OpenCL: Struct within struct sending to internal function on device side - struct

Got a question about struct handling in OpenCL that I didn't find on here. I've gathered the all of the data I use in a struct, which itself consists of several structs. I want to do the following:
typedef struct tag_OwnStruct
{
float a;
float b;
float c;
int d;
float e;
int f;
}OwnStruct;
typedef struct tag_DataStruct
{
OwnStruct g;
//+ Alot of other structs... not written for simplicity
}DataStruct;
void PrintOwnStruct(OwnStruct* g)
{
printf("Current lane id : %f\n",g->a);
}
__kernel void Test(__global DataStruct *data)
{
PrintOwnStruct(&data->g);
}
So I want, from the given data I get sent in from the host side to the device, to send the reference to a struct inside of it. That doesn't work somehow, and I don't know why. I've tried the same thing in plain C code and it worked..
If I change PrintOwnStruct to :
void PrintOwnStruct(OwnStruct g)
{
printf("Current lane id : %f\n",g.a);
}
and call the function as : PrintOwnStruct(data->g) the code will run on the device side. Is there any other way to do this? Since I'm not sending the reference to the function, is it being passed by value? And shouldn't that be slower than passing function parameters by reference?

So the problem appears (from comments) to be the confusion between __private and __global address spaces, and possibly that the compiler/runtime is not very helpful in informing about the mix of pointers.
void PrintOwnStruct(OwnStruct* g)
{
printf("Current lane id : %f\n",g->a);
}
__kernel void Test(__global DataStruct *data)
{
PrintOwnStruct(&data->g);
}
The __global DataStruct *data is a pointer to something in __global address space [in other words having the same address for all CL threads], the argument to void PrintOwnStruct OwnStruct* g) declares an argument that is pointing to OwnStruct in the default __private address space [in other words on the stack of this thread].
The correct thing to do is to maintain the address space for both pointers to __global by declaring the function PrintOwnStruct(__global OwnStruct* g).
I'm pretty sure SOME OpenCL compilers will give an error for this, but apparently not this one. I expect that true syntax errors, such as adding %-&6 to the code will in fact give you a kernel that doesn't run at all, so when you call clCreateKernel or clBuildProgram, you'll get an error - which can be displayed by clGetProgramBuildInfo. But if the compiler isn't detecting different address spaces, then it's a bug/feature of the compiler.
[In fact, if your compiler is based on Clang, you may want to have a look at this bug:
https://llvm.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=19957 - half an hour of googling gives a result of some sort! :) ]
In the newer CL2.0 the default address-space is generic, which allows "any" address space to be used.

Related

Misaligned pointer use with std::shared_ptr<NSDate> dereference

I am working in a legacy codebase with a large amount of Objective-C++ written using manual retain/release. Memory is managed using lots of C++ std::shared_ptr<NSMyCoolObjectiveCPointer>, with a suitable deleter passed in on construction that calls release on the contained object. This seems to work great; however, when enabling UBSan, it complains about misaligned pointers, usually when dereferencing the shared_ptrs to do some work.
I've searched for clues and/or solutions, but it's difficult to find technical discussion of the ins and outs of Objective-C object pointers, and even more difficult to find any discussion about Objective-C++, so here I am.
Here is a full Objective-C++ program that demonstrates my problem. When I run this on my Macbook with UBSan, I get a misaligned pointer issue in shared_ptr::operator*:
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <memory>
class DateImpl {
public:
DateImpl(NSDate* date) : _date{[date retain], [](NSDate* date) { [date release]; }} {}
NSString* description() const { return [&*_date description]; }
private:
std::shared_ptr<NSDate> _date;
};
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
#autoreleasepool {
DateImpl date{[NSDate distantPast]};
NSLog(#"%#", date.description());
return 0;
}
}
I get this in the call to DateImpl::description:
runtime error: reference binding to misaligned address 0xe2b7fda734fc266f for type 'std::__1::shared_ptr<NSDate>::element_type' (aka 'NSDate'), which requires 8 byte alignment
0xe2b7fda734fc266f: note: pointer points here
<memory cannot be printed>
I suspect that there is something awry with the usage of &* to "cast" the shared_ptr<NSDate> to an NSDate*. I think I could probably work around this issue by using .get() on the shared_ptr instead, but I am genuinely curious about what is going on. Thanks for any feedback or hints!
There were some red herrings here: shared_ptr, manual retain/release, etc. But I ended up discovering that even this very simple code (with ARC enabled) causes the ubsan hit:
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
#autoreleasepool {
NSDate& d = *[NSDate distantPast];
NSLog(#"%#", &d);
}
return 0;
}
It seems to simply be an issue with [NSDate distantPast] (and, incidentally, [NSDate distantFuture], but not, for instance, [NSDate date]). I conclude that these must be singleton objects allocated sketchily/misaligned-ly somewhere in the depths of Foundation, and when you dereference them it causes a misaligned pointer read.
(Note it does not happen when the code is simply NSLog(#"%#", &*[NSDate distantPast]). I assume this is because the compiler simply collapses &* on a raw pointer into a no-op. It doesn't for the shared_ptr case in the original question because shared_ptr overloads operator*. Given this, I believe there is no easy way to make this happen in pure Objective-C, since you can't separate the & operation from the * operation, like you can when C++ references are involved [by storing the temporary result of * in an NSDate&].)
You are not supposed to ever use a "bare" NSDate type. Objective-C objects should always be used with a pointer-to-object type (e.g. NSDate *), and you are never supposed to get the "type behind the pointer".
In particular, on 64-bit platforms, Objective-C object pointers can sometimes not be valid pointers, but rather be "tagged pointers" which store the "value" of the object in certain bits of the pointer, rather than as an actual allocated object. You must always let the Objective-C runtime machinery deal with Objective-C object pointers. Dereferencing it as a regular C/C++ pointer can lead to undefined behavior.

