Talk:Initialization

Dchassin 22:04, 15 March 2012 (UTC) Telecon Summary

 * 1) We need to track the initialization state of the objects using a new flags, e.g., OF_DEFERRED.  Also need to lock the object while init is operating.  Suggest locking all objects during all operations anyway for good measure.
 * 2) * Added to requirements --Dchassin 23:16, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) Bottom-up and top-down init don't have any reasonably good use case anyone can thing of.  Suggest making them a low priority.
 * 4) * Added to requirements --Dchassin 23:16, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 5) Proceed with Req:Initialization and Spec:Initialization and review when ready.
 * 6) * Added to requirements --Dchassin 23:16, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 7) AUTO can be easily implemented to allow the any object which has a parent or references another object to defer automatically until all the dependencies are initialized.
 * 8) * Added to requirements --Dchassin 23:16, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Dchassin 17:47, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

 * 1) Perhaps the default mode should be AUTO and not deferred because as a general rule that would be the preferred way of initializing.
 * 2) * I don't think AUTO will work at all, that the IEEE_4node model can break it. All you need is a node, a line, and a second node.  The first node has no parents or reference objects.  The second node has the line for a parent.  The line has the first node as a parent, and both nodes as target objects.  Chicken-egg, does the line or the node below it initialize first? -Mhauer 19:08, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) ** Let's be precise about what we mean by not working. I think when we say "not work at all" we mean "it gives the wrong answer".  I think using AUTO on certain models will fail with excessive deferrals.  That means it works in that it doesn't give the wrong answer. Some models will require the init_sequence global be set to something other than the default. The real question is how many is too much and what is the reasonable behavior to expect by default given that you can't please all the people all the time? --Dchassin 19:37, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 4) * I see the problem being that it'd give the user a fatal error off the bat, which most users will say is 'not working'. I will agree that powerflow could automagically alter the resolution mode from 'auto' to 'create-ordered', but that'd alter the behavior of 3/4th of the models out there.  That's not a good sign for supposedly typical behavior! -Mhauer 19:58, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 5) ** Fair enough. So if the default is not AUTO, what is the default?  Deferred isn't going to work well either.  CREATION is old and doesn't work.  And TOPDOWN/BOTTOMUP is very rarely used.  AUTO is the closest thing to something that should generally work.