Check what new features or updates were introduced in each FreeMASTER Release. FreeMASTER 3.2 FreeMASTER 3.2.3 Update  New! FreeMASTER 3.2.2 Update  FreeMASTER 3.2.1 Update  FreeMASTER 3.2  FreeMASTER 3.1 FreeMASTER 3.1.4 - Update FreeMASTER 3.1.3 - Update FreeMASTER 3.1.2 - Update FreeMASTER 3.1.1 - Update FreeMASTER 3.1 - Release Announcement FreeMASTER 3.0 FreeMASTER 3.0.3 - Update FreeMASTER 3.0.1 - Update FreeMASTER 3.0 - Release Announcement Introducing FreeMASTER 3.0

Version 3.2.3 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This version is backward compatible and fully replaces older 3.2.x releases (see previous announcements). It brings new features and bugfixes described below. The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.     Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors. Version 3.2.3 is a minor update of the 3.2.x mainline release line. It overwrites previous 3.2 version installed on the host computer. Older 2.x, 3.0 and 3.1 versions are not removed.  This version backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs, array-to-graph views and connectivity to 3rd party applications. There are CEF and Microsoft Edge WebView2 as two Chromium-based HTML rendering engines with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that run inside FreeMASTER. Older Internet Explorer rendering engine with ActiveX interface and protocol defined for versions 2.x is also still supported. FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. FreeMASTER Lite also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager. Version 3.2.3 contains FreeMASTER Lite and Node.JS modules internally referred as version 1.3. Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code generated for this version. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page. New Features Version 3.2.3 introduces the following new features extending data visualization and communication options: Segger RTT plug-in extended The RTT communication plug-in now enables extra connection options to be provided by user. This may be needed to specify memory address or range of addresses where JLink RTT client searches for a communication buffer. Segger JLink plug-in extended The JLink plug-in now enables a custom script file (JLinkScript) to be executed by JLink library while connecting to target. This may be needed when extra steps are necessary e.g. to enable target memory access point (MEM-AP) interface. P&E Micro plug-in extended The P&E Micro plug-in has been extended. The latest firmware and device files have been added to support new NXP microcontrollers. ELF/Dwarf version 5 support Application executable files compiled using the latest GCC which use Dwarf V5 format by default can now be directly parsed by FreeMASTER. X-Y graphs extended Recorder, oscilloscope and Array Viewer X-Y graphs now enable to break the graph line when negative delta is detected on X axis. This may be useful when tracking inter-variable dependencies during cyclic events. CEF component updated CEF Chromium browser component has been updated to version 121.3.4+g2af7b91+chromium-121.0.6167.139. This solves issues observed after January 2024 update of Chrome browser. Regular-expression MAP file parser extended Parsing the text-based MAP files is quite outdated way of loading the MCU application symbolic information. However, this option may still be useful when other methods such as reading the ELF file or loading runtime TSA tables are not available. The latest version extends the MAP file parsing by options to define and load symbol type information. Loading ELF or MAP file from HTTPS URL The ELF/MAP files are now possible to be downloaded from HTTP/HTTPS server using an URL address.  Connection string as command-line argument The connect-string can now be specified using the "/cs" command-line argument. This may be extremely useful during automated test procedures or when starting multiple concurrent FreeMASTER instances to interface different target boards. Bugfixes and other extensions: FreeMASTER Fixed the warning dialog showing the full connect string when connection takes longer than expected. Fixed format of JSON-RPC responses of WriteMultipleVariables() and ReadMultipleVariables() methods. FreeMASTER Lite The Segger JLink, RTT and P&E Micro plug-in configuration options have been extended the same as in the desktop version. Added BDM plugin to FreeMASTER Lite for Windows x64. Added health check endpoint. Default path is `/health`, can be customized via input argument `--health <route>`. Upgraded Internal NodeJS to version 18.5.0. Fixed write 1 byte variable function. Issue: FreeMATER Lite was writing the ASCI code of the first character of the string argument instead of the numeric value (ex: “1” was written as 49 instead of 1)   Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicates with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms.   JTAG/ BDM Serial CAN TCP/IP Segger RTT FreeMASTER Desktop app. x86 for Windows ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓   Separate packages are available for FreeMASTER Lite containing x64 binaries for Windows & Linux platforms with the following supported communication interfaces.   JTAG/ BDM Serial CAN TCP/IP Segger RTT FreeMASTER Lite x64 for Windows ✓* ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ FreeMASTER Lite x64 for Linux ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ *Requires 64 bit version of the 3 rd party library. Tested with Segger (JLink_x64.dll).   Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

