Freeprocessing is a tool for injecting arbitrary computations at data movement points in a program. It requires zero modifications to the subject program, though you generally need to write the computations yourself. It was initially designed for doing in situ visualization, thought it is applicable in a much wider context.

Obtaining

Freeprocessing is still in 'early adopter' mode. We recommend you use one of the links at the top right, or just grab the source directly from github.

Compilation

The build system is based on the GNU autotools toolchain. In short, this means that installation is based on the familiar ./configure, make, make install sequence. Freeprocessing does not need root privileges and can thus be installed inside your home directory.

Those interested in using the Python interface will want to ./configure with the --enable-python option.

Documentation

• There are a couple of early demonstration videos available. These are not great documentation, but show you what kinds of things you can do with Freeprocessing.
  • The earliest use of Freeprocessing reformatted data out of the 'PsiPhi' (LES) simulation to be more amenable for visualization.
  • yt users will be especially interested to watch the author's forays into in situ visualization of Enzo outputs using yt.
• A tutorial for Freeprocessing is available. It assumes you have things compiled and installed.
• A number of environment variables are relevant for Freeprocessing operation.
• There are a number of example freeprocessors in the source tree, such as the standard "Hello, world!" example.
• Freeprocessing has been published at EGPGV.

Support

The author believes "FAQs" decay too easily into "unAQs", but we do maintain a list of issues and their solutions that we think may help many.

The best way to get help is by sending an email to Tom Fogal. He is happy to provide real-time help via IRC or skype, and in return he asks only for real-time feedback.