Document the build system (AMReX-Astro#1760)

Co-authored-by: Alexander Smith <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Brendan Boyd <[email protected]>

Author: 3 people

Docs/source/build_system.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+************
+Build System
+************
+
+Microphysics leverages the AMReX build system.  GNU make is the
+primary build system, but CMake is partially supported.  Here we focus
+on the GNU make build system.
+
+.. tip::
+
+   All of the build variables supported by the AMReX build system can
+   be used with Microphysics, for example:
+
+   * ``COMP`` : the compiler system to use
+   * ``USE_CUDA`` : build for NVIDIA GPUs with CUDA
+   * ``USE_HIP`` : build for AMD GPUs with HIP/ROCm
+
+   See the `AMReX GNU Make Docs
+   <https://amrex-codes.github.io/amrex/docs_html/BuildingAMReX.html>`_
+
+There are two main makefile stubs:
+
+.. index:: Make.Microphysics, Make.Microphysics_extern
+
+* ``Make.Microphysics`` : this is used by the unit tests within Microphysics and it
+  defines the variables needed by the AMReX build system, including specifying the
+  location of the files.  It also defines the rules for some files that are created
+  at build time.
+
+* ``Make.Microphysics_extern`` : this is the core makefile stub for Microphysics
+  that interprets the build variables that enable / disable different functionality.
+  This is meant to be included into any application code's build system.
+
+additionally directories have their own ``Make.package`` files that specify
+the files needed for the build and some rules for making intermediary files.
+
+
+Environment variables
+=====================
+
+The build system relies on some environment variables to find the source:
+
+.. index:: AMREX_HOME, MICROPHYSICS_HOME
+
+* ``AMREX_HOME`` : this should point to the top-level ``amrex/`` directory
+
+* ``MICROPHYSICS_HOME`` : this is needed by application codes, and
+  should point to the top level ``Microphysics/`` directory.  For
+  building unit tests within the ``Microphysics/`` directory itself,
+  this does not need to be explicitly set.
+
+
+Automatically generated files
+=============================
+
+There are a few source files that are created automatically at
+compile-time.  These are placed in the
+``tmp_build_dir/microphysics_sources/`` sub-directory under the
+directory you run ``make`` (if building through an application code,
+the sub-directory may have a different name).
+
+.. index:: network_properties.H, extern_parameters.H, AMReX_buildInfo.cpp
+
+The main files are:
+
+* ``network_properties.H`` : this defines the properties of the composition that
+  make up the network (and therefore, used by the equation of state and other
+  physics).
+
+* ``extern_parameters.H`` : this defines all of the runtime parameters that are
+  part of the build.  At the moment, they are treated as global variables
+  (using managed memory on GPUs), but a ``struct`` that carries their values
+  is also available through ``extern_type.H``.
+
+* ``AMReX_buildInfo.cpp`` : this defines functions that return the git hashes,
+  compilers, compiler flags, and more meta-data about the build.  This file
+  is automatically deleted once it is built to insure it is always up-to-date.
+  The functions it defines are used when writing the ``job_info`` file
+  in the plotfiles that some unit tests produce.
+
+Controlling choice of physics
+=============================
+
+The choice of physics to include in an application is done at build time, and is
+controlled by a number of make variables.
+
+.. tip::
+
+   You can query the value of any variable in the Microphysics build system by doing
+   `make print-<NAME>` where `<NAME>` is the name of the variable.
+
+   For example,
+
+   .. code:: bash
+
+      make print-EOS_DIR
+
+   will tell you what EOS is being used.
+
+
+The following control whether certain physics modules are included in
+the build process.  Note: an EOS and network are always required.
+These can be set to ``TRUE`` to enable and ``FALSE`` to disable specific features.
+
+* ``USE_CONDUCTIVITY`` : determines whether a conductivity routine
+  should be included in the list of build packages.  If enabled, this
+  also defines the ``CONDUCTIVITY`` preprocessor variable.  Default:
+  ``FALSE``.
+
+* ``USE_NEUTRINOS`` : determines whether a neutrino cooling term
+  should be applied in the reaction network energy generation
+  equation.  See :ref:`neutrino_loss`.  The default is set by each
+  individual network.
+
+* ``USE_NET_NET`` : determines whether the self-consistent NSE
+  infrastructure is included in the build.  See
+  :ref:`self_consistent_nse`.  No default is set.
+
+* ``USE_NSE_TABLE`` : determines whether the tabular NSE
+  infrastructure is included in the build.  See :ref:`tabulated_nse`.
+  No default is set.
+
+* ``USE_RATES`` : for templated reaction networks (see
