ecFlow variables

We already saw that ecFlow has some variables, like ECF_HOME.

There are three kinds of variables:

The variables that are used by ecFlow, like ECF_HOME.
The variables that are defined by the user. They should not start with “ECF”. It is good practice to name these variables with capital letters.
The variables that are generated by ecFlow, and that you can use in your jobs, like ECF_DATE which contains the date of the suite.

Ecf Script

In the previous example, we have copied the file t1.ecf to the file t2.ecf.

Edit those two files so they call the unix sleep command with a variable called SLEEP as a parameter:

Listing 21 $HOME/course/f1/t1.ecf

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

Text

Then add the variable to the suite definition:

# 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 f1
      task t1
         edit SLEEP 20
      task t2
         edit SLEEP 20
   endfamily
endsuite

Python

Listing 22 $HOME/course/test.py

import os
from ecflow import Defs, Suite, Family, Task, Edit


def create_family_f1():
    return Family("f1", Task("t1", Edit(SLEEP=20)), Task("t2", Edit(SLEEP=20)))


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_f1()))
print(defs)

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

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

What to do

Do the modifications

Replace the suite. For Python use:

python3 test.py
python3 client.py

For text use:

ecflow_client --suspend=/test ;  ecflow_client --replace=/test test.def

Watch in ecflow_ui. You should see the tasks with a status active for 20 seconds. Look at the job output.