How to run build using graphics drivers by using optirun (Bumblebee) from IDE (Netbeans, Eclipse)?

Does anyone know how to make eclipse or netbeans use the graphics card in optimus laptops by invoking optirun (bumblebee) inside the IDE so that one can just use the run button in the IDE to run the program in a graphics card within the IDE.

In simplest form I just want the IDE to do the equivalent of optirun ./javaproject

Solution

The way I did this in Eclipse was to first start the Java debugger jdwp and listen to a port. Then start the JVM with optirun java ... and use jdwp to connect to this port. Both tasks can be started at the same time in Eclipse by creating a Launch Group in the debug configuration settings (Run -> Debug Configurations). In detail:

Create a Remote Java Application debug configuration with "Standard (Socket Listen)" Connection Type and some arbitrary port, e.g. 56789. This attaches the Java debugger jdwp on port 56789 to a virtual machine which accepts debug connections at this port.
Now we need to start a JVM with optirun. This can be done with a External Tool Configuration (Run -> External Tools -> External Tool Configurations). Create a new Program configuration in the left side of the External Tools Configurations window. You could directly start optirun java <additional arguments> by filling in the required fields. However, I have decided to use a shell script which is reusable by different projects (As can be seen below, there is one part missing to make it entirely reusable. I'm glad for any help from more experienced Eclipse users...). Hence, the Location field points to this shell script. The script itself accepts three arguments: the classpath for the project, the name of the Java executable, and the port number. These arguments can be passed to the script in the Arguments field of the Main tab, e.g.
- ${project_classpath:${selected_resource_name}}
- ExecName
- 56789
The shell script looks like this, assuming optirun is in your PATH:
```
#!/bin/sh
CLASS_PATH=${1}
JAVA_EXECUTABLE=${2}
PORT=${3}
# TODO: fix this java library path: pass it as an argument as well. Is there an Eclipse variable which stores this?
JAVA_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/share/OpenCV/java
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
optirun ${JAVA_BIN} -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,suspend=y,address=localhost:${PORT} -Djava.library.path=${JAVA_LIBRARY_PATH} -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -classpath ${CLASS_PATH} ${JAVA_EXECUTABLE}
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
```
Finally, the two pieces are brought together in a Launch Group in the Debug Configurations window (Run -> Debug Configurations). Create a new Launch Group and add the two previously generated Debug configurations by clicking on Add in the Launches tab and by selecting the appropriate configurations. Note that due to the classpath variable in step 2 (i.e. ${project_classpath:${selected_resource_name}}), the appropriate package needs to be selected in the Package Explorer before clicking on the run debug configuration button (make sure that the Launch Group is selected).

This solution works perfectly for me: I can debug Java code inside Eclipse which calls native code involving CUDA optimizations and Bumblebee only activates the discrete graphics card when necessary.