New to Code warrior IDE and Kinetis ... I Have Some questions regarding it ?

[sivakumarananth]

Hi all ,

     I am new to Code Warrior ide and Kinetis microcontrollers. Have so many doubts regarding to it.

1. What is Clean and when we clean what happens in the background ?

2. What is the difference between build all and build project ?

3. What is mean by .afx file ? how to create it  and when to create it ?

4. What is mean by .elf file or .abs file and how to create it  ?

5. Which file to be loaded into the target for debugging ?

6. What are S19 files (S-record files) ? When they are created during the compilation process ?

7. Need to study about the MQX rtos from basic, Which guide to follow ?

   Please help with the above questions and also mention the reference file from where you have got it ?

Most of all, If I need to know the meaning of all the words that are used in the Code Warrior IDE , Which Guide or Manual I need to refer to get the answer for all the words.

Thanks in Advance

Siva Kumar A

[BlackNight]

Hi Siva,

1) Clean is used to re-build the make files. This is needed e.g. if the make files are out of sync (see No rule to make target | MCU on Eclipse)

2) 'Build all' builds all the project in the workspace, while 'build' only builds the selected one. You probably want just to build one project, as build all might take more time.

3) .afx is an extension of the legacy Freescale ARM compiler for the binary output file. More common extensions are .elf (for ELF/Dwarf) files. It is created by the linker when you build your project.

4) See 3). The .elf extension is a common extension for ELF/Dwarf output files (see DWARF - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). ELF is the object file format, and Dwarf is the debug information foramt. The .abs extension is used by the HCS08/HCS12 linker for ELF/Dwarf projects too. The .abs stands for 'absolute' (aka linked) file.

5) Typically the generated/linked file is loaded into the target (see above, typically the .elf).

6) See S-Record, Intel Hex and Binary Files | MCU on Eclipse. Generation of the file depends on the tool chain. For ARM gcc, see this: S-Record, Intel Hex and Binary Files | MCU on Eclipse

7) I recommend to start with Freescale MQX™ Software Solutions as it hosts a log of learning material for MQX.

I hope this helps,

Erich

[sivakumarananth]

Thank You Very Much Erich. It really helped me.

But need to know how to create a .afx file ?

Thank u

Siva Kumar A

[BlackNight]

Hello,

you get a .afx if you select the Freescale ARM compiler (and not the GNU Gcc) for your project.

Erich

[sivakumarananth]

Hi,

When will the .afx got created, after building the project ? or when it will be created ?

Thank You

Siva Kumar

[BlackNight]

The .afx is the same as .elf produced by other tools. Just that extension is different. And it is created by the linker at the end of the build process.

[sivakumarananth]

But in my case, it is not created for my project, don't know where am doing the mistake ....

Suggest me how to get the mistake rectified ?

Kindly help !

Thank You Erich

[BlackNight]

You probly have selected the wrong compiler during project creation? The .afx extension is used by the Freescale (proprieatry) ARM compiler only to my knowledge. I'm wondering why you need that .afx file extension? If your tool chain produces a .elf, then use that .elf instead of .afx (or simply rename it). The file format is the same.

[sivakumarananth]

I have created the project using the Freescale Compiler only Erich. I am unable to get the .elf file or .afx file, after the build process I am only getting the following files in the Flash folder. " 720.args, makefile, makefile.local, objects.mk, sources.mk ".

Thank you .

Siva Kumar