Extensions#
Objective#
Features which are device- or vendor-specific can be exposed as extensions.
There are two types of extensions defined by this specification:
Standard - extensions ratified for inclusion into the current and all future versions of the specification.
Experimental - extensions require additional experimentation and feedback from application vendors before ratification, therefore applications should not rely on experimental extensions in production.
In addition to above, an implementation may choose to provide non-standard extensions which are not defined in this specification.
It is the responsibility of the implementation to define and document such non-standard extensions and also to ensure these extensions do not conflict or interfere with any features or extensions of the standard core or sysman APIs.
The following table summarizes the APIs to be used for discovery of different types of extensions. Aside from zeDriverGetExtensionProperties which has been available since inception of this specification, the other APIs have been added subsequently. The versions of spec in which the APIs were added is also noted in following table.
API Category |
Version API added |
Extension Type |
Extension Discovery API |
|---|---|---|---|
Core |
NA |
Standard |
|
Core |
NA |
Experimental |
|
Core |
1.1 |
Implementation non-standard |
|
Sysman |
1.8 |
Standard |
|
Sysman |
1.8 |
Experimental |
|
Sysman |
1.8 |
Implementation non-standard |
Requirements#
Extensions must use globally unique names for macros, enums, structures and functions
Extensions must have globally unique extension names reported from zeDriverGetExtensionProperties, zesDriverGetExtensionProperties
All extensions must be defined in this specification
Extensions must not break backwards compatibility of the standard APIs defined in this specification
Standard extension versions must be backwards compatible with prior versions
Naming Convention#
The following naming conventions must be followed for standard extensions:
All extension functions must be postfixed with Ext
All macros must use all caps with the appropriate prefix. Core macros shall use ZE_NAME_EXT, Sysman macros shall use ZES_NAME_EXT
All structures, enumerations and other types must follow snake case convention with appropriate prefix. Core structures and enumerations shall use ze_name_ext_t and Sysman shall use zes_name_ext_t
All enumerator values must use all caps with appropriate prefix. Core enumerator values shall use ZE_ENUM_EXT_ETOR_NAME and Sysman shall use ZES_ENUM_EXT_ETOR_NAME
All handle types must end with ext_handle_t
All descriptor structures must end with ext_desc_t
All property structures must end with ext_properties_t
All flag enumerations must end with ext_flags_t
The following naming conventions must be followed for experimental extensions:
Experimental extensions may be added and removed from the driver at any time.
Experimental extensions are not guaranteed to be forward- or backward-compatible between versions.
Experimental extensions are not guaranteed to be supported in production driver releases; and may appear and disappear from release to release.
All extension functions must be postfixed with Exp. The vendor name must follow the ze or zes prefix and follow CamelCase convention.
All macros must use all caps with the appropriate prefix. Core macros shall use ZE_NAME_EXP, Sysman macros shall use ZES_NAME_EXP. The vendor name must follow ZE or ZES prefix.
All structures, enumerations and other types must follow snake case convention with appropriate prefix. Core structures and enumerations shall use ze_name_exp_t and Sysman shall use zes_name_exp_t. The vendor name must follow ze or ZES prefix.
All enumerator values must use all caps with appropriate prefix. Core enumerator values shall use ZE_ENUM_EXP_ETOR_NAME and Sysman shall use ZES_ENUM_EXP_ETOR_NAME. The vendor name must follow ZE or ZES prefix.
All handle types must end with exp_handle_t
All descriptor structures must end with exp_desc_t
All property structures must end with exp_properties_t
All flag enumerations must end with exp_flags_t
Extending Enumerations#
Any existing enumeration may be extended by adding new etors. Etors must still use extension naming convention and values should be assigned to avoid future compatibility issues.
Extending Structures#
Any structure derived from base descriptor or base property structure types may be extended using structure chains. While it is possible to use other methods, this is the required method for extending existing structures.
A structure chain can contain more than one extension structure, in any order. Therefore, extensions should not be dependent on their order relative to other extensions and the implementation must be order agnostic. In addition, the implementation will ignore extended structures that it does not support.
The extension must document the specific structures and functions that may be extended using the structure chain.