Version 3.2.2 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This version is backward compatible and fully replaces older 3.2.x releases (see previous announcements). It brings new features and bugfixes described below. The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.     Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors. Version 3.2.2 is a minor update of the 3.2.x mainline release line. It overwrites previous 3.2 version installed on the host computer. Older 2.x, 3.0 and 3.1 versions are not removed.  This version backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs, array-to-graph views and connectivity to 3rd party applications. There are CEF and Microsoft Edge WebView2 as two Chromium-based HTML rendering engines with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that run inside FreeMASTER. Older Internet Explorer rendering engine with ActiveX interface and protocol defined for versions 2.x is also still supported. FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. FreeMASTER Lite also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager. Version 3.2.2 contains FreeMASTER Lite and Node.JS modules internally referred as version 1.2. Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code generated for this version. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page. New Features Version 3.2.2 introduces the following new features extending data visualization and communication options: Variable Watch views extended Variable Watch views now able to display a new optional column to the grid, which displays address of each variable. Also, a source of the information is displayed (ELF, TSA or dynamic) along with the numeric address value. This may be extremely useful during troubleshooting the variable configuration.  Application Calibration - save & load variable values The variables displayed together in one of the Watch views can be selected and their immediate values exported to a JSON file. Later the file can be loaded and all values written back to physical variables. This feature is useful to bring application quickly to a recent state or to restore calibration values being tuned. ActiveX/JSON-RPC interface extended Functionality of ActiveX/JSON-RPC methods GetSymbolInfo and GetAddressInfo was extended so that also the C-language type name can be retrieved. Additionally, the ActiveX methods which accept 1D array on input (e.g. WriteDoubleArray)  have been made friendly to Matlab scripting. Vectors of N elements in Matlab scripts are actually 2D arrays (Nx1) which were not compatible with the FreeMASTER ActiveX interface. The Matlab format is now accepted too. CMSIS-DAP v2.1 supported The CMSIS-DAP v2.1 introduced by NXP MCU-Link interface is built on top of new WebUSB communication class. FreeMASTER 3.2.2 supports this new communication as well as it maintains backward compatibility with older versions. Data capture in raw format Data captured to file by Oscilloscope or Recorder views can now be stored in raw binary format for faster processing. This capture mode extends the default storing in double floating point format. Bugfixes and other extensions: FreeMASTER Fixed handling of unsupported DWARF version 5 (error message shown instead of crash). Fixed script method StartComm() to handle the "preset" configuration properly. Fixed creation of second "New Window" for recorder. Fixed storing/restoring of window layout to or from a standalone layout file. Fixed opening online projects using the "https:" URIs. Fixed DefineVariable script method with variables created with defined numeric transformation. Fixed text labels of the Recorder manual control button inside the recorder view. New versions of P&E Micro Multilink firmware added to fix Power Architecture Nexus2+ connection issue. FreeMASTER Lite Fixed flow control and stop bits options parsing during RS232 communication setup. Fixed TriggerOnly ignored option during Recorder configuration.   Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicates with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms.   JTAG/ BDM Serial CAN TCP/IP Segger RTT FreeMASTER Desktop app. x86 for Windows ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓   Separate packages are available for FreeMASTER Lite containing x64 binaries for Windows & Linux platforms with the following supported communication interfaces.   Serial CAN TCP/IP FreeMASTER Lite x64 for Windows ✓ ✓ ✓ FreeMASTER Lite x64 for Linux ✓ ✗ ✓   Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

Along with the release of MCUXpresso 11.7.0 (Jan 2023) there was and also an update to the MCU-Link debug probe firmware (version 3.108). We changed the major version number for this MCU-Link firmware release because it marks an update to be based on CMSIS-DAP 2.1, meaning the probe now enumerates as a WinUSB device instead of a USB HID device.  At the time of publishing this article, FreeMASTER 3.2 is the latest release and this version of the tool does not support SWD/JTAG connections over WinUSB. For that reason, please continue to use version 2.263 of the MCU-Link firmware if you want to use this type of interface with FreeMASTER. Note that the USB bridges to SPI, I2C and UART (VCOM) are still based on HID with the v3.xxx MCU-Link firmware, so if you are using only those interfaces via MCU-Link then you can update the firmware without hitting problems. We are working on support for WinUSB for the SWD/JTAG connection with FreeMASTER and will post more information once this is available. #FreeMASTER #MCU-Link #MCUXpressoIDE

