Thread Profiler 2.0 Release Notes

Transcription

1 Thread Profiler 2.0 Release Notes Contents 1. Overview 2. Package 3. New Features 4. Requirements 5. Installation 6. Usage 7. Supported C Run-Time and Windows* APIs 8. Technical Support and Feedback 1. Overview Thread Profiler is a performance analysis tool for Windows* or OpenMP* threaded programs that monitors your software's execution to detect threading overhead, processor utilization, synchronization impact, and more. Results are categorized and prioritized using color-coded graphical displays to help you quickly pinpoint the locations in your program that directly affect execution time. The purchase of this product includes support services for one year, which comprises both technical support and product updates via the Intel Premier Support web site. 2. Package This package contains the Thread Profiler 2.0 for Windows* plug-in to the VTune Performance Analyzer. Please visit for information regarding the associated Intel Thread Checker product which can locate software threading issues, such as race conditions, stalls, and potential deadlocks to help you quickly locate threading issues in your programs.

2 3. New Features Support for Critical Path Analysis of Windows* and OpenMP* threaded software. Integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio.NET*: Run Thread Profiler and view results within the.net* development environment. Expanded compiler support: Use the Intel Compilers and the Microsoft* Visual* C++ Version 6,.NET* 2002 or 2003 edition compilers. Support for user-defined synchronization primitives: Use the new Thread Profiler API extensions to analyze your programs that use custom syncronization primitives. 4. Requirements Minimum Hardware Required Pentium III processor based system or higher 512 MB of RAM 100 MB of disk space Recommended Hardware Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading Technology or Intel Xeon processorbased system or higher 1 GB of RAM Required Software Any 32-bit version of Windows* 2000, Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003 Server or higher Microsoft Internet Explorer* version 6.0 or higher VTune Performance Analyzer version 7.0 or higher Microsoft Visual C++* version 6.0 or higher One or more of the following are required for OpenMP* analysis: Intel C++ Compiler for Windows, version 7.0, package ID W_CC_P_ or higher Intel Fortran Compiler for Windows, version 7.0, package ID W_FC_P_ or higher

3 5. Installation Uninstall any previous release of the Thread Profiler before installing this version using Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > Thread Profiler > Remove. The VTune analyzer, Microsoft Developer Studio* or the Microsoft Development Environment* should not be started (open or running) when you install Thread Profiler. Always uninstall Thread Profiler before uninstalling the VTune analyzer. 6. Usage Online Help and Documentation To learn how to use the product, see the online help and additional documentation resources: Access the online help from the Help menu, from Help buttons on dialog boxes, or by typing the F1 key. Alternatively, the online help can be accessed from Start > Programs > Intel(R) Software Development Tools > Thread Profiler > Documentation and Support > Thread Profiler Help. Additional documentation resources can be accessed from Start > Programs > Intel(R) Software Development Tools > Thread Profiler > Documentation and Support. Preparing Your Software Before analyzing your program with Thread Profiler, ensure that it is built according to the following requirements: Build thread safe: Compile using either the Multi-threaded (/MT), Multithreaded Debug (/MTd), Multi-threaded DLL (/MD), or Multi-threaded Debug DLL (/MDd) run-time libraries. NOTE: The Microsoft and Intel compilers use the Single-threaded (/ML) library by default. Generate executables that can be relocated: Link your software with the /fixed:no option to generate a relocation section in the program. Unlike dynamic-link libraries (.dll), executables (.exe) are not relocatable by default. Generate symbols: Compile with /Zi, /ZI, or /Z7 options and link with the

4 /debug option. Do not compile with /Qtcheck. Programs That Use OpenMP*: Your source code must be compiled with either the Intel C++ or Fortran Compiler and use OpenMP for threading. When running outside the VTune environment, compile using the OpenMP profile option (/Qopenmp_profile). When running inside the VTune environment, compile using either the /Qopenmp_profile or the /Qopenmp option, but not both. User-defined Synchronization Primitives For information on using the new user-defined synchronization primitives, please consult the on-line help under the topic "User-Level Synchronization API". Access the on-line help from Start > Programs > Intel(R) Software Development Tools > Thread Profiler > Documentation and Support > Thread Profiler Help. Troubleshooting In the Advance Activity Configuration dialog, the recommended Duration is 0 seconds which causes data collection to continue until the executable completes normally. In some cases Duration defaults to 20 seconds. If the software is terminated because its run has exceeded the Duration, no results may be generated. If you are operating in a 256-color display setting, the option to change your color scheme will not change the colors, as only one set of colors is available. If you need to change the colors, switch to a "High Color (16 bit)" or higher display setting. As with all applications, the supplied example code requires a few system DLLs, such as msvcrtd.dll, which may not be present on computers without Microsoft Visual C++* version 6.0. Be sure to use the samples on machines with the correct set of system DLLs. Known Limitations This release of Thread Profiler supports analysis only of native binaries and does

