This table summarises the features of v8.0 Astrobe for Cortex-M4.
IDE / Editor |
- Standard Windows, programmer-oriented, text-editing features
- Fast and responsive interactive operation
- Tabbed multi-document interface for editing multiple source files (modules)
- Split-screen editing
- Regular expression support in Find / Replace
- Bookmarks
- Line modification indicators
- Optional line numbers, printing features etc. etc.
- The module in the current window is the target of the compiler / linker / builder
- User-customisable Tools menu for integrating batch files, Windows commands or 3rd-party applications
- Desktop HTML Help
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Oberon Language-oriented Editing |
- Automatic syntax colouring of language elements as you type
- Auto-capitalisation of keywords as you type
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Code Navigation |
- Alphabetical auto-indexed list of procedures. Click on the name to go to the procedure
in the source code.
- Auto-indexed list of imported modules. Click on the module name to open the file.
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Language Features |
- Oberon is a general-purpose programming language first published in 1987.
- Conforms to the 2016 Standard Oberon Language,
- Integer, Boolean, Char, Set, Array, Record and 32-bit IEEE Real data types and operations
- Pointers to records for dynamic memory allocation
- Constant, Type, Variable and Procedure declarations
- Open array parameters
- For, While, Repeat loops and Case (switch) statements
- Nested procedures
- Direct assignment of structured types (arrays and records)
- Type-extension capabilities for Object-Oriented programming
- Assertions for validating input / output parameters
- Type-checking / consistency validation across modules
- Read-only access to external global variables
- Nested comments
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Embedded Programming Features |
- Explicit read / write access to memory-mapped peripheral device registers using SYSTEM functions GET and PUT
- Leaf procedures use registers for parameters and local variables and disable runtime checks at a procedure level for optimum
performance
- Interrupt procedures
- Local dynamic array language extensions for safe memory allocation / deallocation
- Low-level SYSTEM functions ADR, BIT, EMIT etc. for absolute memory addressing, bit testing, emitting code instructions etc.
- Language extensions specifically for Cortex-M including bitfield functions BFI and BFX
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Low-level Language Extensions |
- Direct access to the special registers Program Counter (PC), Link Register (LNK) and
Stack Pointer (SP)
- Byte-level addressing of all built-in and user-defined data types and structures
- Type casting using SYSTEM.VAL
- Direct access to the Cortex-M BFI, BFX, CLZ, RBIT, REV, REV16 and REVSH instructions.
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Fast Native-code Compilation |
- Fast single-pass modular compilation
- Generates 32-bit IEEE Cortex-M4 hardware floating point instructions for add, subtract,
multiply, divide and square root
- One-click to compile the module in the current window
- Only the current module needs to be compiled if the interfaces of imported modules
are unchanged
- Pre-compiled symbol files are used for fast access to imported modules
- Compilation continues to the end to find as many errors as possible
- Compilation errors are displayed in a separate window
- Click on an error line to take you to the actual line in the source
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Linking / Building |
- Creates compact and fast 32-bit native-code applications
- Automated Build feature identifies and recompiles all outdated modules before linking
- There is no need to maintain separate 'make' files. The names and locations of imported modules are already known at link time.
- Interfaces of imported modules are validated at link time to ensure consistency
and eliminate obscure runtime errors
- Compile, link and build options are stored in configuration files
- Multiple projects for the same target can share a single configuration file
- Configuration file settings for multiple library search paths
- Configuration file settings for application code, data, stack and heap addresses
- User-customisable Tools menu to launch Windows applications or command-line utilities of your choice from the Astrobe menu
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Debugging and Error trapping |
- Language support for validation of procedure parameters, pre- and post-conditions
using assertions
- Compilation warnings for unused constants, types, variables, procedures and imported modules.
- Automatic array index bounds checking
- Runtime library Out can be used to send trace output to the Astrobe terminal window via a UART serial connection
- Runtime errors and failed assertions are identified by a callback trace with module and procedure names and source
line numbers
- Source code of the Traps runtime library module can be user-customised
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Uploading and Running |
- No special hardware programming tool is required
- Upload via USB drive for mbed-enabled boards
- Integrated terminal emulator communicates via a UART with a program running
on the target device
- BIN format files allow you to program target devices
using 3rd-party tools e.g. ST-Link.
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General Library Modules |
- Main - Initialisation code required by the applications
- Out - Formatted ASCII text output of chars, strings and integers
- Strings - General text string processing
- Reals - Conversion of real numbers to and from strings
- Storage - Memory allocation / deallocation of pointer variables
- Math - Mathematical and trigonometrical functions
- LinkerOptions - Access the user-supplied link-time configuration settings
- Graphics - device-independent drawing of lines, circles and ellipses
- Random - Random number generation
- ResData - Resource data handling (constant data, images, fonts etc.)
- Traps - Runtime and assertion error handling
- Error - Standard error code definitions and messages
- HCDrive, HCDir, HCFiles - The SDHC filesystem
- Bits - Perform bitwise operations on INTEGERs
- Convert - Integer / string conversion
- Put - String handling helper functions
- DateTime - date and time string conversion
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Additional Library Modules (Target-dependent) |
- MCU - Definitions of peripheral register addresses to access the target's features e.g. GPIO, NVIC, I2C, PWR, RCC, RTC, SPI, Timers and USART.
- Serial - Serial input and output communication via USARTs
- Timers - Microsecond and millisecond time measurement and delays
- Clock - access the time components of the Real Time Clock
- SPI - Serial Peripheral Interface: control LCD displays, SD cards, 7-segment LEDs, and digital sensors such as accelerometers, magnetometers, etc.
- I2C - control serial RAMs and EEPROMS, LCDs, accelerometers, temperature and pressure gauges, compasses etc.
- GPIO - General Purpose I/O Configuration and Control
- RTC - setting and retrieving the date and time components of the Real Time Clock
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Source Code of Library Modules |
- Full source code of all runtime and additional library modules
- Example modules including full
source code
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Max Program Size (Target-dependent) |
- Up to 2048 KB (Flash)
- Up to 512 KB (CPU SRAM)
- Up to 256 modules per application
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Disassembler |
- Display the ARM assembler instructions generated for a module
- Display the ARM assembler instructions generated for the whole linked application
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Command-line Compiler, Linker and Builder |
- Compile, Link and Build applications using batch files, 3rd-party IDEs and build tools
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Commercial Applications |
- Develop and deploy commercial applications with no additional runtime fees
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