script also uses the server specification file.
The server specification file uses the Designer's Interface input file
syntax.
Server Specification File Records:
parameter
parameter name
A parameter is an input which may not be changed by a client.
Parameters may be strings or numeric values.
input variable
input name `('units`)'
-
units should correspond to the actual units of the input variable.
A unitless quantity is denoted by empty parentheses ``()''.
Input variables may be changed by a client (e.g. an optimizer).
All input variables use numeric values.
output variable
output name `('units`)' type
-
units should correspond to the actual units of the output variable.
A unitless quantity is denoted by empty parentheses ``()''.
-
type can be MeasureOfMerit or Constraint
Both current types of output variables use numeric values.
(We may want additional types, some of which may not be numeric.)
Measures of merit may be used to compare different server runs.
It is assumed that lower measures of merit are preferable.
A Constraint violation implies that the server run
was not acceptable in some way.
A constraint is violated if its value is > 0.
Also, constraint values are relative, so larger constraint values
are less desirable than smaller ones.
Example
Here is a server specification file, with
sample input and output in the
server input/output language.
Return to Designer's Interface Overview.