Observed issues › gcc/gcc-defaultmap-to-pointer-copy-back
defaultmap(to: pointer) on a target region copies the pointer target back to the host
Legality: contested. An independent adjudicating reading finds the result not required: Section 5.8.7 defines pointer as variables of pointer type and aggregate as variables of aggregate type (arrays or structures). The Fortran pointer array wp is a pointer and also an array, so it fits both categories. The text gives no precedence between them. If aggregate applies, the implicit tofrom rule of 5.8.1 maps wp and the observed copy-back is permitted. If pointer applies, to-only mapping is permitted too. How this is checked
A Fortran pointer referenced in a target region with defaultmap(to: pointer) should be mapped as if by map(to:): the device's writes to its target stay on the device. GCC 16.2 copies them back to the host (64 of 64 elements changed) on the MI250X and the A100 with separate memory. The same region with an explicit map(to: wp) leaves the host copy unchanged. NVHPC 25.11 and 26.9 behave the same way on this program (not studied further); AFAR and CCE leave the host copy unchanged.
Affected variants
| Compiler | MI300A gfx942 unified memory (XNACK 1) | MI300A gfx942 copy (XNACK 0) | MI250X gfx90a copy (XNACK 0) | MI300X gfx942 copy (XNACK 0) | MI350X gfx950 copy (XNACK 0) | A100 sm_80 separate memory | A100 sm_80 managed memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFAR 24.3.0 | correct | correct | unknown not run | correct | correct | n/a | n/a |
| CCE 19.0.0 | correct | correct | unknown not run | unknown not run | unknown not run | n/a | n/a |
| CCE 20.0.2 | correct | correct | unknown not run | unknown not run | unknown not run | n/a | n/a |
| CCE 21.0.3 | correct | correct | unknown not run | unknown not run | unknown not run | n/a | n/a |
| CCE 21.0.4 | correct | correct | unknown not run | unknown not run | unknown not run | n/a | n/a |
| NVHPC 25.11 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly |
| NVHPC 26.9 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly |
| GCC 16.2.0 | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly | behaves incorrectly | n/a |
"behaves incorrectly" / "not supported": this issue, confirmed in up to four environments (another build directory, another node, a repeat). "fails another way": a different failure, not counted as this issue. "unknown": not run there, or the runs disagree.
Messages
| Result | Compiler and GPU | Message |
|---|---|---|
| behaves incorrectly | NVHPC 25.11, A100 separate NVHPC 25.11, A100 managed NVHPC 26.9, A100 separate NVHPC 26.9, A100 managed GCC 16.2.0, MI300A unified GCC 16.2.0, MI300A copy GCC 16.2.0, MI250X GCC 16.2.0, MI300X GCC 16.2.0, MI350X GCC 16.2.0, A100 separate | showb(n)= 129 host wp changed: 64 shared_mem= F RESULT ran_on_host=0 check=fail |
Reproduce
NVHPC 25.11, A100 separate
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$NVHPC_25_11/compilers/lib nvfortran -mp=gpu -gpu=cc80 -gpu=mem:separate -O2 repro.f90 -o repro OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD=mandatory ./repro
NVHPC 26.9, A100 separate
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$NVHPC_26_9/compilers/lib nvfortran -mp=gpu -gpu=cc80 -gpu=mem:separate -O2 repro.f90 -o repro OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD=mandatory ./repro
GCC 16.2.0, MI300A unified
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$GCC_16_2/lib64:/opt/rocm-7.2.1/lib $GCC_16_2/bin/gfortran -fopenmp -foffload=amdgcn-amdhsa -foffload-options=amdgcn-amdhsa=-march=gfx942 -O2 repro.f90 -o repro HSA_XNACK=1 OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD=mandatory ./repro
GCC 16.2.0, A100 separate
export PATH=/usr/local/cuda/bin:$PATH export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$GCC_16_2/lib64 $GCC_16_2/bin/gfortran -fopenmp -foffload=nvptx-none -foffload-options=nvptx-none=-march=sm_80 -foffload-options=nvptx-none=-latomic -O2 repro.f90 -o repro OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD=mandatory ./repro
AFAR 24.3.0, MI300A unified (runs correctly)
$AFAR/bin/amdflang -fopenmp --offload-arch=gfx942 -O2 repro.f90 -o repro HSA_XNACK=1 OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD=mandatory ./repro
Program (58 lines)
! # Finding (GCC 16.2): defaultmap(to: pointer) copies the pointer target back to the host
!
! - toolchains: gcc_g90 (GCC 16.2.0, AMD Instinct MI250X gfx90a, Tioga) and gcc_sm80 (GCC 16.2.0,
! NVIDIA A100 sm_80, wingtip); separate memory only; -O2; OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD=mandatory
! - build: gfortran -fopenmp -foffload=amdgcn-amdhsa -foffload-options=amdgcn-amdhsa=-march=gfx90a -O2 (gcc_g90);
! -foffload=nvptx-none -foffload-options=nvptx-none=-march=sm_80 -foffload-options=nvptx-none=-latomic -O2 (gcc_sm80)
! - failure: wrong_answer
! - observed: `b(n)= 129 host wp changed: 64 shared_mem= F` and check=fail in every run on both GPUs (this file: gcc_sm80 and
! gcc_g90, 5 of 5 each with OMP_TARGET_OFFLOAD mandatory and 5 of 5 unset; results/gcc/<tc>/probes-findings.jsonl): the region
! runs on the device and its writes to the pointer target reach the host. The catalog program as generated
! (tests/data/gcc_probes/dmp_repro.f90) is wrong in 10 of 10 runs on each GPU (results/gcc/<tc>/probes.jsonl).
