Hmmm... Is the Perl interface to PVM *really* that out of date? The most current one according to the PVM web site and CPAN is from '96. Bleh!
Well, I'm not even sure PVM is the right tool for this job. Essentially I have a tree structure, where each node is a work unit and is dependent upon the results of rendering its children.
Rendering a node involves:
1) Gathering inherited information from the child nodes.
2) Gathering node-local information from the database.
3) Winnowing down the data to the relevent subset.
4) Producing output files (2 per node).
5) Returning the subset data to the parent node.
I've had PVM and MPI suggested to me as starting points, although it seems that moving to Java and RMI might be better for the situation...
Gerry says PVM is probably inappropriate since my code has side- effects (step #4), but Wayne (who suggested PVM/MPI initially) says that RMI may be inappropriate because of the volume of data being passed around -- individually the data set returned to a parent is small, but there can be lots of children.
I still need to look the PVM vs. MPI comparison on the PVM site -- being on Windows, viewing PostScript files is kind of a chore.
Any input or advice?
On a (*grin*) personal note: My girlfriend is awesome. It's really cool to have someone who will give you an 8:00AM wake-up call, even if that means calling epeatedly for 10 minutes straight until you wake up. :)