KDS refresh variable while running KEA128

[ZdenoQC]

Hi there,

I'm using Kinetis Design Studio V3 and the TRK-KEA128 devboard. I want to know if I can refresh variable while running with the debugger just like codewarrior. I search on the internet and the Kinetis architecture seems to support that.

I have try the built in Open Jtag and the multilink universal, but the there is no sign of the refresh button and no settings for the refresh rate either.

Thanks for the help

[BlackNight · Accepted solution]

CodeWarrior had its own custom debugger engine which implemented that support. GDB does not come with that capability.

The following article describes how something close to that can be done with GDB:

Automatic Variable, Expression and Memory Display with GDB and Eclipse

I hope this helps,

Erich

[ZdenoQC]

Thanks Erich!

I haven't see this post (maybe not using the good keyword). Actually, I think this solution can be use with the MPC56 without proper nexus level too.We no longer use this chip for this reason.

For the kinetis, it's working good. I may switch to Codewarrior for futur developpement if the debugger is better.

[BlackNight]

Hi William,

yes, this approach works with any target and does not require any special hardware support. It is for sure not a good approach if you need a lot of variable updates, but for normal use cases this approach works pretty well.

As for finding such things or posts: yes, sometimes it is all about using the correct keywords in google or any other search machines. What I do is to subscribe the newsstreams/blogs I'm interested in, and that way at least I get updates about all the new articles.

Erich

[Eric_t]

Hi Erich

While this approach is useful, it has the drawback that it stops the target in the background.

Is there any plans to add the ability of "refresh variable while running" at KDS 4.0?

Thank you

[BlackNight]

Hi Eric,

CodeWarrior had stopped the target in the background too. It was simply not that obvious.

To support that functionality for GDB/CDT would require a rather big change, and to my knowledge this is not planned by the Eclipse/CDT community.

Erich