! - expected: `b(n)= 129 host wp changed: 0 shared_mem= F` and check=pass with separate memory
! - rule: "If implicit-behavior is the name of a map type, the attribute is a data-mapping attribute determined by an implicit map
! clause with the specified map type" (5.2 §5.8.7 p.162 l.4-5); wp is a pointer, so it is mapped as if by map(to: wp), and on exit
! only a from or tofrom map updates the original (5.2 §5.8.3 p.154, exit step 1a). The program reads the host copy only when host
! and device storage are separate (shared_mem= F).
! - same-compiler control (correct, 5 of 5 runs on each GPU, and the catalog form's control 10 of 10): the explicit map(to: wp) in
! place of defaultmap(to: pointer) (controls/gcc-defaultmap-to-pointer-control.f90).
! - other families: AFAR and CCE 19/20/21 pass the catalog programs in copy mode (MI300A at HSA_XNACK=0, MI250X); NVHPC 25.11 and
! 26.9 fail them the same way (not studied here). The site's finding matrix runs this file on every compiler.
! - gate and confirmer: 6 cells (3 gcc_g90, 3 gcc_sm80), each confirmed in the gate's four environments (a-d;
! results/gcc/gate-tioga/ and gate-wingtip/ verdicts.jsonl); confirmer verdicts (results/gcc/confirm/batch.gcc_*.jsonl):
! needs_human (R22-expected-weak) 6
! - catalog programs (3): omp50-clause-defaultmap-pointer, omp52-clause-defaultmap-pointer, omp60-clause-defaultmap-pointer
! - legality: read against the spec (the rule above); the catalog programs of the list are legal by construction
! (offload.engine.gen,
! c_gen and acc_gen; no compiler). GCC is a compiler under test only and never a legality witness.
program defaultmap_to_pointer
use omp_lib, only: omp_is_initial_device
implicit none
integer, parameter :: n = 64
integer, pointer :: wp(:)
integer :: b(n), zc(1)
integer :: i, host_flag, changed
logical :: shared_mem
allocate(wp(n))
wp = 0
b = 0
host_flag = 1
zc = 0
! separate memory? (a write to a map(to:) array is visible on the host only when storage is shared)
!$omp target map(to: zc)
zc(1) = 1
!$omp end target
shared_mem = zc(1) == 1
!$omp target map(from: b) map(tofrom: host_flag) defaultmap(to: pointer)
host_flag = merge(1, 0, omp_is_initial_device())
do i = 1, n
wp(i) = 2*i
b(i) = wp(i) + 1
end do
!$omp end target
changed = count(wp /= 0)
print '(a,i0,a,i0,a,l1)', 'b(n)= ', b(n), ' host wp changed: ', changed, ' shared_mem= ', shared_mem
print '(a,i0,a,a)', 'RESULT ran_on_host=', host_flag, ' check=', &
merge('pass', 'fail', b(n) == 2*n + 1 .and. (shared_mem .or. changed == 0))
deallocate(wp)
end program defaultmap_to_pointer
Something to add? Dispute its legality · Report it fixed in a newer release · Report a mistake on this page
Expected and observed
Expected
check=pass
Observed where it behaves incorrectly
b(n)= 129 host wp changed: 64 shared_mem= F RESULT ran_on_host=0 check=fail
What the specification requires
The specification text this program relies on and the compiler is expected to support.
OpenMP 5.2 §5.8.7 p.162 l.4-5
If implicit-behavior is the name of a map type, the attribute is a data-mapping attribute determined by an implicit map clause with the specified map type
OpenMP 5.2 §5.8.3 p.154
Evidence
Same compiler, one change
- map(to: wp) in place of defaultmap(to: pointer): not run yet
Control program
program map_to_pointer use omp_lib, only: omp_is_initial_device implicit none integer, parameter :: n = 64 integer, pointer :: wp(:) integer :: b(n), zc(1) integer :: i, host_flag, changed logical :: shared_mem allocate(wp(n)) wp = 0 b = 0 host_flag = 1 zc = 0 ! separate memory? (a write to a map(to:) array is visible on the host only when storage is shared) !$omp target map(to: zc) zc(1) = 1 !$omp end target shared_mem = zc(1) == 1 !$omp target map(from: b) map(tofrom: host_flag) map(to: wp) host_flag = merge(1, 0, omp_is_initial_device()) do i = 1, n wp(i) = 2*i b(i) = wp(i) + 1 end do !$omp end target changed = count(wp /= 0) print '(a,i0,a,i0,a,l1)', 'b(n)= ', b(n), ' host wp changed: ', changed, ' shared_mem= ', shared_mem print '(a,i0,a,a)', 'RESULT ran_on_host=', host_flag, ' check=', & merge('pass', 'fail', b(n) == 2*n + 1 .and. (shared_mem .or. changed == 0)) deallocate(wp) end program map_to_pointer
Other compilers run it correctly
AFAR 24.3.0, CCE 19.0.0, CCE 20.0.2, CCE 21.0.3, CCE 21.0.4