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Profile Neal Chantrill
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Message 34488 - Posted: 12 Dec 2009, 18:11:39 UTC



Any ideas why it would say this?

Catalyst 9.11, boinc 6.10.18

Thanks in advance
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Emanuel

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Message 34492 - Posted: 12 Dec 2009, 20:06:46 UTC - in response to Message 34488.  
Last modified: 12 Dec 2009, 20:19:15 UTC

I remember someone said the application name was changed from 'astronomy' to 'milkyway' at some point, or something like that. Here, compare your app_info.xml to mine:
<app_info>
 <app>
  <name>milkyway</name>
 </app>
 <file_info>
  <name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</name>
  <executable/>
 </file_info>

<app_version>
  <app_name>milkyway</app_name>
  <version_num>20</version_num>
  <file_ref>
   <file_name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</file_name>
   <main_program/>
  </file_ref>
 </app_version>
</app_info>

 <app_version>
  <app_name>milkyway</app_name>
  <version_num>19</version_num>
  <file_ref>
   <file_name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</file_name>
   <main_program/>
  </file_ref>
 </app_version>

(only a CPU app in there, but it might still be useful)
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Profile Neal Chantrill
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Message 34493 - Posted: 12 Dec 2009, 21:09:50 UTC

Thanks for the response. Will look into it. :o)
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Profile Gary Roberts

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Message 34501 - Posted: 13 Dec 2009, 12:13:42 UTC - in response to Message 34488.  
Last modified: 13 Dec 2009, 12:16:48 UTC

Any ideas why it would say this?

Your BOINC Manager message, namely,

Message from server: Your app_info.xml file doesn't have a version of MilkyWay@Home

says this probably because -

"Your app_info.xml file doesn't have a version of MilkyWay@Home"

It can't really be much clearer than that.

Seeing as you didn't publish the file you are using, I'll take Emanuel's example and extract out of it exactly what is a 'version of MilkyWay@Home'. Here it is -

<app_version>
<app_name>milkyway</app_name>
<version_num>20</version_num>
<file_ref>
<file_name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</file_name>
<main_program/>
</file_ref>
</app_version>

Notice that the block of code starts with <app_version> and ends with </app_version>. Everything in between is what is called "a version of MilkyWay@Home". Version 0.20 to be precise. So the error message is telling you that your particular app_info.xml file doesn't contain a block of correct code like this. Perhaps you have a syntax error of some type or perhaps the block is completely missing. You need at least one but you can have more.

If you look at the elements within the block, the names are pretty self explanatory. Things between <file_ref> and </file_ref> are file references, ie information about files that must be present in your MW project folder. In this case there is only one file and it is the main program. It is an error if that precise file doesn't exist. The text between <app_name> and </app_name> is not a file. It is the text description of the app that will be displayed in the 'Application' column of the tasks tab of BOINC Manager. The text between <version_num> and </version_num> is a representation of the version number of the application. This text does not contain decimal points. If the text was 123, it would be interpreted as version 1.23. Text with only 2 digits - eg 20, is interpreted as version 0.20. The text description of the app and the computed version number are joined together and displayed in the 'Application' column.

So, using Emanuel's example, the application that must exist in the MW project folder must be called 'astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe' but in the BOINC Manager tasks tab it will be displayed as "milkyway 0.20". Those tasks that are downloaded whilst this version of MW is being used will be "branded" as version 0.20 tasks. If a new optimised app were to be released (say version 0.21) there would need to be a whole new <app_version> ... </app_version> section added with all the new details. If old tasks can be crunched with the new version, this will need to be specified as well. This is the normal situation with MW. There was no difference between a version 0.19 task and a version 0.20 task. If things are not set up correctly you will most likely trash the old version tasks when they could have easily been done by the new version.

This is what Emanuel's example is supposed to show, except there is a mistake in it. You should be able to see that the </app_info> closing tag is in the wrong place. The example is no good for version 0.19 since everything after the misplaced closing tag would be, at best, ignored or, at worst, interpreted as a syntax error. For correct handling of old 0.19 branded tasks and new 0.20 branded tasks, the closing </app_info> should be right at the end of the file.

I'm sorry this has to be so lengthy. However it's hard to properly describe the anonymous platform mechanism (AP) more briefly. Anyone who wants to use the non-stock apps has to come to terms with all this if they want to edit and maintain the file when changes occur. The safest option is just to use the package as provided by the developer (Cluster Physik) and don't fiddle with it :-).

The AP mechanism is covered in the BOINC documentation here.
Cheers,
Gary.
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Emanuel

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Message 34502 - Posted: 13 Dec 2009, 12:38:08 UTC - in response to Message 34501.  
Last modified: 13 Dec 2009, 12:42:24 UTC

This is what Emanuel's example is supposed to show, except there is a mistake in it.

Oops, my bad. I had switched versions 19 and 20 around, because someone mentioned BOINC would report using version 19 unless 20 was on top. But I hadn't noticed the app_info tag. I can't edit my original post anymore (which I think is a really stupid design choice of the BOINC forum software, but oh well), so here is the correct version:
<app_info>

  <app>
    <name>milkyway</name>
  </app>

  <file_info>
    <name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</name>
    <executable/>
  </file_info>

  <app_version>
    <app_name>milkyway</app_name>
    <version_num>20</version_num>
    <file_ref>
      <file_name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</file_name>
      <main_program/>
    </file_ref>
  </app_version>

  <app_version>
    <app_name>milkyway</app_name>
    <version_num>19</version_num>
    <file_ref>
      <file_name>astronomy_0.20_x64_SSE3.exe</file_name>
      <main_program/>
    </file_ref>
  </app_version>

</app_info>

The original file only indented each subsection by 1 space, which is why I missed the app_info tag :\ Wish the forum would show indentation properly, as I increased it to two spaces for readability. I hope the spacing I added makes things clear.
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Profile Neal Chantrill
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Message 34503 - Posted: 13 Dec 2009, 12:45:31 UTC

Thank you all very much for your detailed responses. All sorted out now thanks.

Click here for The Clangers forum!
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Profile Gary Roberts

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Message 34506 - Posted: 13 Dec 2009, 13:47:56 UTC - in response to Message 34502.  

I had switched versions 19 and 20 around, because someone mentioned BOINC would report using version 19 unless 20 was on top.

It is not supposed to matter which one comes first. BOINC is supposed to take the biggest number numerically as the latest version. Existing tasks will already have been branded with the version number existing at the time they were downloaded. New downloads of tasks should just be branded with the highest version number specified in the current app_info.xml.

Cheers,
Gary.
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Message boards : Number crunching : Apps info help please.

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