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Checkpointing Functions

Syntax
checkpoint<Baseatom_fun(
     
namealgoaxaysparsityoptimize
)
sv = atom_fun.size_var()
atom_fun.option(option_value)
algo(axay)
atom_fun(axay)
checkpoint<
Base>::clear()


See Also
reverse_checkpoint.cpp

Purpose

Reduce Memory
You can reduce the size of the tape and memory required for AD by checkpointing functions of the form @(@ y = f(x) @)@ where @(@ f : B^n \rightarrow B^m @)@.

Faster Recording
It may also reduce the time to make a recording the same function for different values of the independent variable. Note that the operation sequence for a recording that uses @(@ f(x) @)@ may depend on its independent variables.

Repeating Forward
Normally, CppAD store forward mode results until they freed using capacity_order or the corresponding ADFun object is deleted. This is not true for checkpoint functions because a checkpoint function may be used repeatedly with different arguments in the same tape. Thus, forward mode results are recomputed each time a checkpoint function is used during a forward or reverse mode sweep.

Restriction
The operation sequence representing @(@ f(x) @)@ cannot depend on the value of @(@ x @)@. The approach in the reverse_checkpoint.cpp example case be applied when the operation sequence depends on @(@ x @)@.


If Base is an AD type, it is possible to record Base operations. Note that atom_fun will treat algo as an atomic operation while recording AD<Base> operations, but not while recording Base operations. See the atomic_mul_level.cpp example.

Method
The checkpoint class is derived from atomic_base and makes this easy. It implements all the atomic_base virtual functions and hence its source code cppad/core/checkpoint.hpp provides an example implementation of atomic_base . The difference is that checkpoint.hpp uses AD instead of user provided derivatives.

constructor
The syntax for the checkpoint constructor is
     checkpoint<
Baseatom_fun(namealgoaxay)
  1. This constructor cannot be called in parallel mode.
  2. You cannot currently be recording AD<Base> operations when the constructor is called.
  3. This object atom_fun must not be destructed for as long as any ADFun<Base> object uses its atomic operation.
  4. This class is implemented as a derived class of atomic_base and hence some of its error message will refer to atomic_base.


Base
The type Base specifies the base type for AD operations.

ADVector
The type ADVector must be a simple vector class with elements of type AD<Base> .

name
This checkpoint constructor argument has prototype
     const char* 
name
It is the name used for error reporting. The suggested value for name is atom_fun ; i.e., the same name as used for the object being constructed.

ax
This argument has prototype
     const 
ADVectorax
and size must be equal to n . It specifies vector @(@ x \in B^n @)@ at which an AD<Base> version of @(@ y = f(x) @)@ is to be evaluated.

ay
This argument has prototype
     
ADVectoray
Its input size must be equal to m and does not change. The input values of its elements do not matter. Upon return, it is an AD<Base> version of @(@ y = f(x) @)@.

sparsity
This argument has prototype
     atomic_base<
Base>::option_enum sparsity
It specifies sparsity in the atomic_base constructor and must be either atomic_base<Base>::pack_sparsity_enum , atomic_base<Base>::bool_sparsity_enum , or atomic_base<Base>::set_sparsity_enum . This argument is optional and its default value is unspecified.

optimize
This argument has prototype
     bool 
optimize
It specifies if the recording corresponding to the atomic function should be optimized . One expects to use a checkpoint function many times, so it should be worth the time to optimize its operation sequence. For debugging purposes, it may be useful to use the original operation sequence (before optimization) because it corresponds more closely to algo . This argument is optional and its default value is true.

size_var
This size_var member function return value has prototype
     size_t 
sv
It is the size_var for the ADFun<Base> object is used to store the operation sequence corresponding to algo .

option
The option syntax can be used to set the type of sparsity pattern used by atom_fun . This is an atomic_base<Base> function and its documentation can be found at atomic_option .

algo
The type of algo is arbitrary, except for the fact that the syntax
     
algo(axay)
must evaluate the function @(@ y = f(x) @)@ using AD<Base> operations. In addition, we assume that the operation sequence does not depend on the value of ax .

atom_fun
Given ax it computes the corresponding value of ay using the operation sequence corresponding to algo . If AD<Base> operations are being recorded, it enters the computation as single operation in the recording see start recording . (Currently each use of atom_fun actually corresponds to m+n+2 operations and creates m new variables, but this is not part of the CppAD specifications and my change.)

clear
The atomic_base class holds onto static work space in order to increase speed by avoiding system memory allocation calls. This call makes to work space available to for other uses by the same thread. This should be called when you are done using the user atomic functions for a specific value of Base .

Restriction
The clear routine cannot be called while in parallel execution mode.

Example
The file checkpoint.cpp contains an example and test of these operations. It returns true if it succeeds and false if it fails.
Input File: cppad/core/checkpoint.hpp