Adding a label

It is very useful to see task specific information in the ecflow_ui. This can be achieved by defining a label, i.e. a string that is attached to a task, and that can be populates using the child command ecflow_client --label.

Update Task Script

To create a new family label with a task t1, start by creating the task script at $HOME/course/test/label/t1.ecf

Listing 45 $HOME/course/test/label/t1.ecf

%include <head.h>

n=1
while [[ $n -le 5 ]]                      # Loop 5 times
do
   msg="The date is now $(date)"
   ecflow_client --label=info "$msg"      # Set the label
   sleep 30                               # Wait half a minute
   (( n = $n + 1 ))
done

ecflow_client --label=info "Job is done!" # Set the final label

%include <tail.h>

Update Suite Definition

Update the suite definition file to add the new family label and task t1.

suite test
  edit ECF_INCLUDE "{{HOME}}/course" # replace '$HOME' appropriately
  edit ECF_HOME    "{{HOME}}/course"

  [... previous families omitted for brevity ..]

  family label
    task t1
      label info ""
  endfamily
endsuite

The following example shows how to add a ecflow.Label in Python. (Note: families f1 and f2 are omitted for brevity).

Listing 46 $HOME/course/test.py

import os
from ecflow import (
    Defs,
    Suite,
    Family,
    Task,
    Edit,
    Trigger,
    Complete,
    Event,
    Meter,
    Time,
    Day,
    Date,
    Label,
)


def create_family_label():
    return Family("label", Task("t1", Label("info", "")))


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_label()))
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

Create the new task script file, as shown above.
Modify the suite definition to include the new family and task, as shown above.

Replace the suite, using:

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

python3 test.py
python3 client.py

Observer the label change using the ecflow_ui.
Customise the label colouring in ecFlowUI, at Tools > Preferences… > Appearance > Node Labels