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20 Clang has complete support of OpenCL C versions from 1.0 to 3.0.
21 Support for OpenCL 3.0 is in experimental phase (:ref:`OpenCL 3.0 <opencl_300>`).
23 Clang also supports :ref:`the C++ for OpenCL kernel language <cxx_for_opencl_impl>`.
25 There are also other :ref:`new and experimental features <opencl_experimenal>`
28 Details about usage of clang for OpenCL can be found in :doc:`UsersManual`.
30 Missing features or with limited support
31 ========================================
33 - For general issues and bugs with OpenCL in clang refer to `the GitHub issue
35 <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Aopencl>`__.
37 - Command-line flag :option:`-cl-ext` (used to override extensions/
38 features supported by a target) is missing support of some functionality i.e. that is
39 implemented fully through libraries (see :ref:`library-based features and
40 extensions <opencl_ext_libs>`).
45 This section acts as internal documentation for OpenCL features design
46 as well as some important implementation aspects. It is primarily targeted
47 at the advanced users and the toolchain developers integrating frontend
48 functionality as a component.
53 Clang uses metadata to provide additional OpenCL semantics in IR needed for
54 backends and OpenCL runtime.
56 Each kernel will have function metadata attached to it, specifying the arguments.
57 Kernel argument metadata is used to provide source level information for querying
58 at runtime, for example using the `clGetKernelArgInfo
59 <https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenCL/specs/opencl-1.2.pdf#167>`_
62 Note that ``-cl-kernel-arg-info`` enables more information about the original
63 kernel code to be added e.g. kernel parameter names will appear in the OpenCL
64 metadata along with other information.
66 The IDs used to encode the OpenCL's logical address spaces in the argument info
67 metadata follows the SPIR address space mapping as defined in the SPIR
68 specification `section 2.2
69 <https://www.khronos.org/registry/spir/specs/spir_spec-2.0.pdf#18>`_
71 OpenCL Specific Options
72 -----------------------
74 In addition to the options described in :doc:`UsersManual` there are the
75 following options specific to the OpenCL frontend.
77 All the options in this section are frontend-only and therefore if used
78 with regular clang driver they require frontend forwarding, e.g. ``-cc1``
81 .. _opencl_finclude_default_header:
83 .. option:: -finclude-default-header
85 Adds most of builtin types and function declarations during compilations. By
86 default the OpenCL headers are not loaded by the frontend and therefore certain
87 builtin types and most of builtin functions are not declared. To load them
88 automatically this flag can be passed to the frontend (see also :ref:`the
89 section on the OpenCL Header <opencl_header>`):
91 .. code-block:: console
93 $ clang -Xclang -finclude-default-header test.cl
95 Alternatively the internal header `opencl-c.h` containing the declarations
96 can be included manually using ``-include`` or ``-I`` followed by the path
97 to the header location. The header can be found in the clang source tree or
98 installation directory.
100 .. code-block:: console
102 $ clang -I<path to clang sources>/lib/Headers/opencl-c.h test.cl
103 $ clang -I<path to clang installation>/lib/clang/<llvm version>/include/opencl-c.h/opencl-c.h test.cl
105 In this example it is assumed that the kernel code contains
106 ``#include <opencl-c.h>`` just as a regular C include.
108 Because the header is very large and long to parse, PCH (:doc:`PCHInternals`)
109 and modules (:doc:`Modules`) can be used internally to improve the compilation
112 To enable modules for OpenCL:
114 .. code-block:: console
116 $ clang --target=spir-unknown-unknown -c -emit-llvm -Xclang -finclude-default-header -fmodules -fimplicit-module-maps -fmodules-cache-path=<path to the generated module> test.cl
118 Another way to circumvent long parsing latency for the OpenCL builtin
119 declarations is to use mechanism enabled by :ref:`-fdeclare-opencl-builtins
120 <opencl_fdeclare_opencl_builtins>` flag that is available as an alternative
123 .. _opencl_fdeclare_opencl_builtins:
125 .. option:: -fdeclare-opencl-builtins
127 In addition to regular header includes with builtin types and functions using
128 :ref:`-finclude-default-header <opencl_finclude_default_header>`, clang
129 supports a fast mechanism to declare builtin functions with
130 ``-fdeclare-opencl-builtins``. This does not declare the builtin types and
131 therefore it has to be used in combination with ``-finclude-default-header``
132 if full functionality is required.
