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GeneralRe: Problem when using a prolific USB to serail adapter. Pin
Cedric Moonen19-Jul-06 5:04
Cedric Moonen19-Jul-06 5:04 
GeneralRe: Problem when using a prolific USB to serail adapter. [modified] Pin
Lifeson19-Jul-06 5:21
Lifeson19-Jul-06 5:21 
GeneralRe: Problem when using a prolific USB to serail adapter. Pin
earl19-Jul-06 6:41
earl19-Jul-06 6:41 
QuestionSetFilterCriteria Pin
N.T.Srikanth19-Jul-06 4:32
N.T.Srikanth19-Jul-06 4:32 
QuestionC/C++ cross-development environment Pin
George_George19-Jul-06 4:17
George_George19-Jul-06 4:17 
AnswerRe: C/C++ cross-development environment Pin
jasper7719-Jul-06 5:38
jasper7719-Jul-06 5:38 
GeneralRe: C/C++ cross-development environment [modified] Pin
George_George19-Jul-06 20:28
George_George19-Jul-06 20:28 
GeneralRe: C/C++ cross-development environment Pin
jasper7720-Jul-06 4:46
jasper7720-Jul-06 4:46 
George_George wrote:
What do you mean "all" it must have? Could you list the materials in your mind which cross-development package should have besides compiler/linker? Like static/dynamic library, header files or something?


Nada, zip, zelch, nothing else required. Really. All you need to create binaries to download onto a target is a cross compiler, which also links. When I say "besides what you typically find on a PC" I mean you have a means to edit files already... heck, you could even use Notepad. It's all just text files, really. Debuggers and navigational aids are mere luxuries.

Having said that, any company worth their salt wouldn't make their employees work with such a primitive development environment. They usually at least supply a source code editor, although I know many embedded developers who prefer to just use emacs, vi, or other open source tools out there. [Oh, can I say "open source" on a MS forum?] They often supply a debugger, if available (more on that later), or may even purchase an entire third party IDE.

I suppose now you're wondering, so how does one debug the program when it's running on a separate processor outside the PC? It's true that many embedded software is developed with environments that are quite primitive to the standards of anyone familiar with an IDE, although slick IDE's for embedded systems can be purchased for lots of money, and also Elipse is making a lot of inroads. [Can I mention Eclipse on an MS forum?] The good IDE's have software that is made to be part of the downloaded image, and an application that runs on the host (PC) that can talk to each other. The fact is, debuggers work closely with the CPU and have intimate knowlege of the cross-compiler, and when there are a wide variety of CPUs and compilers for which to do embedded development, only the most popular get good third party IDE tool support. In my current embedded software development environment, I don't even have a debugger. That's right, I have no way to set breakpoints and watch variables. I figure out what's going on with the system by reading logs (debugging with printf's!) and observing the behavior of the target system. Since I am an EE and not afraid of "the metal", sometimes I might also get an oscilloscope or a logic analyzer, put some probes on the target hardware, and observe the signals. However, since I currently work with a "System on a Chip" or SoC, where the CPU is part of an ASIC that also has a lot of the capabilities that would otherwise be done by separate chips on a board, I don't have as many convenient places to place hardware probes.

You may also wonder how to download; this forum is really not the place, so I won't go into much detail. I really recommend the Michael Barr book. He explains things in the kind of detail you're looking for. You don't actually have to buy the kit and perform the steps to learn from the book. Having said that, the company I work for now has a homegrown Windows program that talks to the target via USB. I can start this monitor, use commands in it to download the binary image to the memory on the target, get logs, and various other exercises on the chip (even writing to and reading from specific hardware registers), as it continutes to run. (This is why I'm on this forum... I'm trying to figure out if the old VS6 files, and the makefiles that build them, can be ported to VC++ Express... I'm a fish out of water.) But the specific ways to download software to the target vary with the type of memory used on the target. If you use ROM, the binary is burned to the ROM chips with a ROM burner attached to your PC (which has it's own program to use), and then the chips are thrown away if you want to change the code. If you use EEPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only-Memory) you can reuse the chips. If you use flash memory it's typcially on the board and you can download new software to it as many times as you please. The board in the kit used by the Michael Barr book has flash memory.

Now, if someone would just answer my separate question about equivalent build command lines for msdev and vcbuild, I'll be a lot happier!
GeneralRe: C/C++ cross-development environment Pin
George_George20-Jul-06 17:28
George_George20-Jul-06 17:28 
GeneralRe: C/C++ cross-development environment Pin
jasper7721-Jul-06 4:15
jasper7721-Jul-06 4:15 
GeneralRe: C/C++ cross-development environment Pin
George_George24-Jul-06 0:32
George_George24-Jul-06 0:32 
QuestionStretchBlt error Pin
ilgale19-Jul-06 3:48
ilgale19-Jul-06 3:48 
AnswerRe: StretchBlt error Pin
_AnsHUMAN_ 19-Jul-06 4:04
_AnsHUMAN_ 19-Jul-06 4:04 
GeneralRe: StretchBlt error Pin
ilgale19-Jul-06 4:45
ilgale19-Jul-06 4:45 
AnswerRe: StretchBlt error Pin
Hamid_RT19-Jul-06 19:49
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QuestionWebcam programming/C++ Pin
chee chung chan19-Jul-06 3:43
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AnswerRe: Webcam programming/C++ Pin
ollydbg2319-Jul-06 5:13
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GeneralRe: Webcam programming/C++ Pin
chee chung chan20-Jul-06 1:45
chee chung chan20-Jul-06 1:45 
QuestionEnhanced Write Filter Pin
bannapradeep19-Jul-06 3:25
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AnswerRe: Enhanced Write Filter Pin
Maximilien19-Jul-06 3:49
Maximilien19-Jul-06 3:49 
GeneralRe: Enhanced Write Filter Pin
toxcct19-Jul-06 4:46
toxcct19-Jul-06 4:46 
GeneralRe: Enhanced Write Filter Pin
bannapradeep19-Jul-06 21:55
bannapradeep19-Jul-06 21:55 
GeneralRe: Enhanced Write Filter Pin
bannapradeep19-Jul-06 21:53
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GeneralRe: Enhanced Write Filter Pin
toxcct19-Jul-06 21:57
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GeneralRe: Enhanced Write Filter Pin
bannapradeep19-Jul-06 22:10
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