[Axiom-developer] [MathAction problems] Time limits for Axiom execution

[Bill Page]

Changes http://page.axiom-developer.org/zope/mathaction/MathActionProblems/diff
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It is possible for simple Axiom commands to cause an infinite loop
and not terminate. E.g.::

  i:=1
  repeat
    i:=i+1

such loops can also happen in more complex cases due to programming
errors. 

The server can only tolerate a small number of such non-terminating
Axiom processes. In order to prevent the server from freezing up, I
have set a time limit of 1 minute of CPU time on all Axiom processes
on the MathAction server. If a loop or other very long running Axiom
command exceeds this limit, the process is subject to temination by
the operating system.

Of course there are some Axiom calculations that are not infinite
loops but which might take much longer than 1 minute to complete
but I think 1 minute of CPU time on this server is a generous limit
for must things that people would want to do with MathAction and
should not cause anyone any problems.

Please let me know if you have any concerns with this new MathAction
access policy.
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forwarded from http://page.axiom-developer.org/zope/mathaction/address@hidden