Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers User Guide

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ID 767266
Date 3/15/2023
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers User Guide
Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers User Guide x
Introduction to Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers Get Help Game Optimization Methodology Install and Launch Intel® GPA Enable System-wide Time-based GPU Metrics and Enable Query-based Metrics for OpenGL* in Graphics Frame Analyzer for Ubuntu* Launch Application for Analysis Configure Analysis Settings Quick Start with Profiling Unreal Engine* Games Analyze Desktop Graphics Applications Instrumentation and Tracing Technology API Support Intel® GPA Reference Notices and Disclaimers
Launch Application for Analysis x
Start a Desktop Application with Graphics Monitor Start a Windows* Mixed Reality Application Connect to a Running Application (Windows* only) Analyze Applications in the Network Mode
Configure Analysis Settings x
Configure a Metric Set Customize Keyboard Shortcuts Set Up a Trigger Set Up Tracing Options Set Up Stream Options Set Frame Delimiters
Analyze Desktop Graphics Applications x
Manage Analysis with Graphics Monitor Monitor Real-Time Performance with System Analyzer Identify Issues in Graphics Application Execution with Trace Analyzer Analyze GPU-bound Applications with Graphics Frame Analyzer Optimize Specific Domains
Monitor Real-Time Performance with System Analyzer x
Pause and Resume a Running Application Export Metrics Data with System Analyzer
Analyze GPU-bound Applications with Graphics Frame Analyzer x
Run Render State Experiments with Frame Analyzer Use Advanced Profiling Mode Graphics Frame Analyzer Plugins
Graphics Frame Analyzer Plugins x
Create a Custom Plugin for Graphics Frame Analyzer desc() method run() method plugin_api
Optimize Specific Domains x
Optimize Shaders Analyze Textures Minimize Overdraw Optimize Graphic API States Identify Graphics Elements with Complex Geometry Visualize Color Distribution
Instrumentation and Tracing Technology API Support x
Compile and Link with ITT API Instrument Your Application Minimize ITT API Overhead Clock Domain API Counter API Domain API Marker API Metadata API Relation API String Handle API Thread Naming API Task API
Intel® GPA Reference x
Performance Metrics Reference User Interface Reference
Performance Metrics Reference x
CPU Metrics Device I/O Metrics GPU Metrics Graphics API Metrics Memory Metrics
User Interface Reference x
Graphics Monitor UI Reference Heads-Up Display (HUD) UI Reference System Analyzer UI Reference Graphics Frame Analyzer UI Reference Graphics Trace Analyzer UI Reference
Graphics Monitor UI Reference x
Graphics Monitor Context Menu Graphics Monitor Configuration Window Graphics Monitor Control Panel Graphics Monitor Window: Desktop Applications Tab Graphics Monitor Window: Universal Windows Applications Tab (Windows* only) Graphics Monitor Window: Options Dialog Box
Graphics Frame Analyzer UI Reference x
Graphics Frame Analyzer Window: Open Frame Capture Graphics Frame Analyzer Window: Multiframe View Graphics Frame Analyzer Window: Profiling View Graphics Frame Analyzer Window: Dependency Viewer
Graphics Frame Analyzer Window: Profiling View x
Main Toolbar Visualization Pane API Log Pane Resources Pane Metrics Pane Experiments Pane
Graphics Trace Analyzer UI Reference x
Graphics Trace Analyzer Window: Open Trace Capture Graphics Trace Analyzer Window: Platform View
Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers User Guide

Create a Custom Plugin for Graphics Frame Analyzer

Integrate your own plugin into the Graphics Frame Analyzer Plugin Interface.

The following workflow is used for creating a plugin for Graphics Frame Analyzer:

  1. Write a __init__.py script containing desc() and run() methods.
  2. Write additional scripts, if needed.
  3. Copy the plugin folder to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\GPA\python_plugins.
NOTE:

A plugin requires a separate folder, as each plugin is considered a separate Python module.

Folder name must be PEP-8 compatible and is used for plugin invocation from the Type Filter Expression field in the Graphics Frame Analyzer.

desc() method

The method is used to obtain the following meta information about a plugin:

  • name(optional): plugin name shown in the Graphics Frame Analyzer Plugin Interface. If the name is not defined, a directory name can be used.
  • description(optional): plugin description.
  • apis(optional): supported APIs.

    The following values are available:

    • DirectX
    • DirectX 11
    • DirectX 12
    • OpenGL
    • Vulkan
    NOTE:
    If no value is defined, all the available values apply.
  • plugin_api_version(required): plugin API version. The available values are 1.0 and 1.1.
  • applicabilities(optional): Graphics Frame Analyzer pane(s) where the plugin is used.

    The following values are available:

    • Apilog
    • Resources
    NOTE:
    If no value is defined, all the available values apply.

An example of the desc() method: 

def desc():

return {

 "name" : "My sample plugin",

 "description" : "Sample plugin is written for educational purpose",

 "apis" : ["DirectX"],

 "plugin_api_version" : "1.1",

 "applicabilities" : ["Apilog"]
}

run() method

The method returns items which are found by the defined criteria. The method uses the node_to_result() method or the resource_to_result() method of the utils.common module distributed with the Graphics Frame Analyzer.

An example of the run() method: 

def run():

 api_log = plugin_api.get_api_log_accessor()

 calls = [x for x in api_log.get_full() if x.get_description()['name'] == 'ClearRenderTargetView']

 return [common.node_to_result(x, 'info', 'This is a clear call!') for x in calls]
NOTE:
If a call is not defined, the detected call is marked, but no information message appears.

You can use the following types of marks:

  • informational
  • warning
  • erroneous

The run() method supports arguments that are passed from the Graphics Frame Analyzer. Each argument can be decorated with function decorators in compliance with PEP-3107. Argument descriptions are shown in the Graphics Frame Analyzer. 

def run(name: "Draw call name" = 'ClearRenderTargetView'):

 api_log = plugin_api.get_api_log_accessor()

 calls = [x for x in api_log.get_full() if x.get_description()['name'] == name]

 return [common.node_to_result(x, 'info') for x in calls]

plugin_api

To access different methods of a custom plugin API, import plugin_api into the plugin that you created, and then get accessors for the required data.

plugin_api is located at <Intel® GPA installation directory>/python_plugins/plugin_api.

The available accessors are the following:

  • get_api_log_accessor() - processes the API Log: gets calls, arguments, bindings, etc.
  • get_resources_accessor() - processes resources: gets resource descriptions, views, shaders, etc.
  • get_metrics_accessor() - processes metrics: gets metric values, metric descriptions, etc.

An example of an accessor: 
import plugin_api

def run():

 metrics_accessor = plugin_api.get_metrics_accessor()

 descs = metrics_accessor.get_metrics_descriptions()

 # some code
Parent topic: Graphics Frame Analyzer Plugins
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