| Index | Recent Threads | Unanswered Threads | Who's Active | Guidelines | Search |
 |
World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: Suggestions / Feedback
Thread: Give temporary point during periods of work units |
| No member browsing this thread |
|
Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 9
|
|
| Author |
|
|
jrcraven
Cruncher Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Post Count: 10 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
How about allowing the agent to connect every 10% completion (5% ?) giving it's accumulated results and getting "temporary points". This would accomplish at least 3 things:
1) Satisfy the competitive nature of some of the users :) 2) Satisfy the desire of users to feel they are contributing in a timely manner. 3) Let the grid server know the agent is still working on the last work unit. I don't know how long the grid server allows for a work unit to be solved before reallocating to another user, but it could use the information to help in it's calculation. I'm not sure the grid server would even need to store the temporary points, just the date+time. I would think the "connect at every 10% completion" rule would have to be accompanied by a rule that said it must be at least 2-4 hours or so since last connection. A variation would be to get the temporary points after every 8 hours (or so) of processing time, instead of at every 10%. It should not matter that this could mean many days may pass in between. Another variation would be to get the temporary points daily, instead of at every 10%. This would be every 24th hour from the start of a work unit, though there may have been very little activity in the last 24 hours. A certain minimum amount of activity would be require by the agent to generate the request for temporary points. I apologize for wasting everyone's time if this idea has been suggested before. John |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
John,
a similar idea was thrown in this forum by myself, but som reasonable arguments against it have been given. See thread http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=1485 Btw, it seems to me that WCG is now distributing 'small' tasks again. Rgds, HendrikJo |
||
|
|
jrcraven
Cruncher Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Post Count: 10 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
Thank you for your reply HendrikJo. I see in your reference where you asked for a once-a-day posting which was shot-down in a reply that it would add too much complexity. If I'm understaning your request correctly you want the agent to send back all of it's accumulated results per day. This would change the entire server program logic from where it is now, which is to only accept complete WU results. Whereas my suggestion is NOT for the agent to send back results, but to send only time spent, and to get back temporary points from the server that would be thrown away when the next WU is started. I see this as much easier to implement. Not only would it satisfy a lot of peoples desire for gratification of a job well done (as I do too), but would allow the grid server to know that a WU is still actively being processed. I've been a programmer for 25+ years so I'm not fool enough to believe this can be done any time soon, but I hope it is a suggestion worth considering. Again, thanks for your reply and anything else you may care to add.
John |
||
|
|
jrcraven
Cruncher Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Post Count: 10 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
I've re-read my original post and I can see where someone could easily misunderstand me when I said ... "connect every 10% completion (5% ?) giving it's accumulated results". I mis-spoke. I apologize. The accumulated results I was THINKING about was just the accumulated time. Not the results of the protein folding process.
John |
||
|
|
Alther
Former World Community Grid Tech United States of America Joined: Sep 30, 2004 Post Count: 414 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
Putting aside the arguments for or against it, the final answer is that it can't be done. The Grid agent and server software from United Devices can't be modified to do this.
----------------------------------------However, even if it could be done, we probably wouldn't do it. The reason being is that points should be awarded to people who contribute. You contribute when you complete a workunit and generate a result. Results are what count in the end. If you end a workunit before it completes no matter how many hours your computer has spent on it, you've contributed nothing. You're current progress is shown as percent complete on the main Agent screen and in more detail on the graphics screen.
Rick Alther
Former World Community Grid Developer |
||
|
|
jrcraven
Cruncher Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Post Count: 10 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
Thanks for taking the time to reply Alther.
>The reason being is that points should be awarded to people who > contribute. You contribute when you complete a workunit and > generate a result Agreed. I would have a seperate display column in the agent for these temporary points. Probably just above the "Total Points" in the "Member Information" section. As I said in my later post .... "my suggestion is NOT for the agent to send back results, but to send only time spent, and to get back temporary points from the server that would be thrown away when the next WU is started." >Results are what count in the end. Agreed. I also said in the later post .... "would allow the grid server to know that a WU is still actively being processed." My request would help the server know that results are forthcoming. Useful info to have when the server is considering reallocation a seemingly inactive WU. >The Grid agent and server software from United Devices >can't be modified to do this. "Can't" is a very permanent word. This whole project is likely the result of someone saying it "can't" be done because it would take tens of thousands of years of run time to complete. Many fine people, including yourself, with a higher goal than most, and a dream to help mankind, went into action to prove to someone it CAN be done. :) What I'm asking for here is extremely minor compared to the grand vision of this wonderful project. I'm looking for the server to store a new field in it's database to contain the date+time from the last partial completion of the agent, and for it to send a computed temporary point value to the agent to be displayed in a new field on the screen based upon the WU run-time the agent has done up until that point. The server would not even have to save this temporary point value. Does this really sound like a "can't" request? I know something like this COULD be done if it was deemed to have enough value to help. Maybe not for months ... maybe not until next release ... maybe it requires new funding ... maybe it would require multiple executives approval ... but not never. This project proves that a "can't" can. :) Again ... Thank you for your time ... and I hope this request will be given further consideration. John |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
John,
We intend to develop our own Agent for Linux this year. We are talking about then porting it to Mac OS X. When we port it back to Windows then we will be in a position to consider changes of this sort. We welcome suggestions about what we should aim for, but it is a good idea to state them in an indefinite, hypothetical way such as: "Some day . . ." Otherwise it can seem like a guilt-trip for our harried, overworked programmers. [Big Grin] Lawrence |
|||
|
||||
|
jrcraven
Cruncher Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Post Count: 10 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
Having been in programming for 25+ years I am very understanding of what it is like to be a harried and overworked programmer. :)
I can do nothing more than thank you (and again Alther's) for your time and hope that my suggestion will be among the many thousands that you have already received when it comes time to look at the next generation of agents. :) Good Luck and continue the good work, John |
||
|
|
Alther
Former World Community Grid Tech United States of America Joined: Sep 30, 2004 Post Count: 414 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
>The Grid agent and server software from United Devices >can't be modified to do this. "Can't" is a very permanent word. This whole project is likely the result of someone saying it "can't" be done because it would take tens of thousands of years of run time to complete. Many fine people, including yourself, with a higher goal than most, and a dream to help mankind, went into action to prove to someone it CAN be done. :) What I'm asking for here is extremely minor compared to the grand vision of this wonderful project. I'm looking for the server to store a new field in it's database to contain the date+time from the last partial completion of the agent, and for it to send a computed temporary point value to the agent to be displayed in a new field on the screen based upon the WU run-time the agent has done up until that point. The server would not even have to save this temporary point value. Does this really sound like a "can't" request? I know something like this COULD be done if it was deemed to have enough value to help. Maybe not for months ... maybe not until next release ... maybe it requires new funding ... maybe it would require multiple executives approval ... but not never. This project proves that a "can't" can. :) Again ... Thank you for your time ... and I hope this request will be given further consideration. John "can't" refers to the current and not so distant future...not indefinitley. We can't because it's not our software to modify. United Devices would have to make this change. I can tell you they won't be making it, at least for the release we are currently using. Is it out of the realm of possibility as a feature of the next agent...or the one after that? Who knows. As you mentioned, it would have to be deemed beneficial enough to do.
Rick Alther
Former World Community Grid Developer |
||
|
|
|