In this post I have found settings for Eclipse Indexer to show the state if defines correctly. Usually I have something like this in my projects:
debug me
So I define the macro DEBUG_ME on the compiler command line. And it is cool to see that the Eclipse editor correctly grays out the code which is not enabled. But for this the Eclipse Editor view needs to know about the macro, but how does this work?
The Kinetis-L is a 32bit microprocessor family, based on ARM Cortex M0+. It comes with ARM gcc in CodeWarrior. Although the Kinetis-L does not have much RAM, it is very possible to use gcc with C++, especially as a programmer I keep the limited RAM amount in mind. So I thought I try C++ and Processor Expert for my Kinetis-L KL25Z Freedom board.
If I select C++ as language in the New Bareboard Project Wizard of CodeWarrior, then I cannot select Processor Expert or Device Initialization:
C++ in the New Project Wizard
That makes somewhat sense, as Processor Expert creates normal C code and C files, but no C++. Still, what if I need C++? This is doable, but with anything advanced, I need to know exactly what I want and what I do. Here is the ‘How to use C++ with Processor Expert’.
As noted in my post on gcc and FreeRTOS, some code might be very sensitive to compiler optimizations. While porting code from the Freescale ARM/Kinetis compiler to the gcc compiler as in MCU10.3, I have found way how to force compiler optimization levels in my source code.
My earlier posts were around the Kinetis gcc compiler which comes with CodeWarrior for MCU10.3. MCU10.3 comes as well with the Freescale Kinetis compiler as in MCU10.2. In “S-Record Generation with gcc for ARM/Kinetis” I explored how to generate S19 or other output files with gcc. However, you only can produce one file format at a time. What if I need multiple formats or a different format. What if I need to do the same with non-gcc build tools? S-Records are usually easy as supported in the linker. Other formats need a bit more plumbing. So this post is how I can create and manipulate the different output formats, so I can use it with a bootloader.
Working with the Freescale S08 and S12 build tools, there is something I really appreciated: that the linker reports on the console the code size of the application:
S08 Linker in Eclipse reporting the code size
This is especially handy as it allows you to see the impact on code size immediately e.g. if I change a compiler option or do a source code change. Simple and easy. Yes, I could get that kind of information from the linker map file too. But this means I need to open that file, scroll down/etc: many steps just to find out the code size.
With my Freedom KL25Z board I’m using the GNU/gcc build tools and Eclipse/CodeWarrior. When I wanted to create an S19 file of my application using the GNU tools, this was not that easy to find out. So here are the steps to do this:
I open the project setting using the menu Project > Properties and go to C/C++ Build > Settings > Additional Tools and enable’Create Flash Image‘:
Additional Tools gcc Settings
The schematics for the Freedom board is now available on the element14 Freedom Board site (you need to log into the element14 community first) as FRDM-KL25Z Schematics (SPF-27556_D).pdf (314.7 K)). So time to write a tutorial how to use the LED on that board.
❗ Note: since this tutorial, the LED component has been simplified. So some of the steps below are much simpler and easer. Please see LED’s for Kinetis, simplified | MCU on Eclipse. I have updated this post with the new instructions and images.
In “FreeRTOS with GCC, Cortex-M0+ and Kinetis KL25Z Freedom Board” and “A Shell for the KL25Z Freedom Board” I have used that board with an RTOS: FreeRTOS. But it is really easy to use that board without an RTOS (‘bare metal’) too. In this tutorial I’m providing step by step instructions to use the RGB LED on the Freedom KL25Z board with Processor Expert and the open source LED component.
From time to time, I scratch my head and ask myself: Gee, that file icon looks interesting and different, what does it mean? What I’m wondering about is on Eclipse Icon Decorators. Label and Icon Decorations allow additional information to be displayed in an item’s label and icon. Very powerful. But as with many powerful things: if you don’t know it, it might cause harm or confusion. Unfortunately, that’s not so easy to find out.
Yesterday was my ‘lucky day’: My Kinetis-L Freedom board arrived :-). This board is really nice and features the KL25Z from the recently announced Kinetis L Family. And guess what is the first thing I want to flash on that processor? Yep: some FreeRTOS tasks. But to get there, a few important things have to be sorted out:
The #1 award in my list goes to Eclox+Doxygen+Graphviz+Mscgen. Yes, it is a single Eclipse plugin (Eclox) for Doxygen, and with two other powerful tools. It solves a typical engineering problem: “How to document my project? And how to keep it up-to-date?”.
Like many other engineers, I do not like to write documentation. Because it is painful. I want to write code and program. Writing documentation for it should be fun too. And it should solve the problem that the documentation does not match what has been implemented. I’m a big fan of the ‘single source’ concept: information has to be in a single place, and not copied and distributed among different places. And here my #1 helps me doing this.
MCU on Eclipse 