pj_dump

Running pj_dump --help gives you a good overview of what the tool does. Here's what you'd get (as of February 2017):

$ pj_dump --help
Usage: pj_dump [OPTION...] [FILE]
Dumps FILE, or standard input, in a CSV-like textual format

  -a, --stop-at=TIME         Stop the trace simulation at TIME
  -c, --container            Print container hierarchy in stdout
  -d, --dot                  Print type hierarchy in dot format in stdout
  -e, --end=END              Dump ends at timestamp END (instead of EOF)
      --entity-hierarchy=FILE   Output the entity hierarchy to FILE (CSV)
  -f, --flex                 Use flex-based file reader
  -h, --header               Print CSV header with column names
  -i, --no-imbrication       No imbrication levels (push and pop become sets)
  -l, --float-precision=PRECISION
                             Precision of floating point numbers
  -n, --no-strict            Support old field names in event definitions
  -p, --probabilistic=TYPENAME   Dump global states based on TYPENAME
  -q, --quiet                Do not dump, only simulate
  -s, --start=START          Dump starts at timestamp START (instead of 0)
  -t, --time                 Print number of seconds to simulate input
      --type-hierarchy=FILE  Output the type hierarchy to FILE (CSV)
  -u, --user-defined         Dump user-defined fields
  -z, --ignore-incomplete-links   Ignore incomplete links (not recommended)
  -?, --help                 Give this help list
      --usage                Give a short usage message
  -v, --version              Print version of this binary

Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional
for any corresponding short options.

It's easier to understand what is written here if you are acquainted to the Paje terminology (Container, State, Variable, Link, Event and the information attached to each of these). Take a look to the description of the Paje File Format for further details.

Output Description

The contents of the lines generated by pj_dump are separated by commas, defining the columns. So, a line like this:

Container, 0, LINK, 0, 4.48514, 4.48514, 9

has seven columns. The first column is always one of: Container, State, Variable, Event or Link. The remaining columns of the line have specific information depending on the first column. Here's a synthetic description of the five different types of lines you'll find as output of pj_dump:

Container, parentContainer, containerType, startTime, endTime, duration, name
State, container, stateType, startTime, endTime, duration, imbrication, value
Variable, container, variableType, startTime, endTime, duration, value
Event, container, eventType, time, value
Link, container, linkType, startTime, endTime, duration, value, startContainer, endContainer

See below a detailed description with examples for each of them.

Container

All lines starting with Container look like this:

Container, 0, HOST, 0, 4.48514, 4.48514, Tremblay

1. "Container"
2. "0" - The name of the parent container
3. "HOST" - The type of this container
4. "0" - The starting time
5. "4.48514" - The finish time
6. "4.48514" -The duration
7. "Tremblay" - The name of this container

State

All lines starting with State look like this:

State, node48, SERVICE, 691, 692, 1, 0, booked

1. "State"
2. "node48" - The name of the container
3. "SERVICE" - The type of this state
4. "691" - The starting time
5. "692" - The finish time
6. "1" - The duration
7. "0" - The imbrication level
8. "booked" - The value of the state

Variable

All lines starting with Variable look like this:

Variable, Tremblay, pcompute, 2.15357, 2.17013, 0.016554, 9.8095e+07

1. "Variable"
2. "Tremblay" - The name of the container
3. "pcompute" - The name of the variable
4. "2.15357" - The starting time
5. "2.17013" - The ending time
6. "0.016554" - The duration
7. "9.8095e+07" - The value of the variable

Event

All lines starting with Event look like this:

Event, Tremblay, msmark, 3.4286, finish_send_tasks

1. "Event"
2. "Tremblay" - The name of the container
3. "msmark" - The name of the event
4. "3.4286" - The instant in time when this event took place
5. "finish_send_tasks" - The value of the event

Link

All lines starting with Link look like this:

Link, 0, 0-HOST1-LINK4, 0, 0, 0, G, Tremblay, 9, mpi_123

1. "Link"
2. "0" - The name of the container
3. "0-HOST1-LINK4" - The type of this link
4. "0" - The starting time
5. "0" - The ending time
6. "0" - The duration
7. "G" - The value of this link
8. "Tremblay" - The starting container
9. "9" - The ending container
10. "mpi_123" - The unique key

Incomplete Links

According to the description of the Paje File Format, a link is formed by two events: PajeStartLink and PajeEndLink. These events are matched by the Paje Simulator using a key that is provided in the trace file. If one of these two events are missing for some arbitrary reason and the trace file ends (or the container is destroyed), you'll have a simulation with incomplete links. Generally, the Paje Simulator, and by consequence pj_dump, consider these links as errors, and list them in the following manner:

$ ./pj_dump  ~/tracefile.trace 
List of incomplete links in container '0':
Link, 0, MSG_PROCESS_TASK_LINK, 0, -1, 0, SR, broadcaster-12, NULL
Link, 0, MSG_PROCESS_TASK_LINK, 0.00013, -1, 0, SR, broadcaster-13, NULL
Link, 0, MSG_PROCESS_TASK_LINK, 0.002868, -1, 0, SR, broadcaster-13, NULL
(...)
PajeLinkException: Incomplete links at the end of container with name '0'

The best action when this happens is to fix the tracer or the converter that generated the trace, since it indicates probably some error during the execution. If you think that this error is acceptable, you can provide the -z switch to pj_dump to tell the Paje Simulator to ignore incomplete links. All the trace file will be dumped and all errors concerning incomplete links will be silently ignored. Use with caution.