136 .. code-block:: console
138 $ clang -Xclang -fdeclare-opencl-builtins test.cl
140 .. _opencl_fake_address_space_map:
142 .. option:: -ffake-address-space-map
144 Overrides the target address space map with a fake map.
145 This allows adding explicit address space IDs to the bitcode for non-segmented
146 memory architectures that do not have separate IDs for each of the OpenCL
147 logical address spaces by default. Passing ``-ffake-address-space-map`` will
148 add/override address spaces of the target compiled for with the following values:
149 ``1-global``, ``2-constant``, ``3-local``, ``4-generic``. The private address
150 space is represented by the absence of an address space attribute in the IR (see
151 also :ref:`the section on the address space attribute <opencl_addrsp>`).
153 .. code-block:: console
155 $ clang -cc1 -ffake-address-space-map test.cl
164 There are some standard OpenCL functions that are implemented as Clang builtins:
166 - All pipe functions from `section 6.13.16.2/6.13.16.3
167 <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#160>`_ of
168 the OpenCL v2.0 kernel language specification.
170 - Address space qualifier conversion functions ``to_global``/``to_local``/``to_private``
172 <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#101>`_.
174 - All the ``enqueue_kernel`` functions from `section 6.13.17.1
175 <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#164>`_ and
176 enqueue query functions from `section 6.13.17.5
177 <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#171>`_.
179 **Fast builtin function declarations**
181 The implementation of the fast builtin function declarations (available via the
182 :ref:`-fdeclare-opencl-builtins option <opencl_fdeclare_opencl_builtins>`) consists
183 of the following main components:
185 - A TableGen definitions file ``OpenCLBuiltins.td``. This contains a compact
186 representation of the supported builtin functions. When adding new builtin
187 function declarations, this is normally the only file that needs modifying.
189 - A Clang TableGen emitter defined in ``ClangOpenCLBuiltinEmitter.cpp``. During
190 Clang build time, the emitter reads the TableGen definition file and
191 generates ``OpenCLBuiltins.inc``. This generated file contains various tables
192 and functions that capture the builtin function data from the TableGen
193 definitions in a compact manner.
195 - OpenCL specific code in ``SemaLookup.cpp``. When ``Sema::LookupBuiltin``
196 encounters a potential builtin function, it will check if the name corresponds
197 to a valid OpenCL builtin function. If so, all overloads of the function are
198 inserted using ``InsertOCLBuiltinDeclarationsFromTable`` and overload
199 resolution takes place.
201 OpenCL Extensions and Features
202 ------------------------------
204 Clang implements various extensions to OpenCL kernel languages.
206 New functionality is accepted as soon as the documentation is detailed to the
207 level sufficient to be implemented. There should be an evidence that the
208 extension is designed with implementation feasibility in consideration and
209 assessment of complexity for C/C++ based compilers. Alternatively, the
210 documentation can be accepted in a format of a draft that can be further
211 refined during the implementation.
213 Implementation guidelines
214 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
216 This section explains how to extend clang with the new functionality.
218 **Parsing functionality**
220 If an extension modifies the standard parsing it needs to be added to
221 the clang frontend source code. This also means that the associated macro
222 indicating the presence of the extension should be added to clang.
224 The default flow for adding a new extension into the frontend is to
225 modify `OpenCLExtensions.def
226 <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/main/clang/include/clang/Basic/OpenCLExtensions.def>`__,
227 containing the list of all extensions and optional features supported by
230 This will add the macro automatically and also add a field in the target
231 options ``clang::TargetOptions::OpenCLFeaturesMap`` to control the exposure
232 of the new extension during the compilation.
234 Note that by default targets like `SPIR-V`, `SPIR` or `X86` expose all the OpenCL
235 extensions. For all other targets the configuration has to be made explicitly.
237 Note that the target extension support performed by clang can be overridden
238 with :option:`-cl-ext` command-line flags.
242 **Library functionality**
244 If an extension adds functionality that does not modify standard language
245 parsing it should not require modifying anything other than header files and
246 ``OpenCLBuiltins.td`` detailed in :ref:`OpenCL builtins <opencl_builtins>`.
247 Most commonly such extensions add functionality via libraries (by adding
248 non-native types or functions) parsed regularly. Similar to other languages this
249 is the most common way to add new functionality.
251 Clang has standard headers where new types and functions are being added,
252 for more details refer to
253 :ref:`the section on the OpenCL Header <opencl_header>`. The macros indicating
254 the presence of such extensions can be added in the standard header files
255 conditioned on target specific predefined macros or/and language version
256 predefined macros (see `feature/extension preprocessor macros defined in
258 <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/main/clang/lib/Headers/opencl-c-base.h>`__).