How to extend MIPS bus error handlers?

I'm writing a Linux driver in MIPS architecture.
there I implement read operation - read some registers content.
Here is the code:
static int proc_seq_show(struct seq_file *seq, void *v)
{
volatile unsigned reg;
//here read registers and pass to user using seq_printf
//1. read reg number 1
//2. read reg number 2
}
int proc_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
{
return single_open(filp,&proc_seq_show, NULL);
}
static struct file_operation proc_ops = {.read = &seq_read, .open=&seq_open};
My problem is that reading register content sometimes causing kernel oops - bus error, and read operation is prevented. I can't avoid it in advance.
Since this behavior is acceptable I would like to ignore this error and continue to read the other registers.
I saw bus error handler in the kernel (do_be in traps.c), there is an option to add my own entry to the __dbe_table. An entry looks like that:
struct exception_table_entry {unsigned long insn, nextinsn; };
insn is the instruction that cause the error. nextinsn is the next instruction to be performed after exception.
In the driver I declare an entry:
struct exception_table_entry e __attribute__ ((section("__dbe_table"))) = {0,0};
but I don't know how to initialize it. How can I get the instruction address of the risky line in C? how can I get the address of the fix line? I have tried something with labels and addresses of label - but didn't manage to set correctly the exception_table_entry .
The same infrastructure is available in x86, does someone know how they use it?
Any help will be appreciated.

C++/CLI from tracking reference to (native) reference - wrapping

I need a C# interface to call some native C++ code via the CLI dialect. The C# interface uses the out attribute specifier in front of the required parameters. That translates to a % tracking reference in C++/CLI.
The method I has the following signature and body (it is calling another native method to do the job):
virtual void __clrcall GetMetrics(unsigned int %width, unsigned int %height, unsigned int %colourDepth, int %left, int %top) sealed
{
mRenderWindow->getMetrics(width, height, colourDepth, left, top);
}
Now the code won't compile because of a few compile time errors (all being related to not being able to convert parameter 1 from 'unsigned int' to 'unsigned int &').
As a modest C++ programmer, to me CLI is looking like Dutch to a German speaker. What can be done to make this wrapper work properly in CLI?
Like it was also suggested in a deleted answer, I did the obvious and used local variables to pass the relevant values around:
virtual void __clrcall GetMetrics(unsigned int %width, unsigned int %height, unsigned int %colourDepth, int %left, int %top) sealed
{
unsigned int w = width, h = height, c = colourDepth;
int l = left, t = top;
mRenderWindow->getMetrics(w, h, c, l, t);
width = w; height = h; colourDepth = c; left = l; top = t;
}
It was a bit obvious since the rather intuitive mechanism of tracked references: they're affected by the garbage collector's work and are not really that static/constant as normal &references when they're prone to be put somewhere else in memory. Thus this is the only way reliable enough to overcome the issue. Thanks to the initial answer.
If your parameters use 'out' on the C# side, you need to define your C++/CLI parameters like this: [Out] unsigned int ^%width
Here's an example:
virtual void __clrcall GetMetrics([Out] unsigned int ^%width)
{
width = gcnew UInt32(42);
}
Then on your C# side, you'll get back 42:
ValueType vt;
var res = cppClass.GetMetrics(out vt);
//vt == 42
In order to use the [Out] parameter on the C++/CLI side you'll need to include:
using namespace System::Runtime::InteropServices;
Hope this helps!
You can use pin_ptr so that 'width' doesn't move when native code changes it. The managed side suffers from pin_ptr, but I don't think you can get around that if you want native code directly access it without 'w'.
virtual void __clrcall GetMetrics(unsigned int %width, unsigned int %height, unsigned int %colourDepth, int %left, int %top) sealed
{
pin_ptr<unsigned int> pw = &width; //do the same for height
mRenderWindow->getMetrics(*pw, h, c, l, t);
}