+  :ref:`sec:templated_rhs`) determines whether we include the
+  ``rates/`` set of reaction rates in the build system.  Also defines
+  the ``RATES`` preprocessor variable.  The default is set by each of
+  the templated networks separately.
+
+* ``USE_REACT`` : determines whether we need to include any of the
+  source related to reaction networks or integrators and sets the
+  ``REACTIONS`` preprocessor variable.  Note: even if this is set to
+  ``TRUE``, the ``network_properties.H`` file is still generated.  No
+  default is set.
+
+* ``USE_SCREENING`` : determines whether the screening routines are
+  included in the list of build packages.  If enabled, this also
+  defines the ``SCREENING`` preprocessor variable which is used in
+  some networks to disable screening completely.  Note: it is also
+  possible to set the screening routine to ``null`` which would have
+  the same effect (see :ref:`sec:screening`).  The default is set by
+  each individual network.
+
+
+The following control the choice of implementation for the different physics modules:
+
+
+* ``CONDUCTIVITY_DIR`` : the name of the conductivity implementation to use,
+  relative to ``Microphysics/conductivity/``.
+
+* ``EOS_DIR`` : the name of the EOS to use, relative to ``Microphysics/EOS/``.
+
+* ``INTEGRATOR_DIR`` : the name of the integrator to use, relative to
+  ``Microphysics/integration/``.
+
+* ``NETWORK_DIR`` : the name of the network to use, relative to ``Microphysics/networks/``.
+  If ``general_null`` is chosen, then the inputs file is determined by
+  either ``GENERAL_NET_INPUTS`` or ``NETWORK_INPUTS`` (see :ref:`sec:networks:general_null`).
+
+* ``OPACITY_DIR`` : the name of the opacity implementation to use, relative
+  to ``Microphysics/opacity/``.
+
+* ``SCREEN_METHOD`` : the name of the screening implementation to use.  The choices
+  are listed in :ref:`sec:screening`.
+
+
+The following control the time-integration method used by the reaction
+network integration:
+
+* ``USE_SIMPLIFIED_SDC`` : enable the simplified-SDC coupling of hydro and reactions.
+  See :ref:`sec:simplified_sdc`.
+
+* ``USE_TRUE_SDC`` : enable the true-SDC coupling of hydro and reactions.
+  See :ref:`sec:true_sdc`.
+
+.. note::
+
+   If neither of these are set to ``TRUE``, then Strang-splitting coupling
+   will be used.
+
+
+Targets
+=======
+
+For the unit tests, simply doing
+
+.. code:: bash
+
+   make
+
+in the test directory will build the test.  There are a few other targets defined.  The most important
+is ``clean``.  Doing:
+
+.. code:: bash
+
+   make clean
+
+will remove all the build temporary files (including the ``tmp_build_dir/``).
+
+.. important::
+
+   If you want to use a different EOS or reaction network (or any other physics), then you
+   should always do ``make clean`` first in the build directory.
+
+Some other targets include:
+
+* ``nettables`` : create the symlinks for any weak reaction rate tables that are part of the
+  network.
+
+* ``table`` : create a symlink for the ``helm_table.dat`` EOS table if the ``helmholtz`` EOS is used.
+
+* ``nsetable`` : create a symlink for the NSE table if ``USE_NSE_TABLE=TRUE`` is set.
+
+* ``build_status`` : report the current git versions of Microphysics and AMReX
+
+* ``test_extern_params`` : this will simply parse the runtime parameters and execute the
+  ``write_probin.py`` script that generates the headers and C++ files necessary to use
+  the parameters.  These will be generated under ``tmp_build_dir/microphysics_sources/``.
+
+* ``net_prop_debug`` : this will simply create the ``network_properties.H`` file for the
+  current network and output it into ``tmp_build_dir/microphysics_sources/``.

Docs/source/index.rst

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ system.
    getting_started
    design
    data_structures
+   build_system
    rp_intro
 
 .. toctree::

Docs/source/networks.rst

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.. _sec:networks:
+
 ***************************
 Available Reaction Networks
 ***************************
@@ -25,6 +27,8 @@ Microphysics knows the properties of the fluid.
    <https://pynucastro.github.io/>`_ :cite:`pynucastro, pynucastro2` using the ``AmrexAstroCxxNetwork``
    class.
 
+.. _sec:networks:general_null:
+
 ``general_null``
 ================
 

Docs/source/screening.rst

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.. _sec:screening:
+
 ***************************
 Screening of Reaction Rates
 ***************************

Docs/source/sdc.rst

@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ is the reaction source term.
    are supported by the same integrators, and both of these options
    will set the ``SDC`` preprocessor flag.
 
+.. _sec:true_sdc:
+
 "True" SDC
 ----------
 
@@ -86,6 +88,8 @@ This can be cast as an ODE system as:
 
   \frac{d\Uc}{dt} \approx \frac{\Uc^{m+1} - \Uc^m}{\delta t_m} = \Rbs{\Uc} + {\bf C}
 
+.. _sec:simplified_sdc:
+
 Simplified SDC
 --------------