262 Some extensions alter standard parsing dynamically via pragmas.
264 Clang provides a mechanism to add the standard extension pragma
265 ``OPENCL EXTENSION`` by setting a dedicated flag in the extension list entry of
266 ``OpenCLExtensions.def``. Note that there is no default behavior for the
267 standard extension pragmas as it is not specified (for the standards up to and
268 including version 3.0) in a sufficient level of detail and, therefore,
269 there is no default functionality provided by clang.
271 Pragmas without detailed information of their behavior (e.g. an explanation of
272 changes it triggers in the parsing) should not be added to clang. Moreover, the
273 pragmas should provide useful functionality to the user. For example, such
274 functionality should address a practical use case and not be redundant i.e.
275 cannot be achieved using existing features.
277 Note that some legacy extensions (published prior to OpenCL 3.0) still
278 provide some non-conformant functionality for pragmas e.g. add diagnostics on
279 the use of types or functions. This functionality is not guaranteed to remain in
280 future releases. However, any future changes should not affect backward
285 Address spaces attribute
286 ------------------------
288 Clang has arbitrary address space support using the ``address_space(N)``
289 attribute, where ``N`` is an integer number in the range specified in the
290 Clang source code. This addresses spaces can be used along with the OpenCL
291 address spaces however when such addresses spaces converted to/from OpenCL
292 address spaces the behavior is not governed by OpenCL specification.
294 An OpenCL implementation provides a list of standard address spaces using
295 keywords: ``private``, ``local``, ``global``, and ``generic``. In the AST and
296 in the IR each of the address spaces will be represented by unique number
297 provided in the Clang source code. The specific IDs for an address space do not
298 have to match between the AST and the IR. Typically in the AST address space
299 numbers represent logical segments while in the IR they represent physical
301 Therefore, machines with flat memory segments can map all AST address space
302 numbers to the same physical segment ID or skip address space attribute
303 completely while generating the IR. However, if the address space information
304 is needed by the IR passes e.g. to improve alias analysis, it is recommended
305 to keep it and only lower to reflect physical memory segments in the late
306 machine passes. The mapping between logical and target address spaces is
307 specified in the Clang's source code.
309 .. _cxx_for_opencl_impl:
311 C++ for OpenCL Implementation Status
312 ====================================
314 Clang implements language versions 1.0 and 2021 published in `the official
315 release of C++ for OpenCL Documentation
316 <https://github.com/KhronosGroup/OpenCL-Docs/releases/tag/cxxforopencl-docrev2021.12>`_.
318 Limited support of experimental C++ libraries is described in the :ref:`experimental features <opencl_experimenal>`.
320 GitHub issues for this functionality are typically prefixed
321 with '[C++4OpenCL]' - click `here
322 <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+%5BC%2B%2B4OpenCL%5D>`__
323 to view the full bug list.
326 Missing features or with limited support
327 ----------------------------------------
329 - Support of C++ for OpenCL 2021 is currently in experimental phase. Refer to
330 :ref:`OpenCL 3.0 status <opencl_300>` for details of common missing
331 functionality from OpenCL 3.0.
333 - IR generation for non-trivial global destructors is incomplete (See:
334 `PR48047 <https://llvm.org/PR48047>`_).
336 - Support of `destructors with non-default address spaces
337 <https://www.khronos.org/opencl/assets/CXX_for_OpenCL.html#_construction_initialization_and_destruction>`_
338 is incomplete (See: `D109609 <https://reviews.llvm.org/D109609>`_).
345 OpenCL C 3.0 language standard makes most OpenCL C 2.0 features optional. Optional
346 functionality in OpenCL C 3.0 is indicated with the presence of feature-test macros
347 (list of feature-test macros is `here <https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenCL/specs/3.0-unified/html/OpenCL_C.html#features>`__).
348 Command-line flag :option:`-cl-ext` can be used to override features supported by a target.
350 For cases when there is an associated extension for a specific feature (fp64 and 3d image writes)
351 user should specify both (extension and feature) in command-line flag:
353 .. code-block:: console
355 $ clang -cl-std=CL3.0 -cl-ext=+cl_khr_fp64,+__opencl_c_fp64 ...
356 $ clang -cl-std=CL3.0 -cl-ext=-cl_khr_fp64,-__opencl_c_fp64 ...