Variant type storage and alignment issues

I've made a variant type to use instead of boost::variant. Mine works storing an index of the current type on a list of the possible types, and storing data in a byte array with enough space to store the biggest type.
unsigned char data[my_types::max_size];
int type;
Now, when I write a value to this variant type comes the trouble. I use the following:
template<typename T>
void set(T a) {
int t = type_index(T);
if (t != -1) {
type = t;
puts("writing atom data");
*((T *) data) = a; //THIS PART CRASHES!!!!
puts("did it!");
} else {
throw atom_bad_assignment;
}
}
The line that crashes is the one that stores data to the internal buffer. As you can see, I just cast the byte array directly to a pointer of the desired type. This gives me bad address signals and bus errors when trying to write some values.
I'm using GCC on a 64-bit system. How do I set the alignment for the byte array to make sure the address of the array is 64-bit aligned? (or properly aligned for any architecture I might port this project to).
EDIT: Thank you all, but the mistake was somewhere else. Apparently, Intel doesn't really care about alignment. Aligned stuff is faster but not mandatory, and the program works fine this way. My problem was I didn't clear the data buffer before writing stuff and this caused trouble with the constructors of some types. I will not, however, mark the question as answered, so more people can give me tips on alignment ;)
See http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.0.4/gcc/Variable-Attributes.html
unsigned char data[my_types::max_size] __attribute__ ((aligned));
int type;
I believe
#pragma pack(64)
will work on all modern compilers; it definitely works on GCC.
A more correct solution (that doesn't mess with packing globally) would be:
#pragma pack(push, 64)
// define union here
#pragma pack(pop)

Two structs, one references another

typedef struct Radios_Frequencia {
char tipo_radio[3];
int qt_radio;
int frequencia;
}Radiof;
typedef struct Radio_Cidade {
char nome_cidade[30];
char nome_radio[30];
char dono_radio[3];
int numero_horas;
int audiencia;
Radiof *fre;
}R_cidade;
void Cadastrar_Radio(R_cidade**q){
printf("%d\n",i);
q[0]=(R_cidade*)malloc(sizeof(R_cidade));
printf("informa a frequencia da radio\n");
scanf("%d",&q[0]->fre->frequencia); //problem here
printf("%d\n",q[0]->fre->frequencia); // problem here
}
i want to know why this function void Cadastrar_Radio(R_cidade**q) does not print the data
You allocated storage for your primary structure but not the secondary one. Change
q[0]=(R_cidade*)malloc(sizeof(R_cidade));
to:
q[0]=(R_cidade*)malloc(sizeof(R_cidade));
q[0]->fre = malloc(sizeof(Radiof));
which will allocate both. Without that, there's a very good chance that fre will point off into never-never land (as in "you can never never tell what's going to happen since it's undefined behaviour).
You've allocated some storage, but you've not properly initialized any of it.
You won't get anything reliable to print until you put reliable values into the structures.
Additionally, as PaxDiablo also pointed out, you've allocated the space for the R_cidade structure, but not for the Radiof component of it. You're using scanf() to read a value into space that has not been allocated; that is not reliable - undefined behaviour at best, but most usually core dump time.
Note that although the two types are linked, the C compiler most certainly doesn't do any allocation of Radiof simply because R_cidade mentions it. It can't tell whether the pointer in R_cidade is meant to be to a single structure or the start of an array of structures, for example, so it cannot tell how much space to allocate. Besides, you might not want to initialize that structure every time - you might be happy to have left pointing nowhere (a null pointer) except in some special circumstances known only to you.
You should also verify that the memory allocation succeeded, or use a memory allocator that guarantees never to return a null or invalid pointer. Classically, that might be a cover function for the standard malloc() function:
#undef NDEBUG
#include <assert.h>
void *emalloc(size_t nbytes)
{
void *space = malloc(nbytes);
assert(space != 0);
return(space);
}
That's crude but effective. I use non-crashing error reporting routines of my own devising in place of the assert:
#include "stderr.h"
void *emalloc(size_t nbytes)
{
void *space = malloc(nbytes);
if (space == 0)
err_error("Out of memory\n");
return space;
}

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