Finally, the OpenCL developers have the long awaited tool that takes the mystery out of debugging OpenCL and OpenGL applications. Now, a developer can actually peer into memory objects on the GPU, view their contents as they change from kernel operations and step into the kernel execution for debugging inside the kernel, all in real time. The credit goes to the AMD gDEBugger, as it is called, for bringing all this capability on a single computer with a single GPU! Shocked?

What is AMD gDEBugger?

AMD gDEBugger is an OpenCL and OpenGL debugger and memory analyzer tool that traces application activity on top of OpenCL & OpenGL and provides necessary information for debugging and optimizing application performance. Analytic capabilities of gDEBugger range from locating bugs and memory leaks to optimizing applications by removing redundant calls and errors. The best part is that this tool directly integrates into Microsoft Visual Studio and requires a single GPU.

gDEBugger offers real-time OpenCL kernel debugging which allows the developers to debug inside the kernel and view all the variable values across different work-groups and work-items. All allocated memory objects, like OpenCL Images and/or Buffers, are monitored to detect any memory leaks and the scenarios that cause these memory leaks. gDebugger also create logs for all API function calls that can be saved and/or viewed at run-time. These logs provide information about non-recommended and deprecated functions and behaviors in the kernel and offer best-practice alternatives to help improve application performance.

Key Features

Real-Time OpenCL Kernel Debugging

Minimize the debugging effort as no special configuration or changes to the code are required. Allow stepping through the work-flow of a single work-item and compare values across a work-group.

Seamless Integration with Microsoft VS

Debugging is performed inside Visual Studio Source Editor. When included in the project, OpenCL Kernel files (.cl files) are automatically identified and used for kernel debugging. The debugging information is displayed in Visual Studio Views like Locals View etc.

API Statistics Overview

gDEBugger provides an overview of the OpenCL & OpenGL API usage and detailed views including non-recommended function calls (with alternative suggestions).

Object Visualization

gDEBugger allows developers to export OpenCL Images and Buffers, and OpenGL Textures and Buffers as pictures or as spread-sheet data.

Develop & Debug on Same Machine

With gDEBugger you can Develop and Debug on a single computer with one GPU. So every GPGPU developer can use this tool without any additional hardware requirement. CUDA debugger, Parallel NSight Monitor, requires a dual GPU machine or two machines with one GPU each for the same purpose.

System Requirements

• 1. Microsoft Win 7, Win Vista (32-Bit, 64-Bit)
• 2. Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
• 3. gDebugger [Download Link]

Conclusion

Whether your goal is to shorten debugging time, improve application quality or optimize application performance, gDEBugger provides the information you‘re looking for.