Intel Software Network articles feed http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-parallel-amplifier-kb/software-defects/ en-us Tip: Watch out! Use of some versions of STL streams may result in slowdown of your just parallelized application.
Problem : Use of STL streams in your parallelized code seems to cause your application to run 2x to 5x slower when compared to the original serial version.


Environment : This isssue is likely to be specific to streams implementation in certain versions of Microsoft Visual Studio (Ex: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005).


Root Cause : Streams implementation with this issue use an expensive form of synchronization (Critical Section) which causes high contention and effectively slowsdown the parallel version of your application.


Resolution : Use versions of Streams implementation with a fix for this issue - when they become available. As of Oct 05 2009, there are no known versions with the fix. 

Additional Resources: 
 Can STL Streams Run Concurrently: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vcgeneral/thread/b049dbda-c115-410b-b5d8-513f727baf4d

 
]]> http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/parallel-amplifier-tip-use-of-stl-streams-may-effectively-serializes-your-application Wed, 27 May 2009 08:00:51 -0700 http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/parallel-amplifier-tip-use-of-stl-streams-may-effectively-serializes-your-application#comments http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/parallel-amplifier-tip-use-of-stl-streams-may-effectively-serializes-your-application Parallel Programming Intel® Parallel Amplifier Intel® Parallel Amplifier Knowledge Base How to troubleshoot if Microsoft* Visual Studio integration with Intel(R) Parallel Inspector does not work and the controls are not visible or exposed properly Problem : You have successfully installed Intel(R) Parallel Amplifier (or any Intel(R) Parallel Studio tools) but the toolbar for Parallel Amplifier (or whatever Parallel Studio tool(s) you installed) does not appear in Visual Studio.


Environment : Microsoft* Visual Studio* versions that have installed Parallel Studio tools.


Root Cause : Tool bar is not visible, either because it is not enabled or it is obscured by other tool bars that are enabled.


Resolution : Here are some suggestions:
* Select the View->Toolbars menu to confirm that the menu option "Intel Parallel Amplifier" is available and checked. If not checked, you can select the toolbar option and the toolbar should become visible.
* It is possible that the Parallel Amplifier toolbar is installed and available but all the Visual Studio* toolbars are positioned such that the Parallel Amplifier toolbar is not prominently visible. In this case, consider dragging around some toolbars and reposition them to ensure that the Amplifier tool bar is more prominently visible. If there are toolbars that you do not use, you can deselect such toolbars to better use the toolbar space.
* Some non-English OSes may have issues. Please see this KB article for more information: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/installation-of-intel-parallel-amplifier-on-non-english-operating-systems/
* If none of the suggestions above work, please post your question on the Parallel Studio forum.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

]]> http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/how-to-troubleshoot-if-microsoft-visual-studio-integration-does-not-work-and-the-controls-are-not-visible-or-exposed-properly Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:25:25 -0700 http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/how-to-troubleshoot-if-microsoft-visual-studio-integration-does-not-work-and-the-controls-are-not-visible-or-exposed-properly#comments http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/how-to-troubleshoot-if-microsoft-visual-studio-integration-does-not-work-and-the-controls-are-not-visible-or-exposed-properly Parallel Programming Tools Intel® Parallel Amplifier Knowledge Base Intel® Parallel Composer Knowledge Base Intel® Parallel Inspector Knowledge Base