run_vtr_flow.pl error reporting is vague about vtr-verilog-to-routing

[kmurray]

Everyone benefits from better error reporting.  I'll assign this over to Nooruddin.
 Since he will be setting up our automatic build/regression infrastructure, he will
need to deal with error reporting when the regression script (run_vtr_flow.pl) discovers
a problem.  

Reported by JasonKaiLuu on 2012-05-11 21:36:05

[kmurray]

Reported by JasonKaiLuu on 2012-05-11 21:36:46

[kmurray]

Yes, it would be more convenient to not have to look into the log files, but the errors
in log files do not follow a consistent pattern so it is not trivial to parse for them.
I think outputting all of the log files would be way too much information, and would
flood the output making it difficult to tell which tests failed where.

Personally, I like the format as it is a clear overview and have found it very helpful.
Obviously  providing just the error would be nice, but we would need to change all
of the executable to have.  standardized error messages. This definitely would be nice
to have, but would be some work. Also we don't really control ABC, although we could
hack it.

Reported by jeffrey.goeders on 2012-05-12 01:22:54

[kmurray]

We can do something as simple as state whether a crash occurred or parse for an "error"
tag.  It doesn't have to catch all cases as the developer will need to look into it
regardless.  

I'll leave it up to Nooruddin then to decide how much detail to report.  Nooruddin,
place the auto-build infrastructure at higher priority than this issue.  You'll eventually
come to this issue as you start to deploy and test your auto-build infrastructure.

Reported by JasonKaiLuu on 2012-05-12 01:30:19

[kmurray]

Sounds good. I will look into it.

Reported by ahmedn23 on 2012-05-12 03:51:57

[kmurray]

You guys are working late!   Nooruddin, go ahead and put some thought into this, but
it may take a lot of revamping of code which you shouldn't be doing right now.  This
issue - error reporting - is something we can discuss in the VTR meeting (the thursday
meeting).

Reported by JonathanScottRose on 2012-05-12 15:23:35

[kmurray]

It would be good to have the Odin II standard error stream report to the console. It
normally contains nothing, except when there is an error in elaborating the circuit.
Not sure if the other tools follow this convention, but they certainly could. 

I also notice that the standard error from Odin II gets mangled amongst the standard
output in the log files. 

Reported by andy16666 on 2012-05-12 18:36:36