Known Limitations#

This page outlines the known limitations of oneTBB to help you better understand its capabilities.

Debug TBB In The SYCL Program#

Limitation: The application may crash when using the Debug version of oneTBB in a SYCL program compiled with Intel(R) oneAPI DPC++/C++ Compiler. This happens because both tbb (Release version) and tbb_debug (Debug version) libraries load simultaneously, causing conflicts.

Solution: Do one of the following:

  • Link the application with the Release version tbb instead of tbb_debug.

  • Use the qtbb flag provided by the Intel(R) oneAPI DPC++/C++ Compiler.

Freestanding Compilation Mode#

Limitation: oneTBB does not support the freestanding compilation mode.

Risk: Compiling an application that utilizes oneTBB headers using the Intel(R) oneAPI DPC++/C++ Compiler may result in failure on Windows* OS if the /Qfreestanding compiler option is employed.

Static Assert#

Limitation: A static assert causes the compilation failures in oneTBB headers if the following conditions are satisfied:

  • Compilation is done with Clang 12.0.0 or a more recent version.

  • The LLVM standard library is employed, coupled with the use of the -ffreestanding flag and C++11/14 compiler options.

Risk: The compilation failures.

Interface Incompatibilities: TBB vs oneTBB#

Limitation: An application using Parallel STL algorithms in the libstdc++ versions 9 and 10 may fail to compile due to incompatible interface changes between earlier versions of Threading Building Blocks (TBB) and oneAPI Threading Building Blocks (oneTBB).

Solution: Disable support for Parallel STL algorithms by defining PSTL_USE_PARALLEL_POLICIES (in libstdc++ 9) or _GLIBCXX_USE_TBB_PAR_BACKEND (in libstdc++ 10) macro to zero before inclusion of the first standard header file in each translation unit.

Incorrect Installation Location#

Limitation: On Linux* OS, if oneAPI Threading Building Blocks (oneTBB) or Threading Building Blocks (TBB) are installed in a system folder, such as /usr/lib64, the application may fail to link due to the order in which the linker searches for libraries.

Risk: The issue does not affect the program execution.

Solution: Use the -L linker option to specify the correct location of oneTBB library.

fork() Support#

Limitation: oneTBB does not support fork().

Solution: To work-around the issue, consider using task_scheduler_handle to join oneTBB worker threads before using fork().

Dynamic Malloc Replacement and Topology API Incompatibilities#

Limitation: On Linux* OS, using dynamic malloc replacement with tbb::info and tbb::task_arena::constraints APIs may result in runtime failures.

Solution: Set TBB_ENABLE_SANITIZERS=1 in the environment. This informs that dynamic malloc replacement is used.