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Debug SSC with PySSC Linux EclipseIDE

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Paul Gilman edited this page Jan 15, 2021 · 1 revision

Debug SSC in Linux using PySSC, SAM and Eclipse CDT

So far I have only gotten the mixed-mode debugging working on the Eclipse IDE. In this case, it involves running a Python script that calls a C++ shared object/dynamic library file (such as libsscd.so) and, after setting a breakpoint in an appropriate .cpp file, having the IDE catch the breakpoint and allow C++ debugging. You can download the Eclipse IDE at the official site.

1. Build SAM on Linux

First, follow the build instructions for Linux found through this link. Ultimately, there will be separate directories for LK, WEX, SSC, and SAM. These will be housed in a parent directory, which is referred to as sam_dev. Some additional comments on the Linux instructions:

  • Make sure you always build the Debug version of things

  • 2.4 : the complete path I used was ../sam_dev/wxWidgets-3.1.1/lib/wx-3.1.1

  • 3.0 : After entering the cmake command in the terminal for googletest, run

    make -j4

    Afterwards, I found four gtest library files under ../sam_dev/googletest/build/lib. If you built the Debug version, they should look like libgtest<d>.a (without < and >). I copied and pasted all four files into ../sam_dev/googletest and ../sam_dev/googletest/googletest. This seemed to have fixed some linker errors when building the gtest files in SSC later.

  • 5.1 In this step, create the build folder as ../sam_dev/build. Make sure you have the CMakeLists.txt set up for bundling the four projects as a single project. Then, run cmake for the specific generator for the Eclipse IDE:

    mkdir build

    cd build

    cmake -G "Eclipse CDT4 - Unix Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Debug -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0 ..

    make -j4

    An optional flag to use in the third line above would be -DSAM_SKIP_TESTS=true if having trouble with the gtest linker errors.

After following all the Linux build steps, there will be separate folders for each individual project under the ../sam_dev/build directory. Most important are the ssc and sam folders. Some notes before moving on:

  • Within the ../sam_dev/build/sam folder there will be a binary version of the SAM Desktop that will be used to auto-generate python3 scripts using PySSC.

  • Within the ../sam_dev/build/ssc folder there will be an ssc library called libssc<d>.so (the Debug version, without the < and >). The python3 scripts will manually be changed to call this file.

  • Within the parent directory ../sam_dev there will be a .cproject and .project file, used as the workspace for the Eclipse IDE.

2. Create a bash script for SAM Desktop

Once sam is successfully built, we want to run it to auto-generate PySSC scripts. However, a bash script wasn't automatically generated to run SAM in my case (if it was created on your system, feel free to skip to the next step).

  1. Make sure the SAM binary file is located at the following address (noting that this is a Debug version):

    ../sam_dev/build/sam/deploy/linux_64/SAM<d>.bin

  2. Open a new terminal in the build directory: ../sam_dev/build

  3. Create an empty bash script (feel free to name it however is most convenient) and open it in a text editor as follows:

    cd sam

    touch sam_bash

    gedit sam_bash

  4. In the file, add:

    #!/bin/sh

    cd <path_to_sam_dev>/build/sam/deploy

    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:<path_to_sam_dev>/build/sam/deploy/linux_64

    exec <path_to_sam_dev>/build/sam/deploy/linux_64/SAMd.bin

    Save and close the file. For disambiguation, the full path I cd'd into on the second line was /home/gabrielsoto/Documents/sam_dev/build/sam/deploy (I also call sam_dev something else in my file system).

    Note I am missing something in the bash script that calls GTKTheme as follows:

    export GTK2_RC_FILES=<path_to_sam_dev>/build/sam/deploy/linux_64/GtkTheme/gtk-2.0/gtkrc**

    It doesn't affect the ability to run SAM but still worth noting. The GtkTheme subfolder was not created upon finishing the build.

  5. Add the proper permissions to run the bash script and open SAM Desktop:

    chmod +x sam_bash

    ./sam_bash

3. Generate Python3 Scripts using SAM Desktop

In SAM Desktop,

  1. Select Start a new project > Concentrating Solar Power > Power Tower Molten Salt > Power Purchase Agreement > Single Owner

    In the top toolbar, there should be an untitled project tab.

  2. (Optional) In the drop down menu of the untitled tab, select Rename to rename the project.

  3. In the drop down menu of the project, select Generate Code > Python 3.

  4. Choose a folder to place the generated scripts, weather files, etc. I put them in the following directory

    ../sam_dev/build/ssc/samscripts

    though the naming and location are probably unimportant.

    There should be two .py files in this folder: one named after the project and one named PySSC.py. The former contains the main code.

