This guide shows how to configure Visual Studio Code to easily develop embedded software with the Skyward Build System. The extensions suggested in this page are used by most of the team and are suggested to new members.

Installation

Visual Studio Code is available on all major platforms. Just download the installer from code.visualstudio.com and run it!

Installing required extensions

Suggested extensions are:

• C/C++: language support for C/C++, including features such as IntelliSense;
• CMake: language support for CMake;
• GitLens: Enhanced git annotations;
• Git Graph: Visualize a Git graph of your repository, useful to quickly view the commit histrory;
• Cortex-Debug: ARM Cortex-M GDB debugger support;
• Code Spell Checker: Spelling checker for source code.

Skyward configuration

When cloning on of our repository, you can find IDE configuration files already in the .vscode direcotory.

The configurations include different board setups for the C/C++ extension, this will allow intellisense to find the correct source files. Depending on your target board you need to select the proper option in the menu on the bottom right.

The other files in the .vscode direcotry contains other information for the debugger and the tasks explained below.

Building with SBS

The easiest way to build and flash the code is to open the terminal with Ctrl + J (cmd + j on Mac) and use the build system directly, for example ./sbs -f test-serial will build the test-serial entrypoint and flash it on to the board.

Another way to do this is thanks to the configuration files mentioned above. VSCode tasks have been prepared to build and flash a project to your board.

Dependencies

The available commands for VSCode use the SBS script in order to build the project.
Also the st-flash command is used to flash the executable to the board. You should install the stlink-tools package.

Commands

By using the VSCode shortcut Ctrl+P (cmd + p on Mac) a top bar opens. If you write task and hit space, the list of all possible commands will show up.
These commands include:

• BUILD current-entrypoint: build the entrypoint that has the focus in the VSCode editor, according to the entrypoint configuration specified in CMakeLists.txt.
• BUILD all entrypoints: build all the entrypoints that are specified in CMakeLists.txt.
• BUILD tests-catch: build the catch-tests-entry entrypoint, according to the entrypoint configuration specified in CMakeLists.txt.
• BUILD+RUN current-entrypoint: build the entrypoint that has the focus in the VSCode editor and automatically flash the resulting executable to the target board specified in CMakeLists.txt.
• CLEAN: clean binaries and build files.
• RUN current-entrypoint: flash to the target board the executable related to the entrypoint opened in VSCode.
• RUN tests-catch: flash to the target board the catch-tests-entry entrypoint, it will automatically run all the catch tests specified in CMakeLists.txt.

Shortcuts

It can be very useful to know that the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+B (cmd + shift + b on Mac) triggers the BUILD+RUN current-entrypoint command.

For what concerns clang-format you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+F (shift + option + f on Mac; note that the first time you will have to choose clang-format as default). It should automatically format your code according to Skyward's .clang-format style. If it doesn't, configure the command to use it.
You can also set it to be executed every time you save a file which is very comfortable.

In circuit debugging

Install required software & extensions

• Openocd: sudo apt install openocd
• Cortex-debug extension:https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=marus25.cortex-debug

Configure your VSCode project

1. Copy the file launch.json into the .vscode folder in the root of your project.
2. Finally, run ./sbs -c to make sure everything is clean.

Debug your code

1. Build & flash your entrypoint on your board
2. In the "debug" menu in vscode, run "ST-LINK V2 (current entrypoint)" if you are using a st-link v2 device (recent discovery boards are all stlink v2) or "ST-LINK V1 (current entrypoint)" (run this if you are running on our custom boards). In the case of ST-LINK V1 devices, you may need to change the configuration file in launch.json with the one of your board (configFiles property)
3. Happy debugging!!