Build Application and Create New Project

Get Software Tools

You need the following tools to try tutorial steps yourself using the tachyon sample application:

• Intel® VTune™ Amplifier, including sample applications

• tar file extraction utility

• GNU* C++ compiler

Acquire VTune Amplifier

If you do not already have access to the VTune Amplifier, you can download an evaluation copy from http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-software-evaluation-center/.

Install and Set Up VTune Amplifier Sample Applications

1. Copy the tachyon_vtune_amp_xe.tgz file from the <install-dir>/samples/<locale>/C++/ directory to a writable directory or share on your system.

   Note

   The default installation path for the VTune Amplifier XE is /opt/intel/vtune_amplifier_xe_version. For the VTune Amplifier for Systems, the default <install_dir> is:

   • For super-users: /opt/intel/system_studio_version/vtune_amplifier_for_systems
   • For ordinary users: $HOME/intel/system_studio_version/vtune_amplifier_for_systems

2. Extract the sample from the tar file.

Build the Target

Build the target with full optimizations, which is recommended for performance analysis.

1. Browse to the directory where you extracted the sample code (for example, /home/myuser/samples/tachyon). Make sure this directory contains Makefile.

2. Build your target:

   $ make

   The tachyon_find_hotspots application is built and stored in the tachyon directory.

Create a Performance Baseline

1. Run tachyon with dat/balls.dat as an input parameter. For example:

   $ ./tachyon_find_hotspots dat/balls.dat

   The tachyon_find_hotspots application starts running.

   Note

   Before you start the application, minimize the amount of other software running on your computer to get more accurate results.

   
   
   

2. Note the execution time displayed in the window caption. For the tachyon_find_hotspots executable in the figure above, the execution time is 16.604 seconds. The total execution time is the baseline against which you will compare subsequent runs of the application.

   Note

   Run the application several times, note the execution time for each run, and use the average number. This helps to minimize skewed results due to transient system activity.

Create a Project

To analyze your target in the VTune Amplifier, you need to create a project, which is a container for an analysis target configuration and data collection results.

1. If working in a bash shell, set the EDITOR or VISUAL environment variable to associate your source files with the code editor (like emacs, vi, vim, gedit, and so on). For example:

   $ export EDITOR=gedit

2. Run the amplxe-gui script launching the VTune Amplifier GUI.

3. Click the menu button and select New > Project... to create a new project.

   The Create a Project dialog box opens.

4. Specify the project name tachyon that will be used as the project directory name.

   VTune Amplifier creates the tachyon project directory under the $HOME/intel/amplxe/projects (for VTune Amplifier XE) or $HOME/intel/amplsys/projects (for VTune Amplifier for Systems) directory and opens the Choose Target and Analysis Type window with the Analysis Target tab active.

5. From the left pane, select the local target system from the Accessible Targets group. From the right pane select the Launch Application target type.

   The configuration pane on the right is updated with the settings applicable to the selected target type.

6. Specify and configure your target as follows:

   • For the Application field, browse to <sample_code_dir>/tachyon_find_hotspots, for example: /home/myuser/samples/tachyon/tachyon_find_hotspots.

   • For the Application parameters field, enter <sample_code_dir>/dat/balls.dat.

   

7. Click the Choose Analysis button on the right to switch to the Analysis Type tab.

Key Terms

• Baseline

• Target

Next Step

Run Basic Hotspots Analysis