{"id":1715,"date":"2016-04-26T10:24:17","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T17:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visualgdb.com\/w\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2016-04-26T10:24:17","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T17:24:17","slug":"using-project-templates-for-embedded-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visualgdb.com\/tutorials\/arm\/templates\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Project Templates for Embedded Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

This tutorial shows how to convert a VisualGDB project into a template that can be used to create a similar project on the same or a different machine. Before you begin, install VisualGDB 5.1 or later. Note that project templates are available in the Custom edition and higher.<\/p>\n

We will first create a basic project, modify it by adding some source files and changing settings, and then show how to create a template based on it.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Start Visual Studio and launch the VisualGDB Embedded Project Wizard:\"01-demoname\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Proceed with the default settings on the first page (New Project->Embedded Binary):\"02-prjtype\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. On the second page select your toolchain and device. In this tutorial we will target the STM32F4Discovery board, so we select the STM32F407VG device. Change the floating point support mode to Hardware and the libc library type to newlib-nano. We will show later how these settings will be saved in the template:\"03-device\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. On the Sample Selection page select “LEDBlink (HAL)” and proceed with the default settings:\"04-sample\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. On the Debug transport page select your debug method and configure it to use your JTAG or SWD programmer. In this example we will explicitly select the SWD mode and change the load mode to “Load only if changed” to show how these settings are saved in the template:\"05-dbgex\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Press “Finish” to generate the project. We will now modify it by adding a class called “PWMGenerator” that will generate the PWM output to make the LED go brighter and dimmer softly. Right-click in Solution Explorer and select “Add->New Item”:\"08-newitem\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Add an empty PWMGenerator.h file to the project:\"09-pwmgen\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Similarly add PWMGenerator.cpp:\"10-gencpp\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Copy the following text into PWMGenerator.h:\n
    #pragma once\r\n\r\nclass PWMGenerator\r\n{\r\nprivate:\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 int m_TotalPeriod, m_Pin;\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 double m_DutyCycle;\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\r\npublic:\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 PWMGenerator(int totalPeriod, int pin)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : m_TotalPeriod(totalPeriod)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 , m_DutyCycle(0)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 , m_Pin(pin)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 {\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 }\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 void SetDutyCycle(double portion)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 {\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 m_DutyCycle = portion;\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 }\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 void RunIteration();\r\n};<\/pre>\n
    Then click on the Smart Tag near the “RunIteration” function and select “Create implementation”: \"11-header\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  10. Enter the following implementation for the function (don’t forget to include PWMGenerator.h and the HAL header file):\n
    void PWMGenerator::RunIteration()\r\n{\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HAL_GPIO_WritePin(GPIOD, m_Pin, GPIO_PIN_SET);\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for (int i = 0; i < (m_TotalPeriod * m_DutyCycle); i++)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 asm(\"nop\");\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HAL_GPIO_WritePin(GPIOD, m_Pin, GPIO_PIN_RESET);\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for (int i = 0; i < (m_TotalPeriod * (1 - m_DutyCycle)); i++)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 asm(\"nop\");\r\n}<\/pre>\n
    \"12-cpp\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  11. Finally add the following lines to your main() function:\n
    #ifdef ENABLE_PWM_GENERATOR\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0for (double arg = 0;;arg+=0.01)\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0{\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0gen.SetDutyCycle((1 + sin(arg)) \/ 2);\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0gen.RunIteration();\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0}\r\n#endif<\/pre>\n
    \"13-cond\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  12. Note how the code block inside the #ifdef statement is inactive. This happens because we have never defined the ENABLE_PWM_GENERATOR macro. Open VisualGDB Project Properties and define it on the Makefile Settings page:\"14-pwmenable\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  13. Now the code block is active. You can press F5 to build and start debugging your project so that you can verify that the LED is slowly turning brighter and dimmer:\"15-enabled\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  14. We will now convert the project into a template that will contain:\n