Add documentation for aggregation

docs/source/aggregation.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+.. _aggregation:
+
+===========
+Aggregation
+===========
+
+This chapter provides information about passing aggregates of jobs to operation functions.
+
+
+.. _aggregator_definition:
+
+aggregator
+==========
+
+An :class:`~flow.aggregator` is used as a decorator for operation functions which accept a variable number of positional arguments, ``*jobs``.
+The argument ``*jobs`` is unpacked into an *aggregate*, defined as an ordered tuple of jobs.
+See also the Python documentation about :ref:`argument unpacking <python:tut-unpacking-arguments>`.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    # project.py
+    from flow import FlowProject, aggregator
+
+    class Project(FlowProject):
+        pass
+
+    @aggregator()
+    @Project.operation
+    def op1(*jobs):
+        print("Number of jobs in aggregate:", len(jobs))
+
+    @Project.operation
+    def op2(job):
+        pass
+
+    if __name__ == '__main__':
+        Project().main()
+
+If :class:`~flow.aggregator` is used with the default arguments, it will create a single aggregate containing all the jobs present in the project.
+In the example above, ``op1`` is an *aggregate operation* where all the jobs present in the project are passed as a variable number of positional arguments (via ``*jobs``), while ``op2`` is a normal operation where only a single job is passed as an argument.
+
+.. note::
+
+    For an aggregate operation, all conditions like :class:`~flow.FlowProject.pre` or :class:`~flow.FlowProject.post`, callable directives, and other features are required to take the same number of jobs as the operation as arguments.
+
+.. _types_of_aggregation:
+
+Types of Aggregation
+====================
+
+Currently, **signac-flow** allows users to aggregate jobs in the following ways:
+
+- *All jobs*: All of the project's jobs are passed to the operation function.
+- *Group by state point key(s)*: The aggregates are grouped by one or more state point keys.
+- *Group by arbitrary key function*: The aggregates are grouped by keys determined by a key-function that expects an instance of :class:`~.signac.contrib.job.Job` and return the grouping key.
+- Grouping into aggregates of a specific size.
+- Using a completely custom aggregator function when even greater flexibility is needed.
+
+Group By
+--------
+
+:class:`~flow.aggregator.groupby` allows users to aggregate jobs by grouping them by a state point key, an iterable of state point keys whose values define the groupings, or an arbitrary callable of :class:`~signac.contrib.job.Job`.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @aggregator.groupby("temperature")
+    @Project.operation
+    def op3(*jobs):
+        pass
+
+In the above example, the jobs will be aggregated based on the state point key ``"temperature"``.
+So, all the jobs having the same value of **temperature** in their state point will be aggregated together.
+
+Groups Of
+---------
+
+:class:`~flow.aggregator.groupsof` allows users to aggregate jobs by generating aggregates of a given size.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @aggregator.groupsof(2)
+    @Project.operation
+    def op4(job1, job2=None):
+        pass
+
+In the above example, the jobs will get aggregated in groups of 2 and hence, up to two jobs will be passed as arguments at once.
+
+.. note::
+
+    In case the number of jobs in the project in this example is odd, there will be one aggregate containing only a single job.
+    In general, the last aggregate from :class:`~flow.aggregator.groupsof` will contain the remaining jobs if the aggregate size does not evenly divide the number of jobs in the project.
+    If a remainder is expected and valid, users should make sure that the operation function can be called with the reduced number of arguments (e.g. by using ``*jobs`` or providing default arguments as shown above).
+
+Sorting jobs for aggregation
+----------------------------
+
+Aggregators allow users to sort the jobs before creating aggregates with the ``sort_by`` parameter.
+The sorting order can be defined with the ``sort_ascending`` parameter.
+By default, when no ``sort_by`` parameter is specified, the order of the jobs will be decided by the iteration order of the **signac** project.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @aggregator.groupsof(2, sort_by="temperature", sort_ascending=False)
+    @Project.operation
+    def op5(*jobs):
+        pass
+
+.. note::
+
+    In the above example, all the jobs will be sorted by the state point parameter ``"temperature"`` in descending order and then be aggregated as groups of 2.
+
+Selecting jobs for aggregation
+------------------------------
+
+**signac-flow** allows users to selectively choose which jobs to pass into operation functions.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @aggregator(select=lambda job: job.sp.temperature > 0)
+    @Project.operation
+    def op6(*jobs):
+        pass
+
+
+.. _aggregate_id:
+
+Aggregate ID
+============
+
+Similar to the concept of a job id, an aggregate id is a unique hash identifying an aggregate of jobs.
+The aggregate id is sensitive to the order of the jobs in the aggregate.
+
+
+.. note::
+
+    The id of an aggregate containing one job is that job's id.
+
+In order to distinguish between aggregate id and a job id, for an aggregate of more than one job the aggregate id of that aggregate will always have a prefix ``agg-``.
+
+Users can generate the aggregate id of an aggregate using :meth:`flow.get_aggregate_id`.
+
+.. tip::
+
+    Users can also pass an aggregate id to the ``--job-id`` command-line flag provided by **signac-flow** in ``run``, ``submit``, and ``exec``.
+
+
+.. _aggregation_with_flow_groups:
+
+Aggregation with FlowGroups
+===========================
+
+In order to associate aggregator object with a :py:class:`FlowGroup`, **signac-flow** provides a ``group_aggregator`` parameter in :meth:`~flow.FlowProject.make_group`.
+By default, no aggregation takes place for a :py:class:`FlowGroup`.
+
+.. note::
+
+    All the operations in a :py:class:`FlowGroup` will use the same :class:`~flow.aggregator` object provided to the group's ``group_aggregator`` parameter.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    # project.py
+    from flow import FlowProject, aggregator
+
+    class Project(FlowProject):
+        pass
+
+    group = Project.make_group('agg-group', group_aggregator=aggregator())
+
+    @group
+    @aggregator()
+    @Project.operation
+    def op1(*jobs):
+        pass
+
+    @group
+    @Project.operation
+    def op2(*jobs):
+        pass
+
+    if __name__ == '__main__':
+        Project().main()
+
+In the above example, when the group ``agg-group`` is executed using ``python project.py run -o agg-group``, all the jobs in the project are passed as positional arguments for both ``op1`` and ``op2``.
+If ``op2`` is executed using ``python project.py run -o op2``, only a single job is passed as an argument because no :class:`~flow.aggregator` is associated with the operation function ``op2``.