Preface

This book describes how to use the Sun specific extensions and features included with the Sun Performance Library subroutines that are supported by the Sun Studio Fortran 95, C++, and C compilers.

Before You Read This Book

In order to fully use the information in this document, the reader should have a working knowledge of the Fortran or C language and some understanding of the base LAPACK and BLAS libraries available from Netlib (http://www.netlib.org).

What Is Not in This Book

This book does not repeat information included in existing LAPACK books or sources on Netlib. Refer to the next section Related Documents and Web Sites for a list of sources that contain reference material for the base routines upon which Sun Performance Library is based.

Related Documents and Web Sites

A number of books and web sites provide reference information on the routines in the base LAPACK and BLAS libraries upon which the Sun Performance Library is based. The LAPACK Users’ Guide, Third Edition, Anderson E. and others. SIAM, 1999, augments the material in this manual and provide essential information:

The LAPACK Users’ Guide, Third Edition is the official reference for the base LAPACK version 3.1.1 routines. An online version of the LAPACK Users’ Guide is available at http://www.netlib.org/lapack/lug/, and the printed version is available from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) http://www.siam.org.

Sun Performance Library routines contain performance enhancements, extensions, and features not described in the LAPACK Users’ Guide. However, because Sun Performance Library maintains compatibility with the base LAPACK routines, the LAPACK Users’ Guide can be used as a reference for the LAPACK routines and the Fortran interfaces.

Online Resources

Online information describing the performance library routines that form the basis of the Sun Performance Library can be found at the following URLs.

LAPACK version 3.1.1	`http://www.netlib.org/lapack/`
BLAS, levels 1 through 3	`http://www.netlib.org/blas/`
FFTPACK version 4	`http://www.netlib.org/fftpack/`
VFFTPACK version 2.1	`http://www.netlib.org/vfftpack/`
Sparse BLAS	`http://www.netlib.org/sparse-blas/index.html`
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Fortran Sparse BLAS	`http://math.nist.gov/spblas/`
SuperLU version 3.0	`http://crd.lbl.gov/~xiaoye/SuperLU/`

Note - LINPACK is no longer included in the Sun Performance Library. The LINPACK libraries and documentation are still available from www.netlib.org.

Typographic Conventions

TABLE P-1 Typeface Conventions
Typeface	Meaning	Examples
`AaBbCc123`	The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output	Edit your `.login` file. Use `ls` `-a` to list all files. `% You have mail.`
`AaBbCc123`	What you type, when contrasted with on-screen computer output	`%` `su` `Password:`
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words or terms, words to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in the User’s Guide. These are called class options. You must be superuser to do this.
AaBbCc123	Command-line placeholder text; replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type `rm` filename.

TABLE P-2 Code Conventions
Code Symbol	Meaning	Notation	Code Example
[ ]	Brackets contain arguments that are optional.	`O[`n`]`	`O4, O`
{ }	Braces contain a set of choices for a required option.	`d{y\|n}`	`dy`
\|	The “pipe” or “bar” symbol separates arguments, only one of which may be chosen.	`B{dynamic\|static}`	`Bstatic`
:	The colon, like the comma, is sometimes used to separate arguments.	`R`dir`[:`dir`]`	`R/local/libs:/U/a`
...	The ellipsis indicates omission in a series.	`xinline=`f1`[`,...fn`]`	`xinline=alpha,dos`

Shell Prompts

Shell	Prompt
C shell	machine-name`%`
C shell superuser	machine-name`#`
Bourne shell and Korn shell	`$`
Superuser for Bourne shell and Korn shell	`#`

Supported Platforms

This Sun Studio release supports systems that use the SPARC^® and x86 families of processor architectures: UltraSPARC^®, SPARC64, AMD64, Pentium, and Xeon EM64T. The supported systems for the version of the Solaris Operating System you are running are available in the hardware compatibility lists at http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl. These documents cite any implementation differences between the platform types.

In this document, these x86 related terms mean the following:

x86 refers to the larger family of 64-bit and 32-bit x86 compatible products.

x64 points out specific 64-bit information about AMD64 or EM64T systems.

32-bit x86 points out specific 32-bit information about x86 based systems.

For supported systems, see the hardware compatibility lists.

Accessing Sun Studio Documentation

Complete documentation is available from the documentation index at http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio/documentation.

Note - Sun is not responsible for the availability of third-party web sites mentioned in this document. Sun does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials that are available on or through such sites or resources. Sun will not be responsible or liable for any actual or alleged damage or loss caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services available on or through any such sites or resources.

Documentation in Accessible Formats

The documentation is provided in accessible formats that are readable by assistive technologies for users with disabilities. You can find accessible versions of documentation as described in the following table. If your software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.

Type of Documentation	Format and Location of Accessible Version
Manuals (except third-party manuals)	HTML at `http://docs.sun.com`
Readmes and man pages	HTML through the documentation index at `http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio/documentation`
Online help	HTML available through the Help menu in the IDE
Release notes	HTML through the documentation index at `http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio/documentation`

Document Title	Description
Numerical Computation Guide	Describes issues regarding the numerical accuracy of floating-point computations.

Resources for Developers

Visit http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio to find these frequently updated resources:

Articles on programming techniques and best practices

A knowledge base of short programming tips

Documentation of compilers and tools components, as well as corrections to the documentation that is installed with your software

Information on support levels

User forums

Downloadable code samples

New technology previews

You can find additional resources for developers at http://developers.sun.com.

Contacting Sun Technical Support

If you have technical questions about this product that are not answered in this document, go to:

http://www.sun.com/service/contacting

Sun Welcomes Your Comments

Sun is interested in improving its documentation and welcomes your comments and suggestions. Submit your comments to Sun at this URL

http://www.sun.com/hwdocs/feedback

Please include the title and part number of your document with your feedback:

Sun Performance Library User’s Guide, part number 821-0276.