360 OpenCL C 3.0 Implementation Status
361 ----------------------------------
363 The following table provides an overview of features in OpenCL C 3.0 and their
364 implementation status.
366 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
367 | Category | Feature | Status | Reviews |
368 +==============================+=========================+=========================================+======================+================================================================================================================================+
369 | Command line interface | New value for ``-cl-std`` flag | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D88300 |
370 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
371 | Predefined macros | New version macro | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D88300 |
372 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
373 | Predefined macros | Feature macros | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D95776 |
374 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
375 | Feature optionality | Generic address space | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D95778 and https://reviews.llvm.org/D103401 |
376 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
377 | Feature optionality | Builtin function overloads with generic address space | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D105526, https://reviews.llvm.org/D107769 |
378 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
379 | Feature optionality | Program scope variables in global memory | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D103191 |
380 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
381 | Feature optionality | 3D image writes including builtin functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D106260 (frontend) |
382 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
383 | Feature optionality | read_write images including builtin functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D104915 (frontend) and https://reviews.llvm.org/D107539, https://reviews.llvm.org/D117899 (functions) |
384 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
385 | Feature optionality | C11 atomics memory scopes, ordering and builtin function | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D106111, https://reviews.llvm.org/D119420 |
386 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
387 | Feature optionality | Blocks and Device-side kernel enqueue including builtin functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D115640, https://reviews.llvm.org/D118605 |
388 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
389 | Feature optionality | Pipes including builtin functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D107154 (frontend) and https://reviews.llvm.org/D105858 (functions) |
390 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
391 | Feature optionality | Work group collective builtin functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D105858 |
392 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
393 | Feature optionality | Image types and builtin functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D103911 (frontend) and https://reviews.llvm.org/D107539 (functions) |
394 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
395 | Feature optionality | Double precision floating point type | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D96524 |
396 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
397 | New functionality | RGBA vector components | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D99969 |
398 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
399 | New functionality | Subgroup functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D105858, https://reviews.llvm.org/D118999 |
400 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
401 | New functionality | Atomic mem scopes: subgroup, all devices including functions | :good:`done` | https://reviews.llvm.org/D103241 |
402 +------------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
404 .. _opencl_experimenal:
406 Experimental features
407 =====================
409 Clang provides the following new WIP features for the developers to experiment
410 and provide early feedback or contribute with further improvements.
411 Feel free to contact us on `the Discourse forums (Clang Frontend category)
412 <https://discourse.llvm.org/c/clang/6>`_ or file `a GitHub issue
413 <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues/new>`_.
415 .. _opencl_experimental_cxxlibs:
417 C++ libraries for OpenCL
418 ------------------------
420 There is ongoing work to support C++ standard libraries from `LLVM's libcxx
421 <https://libcxx.llvm.org/>`_ in OpenCL kernel code using C++ for OpenCL mode.
423 It is currently possible to include `type_traits` from C++17 in the kernel
424 sources when the following clang extensions are enabled
425 ``__cl_clang_function_pointers`` and ``__cl_clang_variadic_functions``,
426 see :doc:`LanguageExtensions` for more details. The use of non-conformant
427 features enabled by the extensions does not expose non-conformant behavior
428 beyond the compilation i.e. does not get generated in IR or binary.
429 The extension only appear in metaprogramming
430 mechanism to identify or verify the properties of types. This allows to provide
431 the full C++ functionality without a loss of portability. To avoid unsafe use
432 of the extensions it is recommended that the extensions are disabled directly
433 after the header include.
437 The example of kernel code with `type_traits` is illustrated here.
441 #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION __cl_clang_function_pointers : enable
442 #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION __cl_clang_variadic_functions : enable
443 #include <type_traits>
444 #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION __cl_clang_function_pointers : disable
445 #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION __cl_clang_variadic_functions : disable
447 using sint_type = std::make_signed<unsigned int>::type;
449 __kernel void foo() {
450 static_assert(!std::is_same<sint_type, unsigned int>::value);
453 The possible clang invocation to compile the example is as follows:
455 .. code-block:: console
457 $ clang -I<path to libcxx checkout or installation>/include test.clcpp
459 Note that `type_traits` is a header only library and therefore no extra
460 linking step against the standard libraries is required. See full example
461 in `Compiler Explorer <https://godbolt.org/z/5WbnTfb65>`_.
463 More OpenCL specific C++ library implementations built on top of libcxx
464 are available in `libclcxx <https://github.com/KhronosGroup/libclcxx>`_