Version 3.2.1 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This version is backward compatible and fully replaces older 3.2.x releases (see previous announcements). It brings new features and bugfixes described below. The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.     Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors. Version 3.2.1 is a minor update of the 3.2.x mainline release line. It overwrites previous 3.2 version installed on the host computer. Older 2.x, 3.0 and 3.1 versions are not removed.  This version backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and connectivity to 3rd party applications. There are CEF and Microsoft Edge WebView2 as two Chromium-based HTML rendering engines with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that run inside FreeMASTER. Older Internet Explorer rendering engine with ActiveX interface and protocol defined for versions 2.x is also still supported. FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. FreeMASTER Lite also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager. Version 3.2.1 brings an updated FreeMASTER Lite and Node.JS modules internally referred as version 1.2. Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code newly generated for this version. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page. New Features Version 3.2.1 introduces the following new features extending data visualization and communication options: Multiple "Variable Watch" views Multiple Variable Watch views may now be displayed statically in the main view as floating or  dockable panes. Simply click any block item in the project tree hierarchy and select "New Watch Window" menu. New Watch window will open and will statically display values of variables assigned to the selected block. Note that a behavior of the standard Watch view has not changed, it still updates its content depending on a currently selected item in the project tree. TCP-to-Serial communication plug-in New TCP-to-Serial communication plug-in has been added. This plug-in implements the native RS232 protocol (version 4) over a raw TCP connection. It might be useful when bridging the serial communication over a network. Note that this is a different type of communication than used by the native TCP/UDP/RTT plug-in which uses a network protocol to connect to the target board directly. ActiveX/JSON-RPC interface extended New API methods were added to enable creation of the following objects in the FreeMASTER project: Text Enumeration types (enum types) - DefineEnum/GetEnumDefinition methods. Variable Stimulators - DefineStimulator/GetStimulatorDefinition methods. Recorder control methods like GetCurrentRecorderData were extended to be able to work also with Array Viewer data. Bugfixes and other extensions: FreeMASTER Fixed ELF file change detection and automatic reload. Fixed ELF array element address calculation logic for arrays nested in C++ namespaces. Fixed ArrayViewer data download for sizes over 64kB. Fixed error message for TCP/UDP/RTT connection in case of connection timeout. Fixed JScript JSON-RPC notification (events) exception handling and error reporting in reemaster-client.js. Fixed UTF-8 handling of JSON-RPC communication, e.g. when reading UTF-8 files using LocalFileReadString. Fixed expression evaluator crash when ELF symbol name length exceeds 256 characters. Fixed loss of communication over CMSIS-DAP virtual serial line (automatic port reconfiguration in case a CMSIS-DAP device is reset). Fixed serialization and restoration of window/view layout from a .pmpx file. Fixed performance issues Large number of ELF symbols was causing slowdown of Generate Variables dialog. Removal of temporary files of MS Edge component is now deferred to application exit to speed up project New/Open operation. ELF C++ data type parsing logic optimized by using internal lookup caches. FreeMASTER Lite Serial port identification using a keyword from a device description (Windows only). Serial connection via “COM_ALL” keyword to try all serial ports available (Windows & Linux) Internal NodeJS version upgraded to 16.16.0 Internal Node-RED version upgraded to 3.0.2 Node-RED updates (node-red-contrib-freemaster) Input data now appended to the output payload on all FreeMASTER nodes Fixed: Read array node address does not update after GUI change Fixed: Read array node does not push payload to all outputs   Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicates with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux. Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.  

If MCAT “App Control” tab is not displayed correctly like in the picture below, where gauges and fault indicators are missing, it is because a gauge component was not registered automatically in the windows system.   In order to fix this this issue apply following step to register gauge component: 1. Close the FreeMASTER project. 2. Extract agauge.CAB file located in C:\NXP\MC_DevKits\MCSPTE1AK344\sw\MCSPTE1AK344_PMSM_FOC_2Sh_ll\FreeMASTER_control\MCAT\control_page NOTE: You may use any archive software with CAB archive support includes WinZip, WinRAR or 7-Zip.           3. Run command prompt as an administrator. 4. Change active directory to extracted folder cd C:\NXP\MC_DevKits\MCSPTE1AK344\sw\MCSPTE1AK344_PMSM_FOC_2Sh_ll\FreeMASTER_control\MCAT\control_page\agauge 5. Run command regsvr32 agauge.ocx. Message box will inform you about gauge successful registration.   After gauge has been successfully installed you can open the FreeMASTER project and MCAT “App Control" tab will display correctly.  

Version 3.2 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This is the first version of the new 3.2.x release line. It is backward compatible with previous 3.x and 2.x versions (see previous release announcements). The latest version brings new features and bugfixes described in this article. The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.     Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors. Version 3.2.0 is the first version of the new 3.2.x release line. The installer does not replace the older installations in the system, version 3.2 it may co-exist simultaneously with the older versions.  Version 3.2 is fully backward compatible with all previous versions and it adds new features described here. Traditionally, it supports runtime monitoring of embedded applications, displaying variable values, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and enables connectivity to 3rd party applications. The major new feature introduced by this version is a support of Microsoft Edge WebView2 browser component which can be used to render dashboard and other control applications running embedded in the FreeMASTER main application window. In total, there are now three options of hosting the active HTML content inside the FreeMASTER: the legacy Microsoft Internet Explorer component introduced in versions 1.x and 2.x; Chromium CEF component introduced in version 3.0 and the new Microsoft Edge WebView2 component. The new Edge WebView2 is also based on a Chromium engine so it is fully compatible with the FreeMASTER's JSON-RPC client interface. Additionally the Edge also partially supports the COM+ host object embedding which enables to access the "legacy" FreeMASTER ActiveX interface. Such versatility enables a smooth migration path for old dashboards and control pages created originally for Internet Explorer into the modern browser framework. Note that the Internet Explorer browser and related technology is being phased out by Microsoft and the IE-based applications may no longer operate properly in near future. Please read more in the IE migration whitepaper accessible at the FreeMASTER Welcome page. FreeMASTER Lite service which is a part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. FreeMASTER Lite also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  Note: Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page. FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager. New Features The key new feature is a support of Microsoft Edge WebView2 browser component which can be used to migrate old dashboards and other HTML applications running in FreeMASTER from Internet Explorer to the modern browser with minimal changes in the HTML and JScript code. Additionally, the ActiveX and JSON-RPC interface has been extended by new methods enabling to access project content and project options programmatically from a script environment. Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicate with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux. Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

