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Manage messages

Messages during compilation includes error messages , warning messages , and general messages like makefiles integrity, updated boards configuration files, new releases available for download, and project update.

On the embedXcode+ edition, most of the errors and warnings are already reported when entering the code.

Manage error messages

In case of a failed compilation, the Issue navigator display messages, either warning messages or error messages.

Error

LED was not declared in this scope.

An error message is highlighted in red and stops the compilation. It points at the line that originated the error.

Here, the board isn't connected and thus the serial port is not available.

The warning messages are explained in the next section.

Here, LED was not declared in this scope.

The Report Navigator on the right side provides more details.

The Issue navigator provides a list of all the errors found during compilation.

To display the list of error messages and the corresponding lines of code,

  • Click on the icon of the middle to display the Issue navigator:

  • Click once on the message highlighted in red to display the line where the error is located.

The cursor points at LED line 89: the correct variable name is myLED. The error is just a misspelling. Note that the whole line is in black.

  • Change LED for myLED. The line is coloured back.

This feature doesn't work on the LaunchPad C2000 and on the BeagleBone.

If the click-to-error feature doesn't work,

Manage warning messages

A warning message is highlighted in yellow and doesn't stop the compilation, but points at possible cause of errors.

Warning

unusedVariable is an unused variable.

To display the list of warning messages and the corresponding lines of code,

  • Select a target among All, Build, Make, Fast and click on Run.

  • Click on the icon of the middle to display the Issue navigator:

  • Click once on the message highlighted in yellow to display the line where the warning was generated.

Select scope for warning messages

This section requires the embedXcode+ edition.

The variable WARNING_OPTIONS on the main Makefile selects the scope of the warning messages.

By default, the variable WARNING_OPTIONS is set to 0: no warning messages are reported.

# Warning options
# ----------------------------------
# Contrary to errors, warnings don't stop compilation but they point at possible cause of errors.
# !!! Help: https://bit.ly/38hi0NC
# For example, unused variables with unused-variable.
#
# If 0, no warnings
# If empty, all warnings, same as WARNING_OPTIONS = all
# WARNING_OPTIONS = all no-missing-braces no-conversion-null no-pointer-arith
# WARNING_OPTIONS = unused-variable unused-function unused-label unused-value no-conversion-null no-pointer-arith
#
WARNING_OPTIONS = 0

If WARNING_OPTIONS is left empty, all warnings are displayed.

# Warning options
#
WARNING_OPTIONS =

This is the same as WARNING_OPTIONS = all.

# Warning options
#
WARNING_OPTIONS = all

The all option corresponds to the -Wall parameter and usually generates a very long list of warning messages, making the analysis difficult if not impossible. Moreover, only the 200 first messages are displayed.

The solution consists on selecting a scope and targeting specific warnings.

Define the selected warnings by listing the options after the variable `WARNING_OPTIONS.

Here are two example I use the most.

  • To check all the unused elements and save precious SRAM and Flash memory, define the following warning options.
# Warning options
#
WARNING_OPTIONS = unused-variable unused-function unused-label unused-value

The variable unusedVariable is defined but not used.

Defining but not using a variable is perfectly allowed, but uses SRAM memory.

  • To check all the use of NULL, define the following warning options.
# Warning options
#
WARNING_OPTIONS = conversion-null pointer-arith

The myLED variable corresponds to a pin number. Setting it to NULL is a correct operation but may rise an error somewhere else.

There are many other options for selecting warning messages. For more information,

Define warning statements

This section requires the embedXcode+ edition.

It is also possible to define a warning statement that will raise a warning message during compilation.

  • Type in the following line on the code with a #warning statement followed by the message to display.

To display the list of warning messages and the corresponding lines of code,

  • Select a target and click on Run.

  • Click on the icon of the middle to display the Issue navigator.

Click once on the message highlighted in yellow to display the line where the warning is located.

Manage general messages

Authorise notifications

macOS may prompt a dialogue box to authorise the notifications.

  • Click on Run to proceed.

Check makefiles integrity

The integrity of the makefiles is also checked.

If a makefile has been modified or corrupted, a warning message is displayed. This is a non-blocking warning message.

In the example below, About.mk differs from the distributed version.

The names of the modified makefiles are listed on the Report Navigator.

==== Check project embed1 ==== 
WARNING  non-valid makefile: About.mk 
==== Project embed1 checked ====
  • Reinstall the template for greater security.

Update the board configuration file

This section requires the embedXcode+ edition.

Each board is defined by a board configuration file. The embedXcode+ edition checks if the template provides newer version of the selected board configuration file for the current project.

If a newer version of the board configuration file is available, a dialogue box prompts for updating it.

  • To update, click on Yes.

  • To cancel, click on No.

A new variable KEEP_BOARDS_CONFIGURATIONS on the main Makefile allows to set whether the current board configuration file is going to be kept unchecked and unchanged.

By default, it is set to false to allow the check.

# For boards, keep configurations unchanged, false or true
KEEP_BOARDS_CONFIGURATIONS = false

To prevent to board configuration file of the project from being checked and changed,

  • Edit the main Makefile.

  • In case the variable KEEP_BOARDS_CONFIGURATIONS doesn't exit, add it.

  • Set KEEP_BOARDS_CONFIGURATIONS to true.

# For boards, keep configurations unchanged, false or true
KEEP_BOARDS_CONFIGURATIONS = true