Opencl/Gcc error vsc "fatal error: CL/cl.hpp: No such file or directory"

Question

I am having trouble compiling a OpenCL code with two .cl kernel files and a .cpp file, I'm new to C++ but I know you need headers so I've downloaded many eg. OCL_SDK_LIGHT, CUDA, vcpkg OPENCL package. All bring up the same error after compiling and only after compiling here is the error. I'm using the mingw64 g++ compiling which doesn't contain the CL/cl.hpp file, I've tried adding it directly into the include file from other directories but that just brings up more errors. I have also tried compiling in and out of vsc with similar results. I have a nvidia gpu and an amd cpu. I have also added the path to the CUDA toolkit in the properties.json file in vsc.

Any help would be amazing!

Answer 1

You have to tell the compiler where the CL/cl.hpp file is located. I usually copy the folder containing the OpenCL headers in the project directory. Then compile with:

g++ *.cpp -o Test.exe -I./OpenCL/include -L./OpenCL/lib -lOpenCL

Once you have the OpenCL headers, there is no need to install any SDK or CUDA. The graphics driver alone is sufficient as it contains the OpenCL Runtime.

---

For an easy start with OpenCL development, I recomment this OpenCL-Wrapper. It contains a vector addition example. The Wrapper vastly simplifies working OpenCL and entirely eliminates code overhead.