Version 3.1.4 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This version is backward compatible and fully replaces older 3.1.x releases (see previous announcements). The latest version brings new features and bugfixes described below. The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.   Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors. Version 3.1.4 is a minor update of the 3.1.x mainline release line. If there is any previous 3.1.x version already installed on the host computer, the FreeMASTER 3.1.4 overwrites the installation and it remains referred as a general mainline version 3.1. Older 2.x and 3.0 versions are not removed.  Version 3.1.4 is backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and connectivity to 3rd party applications. An HTML rendering engine based on Chromium with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript is available to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that can run inside FreeMASTER or standalone in local or remote web browser. Older Internet Explorer rendering, ActiveX interface and protocols defined for versions 2.x are also still supported. FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. FreeMASTER Lite also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  Note: Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page. FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager. New Features Version 3.1.4 introduces brand new features extending data visualization and communication options: Extended clipboard support Clipboard cut, copy and paste operations are now supported in the Variable Watch view and Project Tree view. Thanks to JSON text format, the clipboard can also be used to copy and paste variables and project items between different projects. ELF/DWARF V1 support This format used to be supported until FreeMASTER 2.0. It is now back as there are customer still using older CodeWarrior tools which generate debugging information in this format (e.g. CodeWarrior for DSC 8.3).   ActiveX and JSON-RPC API extended New API added to enable runtime manipulation, activation, creation and deletion of project items like Watch-blocks, Oscilloscopes, Recorders, Array Viewers and Pipes. The project can now be also saved or saved-as programaticaly using a script calls. A new FireCustomEvent and OnCustomEvent API may be used to communicate between all ActiveX and JSON-RPC scripting clients attached to FreeMASTER application.  New methods enable to Read or Write multiple variables within a single RPC call. This may be used to optimize performance by reducing RPC communication and processing time. These methods are also supported in FreeMASTER Lite. HTML Console Log view Log view can be displayed as a floating/dockable pane in FreeMASTER. The view shows console messages generated by JScript applications running in IE and Chromium views. RS232 control of RTS and DTR signals Extended control over RS232 port enables to configure RTS, DTR, CTS and DSR handshake signals. New address calculation operators New offsetof operator is now supported in variable address expression. This operator can be used as offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER) and it returns an offset of a structure member within a structure type. This might prove useful to access members of structures at dynamically defined addresses. For example: having a "ptr" variable holding a pointer to a structure instance, a member's address may be defined as valueof(ptr)+offsetof(type,member). New hint message displayed in a variable definition dialog lists all supported operators usable in a variable address field. Graph font scaling Font size of graph objects (legend and axis labels) can now be controlled and scaled up or down to achieve better visibility on 4k and other large monitors. The settings are saved in computer's local registry. Bugfixes and other extensions: FreeMASTER Fixed premature OnCommPortState and OnBoardDetected events fired before ELF fully loaded. Fixed ELF enumeration loading so the variables which use the enumerations are loaded properly. Fixed copy/paste issue of the root item in the project tree. Fixed clipboard behavior in 'textarea' elements inside CEF-rendered pages. Fixed symbol type resolution in Variable definition dialog when working with ELF symbols. FreeMASTER Lite Added debug logging functionality allowing to trace configuration file parsing Fixed variables' information loading from configuration file Fixed ReadELF function failures on missing elf property in connection definition inside configuration file Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicate with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux. Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

This article is meant to be a starting guide for engineers using FreeMASTER tool. Introduction How To Install FreeMASTER Tool 3.x  How To Get FreeMASTER Driver for Embedded Application  Webinars Watch FreeMASTER Four-Part Webinar Series Development How To Implement a Control HTML Page using JSON-RPC API  How To Configure FreeMASTER Driver (video) How To Connect To The Target Board (video) How To Expose Variables Via TSA (Target Side Addressing) (video) How To Use FreeMASTER Communication Library in a custom C/C++ project How To Use FreeMASTER Communication Library in a custom Python script

Using FreeMASTER communication library in a custom C/C++ project ...

Using FreeMASTER communication library in a custom Python script using ctypes ...