  5. Open both files in either a text editor or Python IDE.

  6. In the <project_name>.py file, make the following changes:

    • add import os before declaring the main code.

    • add the following code to display the process ID (used later to attach Python process to C++ actions)

      pid = os.getpid()

      print('PID = '.pid)

    • make sure all resource files have the correct address

  7. In the PySSC.py file, make the following changes:

    • remove all the if-else statements and change the self.pdll declaration to the following code, remembering to change the <path_to_sam_dev> portion to the correct address:

      def __init__(self):

          `self.pdll = CDLL('<path_to_sam_dev>/build/ssc/ssc/libsscd.so')`

    • change all calls to a double function to float (the former doesn't exist in Python)

4. Set up Eclipse IDE for Mixed-Mode Debugging

The Eclipse IDE can be used to run/debug both Python scripts and C++ files.

  1. Open the Eclipse desktop app.

  2. In the Eclipse IDE Launcher, select <path_to_sam_dev> as the workspace directory and click Launch.

  3. Enable/install PyDev to run and debug Python scripts

    • Go to Help > Install New Software

    • Under Work with, enter: https://pydev.org/updates

    • Select PyDev and finish the installation

  4. Change the preferences of Eclipse+PyDev to run the correct Python interpreter

    • Go to Window > Preferences > PyDev > Interpreters > Python Interpreters

    • Select Browse for python/pypy exe

    • Find the location of your Python installation (for reference, I downloaded mine through Anaconda and is located at /home/gabrielsoto/anaconda3/bin/python3

  5. Open the C++ build folder in the Project Explorer window. Do this through File > Open Projects from File System

    • Next to Import Source, click Directory and select <path_to_sam_dev>/build

    • In the window underneath, make sure build is selected and click Finish

    • The build folder should now appear in the Project Explorer window

  6. Create a separate Python project to run the PySSC scripts

    • Go to File > New > Project > PyDev > PyDev Project and click Next

    • Name the project (e.g., samscripts)

    • Under Directory select the path to the generated Python3 scripts from Step 3

    • Choose project type as Python

    • Choose interpreter as the one selected in Step 4.4

    • Select Add project directory to the PYTHONPATH and click Finish

    • The samscripts folder should now appear in the Project Explorer window

  7. Create a Python Debug configuration

    • Go to Run > Debug Configuration

    • Right-click Python Run and select New Configuration

    • Name the configuration (e.g., sampydev)

    • Select the Python project samscripts created in Step 4.6

    • Under Main Module select the <project_name>.py file and click Apply

  8. Create a C++ Debug configuration

    • Go to Run > Debug Configuration

    • Right-click C/C++ Attach to Application and select New Configuration

    • Name the configuration (e.g., libsscd)

    • Select the C++ project build created in Step 4.5

    • Under C/C++ Application select the shared object file found at ssc/ssc/libsscd.so (under the parent directory <path_to_sam_dev>/build)

    • Under the Debugger tab, select gdb as the debugger

5. Debugging with 'Attach to Process'

With Eclipse properly set up, we can now run and debug Python scripts that called the libsscd.so share object file.

  1. There might be some permissions problems when using "Attach to Process." In an open terminal, enter

    echo 0 | sudo tee /proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope

    to temporarily grant permissions. You can permanently fix this by changing the contents of that file, but that scares me.

  2. Open the <project_name>.py file and set a breakpoint around Line 257, where ssc.module_exec(module,data) is called

  3. Open the appropriate cmod C++ file. In this particular case it is the cmod_tcsmolten_salt.cpp file

    • The correct file is found at build > ssc > ssc > libsscd.so > cmod_tcsmolten_salt.cpp

    • Set a breakpoint after Line 626, in the scope of void exec( ) override { }

  4. Begin Python debugging session

    • Go to Run > Debug Configuration > Python Run > sampydev and click Debug

    • sampydev should show up in the Debug window

    • The breakpoint in the <project_name>.py file should catch, pausing in the Console tab as shown (note the printed PID)

    First Breakpoint in main Python script

  5. Begin C++ debugging session

    • Go to Run > Debug Configuration > C/C++ Attach to Application > libsscd and click Debug

    • An Attach to Process window should pop up. Enter the Python PID noted previously and click OK

    Attach to Process

    • libsscd should show up in the Debug window, with python3 and gdb tabs. Highlight the Thread under python3 tab that reads "Running: User Request"

    • Switch from Console to Debugger Console below, where there should be a (gdb) line waiting for input. Enter 'c' (for 'continue')

    C++ debugger console

    • Highlight <module>[<project_name>] underneath the sampydev run in the Debug window and press F8 to continue the debugging session

    • The breakpoint in cmod_tcsmolten_salt.cpp file should catch. Happy debugging!

    First Breakpoint in C++

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