Tuesday, May 31

Today I finished organizing and setting up my old environment to support variable lengths. Specifically, I decided to separate all segment manipulation methods into one package that builds and checks segments of any length given as a variable parameter. I also noticed a few places for optimization in my old code. I realized that this segment building was being called enough over the course of compression that it would be better to run every segment utility once before compression and then access each as needed. I wrote similar code in my new VAL compressor that would load all segment utility in each necessary compression length (7, 14, and 28) accessible at any point during compression. With all of this set up, I can officially begin coding the actual compression algorithm!

Monday, May 30

I spent a lot of time today reading through my old code to continue integrating the new compression format into the old one. As a result, I decided to separate a lot of the old code into subsections for easier management. For example, I created a new file called SegUtil that consists of a variety of segment construction and checking methods to assist in compression. Before, these utilities were integrated into the WAH Compressor. However, I separated it so that the VAL Compressor can use its functionality in a similar way. The problem is that WAH maintains a consistent segment length of 32/64, VAL varies between 7, 14, and 28 (or all 3) in one run. Because of this, I separated these functions and am focusing on rewriting all of these utilities to be able to run on varied word length per run.

Saturday, May 28

Today I spent the refactoring my code from last summer to support usage for VAL. I added all of the appropriate variables, outlined the VAL compressor, and set up the compressor to send the bitmap to the appropriate compressor (the WAH compressors that I already have or the VAL compressor that I outlined today).

Friday, May 27

Once again, sorry for the lack of communication. I just got home safely after a week of long driving days so I haven't gotten much time for coding or computer time.  I've been organizing the structure of my code on paper and have been outlining the variables and their usage when possible.

I'm planning on taking this entire weekend to apply all of the non-code work I have been doing on the road to my actual code base and catching up on the coding time I lost this week, so I will be checking in both tomorrow and the next day.

Wednesday, May 25

My apologies for not blogging yesterday. I am currently moving halfway across the country so my access to internet is limited. Yesterday and today I was able to read through one of the VAL papers I have to get acquainted with the decodeUp and decodeDown methods to query columns of different lengths. I am not able to use my computer to begin coding these methods but reading up on them and planning how to code them has been helpful preparation for coding them.

I won't be arriving until Friday evening so I will likely not be blogging again tomorrow but I will be sure to check in Friday evening again. I also plan on coding Saturday and Sunday to get my coding in for the week and be on track for Monday.

Until then!

Monday, May 23

Met with David today to discuss the extra control parameters necessary for my VAL implementation.

We've decided to include 4 modes for compression: constant 7bit segment length, 14bit, 28bit, or optimal smallest total column compression size.

I have started setting up my code base to support the VAL implementation for this summer. 

Thursday, May 19

This weekend I graduated and today I just said goodbye to the last of my family that came to the event. This marks the shifting of gears for me. The GSoC coding start date has not officially begun so I have not started coding but I am doing my reading up on VAL to prepare for the endeavor. My days are filled with meeting with David to make sure we're on the same page and doing my research so I can hit the ground running when coding actually begins. That and packing up all of my belongings...