Version 3.1.3 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This version is backward compatible and fully replaces older 3.1.x releases (see previous announcements). The latest version brings new features and bugfixes described below. The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.   Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors. Version 3.1.3 is a minor update of the 3.1.x mainline release line. If there is any previous 3.1.x version already installed on the host computer, the FreeMASTER 3.1.3 overwrites the installation and it remains referred as a general mainline version 3.1. Older 2.x and 3.0 versions are not removed.  Version 3.1.3 is backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and connectivity to 3rd party applications. An HTML rendering engine based on Chromium with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript is available to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that can run inside FreeMASTER or standalone in local or remote web browser. Older Internet Explorer rendering, ActiveX interface and protocols defined for versions 2.x are also still supported. FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. FreeMASTER Lite also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  Note: Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page. FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager. New Features Version 3.1.3 introduces brand new features extending data visualization and communication options: Communication over Segger RTT JLink interface New option was added in the network plug-in to enable communication over Segger RTT interface. Segger J-Link RTT is a high-speed bi-directional stream communication between host PC and target ARM CortexM CPU. A telnet protocol is used on the host PC to reach out to the J-Link interface so this communication may also be established to a remote computer's J-Link probe. Key benefit of the RTT is that the communication may be used simultaneously with an active debugger session established over the same J-Link interface. The network plug-in has been released in previous 3.1.2 version and enables a direct network communication with a target MCU using UDP or TCP protocols. The new version extends this plug-in by an RTT communication option. The ‘fmstr_rtt’ example application for i.MX-RT and other supported MCU platforms is going to be available soon in the FreeMASTER driver v3.0.5 available in MCUXpresso SDK version 2.11. ActiveX and JSON-RPC Server optimization Performance of the ActiveX and JSON-RPC servers accessed from external 3rd party clients is improved by running the internal COM+ server in a background thread, independent on the main UI processing. Comparing it to older implementation, the 3 rd party clients like Excel, Matlab, or Chrome web browser application interact faster with FreeMASTER back end as the communication is no more handled in the main UI process. FreeMASTER Lite middleware optimization Previously used FFI (Foreign Function Invocation) module was replaced with Node Native Addons. This change reduces the delay of invoking mcbcom library functions. Additionally, embedded NodeJS was upgraded from v12 (EOL) to v16. Note: since version 14, NodeJS supports Windows 8 and newer. This applies to FreeMASTER Lite as well, considering it is now using NodeJS v16. Using multiple FreeMASTERs Both ActiveX and JSON-RPC clients are now better able to access multiple instances of the running FreeMASTER tool and access multiple MCU applications in parallel. Please refer to detailed information and examples provided in the User Guide. Other changes List of other minor changes in version 3.1.3 Support for drag&drop re-positioning of variables has been enabled in the Variable Watch grid view. HTML applications running inside the FreeMASTER window may now access a special URL to retrieve a “info.js” file which defines a JSON object with various information about the currently running process, active project, communication settings etc. Refer to User Guide for more information. Bugfixes and other extensions: Fixed false recorder error when a variable is added as hidden & non-triggering. Fixed recorder setup dialog to prevent adding trigger variable without polarity defined. Fixed recorder state machine bug causing recorder to get stuck when manually aborted. Fixed ELF parser to load all C++ base-class members in case of indirect inheritance DWARF entry is used. Fixed inconsistent behavior of ELF parser when loading C++ class types, behaving differently after FreeMASTER startup and after ELF file was reloaded. Fixed SelectItem RPC call, could crash when bad item name was specified. Fixed maximum number of threads that can connect to communication DLL when communicating over a plug-in. Number increased from 4 to 16. Small number was causing issues when accessing communication from a Chromium engine. Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicate with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux. Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

USL：https://community.nxp.com/docs/DOC-345079 由iulianstan和Adrian创建的文档     本文将引导您完成FreeMASTER 3.0的安装过程。您可以从FreeMASTER download page（https://www.nxp.com/webapp/Download?colCode=FMASTERSW30&location=null）获得安装软件包。   安装包内容 根据您的目标操作系统平台，您可以选择以下选项之一：        – Windows软件包包含FreeMASTER桌面应用程序，FreeMASTER Lite服务（均为32       位    版本）和文档。它是自包含的，不需要任何先决条件即可安装在干净的计算机       上。          – Linux软件包仅包含64位版本的FreeMASTER Lite服务。下载安装文件后，请确保    您向其添加了执行权限。然后以任何可执行文件的形式在终端中运行：               – Sudo chmod +x FreeMASTER3.0.bin               – ./FreeMASTER3.0.bin   安装   在安装过程中，系统将提示您一个“组件选择”窗口（在Linux上只有一个选项-FreeMASTER Lite       FreeMASTER Lite需要激活码，您可以通过单击窗口底部提供的链接（https://www.nxp.com/webapp/swlicensing/sso/downloadSoftware.sp?catid=FreeMASTER_Lite_1.0.R）免费获得激活码（请参见上文）。   一旦访问该链接后，您将收到一封包含激活码的电子邮件。可能需要一些时间，因此您可以继续使用浏览器选项，该选项将带您进入产品页面。       激活码可在“许可证密钥”选项卡中。您将需要在组件安装期间提供密钥。       输入激活后，安装过程将恢复。       现在，FreeMASTER 3.0已成功安装在您机器上的所选安装目录中（也显示在上面的最终窗口中）。       您可以使用创建的快捷方式或直接通过从安装文件夹运行可执行文件来启动FreeMASTER & FreeMASTER Lite        FreeMASTER - FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER\pcmaster.eve       有关更多信息，请通过以下快捷方式或直接从FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER\\doc\pcm_um.pdf访问用户指南。        FreeMASTER Lite - FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER Lite\node.exe       运行可执行文件后，它将在系统默认的Web浏览器中自动打开用户指南（如果未打开，请导航至http://localhost:8090/）。通过打开FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER Lite\html\index.html文件，也可以在不运行该工具的情况下对其进行访问。       Enjoy！

