Late attribute

Sometimes tasks don’t run as expected, and we want to get a notification when this is the case. For this, we use the late attribute.

A node can only have one late attribute. The late attribute only applies to a task. You can define it on a Suite/Family in which case it will be inherited. Any late defined lower down the hierarchy will override the aspect(submitted, active, complete) defined higher up.

-s submitted: The time node can stay submitted (format [+]hh:mm). submitted is always relative, so + is simply ignored, if present. If the node stays submitted longer than the time specified, the late flag is set
-a Active: The time of day the node must have become active (format hh:mm). If the node is still queued or submitted, the late flag is set
-c Complete: The time node must become complete (format {+}hh:mm). If relative, time is taken from the time the node became active, otherwise the node must be complete by the time given.

Listing 57 Late example

task t1
   late -s +00:15 -a 20:00 -c +02:00

This is interpreted as, the node can stay submitted for a maximum of 15 minutes, and it must become active by 20:00 and the runtime must not exceed 2 hours.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we will add a late attribute for the runtime only.

Ecf Script

We will add a new task /test/f6/t1. Create new ecf script file $HOME/course/test/f6/t1.ecf for which we want to be late.

Listing 58 $HOME/course/test/f6/t1.ecf

%include <head.h>
echo "I will now sleep for %SLEEP% seconds"
sleep %SLEEP%
%include <tail.h>

Text

Let us modify the suite definition file again:

# Definition of the suite test.
suite test
 edit ECF_INCLUDE "$HOME/course"    # replace $HOME with the path to your home directory
 edit ECF_HOME    "$HOME/course"

 family f6
      edit SLEEP 120
      task t1
           late -c +00:01 # set late flag if task take longer than a minute
 endfamily
endsuite

Python

Listing 59 $HOME/course/test.py

import os
from ecflow import (
    Defs,
    Suite,
    Family,
    Task,
    Edit,
    Trigger,
    Complete,
    Event,
    Meter,
    Time,
    Day,
    Date,
    Label,
    RepeatString,
    RepeatInteger,
    RepeatDate,
    InLimit,
    Limit,
    Late,
)


def create_family_f6():
    return Family(
        "f6", Edit(SLEEP=120), Task("t1", Late(complete="+00:01"))
    )  # set late flag if task t1 takes longer than a minute


print("Creating suite definition")
home = os.path.join(os.getenv("HOME"), "course")
defs = Defs(Suite("test", Edit(ECF_INCLUDE=home, ECF_HOME=home), create_family_f6()))
print(defs)

print("Checking job creation: .ecf -> .job0")
print(defs.check_job_creation())

print("Checking trigger expressions")
assert len(defs.check()) == 0, defs.check()

print("Saving definition to file 'test.def'")
defs.save_as_defs("test.def")

What to do

Type in the changes
Replace the suite definition
Run the suite, you should see the task late flag set in ecflow_ui
When the job completes, if you re-queue family node f6 or task t1, it will clear the late flag. The late flag can also be cleared manually, select task t1, then with Right Mouse Button > Special > Clear late flag