BigPlanet File Types

BigPlanet generates two different file types: a BigPlanet archive and a BigPlanet file. Below each file type is explained in depth.

Archives

The BigPlanet archive ontains everything from the parameter sweep. The archive can require hours to build, depending on the size of the data set and number of cores employed to build it. When an archive is built, BigPlanet also performs an MD5 checksum and creates a file with the resultant hash, i.e. GDwarf.md5, which is examined every time the archive is accessed to ensure the data are not corrupted. After building the BPA file, it is safe to remove the raw data. To generate an archive, run BigPlanet with the -a option.

Files

The BigPlanet file is a subset of the archive that is useful for rapid and in-depth analyses of a specific aspect of the full parameter sweep. BigPlanet files enable much faster data access than from the raw data or the archive itself. There are two ways of creating a BigPlanet file: 1) extracting the data from the archive, or 2) extracting from the raw simulation data. Extracting from the archive is always the fastest way to create a BigPlanet file.