[ADMB Users] survey of memory settings in ADMB

[Arni Magnusson]

Sorry about the triple mail, but here are some more examples:


Salmon survival (GLM by Magnusson)

TOP_OF_MAIN_SECTION
   arrmblsize = 1000000;

The salmon data had 8000 observations in 4 columns. I found 1000000 after 
increasing incrementally by a factor 10, if I remember correctly - this 
was a decade ago...


SAM (stock assmt model in ADMB-RE by Nielsen)

TOP_OF_MAIN_SECTION
   arrmblsize=2000000;
   gradient_structure::set_GRADSTACK_BUFFER_SIZE(150000);
   gradient_structure::set_CMPDIF_BUFFER_SIZE(800000);
   gradient_structure::set_MAX_NVAR_OFFSET(100000);
   gradient_structure::set_NUM_DEPENDENT_VARIABLES(5000);


ADMB Examples (Fournier, only 3 out of 10 models change memory limits)
   arrmblsize from 500000 to 20000000
   GRADSTACK_BUFFER_SIZE from 200000 to 1000000
   CMPDIF_BUFFER_SIZE from 2100000 to 25000000
   MAX_NVAR_OFFSET 500 to 1200


ADMB-RE Examples (Fournier and Skaug, over 20 models)

TOP_OF_MAIN_SECTION
   arrmblsize from 400000 to 40000000
   GRADSTACK_BUFFER_SIZE from 300000 to 30000000
   CMPDIF_BUFFER_SIZE from 20000 to 100000000
   MAX_NVAR_OFFSET from 2000 to 2000000


Maybe ADMB-RE users can report how their settings compare with the ADMB-RE 
examples listed above. My guess is that many ADMB-RE applications may need 
more memory than the examples above - as Fournier and Skaug didn't need 
very large datasets to demonstrate their models (and 'make verify' should 
finish reasonably fast).


By the way, will the increased memory defaults mean that tiny ADMB models 
will take substantial memory when run? Or are these just limits on how 
much memory a model can grab?


Arni



On Thu, 22 Mar 2012, Ian Taylor wrote:

> Hi ADMB Users,
>
> The default memory settings in ADMB are out of date and I've been tasked 
> with coming up with replacements that will work for reasonable sized 
> models (big models will still require manual settings). It occurs to me 
> that it makes sense to survey what common requirements of ADMB users 
> might be.
>
> Have you been required to change the memory settings for your model 
> using either commands like the following in the TOP_OF_MAIN_SECTION,
>
>  arrmblsize=500000;
>  gradient_structure::set_GRADSTACK_BUFFER_SIZE(200000);
>  gradient_structure::set_CMPDIF_BUFFER_SIZE(2100000);
>  gradient_structure::set_MAX_NVAR_OFFSET(500);
>
> or through command line arguments like -ams, -gbs, -cbs, or -mno?
>
> If so, and if you've put thought into the choices (rather than blindly 
> picking values), could you send me your settings in a reply to this 
> email?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Ian
>