GpaOpenContext

Syntax

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GpaStatus GpaOpenContext(
    void* context,
    GpaOpenContextFlags flags,
    GpaContextId* context_id);

Description

Opens the specified context, which provides access to GPU performance counters. This function must be called after GpaInitialize and before any other GPUPerfAPI functions.

The type of the supplied context is different depending on which API is being used. See the table below for the required type which should be passed to GpaOpenContext:

API	GpaOpenContext `context` Parameter Type
Vulkan	`GpaVkContextOpenInfo*` (defined in gpu_perf_api_vk.h)
DirectX 12	`ID3D12Device*`
DirectX 11	`ID3D11Device*`
OpenGL	Windows: `HGLRC` Linux: `GLXContext`
OpenCL	`cl_command_queue*`

Parameters

Name	Description
`context`	The context to open counters for. The specific type for this parameter depends on which API GPUPerfAPI is being used with. Refer to the table above for the specific type to be used.
`flags`	Flags used to initialize the context. This should be a combination of GpaOpenContext.
`context_id`	On successful execution of this function, this parameter will be set to a GPA-generated unique context identifier. This value can subsequently passed to any GPA function taking a GpaContextId as an input parameter.

Return value

Return value	Description
kGpaStatusOk	The context was successfully opened.
kGpaStatusErrorNullPointer	The supplied `pContext` parameter is NULL.
kGpaStatusErrorInvalidParameter	The `flags` parameter has an invalid value.
kGpaStatusErrorHardwareNotSupported	The current GPU hardware is not supported.
kGpaStatusErrorDriverNotSupported	The currently-installed GPU driver is not supported.
kGpaStatusErrorContextAlreadyOpen	The supplied context has already been opened.
kGpaStatusErrorFailed	The context could not be opened.
kGpaStatusErrorException	Exception occurred.

A Note about GPU Clock Modes

Due to the desire to operate within reasonable power envelopes, modern GPUs employ techniques which alter the frequencies of their clocks dynamically. This can make tuning for performance difficult, as there is no single clock frequency which can be assumed. By default, GPA uses a clock mode known as “Profiling Clocks”. Under this mode, the clocks will be fixed at frequencies which may be lower than the normal operating frequencies. This mode should help to ensure consistent results between different runs of the application. However, the observed performance of the application (especially using the GPUTime counter) may be lower than expected or lower than the application can achieve during normal operation. Using the flags parameter when calling GpaOpenContext, you can alter the GPU clock frequencies used while profiling. The table below explains the stable clock modes that can be specified via the flags parameter.

Clock mode	Description
`kGpaOpenContextDefaultBit` (or any combination of GpaOpenContextBits which doesn’t include any of the `kGpaOpenContextClockMode*` bits)	Clocks are set to stable frequencies which are known to be power and thermal sustainable. The ratio between the engine and memory clock frequencies will be kept the same as much as possible.
`kGpaOpenContextClockModeNoneBit`	Clock frequencies are not altered and may vary widely during profiling based on GPU usage and other factors.
`kGpaOpenContextClockModePeakBit`	Clocks are set to peak frequencies. In most cases this is safe to do for short periods of time while profiling. However, the GPU clock frequencies could still be reduced from peak level under power and thermal constraints.
`kGpaOpenContextClockModeMinMemoryBit`	The memory clock frequency is set to the minimum level, whiles the engine clock is set to a power and thermal sustainable level.
`kGpaOpenContextClockModeMinEngineBit`	The engine clock frequency is set to the minimum level, whiles the memory clock is set to a power and thermal sustainable level.

A Note about Raw Hardware Counters

By default, GPA exposes a set of derived counters that are computed from one or more raw hardware counters. GPA can also be configured to expose the raw hardware counters directly. In order to do this, the flags parameter specified when calling GpaOpenContext should include the kGpaOpenContextEnableHardwareCountersBit bit.