A graph based framework for the definition of tools dealing with sparse and irregular distributed data structures

Industrial applications use specific problem oriented implementations of large sparse and irregular data structures. Hence there is a need for tools that make it possible for developers to visualize their applications in terms of these data, their structure, and the operations that are applied to them, whatever their effective implementation and their distribution are. We present both a framework which we have setup to support the development of such tools, and prototypes which we have developed. The resulting environment is composed of two layers: the first layer is a model that we have defined and implemented as high level libraries that make it possible to efficiently abstract from the implementation; the second layer offers prototype tools built on top of these libraries. These tools are integrated within a graphical environment called Visit (T. Brandes et al., 1996) which is part of the HPFIT research effort (T. Brandes et al., 1996). HPFIT is a joint project involving three research laboratories: LIP in Lyon, France, LaBRI in Bordeaux, France, and GMD/SCAI in Bonn, Germany. Its aim is to provide an integrated HPF development environment that supports sparse and irregular data structures.