FreeMASTER 3.1.2 Update - Release Announcement

This article will focus on the embedded side of the FreeMASTER tool - the communication driver. It is a lightweight library that implements FreeMASTER communication protocol and enables FreeMASTER features in the application running on the target device. Currently there are three sources you can get it from: Driver Package MCUXpresso SDK S32 Design Studio SDK The following sections will guide you through each separate approach. Driver Package This package includes the implementation of FreeMASTER protocol versions 2 and 3. Refer to MCUXpresso SDK section for a driver which implements the latest protocol version 4. PC tools, FreeMASTER 3.0 and FreeMASTER Lite, are backward compatible and work with all protocol versions. Self-extracting installation package is available on FreeMASTER download page under BSP, Drivers and Middleware section. After installation it will create a folder (default path - C:\NXP\FreeMASTER_Serial_Communication_Driver_V2.0) on your system with the following content:   You can start with ready to use projects from examples\SCI_driver_examples folder:   Each example contains a readme file specifying environment requirements (target board and used IDE). To start a new project you would require to add just two folders to your project src_common containing generic protocol implementation and platform specific sources from src_platform. The latter has a similar layout to the examples (with a per platform sub-folder). Refer to documentation (doc folder) for further library configuration.   MCUXpresso SDK Currently, only MCUXpresso SDK includes latest version of FreeMASTER Communication Driver which implements the communication protocol v4. Latest implementation of the FreeMASTER Communication Protocol (v4.0) was integrated into MCUXpresso SDK. In case you don't have the IDE you can get it from MCUXpresso IDE download page. If have it already installed proceed to SDK builder.     Navigate to Development Board Selection, choose a Board/Kit/Processor and build the SDK.     Once the build is ready make sure that FreeMASTER Component is included.     Save your changes and download the SDK. You can import the it from MCUXpresso IDE QuickStart Panel :     In case it is not visible you can add it to your view from: Window → Show View → Quickstart Panel. Check this video on how you can import SDK into MCUXpresso IDE: Now you can start a new project and add FreeMASTER middle-ware component or import FreeMASTER example from SDK   S32 Design Studio SDK S32 Design Studio includes FreeMASTER Communication Driver v2.0 out of the box - no additional installation required.  Refer to this article for FreeMASTER Driver usage with S32 Design Studio.

 A FOUR-PART WEBINAR SERIES | 60 MINUTES EACH FreeMASTER, from NXP, is a powerful real-time debugging and data visualization tool that can help you create engaging demo interfaces for your embedded application. Join NXP for this four-part on-demand training series as we’ll provide an overview of the software, it’s features, capabilities, available examples, application use cases and how to easily get started.   Part 1: Watch Now >  Get to Know the Easy-to-Use FreeMASTER Runtime Debugging Tool – Now Part of MCUXpresso SDK Join this session as we walk through live demos of FreeMASTER 3.0 examples provided in the SDK to highlight the main out-of-the-box features of this tool.   Part 2: Watch Now >  Tips for Enhancing Embedded Applications with FreeMASTER UI from Various Development Environments like S32DS and Matlab/Simulink Join this session to learn and explore multiple FreeMASTER enablement options and how to design your applications to be much more user-friendly.   Part 3: Watch Now >  Introduction to FreeMASTER Dashboard Coding Using HTML, JavaScript, ActiveX and JSON-RPC In this session we further explore FreeMASTER’s capabilities to connect to third-party applications primarily focused on the coding of JavaScript-based HTML to create interactive dashboard applications running either directly inside the FreeMASTER application or standalone in a local or remote web browser.   Part 4: Watch Now >  Getting Started with FreeMASTER Lite and JSON-RPC Protocol: From Scripting to Visual Dashboards with Python and JavaScript Join this webinar to learn more about FreeMASTER Lite and how to get started as we’ll share coding examples in Python and JavaScript.    