5 not support intermediate executable representations intended for managed runtime environments. This release does not support Linux*. This release does not support 64-bit development on the Itanium Processor Family. OpenMP Thread Analysis Results may not be generated for software that uses mixed Windows* and OpenMP threads. If this occurs, build the software using the /Qopenmp_profile and /MD options and re-run with Thread Profiler. Tuning Advice from the Intel Tuning Assistant is not available. When viewing source code associated with an OpenMP region, the context menu contains a Get Tuning Advice option. The counts of atomic and flush directives may be wrong in the Data Editor View. Named parallel regions are not supported. Detailed results for nested parallel regions are not supported. This release of Thread Profiler supports a maximum of 32 OpenMP threads. If you need support for additional threads, please contact Technical Support. Windows API* Thread Analaysis The critical paths displayed in the Critical Path view only show those that were active when the application terminated by default. This works well for a large class of applications. However, interesting data can show up on threads that terminate a short time before the main threads (For example, timed waits). To view these critical paths, select "Show all threads"from the context sensitive menu of the Critical Path view. For a call site that corresponds to a thread termination which was done via an implicit or explicit "return" (For example, not via an API call like ExitThread), the Source View display will point to the start of the Thread

6 Known Issues procedure, instead of the precise point of the return call. If you are running optimized code, then the call site information may not be complete. In particular, the top layer(s) of your call stack may be missing. Additionally, OpenMP programs compiled with a version of the Intel Compiler that precedes version 8.0 may not show complete call site information. Broadcasting messages are not supported. This means BroadcastSystemMessage() and BroadcastSystemMessageEx() functions are not supported. Additionally, the HWND_BROADCAST window handle is not supported for the SendMessage() family of functions. Profiling the interaction between multiple processes is not supported. The first time a Thread Profiler project from v1.0 is opened with v2.0, you may see a warning dialog: "The following were present when this file was created but are not currently present: Thread Profiler. There may be unexpected failures if you proceed." Select "Yes" to proceed and no failures will occur. Note: this dialog will occur if you un-pack a project file (.vxp) created with v1.0. Project files (.vpj) or Pack and Go files (.vxp) created with VTune Performance Analyzer version 7.1 will not be usable with earlier versions (such as 7.0) of the VTune Performance Analyzer. Typically when trying to open a file with version 7.0 that was created with version 7.1, multiple error dialogs such as "An error occurred while opening file" and "One or more errors occurred" are displayed. When the Microsoft Visual Studio.NET* 2002 or 2003 edition is installed along with Intel C++ Compiler version 8.0 and a.net solution project is newly converted to the Intel C++ Project System, the project should be saved, closed and re-opened at least once before trying to create a new activity in the.net development environment using Thread Profiler Wizard. If a newly created Intel C++ Project System is not saved, closed and re-opened at least once, an unhandled exception may occur when the integrated Thread Profiler Wizard is used which may require a re-start of the.net development environment. If a project directory is renamed or moved, the associated Thread Profiler results may not be viewable.

7 7. Supported C Run-Time and Windows* APIs Consult the on-line help under the topic "Supported APIs"for the list of supported functions. Access the on-line help from Start > Programs > Intel(R) Software Development Tools > Thread Profiler > Documentation and Support > Thread Profiler Help. 8. Technical Support and Feedback Your feedback is very important to us. You should have already received your Premier support login and password to access Intel Premier support at If you have not received your login password, if you have lost your login or password, or if you are having trouble with access, please send mail to developer.support@intel.com. Once you are able to login, all feedback should be submitted using the following process: 1. Login to your Premier Support account Login name and password are case-sensitive. 2. Click the Submit Issues button. 3. Enter your Company Name if applicable. 4. Select a Product Name of Thread Profiler. 5. Describe your issue, question or suggestion. Please include the compiler used, compiler options and a small test case with instructions if possible. The more information you can provide, the better we can respond to your issue. 6. Describe your system configuration information. If you were not able to install the software, enter the file name you downloaded as the Version and Build number. Please include any other specific information that may be relevant to helping us to reproduce and address your concern. 7. Indicate the customer impact according to the following criteria: Low: An issue that has no significant impact, a comment, a suggestion or a request. Medium: An issue that does not stop development; however it needs to be fixed. High: An issue with a short-term workaround; however it needs to be

8 fixed as soon as possible. Showstopper: An issue that prevents you from using Thread Profiler. Once you've contacted us with your suggestion or problem using your Intel Premier Support account, a technical support engineer will respond within one (1) Intel business day. Copyright 2004 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Intel, Pentium, Intel Xeon, Itanium, Intel XScale and VTune are registered trademarks or trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. * Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.