  This article will walk you through the installation process of FreeMASTER 3.0. You can get the installation package from the FreeMASTER download page.   Package content Depending on your target OS platform you can choose one of the following options: Windows package contains FreeMASTER desktop application, FreeMASTER Lite service (both 32-bit version) and documentation. It is self contained and does not required any prerequisites in order to be installed on a clean machine. Linux package contains 64-bit version of FreeMASTER Lite service only. After downloading the installation file make sure that you add execution rights to it. Then run as any executable in the terminal: sudo chmod +x FreeMASTER3.0.bin ./FreeMASTER3.0.bin                Installation During the installation process you will be prompted with a Component Selection window (on Linux it has only one option - FreeMASTER Lite😞       FreeMASTER Lite requires an activation code that you can get free of charge by following the link, also provided at the bottom of the window (see above).   Once you access that link you will also receive a email containing your activation code. It may take a while so you can continue with the browser option that will lead you to the product page.   The activation code is available inside License Keys tab. You will be required to provide the key during component installation.     After you input the activation the installation process will resume.     Now FreeMASTER 3.0 is successfully installed on your machine, inside your selected installation directory (is also displayed in the final window as above).   You can launch FreeMASTER & FreeMASTER Lite using created shortcuts or directly by running the executables from the installation folder: FreeMASTER - FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER\pcmaster.exe     For more information access the User Guide by following the shortcut or directly from FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER\\doc\pcm_um.pdf   FreeMASTER Lite - FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER Lite\node.exe     It will automatically open the User Guide in system default web browser after you run the executable (if it does not open navigate to  http://localhost:8090/). It can also be accessed without running the tool by opening the FreeMASTER 3.0\FreeMASTER Lite\html\index.html file.   Enjoy !

Version 3.1.1 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  This version brings bugfixes and minor updates described below. You may also want to read the recent announcement and see training videos of the mainline version 3.1.0.  The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.   Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive BLs as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Version 3.1.1 is a minor update of the 3.1 mainline release. If version 3.1.0 is already installed, the FreeMASTER Update 3.1.1 overwrites the installation and it remains referred as a general mainline version 3.1. Older 2.x and 3.0 versions are not removed.  Version 3.1.1 is backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and connectivity to 3rd party applications. An HTML rendering engine based on Chromium with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript is available to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that can run inside FreeMASTER or standalone in local or remote web browser. Older Internet Explorer rendering, ActiveX interface and protocols defined for versions 2.x are also still supported. FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. The FreeMASTER Lite 3.1 also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video.  Changes   List of changes in version 3.1.1 New version of the P&E Micro Communication plug-in brings support of the latest CortexM7-based devices. The plug-in has been renamed from "BDM Communication"  to "P&E Micro Communication" to better identify the set of supported interfaces. New version of the Segger JLink Communication plug-in updates the JLink communication library to version 6.88c and fixes issues when opening a target device selection window in plug-in configuration dialog. New option added to ELF/DWARF parsing which enables to load unused symbols and symbols that are allocated at zero (NULL) address by a linker. This option is OFF by default, must be enabled by user in Options / Map Files / Edit settings dialog. Partial clipboard support in Project Tree simplifies duplicating and moving Recorder, Oscilloscope and other items. Currently the clipboard commands only work within a single running instance of FreeMASTER. Variable description and comment text can now be assigned. The description may be used as an internal variable documentation - displayed in Variable Properties dialog. Comment text may be displayed as a new column in Variable Watch view. This column is visible by default in new projects. Bugfixes and other extensions: Fixed excessive communication with target board during initial board probing. This was happening when ActiveX/JSON-RPC client was trying to Read/Write variables during initial port-open action. Fixed direct memory access mode in PD-BDM plug-in. This faster access mode was not always used on CortexM platforms. Fixed invalid/zero variable size logged in Communication Debug Log in ReadVariable, WriteVariable and other similar log messages. Fixed crash in initial project open after application startup when the main window looses focus before the app. is fully initialized. Fixed JSON-RPC parsing of floating point numbers - this has depended on user regional settings causing issues in Dutch and other environments. JSON parsing now forced to English locale. Fixed ELF/DWARF parser to properly identify static variables defined inside functions. The variables are now identified as 'function::variable'. Old 'variable'-only naming is still supported for backward compatibility, but it is usable only if there are no duplicate variable names. Fixed ELF reload issue. In some scenarios, the FreeMASTER was not able to detect that ELF file has been changed or it has even failed to reload the file after it has been changed. Fixed all plug-in configuration dialogs will now show the plug-in version in title bar for easier tracking of issues related to wrong DLL registration. Fixed recorder issue causing conflicts when switching from one instance to another. Fixed similar pipe issue with un-registering pipe port when switching to another.    Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicate with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux. Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

Version 3.1 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.  The installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster. There is also a video presentation of new features available in the desktop version. Another video shows the new FreeMASTER Lite and Node-RED integration. Release description FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive BLs as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. FreeMASTER 3.1 release extends the version 3.0 by adding the new features. Older 2.x and 3.0 installations may co-exist on the host system with the 3.1 version which should enable smooth transition of projects, dashboards and other work items from the older versions to the new one.  Version 3.1 is backward compatible. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and connectivity to 3rd party applications. An HTML rendering engine based on Chromium with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript is available to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that can run inside FreeMASTER or standalone in local or remote web browser. Older Internet Explorer rendering, ActiveX interface and protocols defined for versions 2.x are also still supported. Block diagrams The following pictures shows high-level view of the FreeMASTER desktop application and FreeMASTER Lite interfaces, their connections to the target microcontroller applications as well as to 3rd party applications.     What's new in version 3.1 Version 3.1 extends the last update of version 3.0 with all its minor updates and bug fixes. Refer to earlier announcements for versions 3.0.3, 3.0.1 and the 3.0.0.  Features introduced in version 3.1: Node-RED framework support Node-RED is a popular framework that enables visual programming of event driven applications. FreeMASTER 3.1 brings a palette of Node-RED "nodes" that act as a visual wrappers around JSON-RPC calls. Now you can leverage the full potential of both FreeMASTER & Node-RED to design your application or even visual dashboards with minimal or no coding at all. The FreeMASTER Lite server now embeds the full Node-RED runtime, so no other installation is required. At the same time, the installer comes with stand-alone packages that can be added and used with a local Node-RED instance. This video training provides more details on FreeMASTER and Node-RED integration  FreeMASTER NodeJS modules The installation now contains two new NodeJS "npm" installable modules. FreeMASTER JSON-RPC Client as a general package for JSON-RPC interfacing which works both on the backend (NodeJS) and frontend (web browser). FreeMASTER Node-RED module as set of installable Node-RED nodes and example flows. Keep both packages together in the same folder when installing it for dependency resolving. Updated communication plug-ins to support protocol V4 The communication protocol version 4 has been first introduced in 2019 with FreeMASTER 2.5. Today, it is the primary protocol used by microcontroller applications based on NXP MCUXpresso SDK, automotive SDKs and other general applications targeting NXP i.MX-RT, LPC, Kinetis, S32K, S12Z and Power Architecture platforms. FreeMASTER 3.1 adds support of this protocol to the FreeMASTER Remote Communication Server, so it is again possible to access your microcontroller applications remotely over a network and even to share the same board connection with more FreeMASTER desktop applications. Protocol V4 is also now supported by the JTAG/EOnCE Real Time Data transmission interface available on DSC 56F800E/EX platforms. Virtual Variables New support of "Virtual" variables, which do not have an address assigned and can be created without any real counterpart in the MCU application. Virtual variables may still be accessed by scripts and may be added to Variable Watch and Oscilloscope views. This may be useful for script-defined global parameters and other purposes. Global Enumeration types Enumeration types are now managed globally. Multiple variables now share the string enumerations defined in a global repository (see menu Project/Enumerations...). The enumerations are loaded automatically from the MCU application's TSA tables. The 'enum' type parsing from ELF file to be supported in future. Recorder and Oscilloscope Properties dialogs extended New icons indicating variables' "trigger mode" displayed in Recorder variable list. Fixed drag&drop behavior in the variable list. Possibility to add multiple variables at once by pressing the "..." button. The Drop-down list with variable selection is now able to filter the content by a typed text. Working with context menu Project tree context menu has been extended by options to expand or collapse child nodes. Tree state is serialized to project (PMPX format only). Context menu commands were also added to easily duplicate existing Recorder and Oscilloscope items or to clone them from Oscilloscope to Recorder type and vice versa. New CAN interfaces supported The wide family of supported USB-to-CAN and other CAN interfaces (IXXAT, Vector, Kvaser, National Instruments, Peak Systems, Intrepid, ZLG, Glinker) has been extended by Viewtool Ginkgo devices.    Release target audience Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience. Prerequisites FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicate with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool. Packages A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux. Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.

This article is meant to show you the minimal setup required to allow your embedded application to start talking to FreeMASTER host application. It is part of the FreeMASTER Tutorial series: Communication Driver (current article) Connecting to the Board Target Side Address Translation Communication Driver & S32 Design Studio Prerequisites: FreeMASTER Communication Driver S32 Design Studio for ARM 2018.R1 with S32 SDK S32K1xx RTM 3.0.0 See example application source code in attachments. If you read Communication Driver article you may have noticed that the the stand-alone package available on the FreeMASTER download page implements version 2.0 of the communication protocol. Why this video still uses an older version ?  The latest version is relatively new, and not all platform have updated support. S32 Design Studio and Model-Based Design Toolbox still use previous version of the driver. The host application is fully backward compatible and supports both versions of the communication protocol.